Montgomery Wins Battle of Teen Left-handers to Qualify at Dow Tennis Classic, Top Seed Zhang Loses in First Round; Junior Davis Cup and Junior Billie Jean King Cup Begin Tuesday in Turkey; Americans Claim Doubles Titles on ITF Junior Circuit

©Colette Lewis 2022--
Midland Michigan--

 Robin Montgomery and Diana Shnaider, two powerful 18-year-old left-handers, met today in the final round of qualifying at the Dow Tennis Classic, in its second year as a WTA 125 tournament.

Although Shnaider had won their last meeting, in the quarterfinals of the 2021 Roland Garros Junior Championships, 6-3, 6-1, Montgomery was the superior player today, posting a 6-3, 6-2 victory is just over an hour.

Montgomery saved two of the three break points she faced in the match during her first service game, and broke Shnaider in the next game. She never trailed from then on, and every time she got in a 0-30 hole, her serve was there to bail her out.

Shnaider, with her left thigh heavily taped, wasn't moving quite as well as she had in her opening round win Sunday over Catherine Harrison, but her shots had depth and pace in nearly every rally. She just wasn't able to put any pressure on Montgomery's serve, which freed Montgomery to hit out in her return games.

"She's a big hitter and she's starting to hit her targets way better even when she's on the run," Montgomery said of the NC State freshman. "You just never want to give her an opportunity, because you know she'll just rip it. She's a competitor and a big hitter and she's really good."

Montgomery's history with Shnaider goes back much further than that meeting in Paris. In 2018, they split two decisions, with the Russian winning in the third round at Les Petits As and Montgomery getting a victory in the third round at the Grade A in Osaka.

"It's good seeing her and me at the same place, since we've known each other so long," Montgomery said. "We're going through all the phases together, which is always fun to see when you grow up with someone."

Montgomery, who grew up in Washington DC and developed her game at the Junior Tennis Champions Center in College Park Maryland, is now living in Orlando and working with Eric Nunez, a collaboration that began after she left the Mouratoglou Academy late this summer.

Since making that change, Montgomery has reached the final of a $60K, qualified for the WTA 500 in San Diego and last week reached the quarterfinals of a $60K in Toronto.

"I really enjoy working with him," Montgomery said of the former USTA National Coach, who continues to work for the USTA as an independent contractor. "He complements my mentality and the way I play very well. Granted we're still in the beginning, but so far, so good. He's helped me bring different elements to my game and making my strengths even stronger."

In addition to her serve, Montgomery notes that another of those strengths is what Montgomery calls her "lefty-ness."

"All the lefty patterns that are beneficial, mixing up the game a little bit," Montgomery said. "I feel I'm pretty decent on all my strokes; if one isn't working, the other one can back me up."

Montgomery will face another qualifier, Katherine Sebov of Canada, in the first round Tuesday morning. Sebov defeated Sophie Chang 6-1, 7-6(5).

In another battle of left-handers, Kayla Day took out Francesca Di Lorenzo(Ohio State) 6-3, 6-3. The fourth qualifier is 19-year-old Elvina Kalieva, who saved two match points in the second set tiebreaker to defeat Jamie Loeb(North Carolina) 3-6, 7-6(10), 7-6(3). After trailing 4-0 in the second set tiebreaker, Loeb went up 6-5, but made an unforced forehand error to squander that match point. The second set point didn't come until 10-9, when Kalieva hit a forehand winner to save it, then won the next two points when Loeb found the net on a forehand and then a backhand.

Kalieva will also play her first round match Tuesday, against Sachia Vickery.

Three first round matches were played today, and it didn't take long for a shocking upset. Top seed and WTA No. 24 Shuai Zhang of China lost to Nao Hibino of Japan 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-3, with Zhang appearing to be uncomfortable from midway through the first set. Hibino, ranked 144, but playing at a level way above that ranking throughout the match, trailed 3-1 in the first set, but got the break right back, broke at 4-all, then served out the set. After losing the ninth game, Zhang and her coach, sitting in the stands a few rows up from the court near the baseline, had a heated argument in Chinese that extended for some time, with the chair umpire eventually telling Zhang she would get someone to the court to help handle the situation. 

The WTA supervisor came to the court during the set break and had a brief conversation with the chair umpire, but did not speak to Zhang, and both the coach and Zhang did not speak to each other after that one lengthy exchange. Zhang also showed irritation when someone in the stands or a ball runner moved or when a line call was corrected, but she buckled down after trailing 3-1 in the second set and began blasting winners.  Hibino took a 5-3 lead in the second at was up 15-40 with Zhang serving, only to watch as Zhang hit her way out of those two match points. Hibino couldn't serve it out in the next game, and Zhang played a better tiebreaker to finally pull even in the match.

Hibino wasn't ready to concede that her opportunity for an upset was gone however. She got an early break, and held for 3-0, 4-1 and 5-2 lead. Hibino had to save a break point serving for the match at 5-3, but she got an error from Zhang to get back to deuce, popped an ace to earn her third match point, and converted it when Zhang's forehand went wide. 

In the other two first round matches, Ann Li defeated No. 6 seed Varvara Gracheva of Russia 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-3, saving a match point with Gracheva serving for the match at 6-5 in the second set. No. 3 seed Lin Zhu of China defeated Louisa Chirico 6-4, 6-4.

Ten more first round matches are Tuesday, with the last three first round matches, involving Sunday's finalists in Toronto (Robin Anderson and Su Jeong Jang) and Tyler (Yue Yuan), scheduled for Wednesday.

The ITF's 16-and-under team competition begins Tuesday in Antalya Turkey, with the United States participating for the first time since hosting the competition in 2019. The US girls are the No. 1 seeds and are in Group A with Colombia, Thailand and Turkey. Clervie Ngounoue, Valerie Glozman and Iva Jovic make up the US team.

The US boys--Alexander Razeghi and twins Meecah and Kaylan Bigun--are the No. 2 seeds and in Group D with Turkey, Argentina and Japan. 

The draws and previews from the ITF can be found here.

I covered the four US titles at the ITF J4 in Lexington South Carolina on Saturday, but there were two additional titles for Americans on the ITF Junior Circuit last week, both in doubles.

At the J2 in Korea, Quang Duong reached the quarterfinals in singles and won the doubles title, with Suphawat Saeoui of Thailand. The No. 4 seeds defeated unseeded Yeonsu Jeong and Seungmin Park of Korea 6-2, 6-2 in the final. 

At the J5 in Spain, Maxwell Exsted reached the singles final and won the doubles with longtime partner Maximus Dussault. Exsted and Dussault, the No. 1 seeds, defeated No. 2 seeds Rodrigo Fernandes of Portugal and Matteo Morazzi of Spain 6-2, 6-3 in the final. 

Final Round of Qualifying at Midland WTA 125 Features All Eight Seeds; Townsend Wins Title at Tyler $80K; Sandgren Champion in Las Vegas; Knaff and Kikuchi Earn First Titles in Tallahassee and Norman

©Colette Lewis 2022--
Midland Michigan--

Qualifying for the WTA 125 Dow Tennis Classic began today at the Greater Midland Tennis Center, and when the first round ended at 5:15 p.m., all eight seeds had advanced to Monday's final round.

The seed in the most peril during the day was No. 1 Kayla Day, who lost the first set to Emina Bektas(Michigan) 7-6(2) and was down 5-2 in the second set. Bektas didn't get to match point serving for it at 5-3, and Day kept the pressure on, holding and breaking for a 6-5 lead. Bektas had two break points to force a tiebreaker, but Day won the next four points to get the split. The 23-year-old left-hander then broke in the first game of the third set and didn't face a break point in her 6-7(2), 7-5, 6-3 victory.

Day will face No. 7 seed Francesca Di Lorenzo(Ohio State), who beat Whitney Osuigwe 6-2, 6-4.

Canada's Katherine Sebov was the other seed to come from a set down to advance, with the No. 5 seed defeating Hanna Chang 4-6, 6-3, 6-1. Sebov will face No. 4 seed Sophie Chang, who defeated wild card Eleana Yu, the 2022 USTA 18s National champion, 6-2, 6-4. Yu, a high school senior, told me she was going to focus on her college choice in the coming weeks.

No. 2 seed in the qualifying, Diana Shnaider, has yet to play in a North Carolina State uniform, although the 18-year-old from Russia enrolled in school this fall. Shnaider, who is 9-3 in $60K and above tournaments in the United States this fall, defeated Catherine Harrison(UCLA) 6-4, 6-2, keeping the ball deep, playing great defense and making few errors. Shnaider, who warmed up with future teammate Maddy Zampardo, who lives two hours south of Midland, will face No. 8 seed Robin Montgomery for a place in the final. Montgomery breezed past recent Washington State graduate Michaela Bayerlova 6-2, 6-1, with Montgomery's serve just too much for the 23-year-old from the Czech Republic. 

No. 3 seed Elvina Kalieva also advanced in less than an hour, with the 19-year-old defeating Elena-Teodora Cadar of Romania 6-0, 6-4. Although she was broken once, Kalieva was dominant on serve, winning 19 of 21 points when she got her first serve in. Kalieva will play No. 6 seed and 2018 Dow finalist Jamie Loeb(North Carolina), who fought off a determined challenge from Duke sophomore Ellie Coleman for a 7-5, 7-5 victory.

Coleman, who grew up in Midland and had a large Sunday afternoon crowd supporting her on Meredith McGrath Stadium Court, was the first to drop serve at 4-all in the opening set. Loeb couldn't close out the set on her first attempt, but got another break and took that second chance.  Coleman fell behind 3-2 in the second set, but immediately broke back, held and broke again for a 5-3 lead. She had two set points, the first at 40-30, with Loeb getting lucky when her backhand clipped the net and fell over for a winner. Loeb saved the second set point with a forehand winner and went on to break.  Coleman earned a third set point with Loeb serving at 4-5, 30-40, but Loeb saved that with a forehand that forced an error and she began to play more confidently from that point on. She broke Coleman to take a 6-5 lead, saved a break point in the final game with an ace and closed out the match with a backhand winner.

