Top Seed Pacheco Needs Comeback to Advance, Seven of Top Eight Girls Seeds Reach Eddie Herr ITF Quarterfinals; Singles Semifinals, Doubles Finals Friday for Eddie Herr 12s, 14s and 16s Divisions; Orange Bowl Wild Cards

©Colette Lewis 2023--
Bradenton FL--

Thursday's third round of the Eddie Herr ITF J300 featured just two three-set matches, with boys top seed Rodrigo Pacheco Mendez of Mexico and girls No. 3 seed Alena Kovackova rebounding from the loss of the first set to advance to Friday's quarterfinals.

No. 16 seed Mia Slama, who recently signed a National Letter of Intent to attend North Carolina State next fall, took the first set from the 15-year-old from the Czech Republic, but Kovackova, who reached the semifinals last week at the J500 in Merida Mexico, came back to post a 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory.

While Kovackova, who was a member of the Czech Junior Billie Jean King Cup team that finished runner-up to the United States earlier this month in Spain, has years of ITF Junior Circuit competition ahead of her, Pacheco is playing the final tournament of his junior career.

Pacheco's goal in competing here, after winning the J300 in Zapopan Mexico two weeks ago and repeating as the Merida J500 champion Sunday, is to secure the year-end ITF No. 1 junior ranking, which he will do if the 18-year-old wins the tournament. Not only could each match be the last of his junior career, but the pressure of falling short of the goal was evident in the first set of his 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory over No. 15 seed Danil Panarin of Russia.

Panarin and Pacheco met in the Zapopan final, with Pacheco taking a 7-5, 7-6(2) decision, so Pacheco was prepared for a battle, especially on the IMG Academy Courts, where Panarin trains.

Frustrated by his own sloppy play, Pacheco was berating himself loudly and often in Spanish at the end of the first set, but finally began to relax after breaking Panarin to open the second set. 

"I didn't play my best, but the other guy just played much better than me," Pacheco said. "I started to feel a bit tired after all the matches I've been through, but I competed pretty well and I could fix the things that wasn't that good in the first set."

Panarin, who will be joining the Vanderbilt men's team in January, saw his level dip in the second set, and at one point at the end of the second set and the start of the third, he lost 10 of 11 points. Down an early break in the third, Panarin could have mentally conceded, but he did not, and although Pacheco continued to use his forehand well and stopped making errors, Panarin did get his chance to break back with Pacheco serving at 3-2. Facing what turned out to be his only break point of the set, Pacheco got a bit of luck with a net cord ace, and after two more deuces, he had kept his lead.

"It was so tough at the end, I just made a couple of more points than him," Pacheco said. "But it was a good third set, so I'm happy about that."

Pacheco didn't drop a point in his next service game for a 5-3 lead, but after Panarin held easily to make it 5-4, the pressure was back on. He built a 40-15 lead, but couldn't convert his two match points, with a wild backhand error on the first and another backhand error, this one forced, on the second. Panarin tried an ill-conceived drop shot on the next point which Pacheco easily swatted away and a great first serve on match point number three kept alive his quest for World Junior No. 1. 

Pacheco will face No. 11 seed Reda Bennani of Morocco, who ended the run of qualifier Thanaphat Boosarawongse of Thailand 6-3, 6-4.

Three unseeded boys have advanced to the quarterfinals and one will reach the semifinals, with University of Kentucky signee Thomas Faurel of France facing Luca Preda of Romania. Faurel defeated No. 13 seed Viktor Frydrych of Great Britain 6-1, 6-0 and Preda beat 15-year-old Ivan Ivanov of Bulgari 6-3, 6-3.

The third unseeded boys in the quarterfinals is Theo Papamalamis of France, who defeated No. 4 seed Alexander Frusina, the last American in the boys draw, 6-2, 6-1. 

Seven of the top eight seeds have advanced to the girls quarterfinals, with Americans Tyra Grant, the No. 4 seed, and Iva Jovic, the No. 2 seed, still in contention. Grant defeated No. 14 seed Emily Sartz-Lunde of Norway 6-2, 6-3 and Jovic earned a quick 6-3, 6-1 win over unseeded Mika Stojsavljevic of Great Britain. 

The ITF doubles semifinals are Friday, with the same theme as the singles. The boys have three unseeded teams, with the only seeds No. 6 Timofey Derepasko and Daniil Sarksian of Russia. Derepasko and Sarksian defeated top seeds Pacheco Mendez and Iliyan Radulov of Bulgari 4-6, 7-5 10-8. Kaylan Bigun and Jagger Leach, the only American boys still in contention for an Eddie Herr ITF title, defeated No. 4 seeds and Merida J500 champions Eriksson and Maxim Mrva of the Czech Republic 6-3, 7-5 and will play unseeded Atakan Karahan of Turkey and Hoyoung Roh of Korea. Karahan and Roh defeated No. 5 seeds Charlie Camus of Australia and Charlie Robertson of Great Britain 4-6 6-3, 12-10.

All four girls doubles teams are seeded, with No. 1 seeds Grant and Jovic advancing to the semifinals with a 3-6, 6-1, 10-7 win over unseed Noemi Basiletti of Italy and Anna Puls of Germany. They will play No. 5 seeds Yoana Konstantinova of Bulgaria and Kostovic, who beat No. 3 seed Rositsa Dencheva and Elizara Yaneva of Bulgaria 6-3, 6-4.

Eddie Herr ITF quarterfinals Friday:

Laura Samsonova[1](CZE) v Wakana Sonobe[6](JPN)

Tyra Grant[4](USA) v Iva Ivanova[8](BUL)

Teodora Kostovic[5](SRB) v Alena Kovackova[3](CZE)

Alisa Oktiabreva[10](RUS) v Iva Jovic[2](USA)

Rodrigo Pacheco Mendez[1](MEX) v Reda Bennani[11](MAR)

Thomas Faurel(FRA) v Luca Preda(ROU)

Maxim Mrva[8](CZE) v Theo Papmalamis(FRA)

Sebastian Eriksson[10](SWE) v Iliyan Radulov[2](BUL)

The 12s, 14s and 16s age divisions will play their semifinals Friday, with Thursday's quarterfinal results below. 

B12s

Xiaohan Jiang(CHN) d. Luke Jones[7](USA) 6-3, 7-5

Thamma Kosiri[3](THA) d. Kazuki Nakajima(JPN) 6-2, 7-6(5)

Jang Junseo[4](KOR) d. Haruto Tamaki[WC](JPN) 6-0, 6-1 

Geonho Kim(KOR) d. Nanato Agui[WC](JPN) 6-2, 6-1 

G12s

Caroline Shao[1](USA) d.  Sofiia Bielinska[8](UKR) 7-5, 0-6, 10-8

Adriana Khomyakova[6](USA) d. Nikol Davletshina[3](USA) 7-6(4), 6-4 

Yui Watanabe[5](USA) d. Yerin Lee[11](KOR) 6-4, 6-1

Paweenon Nualsri[2](THA) d. Audrey Dussault[10](USA) 6-4, 6-4

B14s

Michael Antonius[1](USA) d. Kaan Isik Kosaner[10](TUR) 6-3, 6-3

Andrew Johnson[3](USA) d. Jordan Lee[6] 6-3, 6-2

Matei Victor Chelemen(ROU) v Jerrid Gaines[4](USA) 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(5)

Samim Filiz(ECU) d. Achyuth Binu(USA) 6-3, 6-0

G14s

Yeri Hong(KOR) d. Reagan Levine[9](USA) 6-0, 6-4

Charlie Celebrini[4](USA) d. Renee Alame[16](AUS) 6-3, 6-4

Giulia Safina Popa(ROU) d. Chukwumelije Clarke[5](USA) 6-1, 6-2 

Joyce Geng[14](CAN) d. Ariana Ikwueme[6](USA) 6-1, 6-1 

B16s

Jack Satterfield[1](USA) d. Jeremiah Braswell(USA) 3-6, 6-2, 6-3

Ryan Cozad[3](USA) d. Keaton Hance[5](USA) 6-3, 6-0

Nischal Spurling[6](USA) d.  Benjamin Saltman[4](USA) 6-2, 6-3

Jack Secord[2](USA) d. Wenbo Bai(CHN) 6-1, 6-3 

G16s

Annika Penickova[1][WC](USA) d. Ishika Ashar[5](USA) 6-3, 1-6, 6-2

Katerina Shabashkevich[8](USA) d. Alisa Ozgun[9](USA) 6-3, 6-0

Ava Rodriguez[7](USA) d. Sara Shumate(USA) 6-2, 6-0

Kristina Penickova[2][WC](USA) d. Kayla Moore[6](USA) 6-2, 6-2

The doubles finals are Friday afternoon after two rounds of doubles were played Thursday. See the USTA/Eddie Herr website for those results.

