Eight US Women Advance to Second Round of Wimbledon Qualifying; Madison Sieg Turns Pro; Andres Martin Receives ATP Atlanta Wild Card; Irvine $15Ks Only Events on USTA Pro Circuit This Week

The first round of Wimbledon's women's qualifying produced eight American winners from the field of 13.

Those advancing to the second round Wednesday include a mix of veteran and young players. In the top half, Coco Vandeweghe defeated No. 20 seed Su Jeong Jang of Korea 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 and plays plays 19-year-old Barbora Palicova of the Czech Republic Wednesday. No. 4 seed Elli Mandlik defeated Elsa Jacquemot of France 7-5, 6-3 and will play Natalija Stevanovic of Serbia, and Ann Li beat Aleksandra Krunic of Serbia 6-1, 6-1 to set up a second round match against No. 27 seed Olivia Gadecki of Australia.

In the bottom half, No. 9 seed Taylor Townsend defeated Irina Bara of Romania 7-5, 6-2 and will play 19-year-old Noma Noha Akugue of Germany. Sofia Kenin won the only all-US first round match, beating former Georgia Tech All-American Irina Falconi Hartman 6-3, 6-2. Kenin will face Moyuka Uchijima of Japan in the second round. Robin Montgomery beat Magali Kempen of Belgium 6-4, 6-2 to advance to a meeting with No. 13 seed Greet Minnen of Belgium. No. 32 seed Ashlyn Krueger defeated Alice Robbe of France 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 and will play 18-year-old Celine Naef of Switzerland. No. 16 seed Kayla Day outlasted Lesley Pattinama Kerkhove of the Netherlands 7-5, 2-6, 7-6(4) and will face Su-Wei Hsieh of Taiwan.

Both 16-year-old phenoms advanced to the second round of qualifying, with Mirra Andreeva[7] defeating Rosa Vincens Mas of Spain 6-3, 6-1 and Brenda Fruhvirtova[28] beating fellow Czech teen Sara Bejlek 6-0, 7-5.

No. 5 seed Diana Shnaider(NC State) defeated 2022 Wimbledon girls champion Liv Hovde, a wild card, 7-5, 6-2, coming from 4-0 down in the first set to advance to the second round.

The men's second round is also scheduled for Wednesday; the matchups for the four American men remaining are in Monday's post. 

One day after Georgia freshman Ethan Quinn announced he was turning pro, University of Southern California freshman Maddy Seig did the same. The 20-year-old, who reached the NCAA singles and doubles semifinals last month in Lake Nona, has reached the final in two $25,000 ITF World Tennis Tour tournaments in Europe this month and now has a WTA ranking of 382. Sieg's statement on her decision can be found here. As with Georgia and Quinn, USC has some big shoes to fill at the No. 1 position for the 2023-24 season.

Speaking of Quinn, I was expecting that he would receive the collegiate main draw wild card that the ATP 250 in Atlanta awards each year, but it was announced today that Georgia Tech's Andres Martin would receive it for the second consecutive year. In past years, the wild card would often rotate between Georgia Tech's and Georgia's top players, but as Georgia Tech has begun to play a bigger role in the Atlanta Open, they obviously have increased their influence in selecting this wild card. Martin is an excellent player and won a round in the main draw as a wild card recipient last year, but I would have thought Quinn's NCAA title would have given him the nod this year. 

After two consecutive weeks featuring five USTA Pro Circuit tournaments, this week is downright barren, with only the $15,000 SoCal Pro Series events in Irvine on the schedule.

While qualifying is still going on, the draws are out, with Jia-Jing Lu of Chinam Haley Giavara(Cal) and Eryn Cayetano(USC) the top three seeds in the women's tournament. Wild cards were awarded to Christine Lutkemeyer(UCLA), Amelia Honer(UC-Santa Barbara), Nikki Redelijk(Pepperdine) and 16-year-old Cleo Hutchinson. 

Last week's champion Omni Kumar(Duke) is the top seed in the men's draw, with Alfredo Perez(Florida) No. 2 and wild card Tristan Boyer(Stanford) No. 3. The other wild cards were given to Noah Zamora(UC-Irvine), Maxwell McKennon(Arizona State) and New Mexico rising freshman Avery Tallakson.

Learner Tien, who lives in Irvine, is returning to competition after reaching the semifinals at the Roland Garros Junior Championships earlier this month. He is unseeded. 

While there are no other USTA Pro Circuit tournaments, several of the Americans who played here in the United States the past two or three weeks are in the Dominican Republic, with $25,000 tournaments there for both men and women.

Bernard Tomic of Australia is the top seed in the men's draw, with Nick Chappell, the finalist last week at the Tulsa $25K, the No. 2 seed and Martin Damm the No. 3 seed.

Carlota Martinez Cirez of Spain is the No. 1 seed in the women's draw, with Gergana Topalova of Bulgaria the No. 2 seed and Yuliia Starodubtseva(Old Dominion) of Ukraine seeded No. 3.