In addition to the four final round qualifying matches Monday, three main draw matches are on the schedule. Top seed Shuai Zhang of China will face Nao Hibino of Japan; Louisa Chirico will play No. 3 seed Lin Zhu of China and Ann Li meets No. 6 seed Varvara Gracheva of Russia. 

There are also four first round double matches on the schedule Monday.

After doubling up to play the quarterfinals and semifinals Saturday night at the $80,000 USTA women's Pro Circuit tournament in Tyler Texas, unseeded Taylor Townsend emerged as the champion in today's singles final. Townsend defeated No. 4 seed Yue Yuan of China(who is also the No. 4 seed here in Midland this week), 6-4, 6-2 to complete the week without dropping a set, and the 26-year-old left-hander will move into the WTA Top 150.

Unseeded Ashley Lahey(Pepperdine) and Maria Kozyreva(St. Mary's) won the doubles title, beating 2022 NCAA doubles champions Nell Miller and Jaeda Daniel(NC State) 7-5, 6-2 in last night's final.

Former Tennessee star Tennys Sandgren won his first Challenger title since 2017 today in Las Vegas, defeating No. 4 seed and defending champion Stefan Kozlov 7-5, 6-3. It's only the second time Sandgren has beaten Kozlov in six meetings. 

No. 3 seeds Henry Patten(UNC-Asheville) and Julian Cash(Mississippi St/Oklahoma St) of Great Britain won their sixth Challenger title of the year and their second straight, beating Constantin Frantzen(Baylor) of Germany and Reese Stalder(TCU) 6-4, 7-6(1) in the final. Patten and Cash, both 26, will move into the ATP Top 100 rankings in doubles tomorrow.

At the $15,000 USTA men's Pro Circuit tournament in Norman Oklahoma, No. 7 seed Yuta Kikuchi of Cal won his first title, beating No. 6 seed Alex Martinez, a senior at Oklahoma, 7-5, 6-4. The 23-year-old fifth-year senior from Japan dropped just one set this week and is 14-7 this year in $15K events.

The hometown favorite fared better at the $15,000 men's Pro Circuit tournament in Tallahassee, with No. 2 seed Alex Knaff, a former Florida State Seminole, beating unseeded Florida junior Will Grant 6-3, 6-0. It's the first ITF men's singles title for the 24-year-old from Luxembourg.

Delgado Earns Second Straight J4 Title, Crowder Wins Girls Singles in South Carolina; Qualifying Begins Sunday at WTA 125 Dow Tennis Classic; Grant Advances at Tallahassee $15K; Kozlov and Sandgren Reach Las Vegas Challenger Final

Seventeen-year-old Andrew Delgado won his first ITF Junior Circuit singles title last week at the J4 in Atlanta and has followed that with another title this week at the J4 in Lexington South Carolina. The left-hander from North Carolina, seeded No. 1 this week, defeated No. 15 seed Michael Kouame of France 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 in today's final, extending his winning streak to 12 matches over the past two weeks.

Fifteen-year-old Riley Crowder won her first ITF Junior Circuit singles title, with the No. 3 seed from Alabama defeating No. 7 seed Kayla Chung 7-6(4), 6-4 in today's final. Crowder did not drop a set in her six wins this week.

Although she has two straight losses in the singles finals, at Atlanta and Lexington, Chung once again won the doubles title with Kayla Schefke. Chung and Schefke, the No. 3 seeds, defeated top seeds Emily Baek and Brianna Baldi 3-6, 6-4, 10-5 for their third consecutive doubles title, having also won titles last month in McKinney Texas and last week in Atlanta. 

No. 7 seeds Andrew Ena and Aditya Vyas won the boys doubles title, beating unseeded Cody Benton and Paxton Pritchard 6-7(5), 6-0, 11-9. It is the second ITF Junior Circuit title for Ena and Vyas, who also won the J4 in Corpus Christi last month.

Qualifying begins Sunday at the WTA 125 Dow Tennis Classic in Midland Michigan, with 12 of the 16 entrants in qualifying from the United States. Louisa Chirico and Ashleyn Krueger, originally in qualifying, moved into the main draw at the last minute; below are the first round qualifying matchups:

Whitney Osuigwe v Francesca Di Lorenzo[7]
Michaela Bayerlova(CZE) v Robin Montgomery[8]
Diana Shnaider[2](RUS) v Catherine Harrison
Ellie Coleman[WC] v Jamie Loeb[6]
Elvina Kalieva[3] v Elena-Teodora Cadar(ROU)
Hanna Chang v Katherine Sebov[5](CAN)
Sophie Chang v Eleana Yu[WC]
Kayla Day[1] v Emina Bektas

As usual, I will be in Midland for a couple of days early in the tournament; it's one of the few times I get a chance to re-connect with pro players who I covered in juniors and college; I'm usually focused on the junior championships when I'm at a Wimbledon or the US Open.

University of Florida junior Will Grant reached his first USTA Pro Circuit semifinal yesterday and today advanced one step farther, reaching the final of the $15,000 men's tournament in Tallahassee Florida with a 7-6(4), 6-4 win over Florida State junior Andreja Petrovic of Norway. Grant will face No. 2 seed Alex Knaff of Luxembourg, a former Florida State standout, who beat qualifier Phillip Henning(Georgia) of South Africa 4-6, 7-6(2), 7-6(3) after Henning served for the match at 5-4 in the second set. 

At the $15,000 men's tournament in Norman Oklahoma, the Sooner representative in the final will be senior Alexander Martinez of Spain, the No. 6 seed, who defeated teammate Jordan Hasson 4-6, 6-0, 7-5. Martinez will face Cal's fifth-year Yuta Kikuchi of Japan, the No. 7 seed, who took out top seed Lucas Gerch(Oklahoma State) of Germany 2-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Top seeds George Goldhoff(Texas) and Tyler Zink(Oklahoma State) won the doubles title in Norman, beating unseeded Aidan Kim and Alessio Basile(Oklahoma State) of Belgium 6-2, 6-1 in a 40-minute final.

After a complete washout yesterday at the women's $80,000 tournament in Tyler Texas, and more rain early in the day, they finally began quarterfinal play late this afternoon. The run of Stanford freshman and qualifier Alexis Blokhina was ended by Sofia Kenin, who advanced to the semifinals with a 6-1, 6-4 victory. Kenin will face No. 4 seed Yue Yuan of China in the semifinals. Taylor Townsend and Australia's Storm Sanders have won their quarterfinal matches and will play each other in the semifinals later tonight. The doubles semifinals are also on tonight's schedule. 

The final is set at the ATP Challenger 80 in Las Vegas, with qualifier Tennys Sandgren(Tennessee) playing No. 4 seed Stefan Kozlov for the title Sunday.

Sandgren defeated 17-year-old Jerry Shang of China 6-3, 7-6(5) in today's semifinals, while Kozlov took out No. 2 seed Steve Johnson(USC) 6-3, 1-6, 7-5, saving a match point at 4-5 in the third on a ridiculous dive volley. The 24-year-old Kozlov has a 5-1 edge in their previous meetings, which go back more than six years. Sandgren, whose ATP ranking has dropped to 444, is competing in his first Challenger final since April of 2019. Kozlov reached the final of the Las Vegas Challenger last year, losing to JJ Wolf. He went on to win the Challengers in Charlottesville and Champaign and with those results, earned the USTA's Australian Open Wild Card Challenge. 

Stearns Receives Main Draw Wild Card for Next Week's WTA 125 in Midland; Tennis Europe Crowns 14s and 16s Masters Champions; Washout of Quarterfinals at Tyler $80K; Two Sooners Reach Norman $15K Semifinals; Two Seminoles Reach Tallahassee $15K Semifinals

Qualifying for the Dow Tennis Classic in Midland Michigan begins Sunday and the final list of wild cards for the WTA 125 tournament has been released. It had been announced earlier that Canada's Eugenie Bouchard, 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin and Shuai Zhang of China were wild card recipients, along with Katrina Scott; Scott moved into the main draw on her own with recent withdrawals. 

The other three wild cards announced today are Madison Brengle, the defending champion, former Duke star Maria Mateas and 2022 University of Texas NCAA team and singles champion Peyton Stearns.

Duke sophomore Ellie Coleman, a Midland resident, and 2022 USTA 18s National champion Eleana Yu received qualifying wild cards. Coleman and Duke teammate Karolina Berankova have received a main draw doubles wild card. 

Alena Kovackova, Tennis Europe Master 16s champion
photo courtesy Richard van Loon, toptennis.photos

The Tennis Europe Masters tournament concluded today in Monte Carlo, with champions determined in the 14s and 16s age divisions. Eight players qualified for the event based on Tennis Europe points accrued throughout the year.

Norway's Nicolai Budkov Kjaer, the top seed, won the boys 16s title, beating No. 4 seed William Rejchtmann Vinciguerra of Sweden 6-4, 6-2. It's the first TE Masters title for a player from Norway.

Fourteen-year-old Alena Kovackova of the Czech Republic is certainly a player to watch after she won the girls 16s Masters title. Top seed Kovackova, who defeated No. 2 seed Diana-Ioana Simionescu of Romania 6-4, 6-1 in today's final is 66-6 this year with her only loss in any 14s or 16s tournament coming in the Les Petits As semifinals to eventual champion Julia Stusek of Germany.

Unseeded Diego Dedura-Palomero of Germany won the boys 14s title, beating No. 2 seed Nikita Bilozertsev of Ukraine 6-0, 6-2 in the final. Thirteen-year-old Ksenia Efremova of Russia won the girls 14s title, with the top seed defeating unseeded Sona Depesova of Slovakia 6-4, 6-4 in the final.

For more on the Tennis Europe Masters, with comments from the winners, see the tournament blog.

Rain all day in Texas has pushed the quarterfinals in singles and the semifinals of doubles at the women's $80,000 tournament in Tyler to Saturday, with none of the matches scheduled for today getting on court for even one point.