Qualifying for the Orange Bowl 16s begins tomorrow at the Veltri Tennis Center in Plantation Florida, with the draws and order of play available here.

The current Orange Bowl wild card list is as follows, but be advised that changes are likely before play begins Sunday/Monday.

Boys 16s main draw:

Ajinkya Karnatki

Adrian Treacy

Connor Plunkett

Jeremiah Braswell

Abraham Rosett

Jordan Lee

Girls 16s main draw:

Sena Yoon

Berklie Simmering

Abigail Lee

Catherine Rennard

Lillian Santos

Sara Shumate

ITF J500 Qualifying:

Boys:

Nathan Blokhin

Lachlan Gaskell

Krish Arora

Girls:

Thea Latak

Claire Hill

ITF J500 Main Draw:

Boys:

Stiles Brockett

Noah Johnston

Calvin Baierl

Mitchell Lee

Girls:

Monika Ekstrand

Valerie Glozman

Mia Yamakita  

Alexis Nguyen  

Elizabeth Ionescu

Capucine Jauffret

Boosarawongse One of Two Qualifiers to Advance to Eddie Herr ITF J300 Round of 16; Quarterfinals Set for 12s, 14s and 16s Divisions; Championship Results of USTA National Indoors

©Colette Lewis 2023--
Bradenton FL--

With half the seeds already eliminated from the boys field this week at the Eddie Herr ITF J300, it's not surprising that two of the 16 players remaining would be qualifiers. Thursday's boys third round action will feature just one match as projected by the seeds, when top seed Rodrigo Pacheco Mendez of Mexico takes on No. 15 seed Danil Panarin of Russia in a rematch of the final at the J300 in Zapopan Mexico two weeks ago.

The other seven boys matches Thursday will feature at least one unseeded player, including qualifier Thanaphat Boosarawongse of Thailand, who will face No. 11 seed Reda Bennani of Morocco after defeating unseeded Keegan Rice of Canada 7-6(3), 1-6, 6-0.

Today's win was the fifth in five days for the 17-year-old Boosarawongse, who saved three match points in his 1-6, 7-5, 11-9 second round qualifying match with Ian Mayew.

"It was a crazy match, I was down 6-1, 2-0 and then 9-6 three match points down," said Boosarawongse, who recently committed to Columbia for the fall of 2024. "So now I'm just playing, just enjoying it."

Boosarawongse recently changed racquets, from the Yonex VCORE to the EZONE, and cites the new racquet as a reason for his recent success. 

"I was wondering for a while, hey, why aren't my shots really going, I can't really get control of the ball, but now that I've changed, it's a different sport, honestly," Boosarawongse said. "I have a lot more control of the ball, and when you have control of the ball, you have control of yourself. I'm calmer on the court, more composed, and I'm thinking. Sometimes you don't expect certain things to change you, but it just does, and you just take it."

In his match with Rice, the last singles match to finish due to Gloria Nahum's 7-6(6), 6-4 win over Victoria Osuigwe running three hours and 15 minutes in the first match of the day, Boosarawongse had ample opportunities to lose his composure, but refused to do so.

"I was up 5-3 in the first set and I couldn't close it out in my service game," Boosarawongse said. "Maybe six, seven months ago, if I had gotten broken at 5-3, I might have panicked, thought what's going on?, but instead I stayed patient, I stayed calm and I took it in a tiebreak instead."

Dropping the second set so decisively also didn't alarm Boosarawongse.

"He played a much better set obviously and the balls slowed down a lot, and I was on the passive side," Boosarawongse said. "In the third set, I just told myself, stay aggressive, be aggressive, you have to dictate, because win or lose, you're in control."

Boosarawongse got an early break and then after a long game with Rice serving at 0-3, broke again and held for a 5-0 lead. Eighteen-year-old Jerry Shang, currently 184 in the ATP rankings, was supporting Boosarawongse, a fellow IMG Academy student and training partner, as he navigated those final three games.

"It's a privilege to hit with Jerry, he's an unbelievable player and an unbelievable guy," said Boosarawongse, who has trained at IMG for more than four years. "And he's my good friend too. He's playing really good, but he's still supporting us, hanging out with us."

Boosarawongse admitted to some fatigue from the qualifying, but the cool weather and the day off Monday did help.

"I've kept my attitude good, even if I'm physically a little bit tired," Boosarawongse said. "But I got through it, and now it's time for recovery to keep on going for the next days."

The other boys qualifier to advance is 15-year-old Jacopo Vasami of Italy, who defeated Jagger Leach 6-4, 6-7(0), 6-4. Vasami, who was also on the precipice of defeat in the second round of qualifying before beating Kerem Yilmaz of Turkey 3-6, 7-5, 12-10, had a challenging final game today, serving at 5-4 in the third.

The left-hander, who turns 16 next month, got all his first serves in and hit three winners to build a 40-15 lead, but Leach continued to hit out in those match points, forcing errors after fierce rallies to get it to deuce. But another forehand winner gave Vasami a third match point and he converted it with a good first serve that Leach couldn't handle. Vasami will face No. 8 seed Maxim Mrva of the Czech Republic, who defeated Atakan Karahan of Turkey 6-2, 6-3.

With losses by Leach, Cooper Woestendick, Joseph Oyebog, Andrew Delgado and Jack Kennedy, No. 4 seed Alex Frusina is the only American advancing to the third round.

Last week's Merida J500 finalist Max Schoenhaus of Germany and No. 16 seed Daniil Sarksian of Russia engaged in a prolonged battle before Schoenhaus and his one-handed backhand came out on top 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-6(4).

The girls third round features 14 of the 16 seeds, with just one seed falling in today's second round. Elena Bertea of Romania defeated No. 9 seed Luna Maria Cinalli of Argentina 7-6(0), 6-4 at the Legacy Courts.

Four Americans remain in the girls draw: No. 13 seed Alanis Hamilton, who plays top seed Laura Samsonova of the Czech Republic Thursday, No. 4 seed Tyra Grant, who plays No. 14 seed Emily Sartz-Lunde of Norway, No. 16 seed Mia Slama, who plays No. 3 seed Alena Kovackova of the Czech Republic and No. 2 seed Iva Jovic, who plays unseeded Mia Stojsavljevic of Great Britain.

The 12s, 14s and 16s divisions played their third round singles matches today, with the quarterfinals set for Thursday.

Top seed in the girls 14s, Nancy Lee of the United States, lost to the 2022 girls 12s champion Yeri Hong of Korea 6-0, 4-6, 7-5.  Three Japanese boys, all of them unseeded, have advanced to the boys 12s quarterfinals, and an American champion is already guaranteed in the girls 16s, with all eight quarterfinalists from the United States.

Times for Thursday's quarterfinals can be found here.

