Linda Fruhvirtova Advances at WTA 125 in Korea; Tennis Europe's Winter Cups Canceled; UTR's Collegiate Ambassadors; Fenty and Zahraj Rep Tom Brady's New Clothing Brand; My Feature in Tennis.com's 30-0 Project

Sixteen-year-old Linda Fruhvirtova of the Czech Republic advanced to the quarterfinals of the WTA 125 in Korea Thursday, defeated No. 6 seed Su Jeong Jang of Korea. Currently in a third set in her quarterfinal match with Ekaterina Kazionova of Russia, Fruhvirtova could reach a first WTA semifinal with another win. (Fruhvirtova lost to Kazionova 6-3, 5-7, 7-6(4)). Linda's 14-year-old sister Brenda, who won her first professional match in the first round Tuesday, lost to No. 8 seed Yuki Naito of Japan 6-4, 6-2 in Thursday's quarterfinals.

The hope that 2022 might mark a return to normal for junior tennis still exists, but yesterday's announcement by Tennis Europe that the Winter Cups, the junior team indoor events, won't happen isn't a good sign. The decision to cancel the events, which are held for the 12s, 14s and 16s, was due to "A significant worsening of the epidemiological situation across the region, plus increased and constantly changing COVID-19 travel restrictions and access issues have made the event unfeasible for a second consecutive year." 

UTR has named four collegiate tennis ambassadors, part of its commitment to have a presence in the NCAA's Name, Image and Likeness field. Stanford's Tristan Boyer, Auburn's Carolyn Ansari, UCLA's Taylor Johnson and Texas's Peyton Stearns have agreed to represent UTR, which "will help each athlete market their Paid Hits, provide more opportunities to play in UTR Pro Tennis Tour (PTT) events, and help further their careers and gain exposure in the tennis world."

For more on the Collegiate Ambassadors program see this release from UTR.

Two tennis players are among the collegiate athletes selected by NFL quarterback Tom Brady to promote his new apparel brand, which will debut next month. Michigan's Andrew Fenty and UCLA's Patrick Zahraj join athletes competing collegiately in football, basketball, baseball and hockey in representing the Brady brand. For more on this high-profile NIL, see this article.

I wasn't aware I was going to be featured in Tennis magazine's 30-love series until I saw the article last month in the print copy I receive as a USTA member. This month, tennis.com is releasing these pieces on its website, so for those of you who didn't see it last month, here is a link to the article. Several other 30-love articles will be of interest to those following college and junior tennis, so please look through all of them as they are added.