My Coverage of USTA Level 2 B14s Final; Close Matches But Just One Upset on Day One of D-I Men's Team Indoor; Kim Reaches Weston $15K Semis; Frodin and Chang Win Medford J30 Titles

For the second year in a row, I covered the USTA National Level 2 B14s finals at Grand Rapids Tennis and Fitness, which gives me a chance to get to know the games of some of boys who will be competing in Kalamazoo in a year or two, and to talk tennis with club owner Tom Walker, one of the top junior development coaches in the country. 

I had seen top seed Colin McPeek before--with his one-handed backhand he was bound to make an impression--but I had not seen No. 3 seed Safir Azam until yesterday. Although I saw plenty of matches the past six weeks via streaming, it was great to get back to live tennis, and I was able to see the latest innovations that Walker has introduced since last year.

The match report of the boys final and an explanation of the improved streaming operation at the club can be found in my article today at the Tennis Recruiting Network.

Photos of most of the boys still competing on the tournament's final day can be found here.

The first day of the men's Division I ITA National Team Indoor Championships concluded tonight with just one upset and that came early in the day, with No. 13 seed Georgia beating No. 6 seed South Carolina 4-3. Trent Bryde defeated Raphael Lambling 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 at line 3 to secure the much-needed win for the Bulldogs, who had dropped a 4-2 decision to Illinois on Wednesday at the same facility that hosts the Team Indoor, XS Tennis Village in Chicago.

The other 4-3 match was No. 5 Virginia's win over No. 12 Tennessee, with Ryan Goetz clinching the victory for the Cavaliers with a 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 decision over Emile Hudd at line 4.

Complete results are below. Saturday's schedule will feature TCU[3] v Georgia[13] at 9 am Central; Southern Cal[7] v Kentucky[2] at noon; Virginia[5] v Michigan[4] at 3:30 pm and Ohio State[1] v Texas[8] at 6:30 pm. Cracked Racquets will have coverage all day, with Alex Gruskin and Mike Cation providing commentary, at the CR YouTube Channel.