B12s

Xiaohan Jiang(CHN) v Luke Jones[7](USA)

Thamma Kosiri[3](USA) v Kazuki Nakajima(JPN)

Haruto Tamaki[WC](JPN) v Jang Junseo[4](KOR)

Nanato Agui[WC}(JPN) v Geonho Kim(KOR)

G12s

Caroline Shao[1](USA) v Sofiia Bielinska[8](UKR)

Nikol Davletshina[3](USA) v Adriana Khomyakova[6](USA)

Yui Watanabe[5](USA) v Yerin Lee[11](KOR)

Audrey Dussault[10](USA) v Paweenon Nualsri[2](THA)

B14s

Michael Antonius[1](USA) v Kaan Isik Kosaner[10](TUR)

Andrew Johnson[3](USA) v Jordan Lee[6](USA)

Matei Victor Chelemen(ROU) v Jerrid Gaines[4](USA)

Samim Filiz(ECU) v Achyuth Binu(USA)

G14s

Yeri Hong(KOR) v Reagan Levine[9](USA)

Charlie Celebrini[4](USA) v Renee Alame[16](AUS)

Chukwumelije Clarke[5](USA) v Giulia Safina Popa(ROU)

Ariana Ikwueme[6](USA) v Joyce Geng[14](CAN)

B16s

Jack Satterfield[1](USA) v Jeremiah Braswell(USA)

Ryan Cozad[3](USA) v Keaton Hance[5](USA)

Nischal Spurling[6](USA) v Benjamin Saltman[4](USA)

Wenbo Bai(CHN) v Jack Secord[2](USA)

G16s

Annika Penickova[1](USA) v Ishika Ashar[5](USA)

Alisa Ozgun[9](USA) v Katerina Shabashkevich[8](USA)

Ava Rodriguez[7](USA) v Sara Shumate(USA)

Kayla Moore[6](USA) v Kristina Penickova[2](USA)

The USTA National Indoor Championships concluded on Monday, with the results of the singles and doubles finals below. Tennis Recruiting Network has a post of results that includes links to the TRN profiles of the finalists here. Full draws are available by clicking on the headers.

Boys 18s, Overland Park Kansas

Singles:

Mark Krupkin[7] d. Jimin Jung 6-3, 6-2

Doubles:

Mitchell Shelton and Nolan Balthazor d. John Cross and Kosei Ogata 8-4

Boys 16s, Chicago Illinois

Singles:

Drew Fishback[3] d. Gregory Bernadsky[14] 6-4, 6-2

Doubles:

Nicholas Patrick and Drew Fishback[1] d. Gus Grumet and Lukas Phimvongsa[2] 8-5

Boys 14s, Chicago Illinois

Singles:

Safir Azam[1] d. Rafael Lopez[4] 7-5, 6-4

Doubles:

Rowan Qalbani and Izyan Ahmad d. Rafael Lopez and Keshav Muthuvel 9-7

Boys 12s, New York New York

Singles:

Smyan Thuta d. Andres Quijada 6-1, 6-2

Doubles:

Sebastian Zavala and Andres Quijada[6] d. Vallab Kumar and Aidan Wu[2]

G18s, Indianapolis Indiana

Singles:

Elizabeth Ionescu[2] d. Capucine Jauffret[1] 6-3, 6-3

Doubles:

Olivia Benton and Campbell Ricci[8] d. Julia Werdiger and Natasha Rajaram[5] 8-4

G16s, Minneapolis Minnesota

Singles:

Karlin Schock[3] d. Alexandra Wolf[13] 6-4, 6-2

Doubles:

Chloe Qin and Lucia Fuduric d. JoAnna Kennedy and Alexandra Wolf[1] 8-4

G14s, Toledo Ohio

Singles:

Margaret Sohns[9] d. Reiley Rhodes[1] 6-2, 1-0, ret. inj.

Doubles:

Bailey Scott and Sammie Mercer d. Madeleine Bridges and Autumn Xu[6] 8-3

G12s, Manchester Massachusetts

Singles:

Kathryn Cragg[4] d. London Evans[15] 6-2, 6-2

Doubles:

Daniela Del Mastro and Anna Scott Laney d. Isha Manchala and Oleana Zerres[6] 8-6

No. 1 Seeds Pacheco and Samsonova Post Eddie Herr ITF J300 Wins Despite Late Arrivals; Top Two Seeds Ousted in Boys 12s Division; IMG Announces Name Change for Eddie Herr Tournament

©Colette Lewis 2023
Bradenton FL--

On a day when the temperature didn't budge from 59 degrees, Eddie Herr ITF J300 top seeds and J500 Merida champions Rodrigo Pacheco Mendez and Laura Samsonova managed to put the conditions and their long travel days behind them to record first round victories on the IMG Academy Stadium Court this morning.

Pacheco was first on, with the 18-year-old left-hander facing wild card Boxiong Zhang of China. After capturing his second consecutive Copa Mundial Yucatan title Sunday evening, Pacheco could have chosen to skip the Eddie Herr and the multi-connection trip to Bradenton, but with his goal of finishing as No. 1 and ITF World Junior champion in sight, he never considered withdrawing.

"I need to win all of them to become the No. 1," said Pacheco, who is currently tied with Joao Fonseca of Brazil, the US Open boys champion, at the top of the junior rankings. "If not, I will be No. 2. It's difficult, there's a lot of good players, but I won the last two tournaments, so now I'm confident to win this one."

Pacheco, currently on a 12-match winning streak with his 6-4, 6-1 win over Zhang, is open about the significance he places on ending the year at No. 1.

"I think it's a really good achievement, a really good goal," said Pacheco, who was runner-up at the ITF Junior Finals in China last month and won his first ITF Men's Pro Circuit title in August. "For the sponsors, for the people who support me, they would like it. It's my last junior year, so I think it's really important to be the best of the better players."

Pacheco is also looking ahead to 2024, when he will be eligible for the ATP Accelerator Program, receiving up to eight main draw Challenger wild cards by virtue of finishing in the Top 10 in the year-end ITF junior rankings.

"Because I'll finish Top 10 in the world for sure, next year I'm going to play almost full Challengers," said Pacheco, currently 682 in the ATP rankings. "I'm going to use the Accelerator Program, that is very good for the juniors."

Pacheco admits to some fatigue, but counters that with the confidence he's gained by winning both the J300 in Zapopan and the J500 in Merida.

"I feel a bit tired, but I feel I have a lot of confidence, because I've won a lot of matches, so I think it's going to be a good time to win this tournament," said Pacheco, who did not play the Eddie Herr last year. "It's hard with these conditions, it's cold for me, but I feel good and it's a great place to be. I like the United States, so I'm going to enjoy it."

Pacheco said he neglected to enter the J500 Orange Bowl next week, where he reached the final last year, but is not likely to ask for a wild card.

"I forgot to sign up, but also I have a commitment in Mexico, that is almost mandatory for me, so it's not for me to be at the Orange Bowl," Pacheco said. "I need to win this one, that's why I came here, but I like to play tournaments."

Girls top seed Laura Samsonova also arrived Monday night after claiming the Merida title Sunday evening, and she admitted to being a bit lost in the first two sets of her 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 win over Jana Hossam Salah of Egypt.

"We arrived yesterday, late at night, and I didn't have a chance to practice this morning," said the 15-year-old from the Czech Republic. "I practiced on the other (red) clay, and I have never played on this (Har-Tru) surface, so that was a little hard, but I'm happy I got used to it."

Samsonova trailed 3-5 in the first set before claiming the final four games, but couldn't sustain that momentum in the second set, with Hossam Salah capitalizing on her unforced errors and poor shot selection.

The third set was close for the first four games, but Samsonova finally found the level she needed in the fifth game, holding in a long, well-played game for a 3-2 lead.

"That was important mentally, because the next two went fast for me to 5-2," Samsonova said. "I was happy that I managed that game, because whoever won it would have an advantage."

Hossam Salah held to force Samsonova to serve out the match, but she had no trouble doing so with Hossam Salah netting a backhand on the first match point.

Samsonova flew to Merida from the Junior Billie Jean King Cup in Spain, where she played No. 1 for the Czech team that finished runner-up to the United States. Also entered in the Orange Bowl next week, Samsonova expressed surprise at her success in Mexico.

"Honestly, I don't expect myself to win Merida," said Samsonova, who has worked for several weeks this year with Thomas Hogstedt, who has coached Tommy Haas, Maria Sharapova and many other top professionals and is here in Bradenton this week. "I just came here to enjoy the matches and these tournaments are very prestigious, a lot of good players come here. It's tiring, but I really enjoy it."

One concession Samsonova made to this three-week stretch was to limit her participation to singles, which would not be remarkable for most players, but as the reigning Wimbledon girls doubles champion with partner Alena Kovackova, who is the No. 3 seed here, it is a sacrifice.

Kovackova won her first round match today, as did all the girls seeds who played their opening matches Tuesday; the only seed to fall in the first round was No. 15 seed Monika Stankiewicz of Poland, who lost yesterday.

Thirteen-year-old qualifier Victoria Barros of Brazil was defaulted from doubles Tuesday afternoon after her remarks to an official after her first round singles loss to Yoana Konstantinova of Bulgaria at the Legacy Courts were deemed egregious aggravated behavior. She and partner Eleejah Inisan of France, who were wild card entries, were replaced in the draw by alternates Kanon Sawashiro of Japan and Tianmei Wang.

