First ITA Computer Rankings Place Indoor Champions Oklahoma State and Ohio State at No. 1; Men's Team Indoor Recap at Tennis Recruiting Network; UVA Signee Fonseca Wins First ATP Tour Match in Rio; Michelsen Posts First ATP Top 10 Win

As I mentioned last night, the first ITA rankings done by the computer algorithm were released yesterday, and while the top two stayed did change, there was a lot of movement elsewhere. Chris Halioris of CollegeTennisRanks.com had provided projected rankings on his site for the first time this year in advance of the ITA's first computer rankings, but there were some major discrepancies due to what he explained as missing and/or ambiguous results or errors in entering scores, which are done by the programs themselves.

All that is to say that these rankings are likely to change next week when the errors are corrected, but as for now, this is how the Top 10s look, with links to the other 65 ranked teams available by visiting the ITA Division I ranking page. 

The individual rankings, which have been done by a computer since last November, also have the same No. 1 and No. 2 singles players as in the last rankings two weeks ago.

Top Ten Division I Team Rankings 

February 20, 2024

Last poll rankings in parentheses.

MEN:

1. Ohio State (1)

2. TCU (2)

3. Wake Forest (9)

4. Columbia (10)

5. Tennessee (7)

6. Kentucky (11)

7. Virginia (6)

8. Harvard (8)

9. Arizona (14)

10. Texas (3)

Top 10 Singles

1. Eliot Spizzirri, Texas

2. Micah Braswell, Texas

3. JJ Tracy, Ohio State

4. Ozan Baris, Michigan State

5. Oliver Tarvet, San Diego

6. Colton Smith, Arizona

7. Johannus Monday, Tennessee

8. Jack Pinnington Jones, TCU

9. Murphy Cassone, Arizona State

10. Chris Rodesch, Virginia

Top 5 Doubles:

1. Max Sheldon and Ozan Baris, Michigan State

2. Hunter Heck and Karlis Ozolins, Illinois

3. DK Suresh and Holden Koons, Wake Forest

4. Robert Cash and JJ Tracy, Ohio State

5. Sebastian Gorzny and Pedro Vives, TCU

WOMEN:

1. Oklahoma State (1)

2. Michigan (2)

3. Stanford (3)

4. Texas (6)

5. NC State (4)

6. Virginia (7)

7. Ohio State (9)

8. North Carolina (5)

9. Southern California (17)

10. Georgia (8)

Singles:

1. Mary Stoiana, Texas A&M

2. Reese Brantmeier, North Carolina

3. Amelia Rajecki, NC State

4. Ange Oby Kajuru, Oklahoma State

5. Kari Miller, Michigan

6. Sarah Hamner, South Carolina

7. Ayana Akli, South Carolina

8. Savannah Broadus, Pepperdine

9. Anastasiya Komar, Oklahoma State

10. Alexa Noel, Miami

Doubles:

1. Elizabeth Scotty and Reese Brantmeier, North Carolina

2. Alina Shcherbinina and Dana Guzman, Oklahoma

3. Janice Tjen and Savannah Broadus, Pepperdine

4. Mary Stoiana and Mia Kupres, Texas A&M

5. Jaedan Brown and Kari Miller, Michigan

New York sports journalist Michael Lewis covered the ITA Men's D-I Team Indoor Championships for the Tennis Recruiting Network, traveling to both the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center and the Milstein Family Tennis Center from his New York home. Those of us who watched from home, thanks to Cracked Racquets, know that we are bound to miss things we would observe if on site, and he does a good job of describing the experience of following a thriller in person in this article.

Junior slam champions rarely entertain the idea of attending college, which made the decision by 17-year-old US Open champion Joao Fonseca of Brazil to sign with Virginia for this fall all the more newsworthy. One of my Eight Intriguing Questions for 2024 was whether he would actually play college tennis, given his enormous potential, and a Challenger semifinal last month increased the odds that he would turn pro before next fall.

Today, at the ATP 500 in rainy Rio, wild card Fonseca met 19-year-old Arthur Fils of France, seeded seventh, in a first round match postponed from yesterday. Fonseca, currently 655 in the ATP rankings, posted a 6-0, 6-4 victory over the ATP No. 36, for his first ATP Top 100 win. He is the first player born in 2006 to win an ATP main draw match; Fonseca's opponent in the second round is Cristian Garin of Chile. Having seen the fanatical crowds he had in New York at the Open in the juniors, I can't imagine what adoration he is receiving after an ATP win in his home country.

With each win on the professional level, Fonseca, who moved up more than 200 places in the ATP rankings with this victory, seems less likely to enroll at Virginia.

His success is inviting comparisons to Alex Michelsen, although Michelsen was never the can't-miss, hope of a country that Fonseca has been for years. But he did win a junior slam (Wimbledon boys doubles) and had every intention of playing at the University of Georgia until his Challenger title in Chicago last July, followed by an ATP 250 final in Newport.

Several hours after Fonseca had posted his milestone victory, Michelsen earned his first ATP Top 10 win, beating Alex de Minaur of Australia 6-4, 6-1 at the ATP 250 in Los Cabos Mexico. Although he reached the third round of the Australian Open this year, which is arguably more impressive, the 19-year-old from Southern California will be playing in his second ATP 250 quarterfinal this week in Mexico, with Newport his first. His opponent in the quarterfinals is the winner of tonight's match between Emilio Nava and Australia's Jordan Thompson, the No. 8 seed. Thompson beat Michelsen a year ago in the Rome Georgia Challenger final, one of the breakout tournaments for the then 18-year-old.

Earlier in the day, 18-year-old Jakub Mensik of the Czech Republic, the 2023 Australian Open boys finalist, reached his first ATP quarterfinal at the 250 in Doha, beating Andy Murray 7-6(6), 6-7(3), 7-6(4). Like Michelsen, Mensik has already been to the third round of a major, at last year's US Open.