The opportunity for their players to compete in professional tournaments without traveling is the reason that so many college campuses are hosting lower level USTA Pro Circuit events now and that has proven to be effective for both the University of Oklahoma and Florida State University this week, with each having two of the four semifinalists.

At the $15,000 men's tournament in Norman, unseeded Sooner sophomore Jordan Hasson of Israel defeated 2021 NCAA singles finalist and No. 3 seed Daniel Rodrigues(South Carolina) of Portugal 6-3, 6-4 in the quarterfinals and will face teammate Alex Martinez, the No. 6 seed, who defeated No. 2 seed Adrian Boitan(Baylor) of Romania 6-2, 6-1.  In the other semifinal, top seed Lucas Gerch(Oklahoma State) of Germany will play No. 7 seed Yuta Kikuchi(Cal) of Japan.

Seventeen-year-old Aidan Kim has reached the doubles final in Norman, with Oklahoma State freshman Alessio Basile of Belgium. They will play top seeds Tyler Zink(Oklahoma State) and George Goldhoff(Texas) in Saturday's final. 

At the $15,000 men's tournament in Tallahassee, No. 2 seed Alex Knaff, a former Florida State star from Luxembourg, defeated current FSU standout Antoine Cornut Chauvinc of France 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 and will play qualifier Phillip Henning(Georgia) of South Africa in the semifinals. Henning defeated Harvard recruit Cooper Williams 5-7, 6-3, 6-1 in the quarterfinals today. 

In the bottom half, University of Florida junior Will Grant reached his first Pro Circuit semifinal when Ryan Shane(Virginia) retired after losing the first set 6-3. He will play the other Seminole in the semifinals, junior Andreja Petrovic of Norway, a wild card, who beat Cash Hanzlik(Arizona State) 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-0. 

In the doubles final today, top seeds Abraham Asaba of Ghana and Jody Maginley of Antigua defeated unseeded Mateusz Terczynski of Poland and Ricardo Rodriguez-Pace of Venezuela 4-6, 6-2, 10-7. 

Semifinals Set at ITF J4 in South Carolina; Qualifier Blokhina Reaches Tyler $80K Quarterfinals; Top Seed Martin Ousted, Williams Advances at Tallahassee $15K; Five Americans in Las Vegas Challenger Quarterfinals

After plenty of upsets last week at the ITF J4 in Atlanta, this week's J4 in Lexington South Carolina has gone more to form, with seven of the eight semifinalists seeded players.

Top seed Andrew Delgado and No. 4 seed Eli Stephenson will meet in a blockbuster semifinal after both posted straight-sets wins in today's quarterfinals. Delgado, the champion last week in Atlanta, defeated Jimin Jung 7-6(4), 6-3, surrendering his first games of the week after two 6-0, 6-0 wins and a walkover. Stephenson, who reached the semifinals of the JB1 in Nicholasville earlier this month, defeated Rahul Sachdev 6-0, 6-2 today.

In the other boys semifinal, No. 15 seed Michael Kouame of France will face the only unseeded semifinalist in either singles draw, Paxton Pritchard, an 18-year-old four-star recruit from North Carolina.

Kouame defeated No. 5 seed Tygen Goldammer 7-5, 6-0 and Pritchard took out No. 2 seed Joseph Oyebog 7-5, 3-6, 6-2.

The semifinal in the top half of the girls draw will feature No. 7 seed Kayla Chung, the singles finalist and doubles champion last week in Atlanta, against No. 10 seed Allie Bittner. Chung defeated No. 16 seed Lily Pradkin 6-1, 6-1 and Bittner downed unseeded Trinetra Vijayakumar 6-4, 7-5. In the bottom half of the girls draw No. 3 seed Riley Crowder will take on No. 14 seed Emily Baek in another all-USA semifinal. Crowder defeated unseeded Georgia Cranford 7-6(4), 6-3 and Baek, who had beaten No. 2 seed Ece Gencer of Turkey in the third round, defeated No. 9 seed Addison Bowman 6-2 4-6, 7-5. 

Eighteen-year-old qualifier Alexis Blokhina, a freshman at Stanford, continued her impressive results this week at the $80,000 USTA women's Pro Circuit tournament in Tyler Texas, beating Emiliana Arango of Colombia 4-6, 7-6(4), ret. Next up for Blokhina is the 2020 Australian Open women's champion Sofia Kenin, who beat qualifier Ellen Perez(Georgia) of Australia 6-4, 6-4. In addition to Blokhina and Kenin, the other American quarterfinalists are Danielle Lao(USC) and Taylor Townsend, who, like Blokhina and Kenin, are unseeded.

Seventeen-year-old Cooper Williams, who reached the quarterfinals of a $15,000 men's USTA Pro Circuit for the first time last month in Fayetteville Arkansas, has done it again in his next appearance on the Pro Circuit this week at the $15,000 tournament in Tallahassee. The Harvard recruit defeated University of Miami fifth-year Dan Martin of Canada 6-4, 6-2 and will face qualifier Phillip Henning(Georgia) of South Africa Friday.

Florida State is hosting this week's tournament and three Seminoles have reached the quarterfinals, with wild card Andreja Petrovic, a junior from Norway, pulling off the upset of the day with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over top seed Andres Martin(Georgia Tech). Petrovic will face Arizona State newcomer Cash Hanzlik on Friday.

2021 FSU graduate Alex Naff of Luxembourg, the No. 2 seed, will take on Antoine Cornut Chauvinc of France, a junior at Florida State, for a spot in the semifinals.

University of Florida junior Will Grant will play 2015 NCAA champion Ryan Shane(Virginia) in the other quarterfinal.

The University of Oklahoma is hosting a $15,000 tournament in Norman and two Sooners on the current roster have advanced to the quarterfinals.

No. 6 seed Alex Martinez of Spain, an OU senior, will face former Baylor All-American Adrian Boitan of Romania, and unseeded sophomore Jordan Hasson will play No. 3 seed Daniel Rodrigues(South Carolina) of Portugal in the quarterfinals.

Oklahoma State senior Tyler Zink, the No. 5 seed and the only American remaining in the draw, will take on top seed Lucas Gerch of Germany, who is a former OSU Cowboy.

No. 7 seed Yuta Kikuchi(Cal) of Japan will face No. 4 seed Kareem Al Allaf(Iowa) of Syria in the other quarterfinal.

Five Americans will compete in the quarterfinals Friday at the ATP Challenger 80 in Las Vegas, with No. 2 seed Steve Johnson playing No. 5 seed Juan Pablo Ficovich of Argentina, No. 4 seed Stefan Kozlov facing Alexis Galarneau(NC State) of Canada, Brandon Holt(USC) meeting qualifier Tennys Sandgren(Tennessee) and Ernesto Escobedo playing China's Jerry Shang.

Stanford Freshman Blokhina Ends Brengle's 15-Match $60K Winning Streak; ITF JA Merida Acceptances; Williams Among Five Americans Advancing at Tallahassee $15K

In the course of winning titles at three $60,000 USTA Pro Circuit tournaments this fall, Madison Brengle had lost a grand total of two sets in her 15 victories. Today the 32-year-old from Delaware lost two sets in the first round of the $80,000 tournament in Tyler Texas, to Stanford freshman Alexis Blokhina, who earned a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory over the WTA's No. 51.

Blokhina, a qualifier, trailed 3-1 in both the second and third sets, but evened both sets at 3-3, then broke Brengle in the final game. The 18-year-old from Florida had never faced a WTA Top 100 player before today, with her previous best win coming this April when she beat Catherine Harrison(UCLA), then ranked 267, in an Orlando $25K.

Blokhina will play Emiliana Arango of Colombia in Thursday's second round. 

Brengle, seeded No. 2, wasn't alone as a top WTA player exiting in the first round. Taylor Townsend defeated top seed Kaia Kanepi of Estonia, ranked No. 29, 6-3, 6-4, Townsend's best win since she beat No. 4 Simona Halep at the US Open in 2019.

The acceptances for next month's Grade A in Merida Mexico were revealed today, with ten US girls and five US boys receiving entry into the main draw of the tournament, which takes place November 21-27.

The US girls: Clervie Ngounoue, Qavia Lopez, Tatum Evans, Kaitlin Quevedo, Mia Slama, Theadora Rabman, Ava Krug, Ahmani Guichard, Iva Jovic and Valeria Ray.  The US boys: Leanid Boika, Cooper Williams, Alexander Frusina, Yannik Rahman and Kaylan Bigun.

There are two ITF Top 10 girls--No. 2 Sofia Costoulas of Belgium and No. 9 Nikola Daubnerova of the Czech Republic--and two Top 10 boys--No. 1 Daniel Vallejo of Paraguay and No. 10 Gerard Campana Lee of Korea--entered, and the initial ranking cutoff for the girls was 109 and for the boys was 108.

There is a J1 the week before in Guadalajara Mexico, with similar fields, although Costoulas and Vallejo are not entered there.

Qualifier Alfredo Perez(Florida) pulled off a big upset last night at the ATP Challenger 80 in Las Vegas, defeating top seed Denis Kudla 6-4, 6-3 in the first round. The 25-year-old from Miami, who has yet to crack the ATP Top 500, got his first Challenger main draw win in Fairfield California two weeks ago. He will face 17-year-old Jerry Shang of China in the second round Thursday.

The two men's USTA Pro Circuit tournaments this week are $15,000 events on college campuses in Norman Oklahoma and Tallahassee Florida.

In Norman, only one American remains after today's completion of the first round: Tyler Zink, the Oklahoma State senior, who is the No. 5 seed. (correction: Gianni Ross(Virginia), who plays Zink Thursday, won his first round match Tuesday). Fourteen of the other 15 players remaining have college ties, including top seed Lucas Gerch(Oklahoma State) of Germany and No. 2 seed Adrian Boitan of Romania, the former Baylor star, who turned pro this summer.