While the girls have 15 of 16 seeds in the round of 32, the boys have just 10, with two more seeds ousted today. No. 5 seed Adhithya Ganesan lost to Keegan Rice of Canada 6-4, 6-4; No. 12 seed Timofei Derepasko of Russia, the 2021 Eddie Herr 14s champion, was beaten by qualifier Jacopo Vasami of Italy 6-2, 7-5.

The first round of doubles was completed Tuesday afternoon, with one major upset. No. 2 seeds Alexander Frusina and Oliver Ojakaar of Estonia were beaten by Hoyoung Roh of Korea and Atakan Karahan of Turkey 1-6, 6-3, 11-9.

All second round singles and doubles matches are scheduled for Wednesday, with the forecast calling for sunshine and warmer temperatures.

The top two seeds in the boys 12s were ousted today, with Tyson Grant, the brother of Tyra Grant, beating No. 1 seed Rafael Pagonis of Greece 6-4, 6-4, and Yitian Lou defeating Anthony Kirchner 5-7, 6-3, 10-8.

In the boys 14s, No. 2 seed Colin McPeek retired with an illness with Achyuth Binu leading 6-1, 1-0.

In the girls 16s, No. 4 seed Bella Payne was beaten by Sara Shumate 4-6, 6-1, 7-5.

Draws for the 12s, 14s and 16s divisions are available here. The third round matches are scheduled for 8 a.m., 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. Wednesday.

A presentation was held at noon today at the IMG Academy to announce a rebranding of the Eddie Herr International Tournament. In the future, the tournament will be called the IMG Academy International Tennis Championships.

No. 2 Seed Jovic Ready to Build on Junior Billie Jean King Cup Title at Eddie Herr J300; Four Boys Seeds Fall in ITF First Round; G14s Loses Top Seed

©Colette Lewis 2023--
Bradenton FL--

Fifteen-year-old Iva Jovic admitted that winning a first round match at the Eddie Herr ITF J300 wasn't exactly a high bar, but after her first round exit last year, the No. 2 seed isn't taking anything for granted.

"The expectations are pretty low for this event," said Jovic, who lost to Monika Stankiewicz of Poland last year before going on to reach the semifinals of the Orange Bowl the following week. "Last year was not so great."

After defeating Francesca Maguina Bunikowska of Peru 6-0, 6-3 on the first day of main draw action today at the IMG Academy, Jovic can look forward to more of the success that she's had since returning from a five-month layoff due to a foot injury that derailed her summer.

Now, the Torrance California resident is coming off championship at the Junior Billie Jean King Cup in Spain earlier this month with teammates Tyra Grant and Alanis Hamilton. Jovic, who played No. 1 singles, clinched the second straight Junior BJK Cup title for the US with a win in the final over the Czech Republic's Laura Samsonova, the No. 1 seed this week in Bradenton. That triumph was preceded by her first Pro Circuit title at a $25,000 tournament in Redding California last month, another indication she's a threat to win any junior event she enters.

"I gained some confidence in Redding," said Jovic, who had returned to competition at the US Open Junior Championships, but fell in the first round in New York. "The first couple weren't pretty, but when you just get those wins under your belt, things just start to get better. I'm still being careful with my court time, not playing too many tournaments, keeping everything good, but yeah, it's definitely been a good fall."

Jovic was also on the 2022 Junior BJK Cup championship team, and that experience helped her step up to the No. 1 position this year.

"Experience definitely makes a difference, because it's a different kind of pressure and a different feeling when you're playing for your country and playing that event," Jovic said. "I didn't feel as nervous and steady and ready to go and that translated to the other two; everyone did great. We all carried each other really well and gave it our all."

Jovic is represented by Octagon for name, image and likeness sponsorships, which does not affect amateur status.

"To be honest, I don't know that much about it; my parents mostly talked to them about it," Jovic said. "Their my agency, they help me out, but it's not a professional contract, so I still have my college eligibility."

Jovic will have a chance to see college tennis in the winter and spring, with her sister Mia in her first semester at UCLA.

"I've already visited her twice and I'm excited to watch this season and cheer them on," Jovic said. 

The 19 girls matches on Monday's schedule produced just one upset, with No. 15 seed Stankiewicz losing to Mika Stojsavljevic of Great Britain 7-5, 6-2.

The boys seeds were not as successful, with four already eliminated. No. 3 seed Oliver Ojaakar of Estonia retired at 5-4 in the first set in his match with wild card Joseph Oyebog; No. 6 seed Kaylan Bigun lost to Henry Bernet of Switzerland 4-6, 6-2, 6-1; No. 7 seed Charlie Camus of Australia was beaten by Izan Almazan Valiente of Spain 6-3, 6-4 and Charlie Robertson of Great Britain fell to wild card Jack Kennedy 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-3. Kennedy, 15, was down 3-0 in the second set before rallying.

The remainder of the first round in singles will be played Tuesday, with top seeds and J500 Merida champions Samsonova and Rodrigo Pacheco Mendez of Mexico in action on the IMG Stadium Court.

The first round of doubles is also scheduled for Tuesday, with Pacheco and partner Iliyan Radulov the top boys seeds and Jovic and Grant the top girls seeds.

The younger age divisions had a long opening day, starting at 8 a.m. and finishing after 9 p.m., with most of the top seeds moving into Tuesday's second round. 

The highest seed to fall was girls 14s No. 2 seed Lyla Middleton, who lost to Sabrina Balderrama of Venezuela 6-1, 4-6, 7-5.

Girls 12s No. 4 seed Daniela Davletshina retired with an injury down 3-1 to Chen-Yun Tsai.

Results and times for Tuesday's second round can be found here.

List of All Eddie Herr Seeds as Play Begins Monday for 12s, 14s, 16s and ITF J300; Top Seeds Samsonova and Pacheco Earn ITF J500 Merida Titles; Italy Claims First Davis Cup in 47 Years

©Colette Lewis 2023--
Bradenton FL--

The weather in this part of Florida is generally excellent throughout the Eddie Herr International Championships, but this year it has presented more challenges than usual, although all qualifying was completed today in time for the scheduled start of the main draw on Monday at the IMG Academy.

The 12s, 14s and 16s qualifying had only one match to complete today, and they finished about 45 minutes ahead of the first shower of day around 1 p.m. The rain was brief, yet heavy enough to suspend play on the Har-Tru courts where the ITF J300 is played; the delay was a short one, with most matches resuming within 45 minutes, but the second round of the girls qualifying had not finished, putting a few of those matches in jeopardy of not finishing. Fortunately the rain that did return was light enough to avoid another suspension and only one match needed to be scheduled after 4 p.m. and it could move to the one lighted Har-Tru court.

Only one American qualified for the ITF J300: Sophie Llewellyn, a recent SMU signee who lives in nearby Tarpon Springs. Christasha McNeil, the top seed in qualifying lost in the final round of qualifying to 13-year-old Victoria Barros of Brazil, who has already won four ITF Junior Circuit singles titles including at J100 last month in Croatia. No. 11 seed Barros, who beat McNeil 6-2, 6-2, lost only eight games in her three qualifying wins and looked right at home on the Har-Tru, using her variety to keep McNeil off balance.

The other American in qualifying who made the main draw is Benjamin Sparks, who retired to Rafael Bortran Neutze of Guatemala in the final round trailing 5-3 in the first set, but received entry as a lucky loser. 

Late withdrawals included Alexander Razeghi and Roy Horovitz, who lost 7-5, 6-4 in the doubles final last night to Sebastian Eriksson of Sweden and Maxim Mrva of the Czech Republic at the J500 in Merida, and Great Britain's Hannah Klugman, who won the doubles title in Merida last night with Kaitlin Quevedo, beating Ariana Pursoo and her partner Laura Brunkel of Denmark 6-3, 7-6(5).  Nikolai Budkov Kjaer of Norway, who lost in the singles semifinals last night in Merida, also withdrew from the Eddie Herr.

