Jovic Claims Second Straight ITF J300, Razeghi Wins First in Ecuador; Stearns and Knutson in Rome $60K Final; Kovacevic Advances to Cleveland Challenger Final; Shnaider Debuts for NC State on Busy D-I Saturday

Fifteen-year-old Iva Jovic won her second consecutive ITF J300 singles title today in Salinas Ecuador, while 16-year-old Alexander Razeghi earned his first at that level, both winning in straight sets over fellow Americans.

Jovic, the No. 3 seed, defeated No. 2 seed Kaitlin Quevedo 7-5, 6-2, while Razeghi took out top seed and fellow left-hander Kaylan Bigun 6-3, 6-0. Jovic, who had the option to play the Australian Open Junior Championships(as did Quevedo), chose to play this Central/South American swing instead and that has proven to be a productive decision. Razeghi, who had not reached a J300 semifinal before this week, should see a nice jump from his current ITF junior ranking of 70.

Both are also entered in next week's J300 in Colombia. 

Speaking of players who reaped rewards after opting out of a trip to Australia, Peyton Stearns is through to her first Pro Circuit final above the $25K level this week in Rome Georgia after a 7-6(3), 6-3 win over former University of Texas teammate Lulu Sun of Switzerland. Stearns, who had the ranking to play the Australian Open qualifying, chose instead to do an intense training block in Florida prior to her first full years as a WTA professional and is now 15-2 this year on the USTA Pro Circuit and on a nine-match winning streak after taking the title at the $25K in Orlando last week.

Stearns will face former Syracuse All-American Gabriela Knutson of the Czech Republic, who is having a breakout tournament in Rome. A qualifier, the 25-year-old beat Francesca Di Lorenzo(Ohio State) 5-7, 6-2, 6-1. Knutson also advanced to today's doubles final, but she and Mana Ayukawa of Japan lost to the unseeded counterparts Sun and Fanny Stollar of Hungary 6-3, 6-0.

Another former collegian will compete for the ATP Cleveland 75 Challenger title Sunday, with former Illinois All-American Aleks Kovacevic reaching his second Challenger final with a 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-3 win over top seed Emilio Gomez(USC) of Ecuador. The 24-year-old will face 23-year-old Yibing Wu of China, the No. 2 seed, who defeated Tennys Sandgren(Tennessee) 6-3, 6-2 in the other semifinal. Wu and Kovacevic met last year in a remarkable final at the Indianapolis Challenger,  with Wu earning a 6-7(10), 7-6(13), 6-3 victory.

The top two seeds met in today's doubles final, with No. 1 Robert Galloway(Wofford) and Mexico's Hans Hach Verdugo(Abilene Christian) defeating Ruben Gonzales(Illinois) of the Philippines and Reese Stalder(TCU) 3-6, 7-5, 10-6.

There was no lull in Division I tennis after last week's Kickoff Weekend, with a host of intriguing matches today. The most notable of those was the NC State women's match with Oklahoma, despite their current rankings of 10(NC State) and 15(Oklahoma). WTA No. 94 Diana Shnaider made her much-anticipated debut for the Wolfpack as they hosted the 2022 NCAA team finalists and won both her singles and doubles matches. Playing with Alana Smith, Shnaider's first action came at No. 1 doubles, with the NC State pair beating Ivana and Carmen Corley 6-2. Oklahoma took the doubles point with wins at lines 2 and 3, but it was all NC State in singles, with Shnaider beating Layne Sleeth 6-4, 6-0 at line 1 to draw NC State even, and Smith giving the Wolfpack the lead with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Carmen Corley. 

The next two NC State points were much harder to come by, but Amelia Rajecki beat Dana Guzman at line 3 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 and Abigail Rencheli clinched the win with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 victory over Emma Staker at line 4. 

With only four indoor courts in Raleigh, the final two matches went on later, but NC State won both of those in straight sets.

For more on the NC State-Oklahoma match, see this article from gopack.com.

Other notable women's results included No. 11 Ohio State's 4-0 win over No. 5 Georgia in Columbus; No. 12 Michigan's 6-1 win over No. 19 Oklahoma State; No. 23 Arizona State's 5-2 win over No. 17 San Diego and No. 1 Texas's 6-1 win over No. 24 Southern California. The match between No. 6 Stanford and No. 8 Pepperdine was rained out in Palo Alto after the Waves had claimed the doubles point.

In men's play at the USTA National Campus Saturday, No. 7 Southern California defeated No. 15 Florida 5-2, without Australian Open boys finalist Learner Tien in the lineup, and No. 13 Georgia defeated No. 16 Stanford 4-3. Stanford played without Nishesh Basavareddy, who has been struggling with a wrist injury after his sensational fall. Philip Henning clinched the win for Georgia at line 2, beating Max Basing 7-6(2), 3-6, 6-3. The Pac-12/SEC Challenge will continue Sunday, with Southern Cal playing Georgia and Florida taking on Stanford.

Sunday's biggest match begins at noon in Columbus, with No. 6 Texas at No. 2 Ohio State. Should the Buckeyes prevail, they are likely to ascend to the No. 1 ranking after current No. 1 Virginia's loss to Kentucky Friday night.

For results, as well as live streaming and live scoring links, see collegetennisranks.com.

The USA defeated host Uzbekistan 4-0 this weekend to advance to the Davis Cup's final group stage in September. The American team got wins from Tommy Paul and Mackenzie McDonald(UCLA) in singles, then clinched the victory with a doubles win by Rajeev Ram(Illinois) and Austin Krajicek(Texas A&M).