In Tallahassee, five Americans have advanced to the second round, including 17-year-old Cooper Williams, who defeated No. 6 seed Mwendwa Mbithi 6-4, 6-1. Top seed Andres Martin(Georgia Tech) defeated wild card Learner Tien 6-3, 7-5, with Tien playing his first match since his first round defeat in the US Open Junior Championships seven weeks ago. Cash Hanzlik(Tyler JC/Arizona State) and qualifiers Marcus McDaniel(Georgia Tech) and Trent Bryde(Georgia) are the other US players making the second round. Expectations for Georgia this spring continue to rise, as Phillip Henning of South Africa also qualified and has moved into the second round with a 6-2, 6-1 win over No. 4 seed Blaise Bicknell(Tennessee) of Jamaica. 

ITA Division I Regional Results; National Fall Championship Fields Set; All Tyler $80K Qualifiers Current or Former Collegians; McNally Continues to Lead Women's Australian Open Wild Card Challenge

There is one match yet to be played in the ITA Division I Regional Championships, with University of Michigan teammates set to face off in the Midwest final Thursday in Ann Arbor, but with both the champion and the finalist earning entry into the ITA National Fall Championships, the result of that match is more for bragging rights in the Wolverine family.

Below are all the results from the 12 men's and 12 women's regionals in singles and doubles, with five women's regionals and seven men's regionals decided over the past six days. I've put the most recent results at the top, leaving in their dates to distinguish them from earlier regionals.

The ITA Cup wild card and the two ITA wild cards have yet to be announced. See John Parsons No-Ad No Problem blog for an easy to read table of the singles fields by region.

Two freshman, Stanford's Nishesh Basavareddy and Columbia's Michael Zheng, have earned their spots in the 32-player singles draws at the National Fall Championships next month.

Division I Regional Results:

MEN:

NORTHWEST Super Regional October 21-24
Singles:
Nishesh Basavareddy[1], Stanford d. Ryder Jackson[7], Cal 6-0, 6-3
Doubles:
Quinn Vandecasteele and Joshua Charlton[1], Oregon d. Mark Keki and Mate Voros, Sacramento State 6-2, 3-6, 10-8

SOUTHWEST October 20-24
Singles:
Peter Makk[5], Southern Cal d. Alexander Hoogmartens[3], UCLA 5-7, 6-1, 6-3
Doubles:
Stefan Dostanic and Bradley Frye[1], Southern Cal d. Daniel De Jonge and Tim Zeitvogel[5], Pepperdine 6-7(5), 5-7, 10-7

MIDWEST October 20-24
Singles:
Andrew Fenty[3], Michigan d. Gavin Young[6], Michigan 6-4, 7-6(6)
Doubles:
Gabriel Huber and Michael Minasyan[6], Wisconsin d. Andrew Fenty and Gavin Young[3], michigan 6-2, 7-6(4)

NORTHEAST Super Regional October 21-24
Singles:
Michael Zheng[6], Columbia d. Harris Walker[3], Harvard 5-7, 6-1, 6-4
Doubles:
Edoardo Graziani and Kevin Zhu[2], Penn d. Max Westphal and Theo Winegar[4], Columbia 5-7, 6-1, 10-8

ATLANTIC October 19-24
Singles:
Ryan Fishback[4], Virginia Tech d. Inaki Montes de la Torre[1], Virginia 1-0 ret.
Doubles:
Rayane Stable and Matisse Bobichon, Virginia Commonwealth d. Ryan Fishback and Alberto Orso[7], Virginia Tech 6-4, 7-6(1)

CAROLINA October 21-25
Singles:
Casey Hoole[17-32], South Carolina d. Dusan Milanovic[17-32], Presbyterian College 6-2, 6-2
Doubles:
Rafael Iziquierdo Luque and Joseph Wayand[9-16], NC State, d. Filippo Moroni and Juan Lopez De Azcona[9-16], Wake Forest 6-4, 6-4

SOUTHEAST October 20-24
Singles:
Blake Croyder[9], Georgia d. Antoine Cornut Chauvinc[7], Florida State 6-2, 1-6, 6-3
Doubles:
Nicolas Acevedo and Filip Krolo, Florida Atlantic d. Trent Bryde and Phillip Henning, Georgia 3-6, 7-6(2), 10-8

MOUNTAIN:

Singles:

Geronimo Busleiman[2], Utah d. David Cierny[4], Utah State 6-3, 6-3

Doubles:

Berk Bugarikj and Patrik Trhac[3], Utah d. Francisco Bascon and Matteo Masala, Idaho 4-6, 6-2, 10-3

TEXAS:

Singles:

Finn Bass[5-8], Baylor d. Pierce Rollins, Texas A&M 6-2, 6-2

Doubles:

Alan Magadan and Sebastian Rodriguez[5-8], UT-San Antonio d. Sander Jong and Lui Maxted[1],TCU 6-3 6-3

CENTRAL:

Singles:

Nathan Han, Oklahoma d. Kristof Minarik, Wichita State 5-7, 6-4, 6-1

Doubles:

Jordan Hasson and Mark Mandlik, Oklahoma d. Adrien Burdet and Alan Sau, Arkansas 0-6, 6-4, 10-6

OHIO VALLEY:

Singles:

Fabien Salle, Louisville d. Natan Rodrigues, Louisville 6-2, 6-3

Doubles:

Natan Rodrigues and Fabien Salle, Louisville d. David Mizrahi and Will Mayew, Louisville 6-1, 6-7(2), 10-4

SOUTHERN:

Singles:

Enzo Aguiard[16], Alabama d. Nemanja Malesevic[5], Mississippi State 6-4, 6-1

Doubles:

Stefan Latinovic and Nick Watson, d. John Hallquist Lithen and Simon Junk[6](Mississippi) 6-3, 4-6, 10-5

WOMEN:

SOUTHWEST: October 20-24

Singles:

Savannah Broadus[7], Pepperdine d. Kimmi Hance[9], UCLA 6-0, 6-3

Doubles:

Kimmi Hance and Elise Wagle[7], UCLA d. Savannah Broadus and Janice Tjen[1], Pepperdine 7-5, 2-6, 10-7

MIDWEST: October 20-25

Singles:

Jaedan Brown[3-4], Michigan d. Sydni Ratliff[3-4], Ohio State 4-6, 6-2, 7-6(4)

Doubles:

Kate Duong and Megan Heuser, Illinois d. Lily Jones and Julia Fliegner, Michigan 8-6

NORTHEAST Super Regional

Singles:

Daria Frayman[1], Princeton d. Maria Aguiar[5-8], Boston College 6-2, 1-6, 7-6(5)

Doubles:

Jamie Wei and Maiko Uchijima, Temple d. Shivani Amineni and Winta Tewolde, Columbia 6-0, 6-2

OHIO VALLEY October 19-24

Singles:

Elza Tomase[6], Tennessee d. Daria Kuczer[9], Tennessee 4-6, 7-5, 3-0 ret.

Doubles:

Carlota Molina and Elizabeth Stevens[2], Kentucky d. Eleonora Molinaro and Daria Kuczer[1], Tennessee walkover

ATLANTIC October 20-24

Singles:

Julia Adams[10], Virginia d. Elaine Chervinsky[5], Virginia 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 

Doubles:

Adel-Byanu Abidullina and Eliza Askarova, Delaware d. Mary Brumfield and Selma Cadar[5], Maryland 6-4, 7-6(6)

TEXAS:

Singles:

Malaika Rapolu[3], Texas d. Marlee Zein[1], Texas 6-4, 6-3

Doubles: 

Lauren Fulgenzi and Brandelyn Fulgenzi, Incarnate Word d. Metka Komac and Cristina Tiglea[4], Texas Tech 6-7(3), 6-3, 10-6

NORTHWEST:

Singles:

Alexandra Yepifanova[2] Stanford, d. Angelica Blake[3], Stanford 6-4, 4-6, 6-2

Doubles: 

Jessica Alsola and Katja Wiersholm[2], Cal d. Sally Pethybridge and Iva Zelic[7], Portland 6-2, 6-3

SOUTHERN:

Singles:

Anastasiya Komar[6], LSU d. Lillian Gabrielsen, Mississippi 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-1

Doubles:

Anastasiya Komar and Nikita Vishwase, LSU d. Maggie Cubitt and Mia Rabinowitz, LSU 7-5, 7-5

SOUTHEAST:

Singles:

Lea Ma[3], Georgia d. Carol Lee[1], Georgia Tech, 6-3, 4-6, 6-0

Doubles:

Carol Lee and Kate Sharabura[1], Georgia Tech d. Alicia Dudeney and Carly Briggs[7], Florida 6-4. 6-2

CAROLINA:

(two flights at this regional, so only winners shown advance to Fall Nationals)

Singles:

Chloe Beck[1], Duke, d. Emma Jackson[4], Duke 6-1, 6-4

Sarah Hamner [1], South Carolina d. Cameron Morra[2] Duke 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.

Doubles:

Carson Tanguilig and Fiona Crawley[3], North Carolina d. Karolina Bernakova and Ellie Coleman[2], Duke 6-3, 6-1

Anna Brylin and Brooke Killingworth[1], Wake Forest d. Chloe Beck and Cameron Morra[2], Duke 6-3, 6-2

CENTRAL:

Singles:

Carolina Gomez Alonso[18], Arkansas d. Julie Garcia Ruiz[20], Oklahoma 6-4, 6-3

Doubles:

Ange Oby Kajura and Chie Kezuka[2], Iowa State d. Anet Kosdel and Zoey Weil[12], Minnesota 6-3 6-2

MOUNTAIN:

Singles:

Taylor Melville, Denver d. Molly Helgesson, UNLV 6-3, 6-4

Doubles:

Katherine Jhang and Leonie Hoppe, New Mexico d. Yujia Huang and Emilee Astle, Brigham Young walkover

Qualifying concluded today at the $80,000 USTA women's Pro Circuit tournament in Tyler Texas, with all eight qualifiers either current or former collegians.

Those currently on rosters are Alexis Blokhina, the Stanford freshman, Alexandra Vecic, the Georgia freshman, NC State junior Abigail Rencheli and Texas junior Malaika Rapolu.