The seeds for the ITF J300:

Boys:

1. Rodrigo Pacheco Mendez (MEX)

2. Iliyan Radulov (BUL)

3. Oliver Ojakaar (EST)

4. Alexander Frusina (USA)

5. Adhithya Ganesan (USA)

6. Kaylan Bigun (USA)

7. Charlie Camus (AUS)

8. Maxim Mrva (CZE)

9. Lasse Poertner (GER)

10. Sebastian Eriksson (SWE)

11. Reda Bennani (MAR)

12. Timofei Derepasko (RUS)

13. Viktor Frydrych (GBR)

14. Charlie Robertson (GBR)

15. Danil Panarin (RUS)

16. Daniil Sarksian (RUS)

Girls:

1. Laura Samsonova (CZE)

2. Iva Jovic (USA)

3. Alena Kovackova (CZE)

4. Tyra Grant (USA)

5. Teodora Kostovic (SRB)

6. Wakana Sonobe (JPN)

7. Gloriana Nahum (BEN)

8. Iva Ivanova (BUL)

9. Luna Maria Cinalli (ARG)

10. Alisa Oktiabreva (RUS)

11. Elizara Yaneva (BUL)

12. Rositsa Dencheva (BUL)

13. Alanis Hamilton (USA)

14. Emily Sartz-Lunde (NOR)

15. Monika Stankiewicz (POL)

16. Mia Slama (USA)

Both Pacheco Mendez and Samsonova will come into their first round Eddie Herr matches Tuesday as ITF J500 champions after tonight's finals in the Yucatan World Cup in Merida Mexico. Pacheco became the first Mexican player to win back-to-back titles at the tournament, with the top seed defeating unseeded Patrick Schoenhaus of Germany 6-0, 6-3. The 15-year-old Samsonova, also a No. 1 seed, beat No. 2 seed Kaitlin Quevedo 6-3, 6-4 in tonight's final for her first J500 title.

The draws for the 12s, 14s, 16s are available here; the seeds, along with their countries, are below:

Boys 12s Seeds

1. Rafael Pagonis (GRE)

2. Anthony Kirchner (USA)

3. Thamma Kosiri (THA)

4. Jang Junseo (KOR)

5. Fu Wang Choi (HKG)

6. Daniel Gardality (USA)

7. Luke Jones (USA)

8. Rex Kulman (USA)

9. Siyun Kim (KOR)

10. Camelot Carnello (USA)

11. Matteo Limones (MEX)

12. Aryan Harwani (USA)

13. Michael Chervenkov (USA)

14. Juan Cruz More (ARG)

15. Reita Yamanaka (USA)

16. Simon Giambastiani (ARG)

Girls 12s Seeds

1. Caroline Shao (USA)

2. Paweenon Nualsri (THA)

3. Nikol Davletshina (USA)

4. Daniela Davletshina (USA)

5. Yui Watanabe (USA)

6. Adriana Khomyakova (USA)

7. Nadia Poznick (USA)

8. Sofiia Bielinska (UKR)

9. Isabella Yan CAN)

10. Audrey Dussault (USA)

11. Yerin Lee (KOR)

12. Emery Combs (USA)

13. Ceressa Jackson (NZL)

14. Olivia De Los Reyes (USA)

15. Sophia Khomoutov (USA)

16. Isabella Gonzalez (USA)

Boys 14s Seeds

1. Michael Antonius (USA)

2. Colin McPeek (USA)

3. Andrew Johnson (USA)

4. Jerrid Gaines (USA)

5. Navneet Raghuram (USA)

6. Jordan Lee (USA)

7. Emilio Camacho (ECU)

8. Mason Vaughan (USA)

9. Shaan Majeed USA)

10. Kaan Isik Kosaner (TUR)

11. Mark Mrcela (USA)

12. Teodor Davidov (USA)

13. Joshua Adamson (USA)

14. Daniel Patsula (USA)

15. Tabb Tuck (USA)

16. Andy Tchinda Kepche (CAN)

Girls 14s Seeds

1. Nancy Lee (USA)

2. Lyla Middleton (USA)

3. Giulia Popa (ROM)

4. Charlie Celebrini (USA)

5. Chukwumelije Clarke (USA)

6. Ariana Ikwueme (USA)

7. Hanne Estrada (MEX)

8. Welles Newman (USA)

9. Reagan Levine (USA)

10. Anastasia Malysheva (RUS)

11. Hannah Ayrault (USA)

12. Raya Kotseva (USA)

13. Anjani Vickneswaran (USA)

14. Joyce Geng (CAN)

15. Andrea Taylor (CAN)

16. Renee Alame (AUS)

Boys 16s Seeds

1. Jack Satterfield (USA)

2. Jack Secord (USA)

3. Ryan Cozad (USA)

4. Benjamin Saltman (USA)

5. Keaton Hance (USA)

6. Nischal Spurling (USA)

7. Ford McCollum (USA)

8. Sklar Phillips (USA)

9. Roshan Santhosh (USA)

10. Madhav Binu (USA)

11. Gordon Gallagher (USA)

12. Mason Taube (USA)

13. Arnav Bhandari (USA)

14. Avner Wong (USA)

15. Nikolas Stoot (USA)

16. Adrian Treacy (USA)

Girls 16s Seeds

1. Annika Penickova (USA)

2. Kristina Penickova (USA)

3. Kenzie Nguyen (USA)

4. Bella Payne (USA)

5. Ishika Ashar (USA)

6. Kayla Moore (USA)

7. Ava Rodriguez (USA)

8. Katerina Shabashkevich (USA)

9. Alisa Ozgun (USA)

10. Hadley Appling (USA)

11. Alston Myatt (USA)

12. Lauren Kettlewell (USA)

13. Kirsten Woods (USA)

14. Emerey Gross (USA)

15. Georgia Kulevich (USA)

16. Lillian Santos (USA)

The Davis Cup was decided today in Spain, with Italy defeating Australia 2-0 to claim its first title since 1976. Jannik Sinner saved three match points in his win over Novak Djokovic that clinched Saturday's victory over Serbia, and today he defeated Alex de Minaur 6-3, 6-0 for the title, after Matteo Arnaldi had beaten Alexei Popyrin in the first singles match 7-5, 2-6, 6-4. For more on the final, see this article from the Davis Cup website.

Vijayakumar Ends Lyutova's Winning Streak, Top Seed in Boys Qualifying Falls in First Round at Eddie Herr ITF J300; Quevedo Reaches ITF J500 Merida Final, Ganesan Suffers First Loss in Five Tournaments

©Colette Lewis 2023--
Bradenton Florida--

I rarely watch a qualifying match from start to finish, with the first priority checking out as many matches as I can to put names with faces. But on the first day of the Eddie Herr ITF J300 qualifying, I had circled the match between Trinetra Vijayakumar, the No. 12 seed, and 13-year-old Christina Lyutova as one to watch and I wasn't disappointed, with Vijayakumar ending Lyutova's 18-match ITF Junior Circuit winning streak with a 3-6, 6-1, 10-4 victory.

I had taken the shuttle from the main tennis site on East Campus to the six Legacy Hotel courts, which are by the entrance to the West Campus. The viewing is much improved from the former alternate site at the closer Academy Park area, but there are no benches or awnings on the courts and no bleachers for any spectators. I was able to find a folding chair and within 20 minutes of my arrival, the match had begun.

The last time I had seen Lyutova was almost a year ago, when she won the Junior Orange Bowl 12s title, so I was eager to see the improvements she had made in the past 11 months that contributed to her titles at the USTA 16s Clay Courts and USTA 16s Hard Courts this summer, as well as the three consecutive ITF J60 titles she won this fall.

Lyutova started well, with the hitch that was a part of her service motion less obvious, while the depth and placement of her ground strokes kept Vijayakumar from taking control of points. Lyutova doesn't hit many first-strike winners, but she got the only break of the first set to take a 3-1 lead and was able to close out her next three service games without facing a break point.

Vijayakumar took a bathroom break after the first set, and when the 17-year-old from Maryland returned, she committed to a new strategy.

"My game plan going in just didn't seem to be winning a lot of points and I wasn't necessarily confident in what I was doing," Vijayakumar said. "I realized later in the first set I needed to be a lot more aggressive and take the girl's time away, just be more decisive when the short balls came."

Vijayakumar held to open the second set, and then broke on her third opportunity--her first three chances in the match--in the next game. Vijayakumar made good on her decision to go more aggressive and her unforced errors actually decreased, while Lyutova, who had played a very clean first set, began to donate more. Part of that was due to her first serve percentage dropping; although she defends her soft second serve well, Lyutova isn't able to dictate from a second serve return, and on several occasions Vijayakumar hit outright winners.

