My Article on Susanna Maltby's Commitment to UNC; Ethan Quinn Turns Pro; Eight Titles for US Juniors on ITF Circuit; Four American Men Advance at Wimbledon Qualifying, 13 US Women in Qualifying Tuesday

Earlier this month I spoke to Susanna Maltby about her commitment to the University of North Carolina for the fall of 2024, and although I knew she came from a tennis family (her maternal grandfather, who starred at Western Michigan, has a long history with the USTA Nationals and actually recruited me as a volunteer back in 2000), I had no idea it was the sport of choice for her father's side too. When you add Billie Jean King into the mix, it's no surprise that all the other sports she played growing up gradually became secondary. For more on how she handled the recruiting process, while taking the more traditional route of USTA competition and attending a regular high school, see my Tennis Recruiting Network article.

Ethan Quinn announced today that he will not be returning to Georgia for his final three years of eligibility. In conversations I've had with the 2023 NCAA singles champion while he was competing in junior tournaments, the 19-year-old from Fresno was always adamant that college tennis would be a part of his development path, but the goal was always professional tennis. After winning the ITA All-American championship last fall and the NCAA title this spring, it's not surprising that he will be moving on. So far, there has been no mention of any agreement with a management agency. Quinn's statement on his decision can be found in this article from georgiadogs.com. 

For the second week in a row, there was no ITF junior circuit event above the J200 level (and there is none this week either), with the next J300 the Wimbledon warmup in Roehampton the first week of July.

A player formerly representing the United States, Maya Joint, won the J200 in Germany, her second J200 title of the year.  The second-seeded Joint, a University of Texas recruit who now represents Australia, defeated unseeded Kristiana Sidorova of Russia 6-1, 6-1 in the final; she has now improved her ITF junior ranking to a career-high of 46.

There were eight titles for American juniors last week, four singles and four doubles, with 13-year-old Kristina Penickova taking one of each at the J60 in Tunisia. The No. 5 seed in singles, Penickova defeated No. 3 seed Maria Badache of Algeria 7-5, 6-3 for her first ITF Junior Circuit singles title. Kristina and twin sister Annika won their second doubles title on the ITF Junior Circuit, with the second-seeded pair defeating top seeds Hiba Heni of Tunisia and Marilouise Van Zyl of South Africa 6-0, 7-5 in the final. 

The other America titles at the J60 level were claimed in Salinas Ecuador. Fifteen-year-old Ligaya Murray, the No. 8 seed, defeated top seed Sahana Sanjeev 4-6, 6-2, 7-6(5) in an all-American girls singles final, for her first singles titles on the ITF Junior Circuit. The girls doubles title went to No. 4 seeds Nina Costalas and Susana Souhrada, who got a walkover in the all-American final from No. 2 seeds Murray and Kayla Moore. 

There were two J30 titles for boys last week, with both Sebastian Bielen and Andre Alcantara getting their first singles titles on the ITF Junior Circuit. The 14-year-old Bielen, the No. 6 seed, won the J30 in the Czech Republic, beating No. 3 seed Stepan Sklenicka of the Czech Republic 1-6, 6-3, 6-0 in the final. 

The 15-year-old Alcantara, the No. 6 seed at the J30 in Mexico, defeated unseeded Sebastian Arevalo of Mexico 6-1, 6-4 in the final.

At the J30 in Honduras, 17-year-old Julia Bedard won her third ITF Junior Circuit doubles title, all in Honduras, with partner Carlota Balseiro of Guatemala. The top seeds defeated No. 2 seeds Diva Bhatia of India and Fernanda Sandoval of Mexico 7-6(8), 6-3 in the final. 

At the J30 in Canada, No. 2 seeds Ireland O'Brien and Christasha McNeil won the doubles title, defeating the unseeded Canadian team of Payton Dith and Madeline Kroupetski 6-3, 7-5 in the final.

Four of the seven US men competing in Wimbledon qualifying reached the second round with wins today. Michael Mmoh[13] defeated Adrian Andreev of Bulgaria 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(4) and will play Dragos Madaras of Sweden in the second round Wednesday.

Aleks Kovacevic[14] defeated Andrea Collarini of Argentina 7-5, 6-3 and faces Jesper De Jong of the Netherlands next. Denis Kudla beat No. 26 seed Francesco Passaro of Italy 6-4, 6-4 to set up a second round match with Tung-Lin Wu of Taiwan. Two-time Kalamazoo 18s champion Zachary Svajda defeated Genaro Olivieri of Argentina 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 and will play Marc Polmans of Australia next.

The women play their first round qualifying matches Tuesday, with 13 Americans competing: Elli Mandlik[4], Taylor Townsend[9], Robin Montgomery, Coco Vandeweghe, Ashlyn Krueger[32], Katrina Scott, Ann Li, Liv Hovde[WC], Kayla Day[16], Emina Bektas(Michigan), Irina Falconi Hartman(Georgia Tech), Sofia Kenin[23] and Sachia Vickery.

Hovde, the 2022 Wimbledon girls champion, will face fellow teenager Diana Shnaider(NC State) of Russia, who is the No. 5 seed in qualifying, in the first round.

Tuesday's order of play is here. There is limited coverage of the Wimbledon qualifying available on ESPN+.