Division I Men's Team Indoor

Round of 16 results, February 17, 2023

TCU[3] 4, Baylor[14] 0

Doubles

1. Jake Fearnley and Luc Fomba(TCU) v Finn Bass and Juan Pablo Grassi Mazzuchi(BAY) 5-5, unfinished

2. Sander Jong and Jack Pinnington Jones(TCU) d. Tadeas Paroulek and Zsombor Velcz(BAY) 6-3

3. Sebastian Gorzny and Marcos Pedro Vives(TCU) d. Luc Koenig and Ethan Muza 6-3

Order of finish: 2, 1

Singles

1. Jake Fearnley(TCU) d. Tadeas Paroulek(BAY) 7-6(5), 6-4

2. Luc Fomba(TCU) d. Marko Miladinovic(BAY) 6-3, 7-6(3)

3. Jack Pinnington Jones(TCU) v Finn Bass(BAY) 3-6, 6-3, 5-2, unfinished

4. Sander Jong(TCU) d. Zsombor Velcz(BAY) 6-4, 6-2

5. Sebastian Gorzny(TCU) v Luc Koenig(BAY) 6-4, 3-6, 4-2, unfinished

6. Lui Maxted(TCU) v Juan Pablo Grassi Mazzuchi(BAY) 6-4, 3-6, 5-0, unfinished

Order of finish: 4, 2, 1

Georgia[13] 4, South Carolina[6] 3

Doubles

1. Toby Samuel and Connor Thomson(SCAR) d. Trent Bryde and Ethan Quinn(UGA) 6-4

2. Jake Beasley and James Story(SCAR) d. Teodor Giusca and Philip Henning(UGA) 7-6(2)

3. Casey Hoole and Raphael Lambing(SCAR) v Blake Croyder and Britton Johnston(UGA) 6-6, (5-4), unfinished

Order of finish: 1, 2

Singles

1. Toby Samuel(SCAR) d. Ethan Quinn(UGA) 6-3, 6-2

2. Connor Thomson(SCAR) d. Philip Henning(UGA) 6-2, 6-3

3. Trent Bryde(UGA) d. Raphael Lambling(SCAR) 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 

4. Blake Croyder(UGA) d. James Story(SCAR) 6-3, 7-6(5)

5. Teodor Giusca(UGA) d. Casey Hoole(SCAR)  6-3, 7-6(4)

6. Miguel Perez Pena(UGA) d. Jake Beasley(SCAR) 6-2, 6-1

Order of finish: 6, 1, 2, 5, 4, 3

Kentucky[2] 4,  Florida[15] 1

Doubles

1. Axel Nefve and Will Grant(FLA) d. Alafia Ayeni and Taha Baadi(UK) 6-4

2. Joshua Lapadat and JJ Mercer(UK) d. Tanapatt Nirundorn and Togan Tokac(FLA) 6-4

3. Liam Draxl and Jaden Weekes(UK) d. Nate Bonetto and Olek Orlikowski(FLA) 6-3

Order of finish: 1, 3, 2

Singles

1. Liam Draxl(UK) d. Axel Nefve(FLA) 6-0, 6-0

2. Alafia Ayeni(UK) v Will Grant(FLA) 6-7(3), 7-6(6), unfinished

3. Joshual Lapadat(UK) d. Jonah Braswell(FLA) 6-4, 6-1

4. Taha Baadi(UK) v Nate Bonetto(FLA) 5-7, 6-4, 1-1, unfinished

5. Togan Tokac(FLA) d. Jaden Weekes(UK) 4-6, 6-2, 6-3

6. Charlelie Cosnet(UK) d, Lukas Greif(FLA) 7-6(4), 6-3

Order of finish: 1, 3, 5, 6

Southern Cal[7] 4, North Carolina[10] 1

Doubles

1. Casey Kania and Ryan Seggerman(UNC) d. Stefan Dostanic and Bradley Frye(USC) 7-6(1)

2. Brian Cernoch and Benjamin Kittay(UNC) d. Wojciech Marek and Lodewijk Weststrate(USC) 6-4

3. Will Jansen and Karl Poling(UNC) v Peter Makk and Ryan Colby(USC) 6-5, unfinished

Order of finish: 1, 2

Singles

1. Stefan Dostanic(USC) d. Brian Cernoch(UNC) 6-1, 6-4

2. Peter Makk(USC) d. Ryan Seggerman(UNC) 1-6, 6-4, 6-4

3. Wojciech Marek(USC) d. Will Jansen (UNC) 6-1, 6-4

4. Karl Poling(UNC) v Bradley Frye(USC) 6-7(3), 6-2, unfinished

5. Ryan Colby(USC) d. Chris Li(UNC) 6-2, 6-4

6. Lodewijk Weststrate(USC) v Anjy Watane 7-6(3), 1-4, unfinished

Order of finish: 1, 3, 5, 2

Michigan[4] 4, Stanford[13] 2

Doubles

1. Arthur Fery and Nishesh Basavareddy(STAN) d. Andrew Fenty and Gavin Young(MICH) 6-4

2. Ondrej Styler and Patrick Maloney(MICH) d. Samir Banerjee and Neel Rajesh(STAN) 6-3

3. Aryan Chaudhary and Filip Kolasinski(STAN) d. Jacob Bickersteth and William Cooksey(MICH) 6-4 

Order of finish: 2, 1, 3

Singles

1. Arthur Fery(STAN) d. Andrew Fenty(MICH)  6-4, 7-6(6)

2. Patrick Maloney(MICH) d. Max Basing(STAN) 6-4, 6-3

3. Ondrej Styler(MICH) d. Samir  Banerjee(STAN) 7-5, 6-3

4. Gavin Young(MICH)d.v Basvareddy(STAN) 7-6(4), 6-2

5. Jocob Bickersteth(MICH) v Aryan Chaudhary(STAN) 7-6(2), 3-6, 5-2, unfinished

6. Will Cooksey(MICH) d. Filip Kolasinski(STAN) 3-6, 7-6(3), 6-4

Order of finish: 3, 2, 1, 4, 6

Virginia[5] 4, Tennessee[12] 3

Doubles

1. Chris Rodesch and Ryan Goetz(UVA) d. Johannus Monday and Pat Harper 6-4