Vijayakumar got herself an insurance break at 4-1 with her forehand doing most of the damage, then closed out the set with a couple of backhand winners.

Vijayakumar had learned what she had to do to make Lyutova uncomfortable and was determined to go into the deciding match tiebreaker with the same mindset.

"In the tiebreak, it's anyone's game, so I just took it one point at a time and made sure that I just kept pressure on her," Vijayakumar said. "She's great on the run, she gives good quality balls back on defense and that makes it harder to get on offense, but you have to really take your time and keep constructing points."

The match tiebreaker was 3-3 at the first change of ends, but Vijayakumar's forehand produced three straight winners and Lyutova never recovered from dropping her two service points. Two more unforced errors by Lyutova on her next two serves made it 9-4 and Vijayakumar finished it on her first match point, with her shot appearing to skip off the baseline and handcuff Lyutova. She called it out, but the roving umpire immediately declared the ball good and confirmed it by checking the mark, or the absence of one.

While Lyutova no doubt entered the match with confidence, having won the J60 tournaments in Corpus Christi, Atlanta and Boca Raton, Vijayakumar also had success this fall, winning the J100 in Zapopan Mexico earlier this month and playing the past two weeks in the major ITF junior events in Mexico.

"This is my fourth week, so I'm definitely acclimating to the surface more and more," said Vijayakumar, who has not yet announced her college commitment for 2024. "If you get more time on clay courts, it's much easier for me on Har-Tru. It definitely helps."

Vijayakumar only began playing ITF Junior Circuit tournaments regularly this February, and is experiencing the Eddie Herr for the first time this year.

"I started late compared to a lot of my friends," Vijayakumar said of her recent transition to more international competition. "Every match seems to mean so much to every player on the ITF Circuit. It's a lot of good matches, because what's at stake, even at a small ITF makes a difference as to how kids play."

Vijayakumar will face Alden Russell in the second round of qualifying Sunday, with the third and final round also scheduled for Sunday.

The top girls qualifying seed had no trouble today, with Christasha McNeil defeating wild card Taylor Monfils 6-0, 6-0 in less than an hour this morning, but the Stadium Court wasn't as kind to boys No. 1 seed Rafael Segado Esteve of Spain this afternoon. Hayden Khoo Menon of Malaysia, who won the Boca Raton J60 earlier this month, defeated Segado Esteve 6-4, 6-3, breaking at 3-4 and holding serve easily for the win.

The match of the day in the boys qualifying saw Bruno Kokot of Poland defeat Jacob Olar 6-7(4), 7-6(7), 17-15. Most qualifying matches are expected to finish in less than two hours, but Kokot, who plays Menon next, needed almost three to complete that marathon victory.

The final round of qualifying for the 12s, 14s and 16s divisions will also be played Sunday, on the IMG Academy hard courts. The forecast is calling for a chance of rain in the afternoon, but the last matches to go on are scheduled for 9:30 a.m., so they may finish before any rain arrives. Results and draws with times are here.

Another lengthy ITF Junior Circuit winning streak was halted today at the J500 in Merida Mexico, with No. 5 seed Adhithya Ganesan losing to No. 3 seed Nikolai Budov Kjaer 6-2, 7-5 in their rain-delayed quarterfinal. Ganesan had won four consecutive ITF events--three J200s and one J100--in Asia in the past five weeks.

No. 2 seed Kaitlin Quevedo has advanced to the final, beating No. 3 seed Alena Kovackova of the Czech Republic 7-6(4), 6-4 in today's semifinal. Quevedo will face top seed Laura Samsonova of the Czech Republic, who beat 2022 Merida finalist Ariana Pursoo 7-6(10), 6-1. 

Due to the rain Friday night, the boys finals in both singles and doubles are not yet set, but No. 3 seeds Alexander Razeghi and Roy Horovitz are into the boys doubles final, awaiting their opponents for a late night final. Razeghi and Horovitz defeated unseeded Thomas Faurel and Theo Papamalamis of France 6-7(4) 6-1, 10-7 in a rain-delayed match completed this morning. Quevedo and her partner Hannah Klugman of Great Britain have advanced to the girls doubles final; they are scheduled to play their final tonight as well, but don't yet have an opponent. Pursoo and her partner Laura Brunkel of Denmark had their Friday night semifinal match with top seeds Samsonova and Kovackova called after just one game. 

Eddie Herr ITF J300 Qualifying Begins Saturday at IMG Academy, 13-year-old Lyutova Aims to Extend Winning Streak; Ganesan, Quevedo and Pursoo Reach ITF J500 Merida Quarterfinals

The qualifying draws for the Eddie Herr ITF J300 are posted, and for this year's tournament the six new Har-Tru courts at the IMG Legacy Hotel will be used. Many of the Academy Park Har-Tru courts, which were a tram ride away from the IMG Tennis Complex, are no more, with a new dormitory going up there; some clay courts will continue to be located in the area, although they are not being used for tournament competition.

The courts at the hotel have a separate entrance, so an additional crew of tournament officials will set up at that facility. 

I plan to start at the main site, with top qualifying seed Christasha McNeil's 8:30 a.m. match with wild card Taylor Monfils on Stadium court (in the foreground of the photo) before heading to see the new courts. I'm interested in seeing if 13-year-old Christina Lyutova, who is playing No. 12 qualifying seed Trinetra Vijayakumar, can extend her winning streak. Lyutova, who last lost a match in March, won both the USTA 16s Clays and Hard Courts this summer, and this fall has collected three ITF J60 titles, the last one early this month in Boca Raton.

The wild cards for qualifying:
Boys:
Nicolas Arredondo(MEX)

Sebastian Johnson(USA)
Ibrahim Deniz(TUR)
Benjamin Sparks(USA)
Andrew Sretavan(USA)
ZiYan Zhang(CHN)
David Cibrian(USA)
Mikel Anderson(USA)

Girls:

Taylor Monfils(USA)

Cardona Carballosa

Kinsey Crawford(USA)

Owethu Makhanya(RSA)

Elona Simonov(USA)

Karine Kulidjian(USA)

Sophia Johnson(USA)

Townsend Penney(USA)

The top seed in the boys qualifying is Rafael Segado Esteve of Spain, with an ITF ranking of 148; girls top seed McNeil's ITF ranking is 150, so the strength of the fields is comparable. Both qualifying draws are a full 64-players.

The Eddie Herr 12s, 14s and 16s qualifying continues on Saturday with third round matches; the final round of qualifying is scheduled for Sunday. Draws and times can be found here.

Three Americans advanced to tonight's singles quarterfinals at the ITF J500 Yucatan World Cup in Merida Mexico: Adhithya Ganesan[5], Kaitlin Quevedo[2] and Ariana Pursoo[14].

Ganesan is also on a notable winning streak, having won four straight J100-200 tournaments in Asia in October and November. He is playing No. 3 seed Nicolai Budkov Kjaer of Norway in the last match on stadium court tonight.

Pursoo, who reached the final in Merida last year, falling to Clervie Ngounoue, beat No. 5 seed Hannah Klugman of Great Britain 6-2, 6-2 in the third round Thursday and is facing unseeded Yoana Konstantinova of Bulgaria in today's quarterfinals. 

No. 2 seed Kaitlin Quevedo is playing unseeded Daria Egorova of Russia in the quarterfinals.  Top seeds Rodrigo Pacheco Mendez of Mexico and Laura Samsonova are also through to the quarterfinals.

Pursoo and Quevedo are both also in the doubles semifinals, with Pursoo partnering with Laura Brunkel of Denmark and Quevedo playing with Klugman, with the latter the No. 2 seeds. 

No. 3 seed Alexander Razeghi and Roy Horovitz are the American boys reaching the doubles semifinals.

Happy Thanksgiving!

photo by Joseph Gonzalez via unsplash.com

I'm taking today off for the holiday, but will be back Friday, with qualifying for the Eddie Herr ITF J300 beginning Saturday at the IMG Academy in Bradenton Florida. Qualifying is underway in the 12s, 14s and 16s divisions.