The other four qualifiers are Ellen Perez(Georgia), Maria Kozyreva(St. Mary's), Katarina Kozarov(Furman) and Allura Zamarripa(Texas). Zamarripa, the 2022 NCAA Team Most Outstanding Player who turned pro after her freshman year, picked up two big wins in qualifying. The 20-year-old left-hander, who has no WTA ranking, defeated WTA No. 664 Ganna Poznikhirenko of Ukraine in the first round 7-6(4), 6-4, and today took out WTA No. 379 Elena-Teodora Cadar of Romania 6-1, 6-0.

The top seed this week in Tyler is WTA No. 29 Kaia Kanepi of Estonia, with Madison Brengle, who has won the last three $60Ks in the US this fall, seeded No. 2. 

Wild cards were given to Maria Mateas(Duke), Sofia Kenin, Hina Inoue and Alana Smith(NC State).

This is the last week for the USTA's Australian Open Wild Card Challenge for women, with these the current standing entering the final week:

1. Caty McNally (No. 108) -- 189

2. Madison Brengle (No. 51) -- 161

3. Alycia Parks (No. 120) -- 126

4. Claire Liu (No. 60) -- 111

5. Peyton Stearns (No. 235) -- 100

 

There are 115 points available this week in Tyler, and McNally, Parks and Liu are not in the draw, so much can still change. Brengle and Liu are unlikely to need the wild card given their rankings.  NCAA champion Peyton Stearns'(Texas) chance for the wild card ended today, when she lost to Emiliana Arango of Colombia 6-4, 6-2 in the first round. There is also a WTA 125 in Mexico this week that counts for the Wild Card Challenge, with Parks, Eli Mandlik, Emma Navarro(Virginia) and Ashlyn Krueger still in the running there.

USTA's Men's Australian Open Wild Card Challenge Kicks Off at Las Vegas Challenger; Sancilio and Bhakta Earn ITF Junior Circuit Titles; Stone Ousts Top Seed at J4 in South Carolina; Pegula Claims WTA 1000 Title; US Davis Cup Team Announced

The ATP Challenger 80 this week in Las Vegas isn't part of the USTA Pro Circuit, but any results from this week's event will count toward the USTA's Australian Open Wild Card Challenge, which kicks off this week and extends through the week of November 14th. The best three results from this four-week period will decide the 2023 reciprocal wild card the USTA receives from Tennis Australia, and they are not confined to events in the United States, with any ATP points earned at the $25K level and above on hard courts or indoor carpets will count toward a player's total.

The qualifying was completed today in Las Vegas, and the main draw began, with four first round matches. Americans through to the main draw: Omni Kumar(Duke), Aidan Mayo, Tennys Sandgren(Tennessee) and wild card Alfredo Perez(Florida). TCU freshman Jack Pinnington Jones of Great Britain also advanced to the main draw.

Denis Kudla is the top seed, and will play Perez in the first round; Steve Johnson(USC) is the No. 2 seed.  Main draw wild cards went to Alexandr Cozbinov, a former UNLV star, Maxime Verboven, a junior on the UNLV team and Ohio State senior Cannon Kingsley. Verboven lost to Brandon Holt(USC) in the first round today 6-2, 6-2. Cozbinov will face 17-year-old Jerry Shang of China in the first round Tuesday.

I covered the ITF J4 Atlanta results on Saturday, but there were two other titles for American juniors aside from the four they claimed in Georgia. Fifteen-year-old Roman Sancilio, a five-star recruit from Virginia earned his first ITF Junior Circuit title at a J5 in Mexico last week. A qualifier playing in just his second ITF Junior tournament, Sancilio won nine matches over the eight days of the event, beating unseeded American John Patrick Popowich 7-5, 6-4 in the final. Sancilio and his partner Gray Kelley also reached the doubles final, so he played 14 matches over that eight-day span.

The other ITF junior title last week was in doubles, with Ria Bhakta winning the J3 in South Africa. Bhakta and her British partner Marelie Raath, the top seeds, defeated No. 3 seeds Flora Johnson of Great Britain and Miotisoa Rasendra Andrianantenaina of Madagascar 6-2, 7-6(5) in the final. It's the seventh ITF Junior Circuit doubles title for the 17-year-old Bhakta, but the first above the J4 level.

This week's ITF Junior Circuit tournament in the United States is a J4 in Lexington South Carolina and there has already been an major upset, with 13-year-old wild card Harper Stone defeating No. 1 seed Brianna Baldi in the first round 7-5, 6-1. Stone made the semifinals last week in Atlanta, her first ITF Junior Circuit tournament.

Atlanta champion Andrew Delgado is the top seed this week in Lexington, and he has advanced to the second round. Fourteen-year-old Joseph Oyebog is the No. 2 seed in the boys draw. 

Atlanta champion Cleo Hutchinson, the No. 5 seed this week in Lexington, has moved into the second round, as has No. 2 seed Ece Gencer of Turkey. 

Jessica Pegula won the WTA 1000 last night in Guadalajara Mexico, the second title of her career. The 28-year-old, who had already clinched her spot in the singles and doubles at the WTA Finals in Fort Worth next week, is up to a career-high of 3 in the WTA rankings. Coco Gauff is at a career-high of 4 and it's the first time since two Americans are in the Top 4 since Serena and Venus in 2010.

The USTA today announced the team for next month's Davis Cup final in Malaga Spain: Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul, Frances Tiafoe and Jack Sock. They will take on Italy in the quarterfinals early Thanksgiving morning in the United States. Italy's team is Matteo Berrettini, Lorenzo Musetti, Jannik Sinner, Fabio Fognini and Simon Bolelli. 

Texas $25K Titles for Hovde and Damm; Quevedo Earns Third $15K Championship; Three Former Junior Slam Champions Claim ATP Titles; Nakashima Qualifies Again for Next Gen Finals

Texas has been Liv Hovde's home for several years now, and it's obvious that the 16-year-old is comfortable there, demonstrated by her second USTA Pro Circuit title in the state today.

At the $25,000 tournament in Fort Worth, wild card Hovde defeated unseeded North Carolina freshman Reese Brantmeier 7-6(1), 6-4 for her first title at the $25K level. Hovde's first Pro Circuit title came in September, when the reigning girls Wimbledon champion won the $15,000 tournament in Lubbock. She will move into the WTA Top 500 for the first time when the points are added at the end of the month.

Martin Damm picked up his second $25,000 title of his career, both coming this year, at the $25,000 tournament in Harlingen Texas. The 19-year-old from Florida, seeded No. 5, defeated No. 7 seed and former ATP Top 20 player Bernard Tomic of Australia 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-4 in today's final and will move near his career-high ATP ranking of 461 when the points are added at the end of the month.

Sixteen-year-old Kaitlin Quevedo has gone 18-1 in ITF World Tennis Tour women's $15K tournaments since the US Open Junior Championships, added a third title to her resume with a nearly four-hour comeback victory in Colombia today over No. 4 seed and former University of Miami standout Sofia Sewing. The eighth-seeded Quevedo trailed 5-3 in the final set before winning the last four games of a three-hour and 42-minute 6-3, 6-7(6), 7-5 victory.

Bruno Kuzuhara lost in his first Pro Circuit final at the $15,000 tournament in Turkey, with unseeded Luca Tomasetto of Italy defeating the No. 7 seed 6-4, 6-1. 

At the $60,000 USTA women's Pro Circuit tournament in Macon Georgia, top seed Madison Brengle continued her domination of the post-US Open ITF competition in the United States, beating No. 2 seed Panna Udvardy of Hungary 6-3, 6-1. Brengle has now won three $60K titles since mid-September, with her only loss since then coming in the qualifying of the San Diego Open two weeks ago. Brengle didn't drop a set this week, and has lost only two, both in the previous two finals against Yue Yuan and Robin Montgomery. 

The results of the finals of the three ATP 250s in Europe were unusual in that all three champions were 22 years of age and younger, and all won junior slams in the past six years.

The youngest, 19-year-old Holger Rune of Denmark, the No. 7 seed, defeated top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece 6-4, 6-4 for the title in Stockholm, his second on the ATP Tour. Rune won the 2019 Roland Garros boys title, beating Damm and Toby Kodat in the semifinals and final. 

Twenty-year-old Lorenzo Musetti of Italy, who won the Australian Open boys title in 2019, won the title in Naples, beating No. 2 seed and compatriot Matteo Berrettini 7-6(5), 6-2. Musetti, the No. 4 seed this week, defeated Emilio Nava in the Australian boys final.

Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada won his second consecutive title following up his win in Florence last week with a championship in Antwerp. The 22-year-old defeated Sebastian Korda 6-3, 6-4 in today's final. Auger-Aliassime won the US Open boys title in 2016, beating Tsitsipas in the semifinals and Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia in the final. 

Three former collegians claimed doubles titles in Naples and Stockholm. Austin Krajicek(Texas A&M) and Croatia's Ivan Dodig won the title in Naples, with the top seeds beating No. 3 seeds John Peers(Middle Tenn/Baylor) and Matt Ebden of Australia 6-3, 1-6, 10-8.  In Stockholm, top seeds Jean-Julien Rojer(UCLA) of the Netherlands and Marcelo Arevalo(Tulsa) of El Salvador defeated Lloyd Glasspool(Texas) of Great Britain and Harri Heliovaara of Finland 6-3, 6-3 in the final.

If you don't follow the ATP doubles rankings closely, you might not be aware that seven of the Top 10 men, including the Top 3, played college tennis: Rajeev Ram(Illinois), Joe Salisbury(Memphis), Neal Skupski(LSU), Rojer, Arevalo, Michael Venus(LSU) and Tim Puetz(Auburn).

The ATP announced today that Brandon Nakashima(Virginia) has qualified for the Next Gen Finals in Milan Italy next month. It's the second year that the 21-year-old Nakashima has qualified for the 21-and-under tournament. Others who have qualified include Musetti, Rune, Jack Draper of Great Britain and Jiri Lehecka of the Czech Republic. 

