Acceptances for First ITF J1 of 2022 in Costa Rica; Fruhvirtovas Travel from Florida to Korea, Win Opening Matches at WTA 125; Branstine Officially Joins Texas A&M Next Month; New Indoor Facility for Texas Tech

The last major junior tournament of 2021, the Junior Orange Bowl, ended yesterday; today the acceptances for the first ITF J1 of 2022 were published, in case you were under the impression that there is an off-season in junior tennis. (The USTA Winter Nationals begin December 28th in Orlando and Tucson). 

That first J1 is in Costa Rica, and it usually draws a very large US contingent, given the location and the reputation of the event. This year however, the draw is just 32, so only six Americans, four boys and two girls, are in the main draw as of now. The cutoff for the girls was 109; for the boys 148.

The US boys are Cooper Williams, Yannik Rahman, Nicholas Godsick and Michael Zheng. The US girls are Liv Hovde and Krystal Blanch, with Mia Slama the next player in.  Hovde and Rahman are in the main draw of the Australian Open Juniors, which begins seven days after the J1 in Costa Rica ends. They are also both entered in the J1 in Traralgon, which is basically the same week as Costa Rica, so something has to give there. Godsick and Blanch are in the qualifying for Traralgon and the Australian Open Junior Championships, so all the players who have entered both have until next Tuesday, the withdrawal deadline for Costa Rica, to monitor the movement in the acceptances for the Australian events before making a decision.

After the Orange Bowl, I anticipated an off-season for Linda and Brenda Fruhvirtova, the 16-year-old and 14-year-old sisters from the Czech Republic. With neither entered in the Australian Open Junior Championships, I thought the would return to Europe, but instead they are playing this week at the WTA 125 in Seoul South Korea. Linda received entry on her own WTA ranking, currently 305; Brenda was given a wild card. Both won their opening matches, with Linda beating former Vanderbilt star Fernanda Contreras of Mexico 6-3, 6-1 and Brenda defeating Jeong Moon of Korea 6-0, 6-1. It was Brenda's first appearance at a pro event; she did not play any ITF World Tennis Tour women's tournaments, although she was eligible to do so when she turned 14 in April. Both will play seeds on Thursday, with Linda facing No. 6 seed Su Jeong Jang of Korea and Brenda taking on No. 8 seed Yuki Naito of Japan. The earliest the two could meet is in the semifinals. 

Also competing in Seoul this week is 2018 NCAA singles champion Arianne Hartono (Mississippi) of the Netherlands, who is the No. 5 seed. 

Carson Branstine, who grew up in California and played under the US flag for most of her junior career before switching to Canada, will officially join the Texas A&M women's team next month, according to yesterday's announcement from head coach Mark Weaver. Branstine, now 21 years old, originally committed to USC, then transferred to Virginia, but she did not play at either school due to injuries. Branstine, ranked as high at No. 4 in the ITF juniors, won the 2017 Australian and French Open girls doubles titles. 

In more Texas college tennis news, Texas Tech has announced it will be building a new six-court indoor facility as part of its partnership with The Falls Tennis and Athletic Club. Construction is expected to begin "in the coming months," according to this article on the new facility.