Thank you to everyone who reads and supports my work, and special thanks to Junior Tennis Champions Center, Southern California Tennis Association Foundation and the John McEnroe Tennis Academy for their sponsorship throughout the year.

More Division I NLI Signings; No. 2 Seed Radulov Ousted in Second Round at ITF J500 Yucatan World Cup

Last Wednesday I posted more than 60 NLI signing announcements for Division I tennis players; today, two weeks after the official signing day, I'm wrapping up my coverage of that process, with a handful more that have been posted in the last week. Several schools announced signees on twitter that have not been featured on their websites, so I'll include links to those tweets after the customary announcements.

WOMEN:

Iowa State has signed Ashlee Narker of Australia and Valeska San Martin Ramirez of Ecuador, who will join the Cyclones in January. Also signed, for 2024, are Cristina Ramos Sierra and Mari Paz Alberto Vilar of Spain.

Miami has signed Savannah Webster.

North Carolina has signed Tatum Evans, Susanna Maltby and Mary Grace Rennard.

At the behest of Dick Vitale, Dave "the Koz" Kozlowski has produced a video feature on Duke's signing of Vitale's granddaughter Ava Krug, which is now available on YouTube.

Links to tweeted announcements:

Ohio State has signed Nao Nishino of Japan.

Southern California has signed Lily Fairclough of Australia.

Southern California has signed Imogen Haddad of Great Britain.

TCU has signed Chiho Mushika of Japan.

UCLA has signed Bianca Fernandez of Canada.

UCLA has signed Olivia Center.

UCLA has signed Kate Fakih.

MEN:

Auburn has signed Alex Frusina and Joseph Phillips.

Central Florida has signed Simeon Terziev of Bulgaria.

Duke has signed Saahith Jayaraman.

North Carolina has signed Matthew Forbes, Nicholas Mangiapane and Kuang Qing (Chris) Xu of Canada.

North Carolina State has signed William Manning, Cody Benton, Jules Leroux of France and Jakub Katuch of Slovakia.

Tennessee has signed Lance Nisbet of Great Britain.

Vanderbilt has signed Callum Markowitz, Giuseppe Cerasuolo and Jack Ingram.

Links to tweeted announcements:

Arizona State has signed Mikey Anderson.

Arizona State has signed Tanner Povey.

Arizona State has signed Jimin Jung.

Memphis has signed Maxime Dubouche of France.

Michigan State has signed Mitchell Shelton.

South Florida has signed Michael Chan.

Virginia has signed Keegan Rice of Canada and Stiles Brockett

Virginia has signed Joao Fonseca of Brazil and Rafa Jodar of Spain.

The second round of the ITF J500 this week in Merida Mexico is not yet complete, but there was a major upset today in the boys draw, with No. 2 seed Iliyan Radulov of Bulgaria losing to Theo Papamalamis of France 6-3, 6-3. 

So far, six US girls have advanced to the third round: 2022 finalist Ariana Pursoo[14], Maya Dutta, Mia Slama[15], Leena Friedman, Claire An and Kaitlin Quevedo[2]. Adhithya Ganesan[5] is the only US boys so far to reach the third round.

ITA Announces US Collegiate Team for Next Month's Master’U BNP Paribas Championships; USTA SoCal Introducing Two New Challengers in Indian Wells in January; Leftwich Tennis Center Opens in Memphis

The Intercollegiate Tennis Association announced the six players who will represent the United States in the 2023 Master’U BNP Paribas Championships next month in France. Fiona Crawley of North Carolina, Mary Stoiana of Texas A&M and Savannah Broadus of Pepperdine, Murphy Cassone of Arizona State, Eliot Spizzirri of Texas and Gavin Young of MIchigan will compete in the annual team competition December 1-3 in Honfleur, France. 

The United States, winners of the last three championships, will be one of eight teams that will compete in the event for university players, with the other countries France, Great Britain, Ireland, Belgium, Germany, Australia and Switzerland.  Crawley also represented the United States in last year's title run.

Greg Patton, the former coach at Boise State, will again captain the team, along with Robin Stephenson of Washington.

The ITA's release can be found here.

The USTA Southern California section has introduced the SoCal Pro Series, a series of $15,000 tournaments in the area during the past two summers; now they are expanding into ATP Challengers, with two $50,000 tournaments scheduled for January at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. A pre-qualifying tournament will be held in Lakewood next month. The complete release is below:

Southern California Open ATP Challenger 50 Tennis Tournaments to Take Place At Indian Wells Tennis Garden In January, Offering a Glimpse At Tomorrow’s Stars

 

USTA Southern California To Host Back-To-Back Events Offering $82,000 Total Prize Money At World-Class Venue and Home of BNP Paribas Open

 

November 21, 2023 – USTA Southern California has announced it will host back-to-back Southern California Open ATP Challenger Tour 50 tournaments in January at the famed Indian Wells Tennis Garden in the Coachella Valley.  

 

Together branded the Southern California Open (2 ATP Challenger 50s, 2 weeks, 1 world-class location, 1 brand), the events are a springboard opportunity for aspiring pro players.

 

The men’s singles and doubles events will take place January 14-21 and January 21-28 and are men’s professional events offering $41,000 in prize money and 50 valuable ATP ranking points to the winner of each of the tournaments.   

 

While the world’s top men’s players like Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz are battling it out Down Under in the season’s first Grand Slam the Australian Open, rising young stars of the ATP with world rankings in the 100s and 200s will begin their season in the intimate setting of the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, hosts of what many consider tennis’ fifth major the BNP Paribas Open in March.  

 

”USTA Southern California is excited to offer these two ladder-up opportunities that continue to strengthen the path and possibility for the players, not only our section but for all American players,” said Trevor Kronemann, Executive Director of USTA SoCal. “This spins off our successful Southern California Pro Series over the last two summers. We are grateful for the Indian Wells staff and their continued support of our endeavor to provide opportunities as our players reach for playing in that event in the near future." 

 

Nearly all of the current players in the ATP World Tour rankings are graduates of ATP Challenger-level tournaments, including American’s Taylor Fritz (No. 10), Tommy Paul (No. 13), Frances Tiafoe (No. 16) and Ben Shelton (No. 17). Last fall, the 21-year-old Shelton won three straight ATP Challenger Tour events to vault into the world Top 100 and continued his rise up the world rankings advancing to the quarterfinals at the Australian Open and the semifinals at the US Open in 2023. Southern California native Alex Michelsen has also benefited from the ATP Challenger Tour recently winning in Knoxville, Tenn., and advancing to the final in Champaign, Ill., to enter the Top 100. 

 

“If you look at other countries that have successful professional players, like Spain, Italy and France, they all have the commonality of many more lower-level pro tournaments than the USA does,” said Chris Boyer, Vice President of the USTA SoCal Executive Board. “This is one reason why they are seeing the success they do. These tournaments offer critical steps for player development.” 

 

“We are thrilled to be kicking off the 2024 tennis season hosting these two ATP Challenger Tour 50 events at our world-class facility,” said Jai Nettimi, Director of Tennis at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. “We hope the local Coachella Valley community and tennis fans from all over Southern California will come out and support these up-and-coming players who may be playing here in the coming years at the BNP Paribas Open.”

 

Admission and parking is free and tennis players and fans are encouraged to come out and support the young generation of ATP players who very well could be among the next generation of top professionals. All matches will also be streamed live during the tournaments. Cathy Jacobson-Guzy has been named tournament director for both events.  

 

The ATP Challenger 50 category has a “top 150” restriction in place, so the event will draw players just outside the 150 cutoff. However, two wild cards are available for players ranked within the top 150.

 

A pre-qualifying tournament will take place at the Lakewood Tennis Center December 8-11 with the winner receiving a wild card into the qualifying tournament of one of the events to be determined. The registration deadline is December 5 and to register, click HERE. There will be another pre-qualifying opportunity December 29-January 1. To register for that event, click HERE.

 

This past summer, USTA successful hosted seven men’s and women’s ITF World Tour SoCal Pro Series $15,000 tournaments offering the “Race to Indian Wells” as Irvine’s Stefan Dostanic and San Diego’s Haley Giavara captured the top men’s and women’s spots in the standings and were awarded qualifying wild cards into this year’s BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells. 