Teens Brantmeier and Hovde to Meet for Fort Worth $25K Title; Quevedo and Kuzuhara Advance to $15K Finals; Delgado and Hutchinson Claim Atlanta J4 Titles; Pegula and Korda Reach WTA and ATP Finals

The highly anticipated Easter Bowl clash this spring between Liv Hovde and Reese Brantmeier didn't happen, with Hovde pulling out of singles at Indian Wells after winning the J1 in San Diego the week before. Brantmeier went on to reach the singles final, losing to Alexis Blokhina(Stanford) in the first of the two junior tournaments she's played all year. Hovde won the Easter Bowl doubles title, and then of course, went on to claim the Wimbledon girls championship three months later.

Tomorrow Hovde, who turns 17 on Tuesday, and Brantmeier, who turned 18 earlier this month, will play for the singles title at the $25,000 USTA Pro Circuit tournament in Fort Worth Texas, with Hovde looking for her second title on the Pro Circuit and Brantmeier, a freshman at North Carolina, her first. Brantmeier reached the final of a $25K in May, while Hovde's best results at that level was a semifinal earlier this month in Redding California, after her title at the Lubbock $15K in September.

In today's semifinals, wild card Hovde defeated USC freshman Madison Sieg 6-1, 7-6(4) and the unseeded Brantmeier downed No. 8 seed Ashley Lahey(Pepperdine) 6-2, 3-6, 6-1.

The doubles title in Fort Worth went to the unseeded team of Katarina Kozarov(Furman) of Serbia and Maria Kozyreva(St. Mary's) of Russia, who defeated top seeds Allura and Maribella Zamarripa(Texas) 6-4, 6-7(12), 10-7 in the final. 

Nineteen-year-old Martin Damm has reached his third $25K final of the year after a 6-3, 0-6, 6-4 semifinal victory over No. 3 seed Strong Kirchheimer(Northwestern) today at the $25,000 USTA Pro Circuit tournament in Harlingen Texas. Damm, the No. 5 seed, lost in the final at a $25K in the Czech Republic in May, and won the title at a $25K in the Dominican Republic in June.

He will face former ATP Top 20 player Bernard Tomic of Australia, after the No. 7 seed defeated No. 8 seed Andres Martin(Georgia Tech) 7-6(2), 6-3.

In doubles in Harlingen, Texas A&M teammates Trey Hilderbrand and Noah Schachter had to play two matches today, but they won both. After taking the semifinal over unseeded Kareem Al Allaf(Iowa) of Syria and Zeke Clark(Illinois) 7-6(4), 1-6, 10-5, the No. 2 seeds came back later in the day to defeat unseeded Adrian Oetzbach(Oklahoma/Pepperdine) of Germany and Sebastian Dominko(Notre Dame) of Slovenia 7-5, 7-5. It's their third title as a team, with the previous two coming this summer at $15Ks in Mexico. Hilderbrand has now won five doubles titles on the Pro Circuit, all since May.

The top two seeds will meet for the title at the women's $60,000 USTA Pro Circuit tournament in Macon Georgia, with No. 1 Madison Brengle facing No. 2 Panna Udvardy of Hungary. Brengle took out No. 4 seed Katie Volynets 6-2, 6-3 and Udvardy beat unseeded Thaisa Peretti of Brazil 7-5, 7-6(3) in today's semifinals.

As in the $25Ks in Texas, collegians took the doubles title today in Macon, with top seeds Christina Rosca(Vanderbilt) and Anna Rogers(NC State) defeating No. 3 seeds Brengle and Maria Mateas(Duke) 6-4, 6-4 in the final. 

American teenagers aren't just having success in Pro Circuit events in the the United States, with both Bruno Kuzuhara and Kaitlin Quevedo advancing to finals Sunday at $15,000 tournaments.

The 18-year-old Kuzuhara, who won the Australian Open boys singles and doubles titles this year, reached his first final on the ITF men's World Tennis Tour in Turkey. Seeded seventh, Kuzuhara defeated No. 6 seed Savva Polukhin of Russia 6-2, 6-1 in today's semifinal and will face unseeded Luca Tomasetto of Italy in the final.

The 16-year-old Quevedo, who has won two $15Ks in Mexico this fall, is through to the final in Colombia after defeating No. 6 seed Romina Ccuno of Peru 5-7, 6-2, 7-5. Quevedo, the No. 8 seed, will face former University of Miami standout Sofia Sewing, the No. 4 seed, after Sewing took out No. 2 seed Valeriya Strakhova of Ukraine 6-3, 7-5 in the semifinals today.

The ITF J4 in Atlanta concluded today with No. 12 seed Cleo Hutchinson and No. 4 seed Andrew Delgado claiming the singles titles. Hutchinson defeated fellow 15-year-old Kayla Chung 6-4, 6-4 and Delgado beat No. 8 seed Tygen Goldammer 6-2, 6-1. It's the third ITF Junior Circuit title for Hutchinson and the first for the 17-year-old Delgado.

Goldammer did get the better of Delgado in Friday's doubles final, with top seeds Goldammer and Kase Schinnerer defeating Delgado and his partner Andrew Ena, the No. 3 seeds, 6-3, 6-4. It's the first ITF Junior Circuit title for both the 17-year-old Goldammer and the 16-year-old Schinnerer. 

The girls doubles title went to the unseeded team of Chung and Kayla Schefke, who beat the unseeded team of Kenna Erickson and Ava Rodriguez 6-0, 6-4 in the final. It's the second ITF Junior Circuit doubles title for both Schefke and Chung, who won the J5 in McKinney Texas last month.

Jessica Pegula has advanced to the final of the WTA 1000 in Guadalajara Mexico, defeating Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 7-6(3), 6-1. She will play the winner of tonight's semifinal between Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic and Maria Sakkari of Greece. 

Sebastian Korda is through to his second consecutive ATP 250 final after defeating Dominic Thiem of Austria 6-7(4) 6-3, 7-6(4) in today's semifinal in Belgium. He will face No. 2 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada, who beat Richard Gasquet of France 7-6(2), 7-6(3). Korda and Auger-Aliassime have split their two meetings on the ATP tour; Auger-Aliassime won their only meeting on the ITF Junior Circuit.

Mackenzie McDonald lost in the ATP 250 semifinals in Naples today to No. 2 seed Matteo Berrettini of Italy 3-6, 7-6(2), 6-3.

My Article on Zampardo's North Carolina State Commitment; Lahey Halts Stearns' 12-Match Winning Streak, Three Teens Advance to Fort Worth $25K Semifinals; Brengle and Volynets Reach Semis at Macon $60K

Earlier this month at the ITF JB1 Pan American Closed, I had the opportunity to speak with Maddy Zampardo about her decision to commit to North Carolina State for the fall of 2023. Zampardo, a 17-year-old from Michigan, was a bit of an outlier in waiting until right before her senior year of high school to make her choice, and mentioned that the patience shown by Simon Earnshaw and his staff at NC State was an important factor in her decision. Here is my article, published today on the Tennis Recruiting Network, that explores some of the other reasons the six-footer from Grosse Pointe Woods selected the Wolfpack for her next phase of tennis development.

2022 NCAA singles champion Peyton Stearns had her winning streak snapped today at the $25,000 USTA women's Pro Circuit tournament in Fort Worth by 2018 NCAA singles finalist Ashley Lahey. No. 2 seed Stearns, who led Texas to two NCAA team titles in her two years in Austin, lost to Pepperdine graduate and No. 8 seed Lahey, who is still just 22 years old, 6-4, 6-4. Stearns, who had won the $25K in Austin Texas and the $25K in Florence South Carolina earlier this month, suffered her first loss of the month after 12 consecutive victories.

The other three semifinalists in Fort Worth are all teenagers.  Sixteen-year-old wild card Liv Hovde defeated St. Mary's Maria Kozyreva of Russia 6-2, 6-3 to reach her second consecutive semifinal at the $25K level. She will face 19-year-old USC freshman Madison Sieg, who took out top seed Hanna Chang 6-4, 6-4 to reach her second semifinal at a $25K. Hovde and Sieg met last year in the semifinals of the ITF JB1 Easter Bowl, with Hovde claiming a 6-0, 6-3 victory. Lahey's opponent in the semifinals is 18-year-old UNC freshman Reese Brantmeier, who came from behind to beat Rasheeda McAdoo(Georgia Tech) 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-2. As with the other two teens, Brantmeier is into a second semifinal at the $25K level this year.

At the men's $25,000 USTA Pro Circuit tournament in Harlingen Texas, 19-year-old Martin Damm advanced to Saturday's semifinals when he defeated top seed Charlie Broom(Darthmouth/Baylor) of Great Britain 7-5, 7-6(3). Damm will face No. 3 seed Strong Kirchheimer, who beat South Carolina junior Toby Samuel of Great Britain 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-3 in three hours and 24 minutes. 

The other semifinal will feature No. 8 seed Andres Martin of Georgia Tech, who beat No. 2 seed Zeke Clark(Illinois) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, and No. 7 seed Bernard Tomic, who ended the run of 17-year-old Kyle Kang 5-7, 6-1, 6-2.

At the women's $60,000 USTA Pro Circuit tournament in Macon Georgia, top seed Madison Brengle and No. 4 seed Katie Volynets will meet in the semifinals after both posted victories today. Brengle defeated No. 7 seed Taylor Townsend 6-3, 6-3 for her 13th consecutive win at the $60K level, with her only loss in the past four weeks coming in qualifying at the WTA 500 in San Diego. Volynets got by No. 5 seed Emma Navarro(Virginia) 6-3, 6-7(7), 6-3. The other singles semifinal will feature No. 2 seed Panna Udvardy and unseeded Thaisa Peretti of Brazil.

Three Americans are through to the semifinals in WTA and ATP events this week. At the WTA 1000 in Guadalajara Mexico, Jessica Pegula defeated Sloane Stephens 6-2, 6-2 in today's quarterfinals, and will meet Victoria Azarenka of Belarus for a place in the finals. Azarenka defeated Coco Gauff 7-6(2), 4-6, 6-3.