2. Emile Hudd and Shunsuke Mitsui(TENN) d. Mans Dahlberg and Inaki Montes(UVA) 6-3

3. Blaise Bicknell and Angel Diaz(TENN) d. Alex Kiefer and Jeffrey von der Schulenburg 6-4

Order of finish: 2, 1, 3

1. Johannus Monday(TENN) d. Inaki Montes(UVA) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2

2. Chris Rodesch(UVA) d. Blaise Bicknell(TENN) 6-4, 6-4

3. Jeffrey von der Schulenburg(UVA) d. Shunsuke Mitsui 6-3, 6-3

4. Ryan Goetz(UVA) d. Emile Hudd(TENN) 6-4, 1-6, 6-3

5. Mans Dahlberg(UVA) d. Boris Kozlov(TENN) 6-1, 6-3

6. Angel Diaz(TENN) d. Doug Yaffa(UVA) 7-5, 6-2

Order of finish: 2, 3, 5, 6, 1, 4

Ohio State[1] 4,  Illinois[16] 0

Doubles

1. Andrew Lutschaunig and James Trotter(OSU) d. Oliver Okonkwo and Mathis Debru(ILL) 6-2

2. Karlis Ozolins and Hunter Heck(ILL) v Justin Boulais and Robert Cash(OSU) 5-2, unfinished

3. Cannon Kingsley and JJ Tracy(OSU) d. Gabe Guzauskas and Kenta Miyoshi(ILL) 6-2

Order of finish: 3, 1

Singles

1. Justin Boulais(OSU) v Karlis Ozolins(ILL) 6-4, 6-7(2), unfinished

2. Cannon Kingsley(OSU) v Hunter Heck(ILL) 6-4, 5-7, unfinished

3. JJ Tracy(OSU) d. Gabe Guzauskas(ILL) 6-3, 6-1

4. Will Mroz(ILL) v Alexander Bernard(OSU) 1-6, 6-2, 4-2, unfinished 

5. James Trotter(OSU) v Oliver Okonkwo(ILL) 6-2, 7-6(3)

6. Robert Cash(OSU) d. Nicolas Meister(ILL) 6-1, 7-5

Order of finish: 3, 6, 5

Texas[8] 4, Wake Forest[9] 0

Doubles

1. Eliot Spizzirri and Cleeve Harper(TEX) d. Juan Lopez and Filippo Moroni(WAKE) 6-4

2. Siem Woldeab and Pierre-Yves Bailly(TEX) d. Jurabek Karamov and Luciano Tacchi(WAKE) 6-3

3. Micah Braswell and Chih Chi Huang(TEX) v Matthew Thomson and Melios Efstathiou(WAKE) 4-4, unfinished

Order of finish: 1, 2

Singles

1. Eliot Spizzirri(TEX) v Melios Efstathiou(WAKE) 6-4, 5-2, unfinished

2. Pierre-Yves Bailly(TEX) v Filippo Moroni(WAKE) 6-4, 5-3, unfinished

3. Micah Braswell(TEX) d. Luciano Tacchi(WAKE) 6-4, 6-3

4. Siem Woldeab(TEX) v Jurabek Karimov(WAKE) 6-1, 3-6, 1-0, unfinished

5. Cleeve Harper(TEX) d. Matt Thomson(WAKE) 6-4, 6-2

6. Nevin Arimilli(TEX) d. Bozo Barun(WAKE) 6-3, 6-2

Order of finish: 3, 5, 6

Wild card Aidan Kim is through to his second USTA Pro circuit semifinal after defeating fellow 18-year-old Bruno Kuzuhara 6-3, 7-5 today at the $15,000 tournament in Weston Florida. Kim, who reached the semifinals of a $15,000 tournament in Fayetteville Arkansas last November, will play for a spot in his first Pro Circuit final against last week's $15K champion in Palm Coast Florida, Adrian Boitan of Romania. Boitan, an All-American at Baylor who turned pro last summer, defeated top seed Francisco Comesana of Argentina 6-3, 6-1 for his eighth consecutive victory.  In the other semifinal, No. 3 seed Christian Langmo(Miami) will face Federico Agustin Gomez of Argentina. Langmo ended the run of 18-year-old Georgia recruit Ignacio Buse of Peru with 6-0, 6-3 win in today's quarterfinals.

The finals were played today at the ITF J30 in Medford New Jersey with top seed Thea Frodin sweeping the girls titles and qualifier Jordan Chang winning his first ITF Junior Circuit title in boys singles.

Frodin, 14, defeated unseeded Eva Oxford 6-3, 6-3 in the singles final and is now 12-0 on the year in singles, after taking the J100 in Mexico at the beginning of the month. Frodin is also a perfect 9-0 in doubles matches this year, having won the title in Mexico and capturing another today, with Kayla Chung. The top seeds defeated unseeded Sophia Holod and Lauren Zhang 7-5, 7-5 in the final.

Chang, who won three qualifying matches with two of them ending in 12-10 and 10-6 match tiebreakers, didn't drop a set in the main draw this week, and today the 16-year-old from New York beat unseeded 14-year-old wild card Jack Secord 6-1, 6-3.

Top seeds Ian Mayhew and Stefan Regalia won the boys doubles title, beating Chang and his partner Mark Krupkin 6-2, 6-2 in the final.