 

About USTA Southern California 

Founded in 1887, USTA Southern California is one of the 17 sections of the United States Tennis Association. Comprising Imperial, Kern, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura Counties, the Southern California section is one of the nation's most prolific contributors of tennis talent and supports the growth of the game by fostering opportunities at all levels, developing innovative programming, and providing for communities though its charitable arm, the SCTA Foundation. Nationally, the USTA is a not-for-profit organization committed to promoting the game of tennis by offering quality recreational and competitive programs for people of all ages and abilities. 

 

Media Contact:  

Steve Pratt; (310) 408-4555; stevep@bzapr.com

The Leftwich Tennis Center in Memphis Tennessee, which was previously scheduled to host the ITF J300 Pan American Closed this fall, was not ready in time for that tournament, but is now open, providing the University of Memphis, and all tennis players in the area, with a new home after the demise of the Racquet Club of Memphis. From the Memphis Commercial Appeal article on the grand opening:

Scott Mitchell, director of Tennis Memphis, said the potential for hosting tournaments is endless.

“This world class tennis facility will allow us to host adult and youth tournaments. State regional national tournaments, even international tournaments, NCAA Tournaments,” he said. “The possibilities go on and on.”

Leftwich’s facilities accommodate both professionals and amateurs, 24 outdoor courts as well as 12 indoor courts, for play year-round. Tennis Memphis, which the city partnered with to create the new facility, offers private lessons, tutoring as well as development clinics and programs for both kids and adults. Attendees to the opening on Saturday experienced a taste of that for free, as tennis players from the U of M were present, giving free lessons to kids and their parents on the new courts.

It will be interesting to see what junior and college tournaments end up at the facility; certainly the combination of outdoor and indoor courts at the same location will be a significant selling point.

Americans Sweep ITF Junior Circuit Singles Titles in San Diego and Guatemala; ITF J500 Merida Seeds; Mateas and Kuzuhara Earn Pro Circuit Titles in Dominican Republic; Final USTA Australian Open Wild Card Challenge Standings

In addition to the sweep of the girls titles at the ITF J300 in Mexico by Kate Fakih, four other Americans claimed singles titles on the ITF Junior Circuit last week, winning both boys and girls championships at the J30 in San Diego and the J60 in Guatemala. In addition, Yannik Alvarez of Georgia, who represents Puerto Rico and competes in all the USTA tournaments, won his second straight singles title at the a J30 in Kingston Jamaica last week.

Sixteen-year-old Kenzie Nguyen, the top seed, won her second ITF Junior Circuit singles title in San Diego, beating recent Tulane signee Campbell Ricci 6-2, 2-6, 6-2 in the final. No. 5  seeds Sydney Barnhart and Alexandra Wolf won the girls doubles title, beating No. 3 seeds Emily Deming and Elena Zhao 6-2, 6-4 in the final. It's the first ITF Junior Circuit title for the 14-year-old Barnhart and the second title, both in doubles, for the 16-year-old Wolf.

Eighteen-year-old Matei Gavrea, a recent UC-Santa Barbara signee from San Diego, won his first ITF Junior Circuit title in his home town. The No. 4 seed beat wild card Robert Freedman of San Diego, a UC-Davis signee, 4-6, 6-2, 6-0 in the final. No. 5 seeds Andrew Johnson and Roshan Santhosh won the boys doubles title, beating No. 2 seeds Jack Davison and Eric Wang of Canada 6-1, 6-2 in the final. It's the first ITF Junior Circuit title for the 14-year-old Johnson and the second for the 15-year-old Santhosh, who is the reigning Easter Bowl 14s champion.

In Guatemala, No. 2 seed Abhinav Chunduru won his second ITF Junior Circuit singles title (he has six doubles titles), with the 17-year-old Texan defeating top seed Lev Seidman 7-6(2), 6-3 in the all-US final. The girls singles final, also between two Americans, was won by unseeded Aspen Chung, who defeated top seed Sahana Sanjeev 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 for her second ITF Junior Circuit singles title.

After losing in the first round of the ITF J60 in Atlanta last month, the 15-year-old Alvarez went to Jamaica for two J30s there and has won them both, his first two ITF Junior Circuit titles. Last week, seeded No. 6, Alvarez defeated No. 4 seed Gabriel Velez of Chile 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 in the singles final, while also claiming the doubles championship with Navneet Raghuram.

Rain has plagued the tournaments in the Dominican Republic this month, and the singles finals of the men's $15,000 and women's $25,000 tournaments there were played today. It was worth the wait for two Americans, with Bruno Kuzuhara and Maria Mateas(Duke) taking the titles.  It was the second straight title for Kuzuhara, the 2022 Australian Open boys champion, who won the previous week, again on a Monday, against the same opponent he faced today, Facundo Mena of Argentina. Last Monday as the No. 2 seed Kuzuhara beat Mena, the No. 3 seed 7-5, 7-5; today the two met with the same seedings, but Kuzuhara had a much easier time, beating Mena 6-1, 6-0, although it did take 77 minutes. It's the third title for Kuzuhara, with his first coming in September, and he will move into the ATP Top 500 for the first time when the points are added next week.

Mateas had waited a long time for her second ITF women's World Tennis Tour title, having won her first in 2018. Seeded No. 7 in Santa Domingo, the 24-year-old Mateas defeated last week's Santa Domingo $25K champion Ana Sofia Sanchez of Mexico, the No. 9 seed, 7-5, 7-6(2) in today's final. 

In last night's final at the $25,000 USTA Pro Circuit in Austin Texas, 18-year-old Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva of Andorra, the No. 4 seed, defeated No. 6 seed Hanna Chang 6-0, 6-2 in the final, which was moved indoors due to rain.

With the conclusion of that final, the USTA Pro Circuit is now done for the year, but there are three more major ITF Junior Circuit events still to come, with the J500 this week in Merida Mexico, the J300 Eddie Herr next week in Bradenton Florida and the J500 Orange Bowl in Plantation Florida in two weeks.

The main draw of the J500 Yucatan World Cup began today, and as usual, matches will go very late into the evening, but here are the seeds.

Boys:
1. Rodrigo Pacheco Mendez(MEX)
2. Iliyan Radulov(BUL)
3. Nicolai Budkov Kjaer(NOR)
4. Alex Razeghi(USA)
5. Adhithya Ganesan(USA)
6. Kaylan Bigun(USA) [out round 1]
7. Charlie Camus(AUS)
8. Sebastian Eriksson(SWE)
9. Maxi Mrva(CZE)
10. Roy Horovitz(USA)
11. Oliver Bonding(USA)
12. Reda Bennani(MAR)
13. Timofei Derepasko(RUS)
14. Viktor Frydrych(GBR)
15. Charlie Robertson(GBR)
16. Daniil Sarksian(RUS)

Girls:
1. Laura Samsonova(CZE)
2. Kaitlin Quevedo(USA)
3. Alena Kovackova(CZE)
4. Hannah Klugman(GBR)
5. Wakana Sonobe(JPN)
6. Gloriana Nahum(BEN)
7. Iva Ivanova(BUL)
8. Alisa Oktiabreva(RUS)
9. Rositsa Dencheva(BUL)
10. Mika Buchnik(ISR)
11. Luna Maria Cinalli(ARG)
12. Emily Sartz-Lunde(NOR)
13. Monika Stankiewicz(POL)
14. Ariana Pursoo(USA)
15. Mia Slama(USA)
16. Yelyzaveta Kotliar(UKR)

The USTA released the final standings for its men's Australian Open Wild Card Challenge, with Alex Michelsen finishing first, Patrick Kypson second, Brandon Nakashima third and Ethan Quinn fourth. With Michelsen expected to receive direct entry into the main draw, Kypson will be next in line. McCartney Kessler is likely to receive the women's wild card with the three players above her poised for direct entry.

ORLANDO, Fla., November 20, 2023 – The final standings for the 2023 Australian Open Wild Card Challenge are below. Players' current rankings are in parenthesis. 

 

Men's Standings

 

1. Alex Michelsen (94) -- 125

2. Patrick Kypson (192) -- 105

3. Brandon Nakashima (133) -- 89

4. Ethan Quinn (347) -- 64

 

Women's Standings

 

1. Emina Bektas (82) -- 299

2. Kayla Day (88) -- 112

3. Claire Liu (96) -- 110

4. McCartney Kessler (232) -- 100

5. Katie Volynets (107) -- 72