At the ATP 250 in Belgium, Sebastian Korda is through to the semifinals, where he will take on Dominic Thiem of Austria. At the ATP 250 in Italy, Mackenzie McDonald(UCLA) is through to his third ATP semifinal, and will face Matteo Berrettini of Italy Saturday.

Top Two Seeds Fall as Four Girls Age 15-and-under Reach Atlanta ITF J4 Semifinals; Kang, Brantmeier, Hovde and Sieg Advance at USTA Pro Circuit $25Ks in Texas; Voting for International Hall of Fame Underway

The semifinals are set at this week's ITF J4 in Atlanta, and the storyline in the girls final four is youth, youth and more youth. No. 12 seed Cleo Hutchinson, who is the only seed remaining in the girls draw, is 15 years old. A five-star recruit from California, Hutchinson defeated top seed Christasha McNeil, the 2022 USTA National 16s finalist, 6-3, 6-2 in today's quarterfinals. Hutchinson will face 13-year-old wild card Harper Stone, a blue chip who is playing in her first ITF Junior Circuit event, and so far has lost only eight games in her first four victories.

The other girls semifinal will feature 15-year-old Kayla Chung, a blue chip who reached the final of the J4 in Corpus Christi Texas a few weeks ago. Chung defeated unseeded Kenna Erickson 7-5, 6-4 to set up a meeting with 14-year-old qualifier Thea Latak. Latak defeated No. 2 seed Brianna Baldi 4-6, 6-3, 6-1. Latak, a five star who won the Easter Bowl 12s title in 2019, had been missing from junior competition all of 2021, so it's good to see her back and winning at the 16s and ITF level.

The boys semifinals in Atlanta will have much older participants, and three of the four are seeded. Top seed Santiago Padilla Cote of Mexico will face fellow 17-year-old Andrew Delgado, the No. 4 seed in the top half. Both are blue chips. In the bottom half, 17-year-old Tygen Goldammer will play unseeded 18-year-old Davis Taylor, with both five-star recruits.

Teenagers continue to have success of the USTA Pro Circuit, with two boys and three girls advancing to the quarterfinals at the two $25,000 tournaments in Texas.

At the men's tournament in Harlingen, unseeded 17-year-old Kyle Kang defeated Gianni Ross(Virginia) 7-5, 6-4 to reach his first quarterfinal at the $25,000 level. The US Open boys quarterfinalist will play former ATP Top 30 player Bernard Tomic of Australia, who is the No. 7 seed this week in Texas.

No. 5 seed Martin Damm, who turned 19 last month, will play top seed Charlie Broom(Dartmouth/Baylor) of Great Britain after defeating wild card Trey Hilderbrand(UCF/Texas A&M) 6-2, 7-6(3).

Other Americans advancing to the quarterfinals are No. 3 seed Strong Kirchheimer(Northwestern) and No. 8 seed Andres Martin(Georgia Tech) and No. 2 seed Zeke Clark(Illinois), who play each other in the quarterfinals.

At the women's tournament in Fort Worth, NCAA champion Peyton Stearns, the No. 2 seed, has kept her winning streak going, advancing to the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 6-3 victory of qualifier Martina Okalova(Tulsa) of Slovakia. Stearns will play No. 8 seed Ashley Lahey(Pepperdine) Friday. 

The teenagers advancing in Fort Worth are 16-year-old wild card Liv Hovde, who defeated Tiphanie Fiquet (Kentucky/Mississippi/TCU) of France 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-3; 18-year-old Reese Brantmeier(UNC), who reached the quarterfinals when Mel Krywoj(Baylor) of Argentina retired after losing the first set 7-6(3); 19-year-old USC freshman Madison Sieg defeated wild card Sara Daavettila(UNC) 7-6(5), 0-6, 6-4.  Hovde will play Maria Kozyreva(St. Marys), Brantmeier will take on Rasheeda McAdoo(Georgia Tech) and Sieg will face top seed Hanna Chang.

There are no more teens in the draw at the $60,000 women's tournament in Macon, but four Americans, all seeded, have advanced to the quarterfinals, all in the top half of the draw.  Top seed Madison Brengle will play No. 7 seed Taylor Townsend and No. 4 seed Katie Volynets will play No. 5 seed Emma Navarro(Virginia) for a place in the semifinals.

The fan voting for the International Hall of Fame began today and University of Florida standout Lisa Raymond is again on the ballot. The two-time NCAA singles champion is a former World No. 1 in doubles, with 79 pro titles and 11 majors: 6 in women's doubles and five in mixed doubles. Voting, which is done through this website, continues for the next ten days

Gauff Qualifies for WTA Finals in Singles and Doubles; Kang, Urhobo, Lincer, Brantmeier Advance in USTA Pro Circuit Events; Smaller Draws Coming to USTA 16s and 18s Summer Nationals

It's been almost four years since Coco Gauff played a junior event, going out on top with her title at the 2018 Orange Bowl, when she was 14 years old. But the 18-year-old is still eligible for junior events, so I wanted to highlight her latest accomplishment as she continues to move to new heights on the WTA Tour.

Today she qualified for the WTA Finals, which will be held at the end of this month in Fort Worth Texas, the youngest player to reach the elite year-ending tournament since Maria Sharapova in 2005. Now at a career-high  No. 7, Gauff joins Iga Swiatek, Ons Jabeur, Jessica Pegula and Caroline Garcia. Three more players will qualify, depending on their results this week at the WTA 1000 tournament in Guadalajara Mexico.

Gauff and Pegula have also qualified for the doubles competition at the WTA Finals, with both in the WTA Top 10 in singles and doubles. For a brief time recently Gauff was No. 1 in the WTA doubles rankings.

For more on Gauff's qualifying, see this article from the WTA.

Teenagers also had a good day on the USTA Pro Circuit, with four notable victories.

At the $25,000 men's tournament in Harlingen Texas, 17-year-old Kyle Kang defeated No. 4 seed Cannon Kingsley, a senior at Ohio State, 7-6(6), 6-4 to advance to a second round meeting Thursday with the 2022 NCAA Team Championships Most Outstanding Player Gianni Ross(Virginia). 

At the $60,000 women's tournament in Macon Georgia, 17-year-old Olivia Lincer of Poland advanced to the second round by beating former USC All-American Salma Ewing for the second day in a row. Lincer had beaten Ewing in the final round of qualifying 6-4, 7-5 on Tuesday; today, after Ewing had received entry as a lucky loser, Lincer won 2-6, 7-5, 6-0. She will play Thaisa Pedretti of Brazil in the second round.

Lucky loser Akasha Urhobo earned her first Pro Circuit victory above the $15,000 level today, with the 15-year-old Floridian defeating 35-year-old Dia Evtimova of Bulgaria 6-3, 6-1. Urhobo will face No. 7 seed Taylor Townsend Thursday.

At the $25,000 women's tournament in Fort Worth Texas, 18-year-old North Carolina freshman Reese Brantmeier defeated LSU junior and ITA All-American finalist Kylie Collins 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 to reach the second round. Brantmeier, who hadn't played since the San Diego Nationals in August, will face former Baylor star Mel Krywoj of Argentina.

The Kalamazoo draw boards will have fewer names next year

Although the details for entry and endorsements have yet to be finalized and probably won't be released for several months, the USTA is expected to announce a reduction in the draw size for the USTA 16s and 18s Clay Courts in July and the USTA 16s and 18s Nationals in August. Currently at 224 players, the draw size for those tournaments, the only ones that are that large, will return to 192 players in 2023.

Here's a brief history of the draw sizes at the Nationals, from the archives of the Kalamazoo Boys 16s and 18s.  In 1997, the draw size was expanded from 128 to 192. In 2014, it went back to 128, with a qualifying tournament, but that lasted just one year and returned to 192 for 2015 and 2016. In 2017 the number of players admitted grew to 224, which required a third site, as 31 courts were not enough for all the main draw and consolation matches played the first several days of the tournament. It has been at 224 now for five years, including 2022.

ITA Division I Regional Results; Three Teens Advance to Main Draw at Macon $60K; Hovde Beats No. 4 Seed at Fort Worth $25K; Harlingen $25K Sole Tournament on Men's Circuit

This past weekend (and into this week) marked the true start to the ITA Division I Regionals, although the women's Texas regional took place last month. These tournaments decide 24 of the 32 competitors in November's ITA National Fall Championships, with the finalists of each of the 12 regions receiving entry. The semifinalists at the All-American Championships receive four of the remaining eight spots, with the Milwaukee wild cards and the ITA Cup(small college) entrants leaving just two ITA wild card.

Seven of the 12 women's regionals have been held, and five of the men's 12 regionals are now complete. Those results, and the dates of the remaining regionals are below. Not all the draws showed seeding, but I have included those that do.

Division I Regional Results

Men
MOUNTAIN:
Singles:
Geronimo Busleiman[2], Utah d. David Cierny[4], Utah State 6-3, 6-3
Doubles:
Berk Bugarikj and Patrik Trhac[3], Utah d. Francisco Bascon and Matteo Masala, Idaho 4-6, 6-2, 10-3

TEXAS:
Singles:
Finn Bass[5-8], Baylor d. Pierce Rollins, Texas A&M 6-2, 6-2
Doubles:
Alan Magadan and Sebastian Rodriguez[5-8], UT-San Antonio d. Sander Jong and Lui Maxted[1],TCU 6-3 6-3

CENTRAL:
Singles:
Nathan Han, Oklahoma d. Kristof Minarik, Wichita State 5-7, 6-4, 6-1
Doubles:
Jordan Hasson and Mark Mandlik, Oklahoma d. Adrien Burdet and Alan Sau, Arkansas 0-6, 6-4, 10-6

OHIO VALLEY:
Singles:
Fabien Salle, Louisville d. Natan Rodrigues, Louisville 6-2, 6-3
Doubles:
Natan Rodrigues and Fabien Salle, Louisville d. David Mizrahi and Will Mayew, Louisville 6-1, 6-7(2), 10-4

SOUTHERN:
Singles:
Enzo Aguiard[16], Alabama d. Nemanja Malesevic[5], Mississippi State 6-4, 6-1
Doubles:
Stefan Latinovic and Nick Watson, d. John Hallquist Lithen and Simon Junk[6](Mississippi) 6-3, 4-6, 10-5

NORTHWEST: Super Regional October 21-24
SOUTHWEST: October 20-24
MIDWEST: October 20-24
NORTHEAST: Super Regional October 21-24
ATLANTIC: October 19-24
CAROLINA: October 21-25
SOUTHEAST: October 20-24
----------------------------------------------------------------

Women

TEXAS:

Singles:

Malaika Rapolu[3], Texas d. Marlee Zein[1], Texas 6-4, 6-3

Doubles: 

Lauren Fulgenzi and Brandelyn Fulgenzi, Incarnate Word d. Metka Komac and Cristina Tiglea[4], Texas Tech 6-7(3), 6-3, 10-6

NORTHWEST:

Singles:

Alexandra Yepifanova[4] Stanford, d. Angelica Blake[3], Stanford 6-4, 4-6, 6-2

Doubles: 

Jessica Alsola and Katja Wiersholm[2], Cal d. Sally Pethybridge and Iva Zelic[7], Portland 6-2, 6-3

SOUTHERN:

Singles:

Anastasiya Komar[6], LSU d. Lillian Gabrielsen, Mississippi 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-1

Doubles:

Anastasiya Komar and Nikita Vishwase, LSU d. Maggie Cubitt and Mia Rabinowitz, LSU 7-5, 7-5

SOUTHEAST:

Singles:

Lea Ma[3], Georgia d. Carol Lee[1], Georgia Tech, 6-3, 4-6, 6-0

Doubles:

Carol Lee and Kate Sharabura[1], Georgia Tech d. Alicia Dudeney and Carly Briggs[7], Florida 6-4. 6-2

CAROLINA:

Singles:

Chloe Beck[1], Duke, d. Emma Jackson[4], Duke, 6-1, 6-4

Sarah Hamner [1], South Carolina d. Cameron Morra[2], Duke 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.

Doubles:

Carson Tanguilig and Fiona Crawley[3], North Carolina d. Karolina Bernakova and Ellie Coleman[2], Duke 6-3, 6-1

Anna Brylin and Brooke Killingworth[1], Wake Forest d. Chloe Beck and Cameron Morra[2], Duke 6-3, 6-2

CENTRAL:

Singles:

Carolina Gomez Alonso[18], Arkansas d. Julie Garcia Ruiz[20], Oklahoma 6-4, 6-3

Doubles:

Ange Oby Kajura and Chie Kezuka[2, Iowa State d. Anet Kosdel and Zoey Weil[12], Minnesota 6-3 6-2

MOUNTAIN:

Singles:

Taylor Melville, Denver d. Molly Helgesson, UNLV 6-3, 6-4

Doubles:

Katherine Jhang and Leonie Hoppe, New Mexico d. Yujia Huang and Emilee Astle, Air Force walkover

SOUTHWEST: October 20-24

MIDWEST: October 20-25

NORTHEAST: Super Regional October 21-24

OHIO VALLEY: October 19-24

ATLANTIC: October 20-24

Usually when multiple teenagers advance to the main draw of a USTA women's Pro Circuit tournament, it's at the $25,000 level, but this week three players still eligible for competition on the ITF Junior Circuit have qualified for the main draw of the $60,000 tournament this week in Macon Georgia. 

Seventeen-year-old Olivia Lincer, who began representing Poland this summer, made the quarterfinals after qualifying last week at the $25,000 tournament in Florence South Carolina. She defeated USC All-American Salma Ewing 6-4, 7-5 in the final round of qualifying today in Macon, and they will meet again the first round, after Ewing made the main draw as a lucky loser. Eighteen-year-old Bianca Fernandez of Canada, the sister of 2021 US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez, defeated Shatoo Mohamad 6-2, 6-4 today to qualify; she will face Pepperdine senior Lisa Zaar of Sweden, also a qualifier. Another younger sibling of a prominent WTA player, Victoria Osuigwe, will play in her first main draw above the $25K level after beating Meisha Kendall-Woseley 6-2, 5-7, 10-3 in today's final round of qualifying. Osuigwe, who will be 16 in December, has won two main draw matches competing on the Pro Circuit.

Other Americans qualifying for the main draw are Alana Smith(NC State), Victoria Hu(Princeton) and Carolyn Ansari(Auburn). Akasha Urhobo also received a place in the main draw as a lucky loser.

Wild cards were given to Riley Crowder, a blue chip sophomore, Katrina Scott, the No. 6 seed, Anna Rogers(NC State) and Samantha Crawford. Madison Brengle is the top seed, with Panna Udvardy of Hungary the No. 2 seed. 

At this week's women's $25,000 tournament in Fort Worth Texas, Peyton Stearns(Texas) will attempt to claim her third straight title, with the 2022 NCAA champion seeded No. 2. Stearns is also fourth in the USTA's Australian Open Wild Card Challenge with 100 points, trailing Caty McNally(155), Alycia Parks(125) and Claire Liu(111). There are two more weeks in the women's competition. The men's Challenge starts next week.

The top seed in Fort Worth is Hanna Chang. Wild cards were given to TCU graduate student Mercedes Aristegui of Spain, Sara Daavettila(UNC), Maribella Zamarripa(Texas) and Liv Hovde. Hovde played her first round match today and defeated No. 4 seed Jana Kolodynska of Belarus 6-2, 6-7(4), 6-2. 

The only American qualifying for the main draw was Texas A&M sophomore Mary Stoiana, who beat Texas junior Charlotte Chavatipon 6-1, 6-1 in today's final round of qualifying.

North Carolina freshman Reese Brantmeier, who hasn't played any competitive tennis since the Girls Nationals in San Diego in August, is in the draw and will play LSU junior and All-American finalist Kylie Collins in the first round. 

The only men's USTA Pro Circuit event this week is a $25,000 tournament in Harlingen Texas. Rain today has pushed the completion of qualifying into this evening; so far Chad Kissell(Valparaiso) is the only American to qualify. All three wild cards (not sure why there isn't a fourth) went to Texas A&M players: Trey Hilderbrand, Noah Schachter and JC Roddick.

Charlie Broom(Dartmouth/Baylor) of Great Britain is the top seed; Zeke Clark(Illinois) is the No. 2 seed. Seventeen-year-old Kyle Kang, who hasn't played since making the quarterfinals at the US Open Junior Championships last month, will face No. 4 seed Cannon Kingsley(Ohio State) in the first round. 

Center Claims Both Titles for Second Straight Week at J4 in Dominican Republic, Doubles Titles for Eissa and Hance on ITF Junior Circuit; Atlanta J4 Underway; FSU Professor Seeks Research Assistants for Tennis Project; Could Ivy League Schools Start Offering Scholarships?

The ITF JA Osaka Mayor's Cup produced one American champion in boys doubles and a finalist in boys singles, but although those were the biggest events on the ITF Junior Circuit calendar last week, four other Americans captured one singles and three doubles titles.

Sixteen-year-old Olivia Center won both the singles and doubles titles two weeks ago at the J4 in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, her first on the ITF Junior Circuit. Last week, the left-hander from California repeated that impressive double, again at a J4 in the Dominican Republic, again unseeded in both draws, again partnering with Ginger Foster for the doubles title. Center, who has not dropped a set in her two singles titles the past two weeks, defeated No. 6 seed Sam Grosjean of France 6-4, 6-1 in the singles final. In the doubles final, Center and Foster defeated the unseeded team of Andrea De Bernardo of Venezuela and Daniela Rubio of Peru 6-2, 6-2.  

At the end of last month, Center's ITF Junior ranking was outside the Top 2000. After her past two weeks and four titles, she is now ranked 521.

At the J5 in Nicaragua, 17-year-old Aida Eissa won her first ITF Junior Circuit title in doubles, with Ece Gencer of Turkey. The top seeds defeated unseeded Gabriela Gomez of Spain and Charlotte Klein of Germany 6-1, 6-0 in the final. 

At the J4 in British Columbia, Keaton Hance won his first ITF Junior Circuit title in doubles, partnering with fellow 14-year-old Thijs Boogaard of the Netherlands. The unseeded pair defeated Adam Bojkovic and Canadian Emmett Potter, also unseeded, 6-4, 3-6, 10-8 in the final. 

Boogaard, who won the Les Petits As title in January and the European 14s championships this summer, also won the singles title, his first on the ITF Junior Circuit.

After a week off, the ITF Junior Circuit returned to the United States with a J4 underway now in Atlanta. The top two seeds in the boys draw are Santiago Padilla Cote of Mexico and Dylan Charlap. The top two seeds in the girls draw are Christasha McNeil and Brianna Baldi. All four are through to the second round after today's action.

Ryan Rodenberg, a professor at Florida State, recently tweeted about a opportunity available for two research assistants on a tennis-related study he is conducting. In case you missed that tweet, here is his synopsis and contact information. 

Starting Fall 2023, I am excited to offer up to two fully-funded PhD student positions for tennis-specific research. Current/former college and professional players are encouraged to apply.  All applicants must possess a college degree.  The positions would be full-time and in-person at Florida State University (FSU) in Tallahassee.  I have received FSU approval to pursue a major research project focused on how tennis interacts with math/statistics, physics, economics, and law.  For further details, please contact me.  My contact information is below: 

Ryan M. Rodenberg, JD/PhD

Professor

Florida State University                                                              

850-645-9535 (office)

rrodenberg@fsu.edu

It's really exciting to have tennis the subject of academic research, and I look forward to hearing more about the project as it gears up.

Ivy League schools are Division I, but they do not offer athletic scholarships. This Connecticut Post article looks at the expiration of the law that codified that anomaly and what it might mean for the Ivy League in the future. The article focuses on Yale and on basketball, but it does raise interesting points about the advantages and disadvantages of a student-athlete choosing to attend an Ivy League school, and that includes many junior tennis players.