My Coverage of the USTA Level 2 Boys 14s Final; Arizona Shocks No. 3 Seed Texas on Opening Day at ITA Men's Team Indoor, Texas A&M Beats No. 7 Seed South Carolina; All US Semifinals at ATP Delray Beach
The past three years I've been covering February's USTA Boys 14s Level 2 in Grand Rapids, which gives me the opportunity to see some of the players that will be competing in Kalamazoo in a year or two. Two years ago 2023 Eddie Herr 16s champion Jack Secord, now 132 in the ITF Junior rankings, won the tournament; last year it was Colin McPeek, currently No. 5 in the Tennis Recruiting Network's Class of 2028.
Both are from the Midwest section, as is this year's champion Luca Sevim, who won four match tiebreakers in his five victories to claim his first Level 2 title. Indoor tennis is obviously the norm in the section, and the tournament is more convenient and less expensive for those who can drive to it, but I'm not sure that explains the (admittedly small sample size) streak of Midwest champions.
My article on Monday's finals for Tennis Recruiting Network can be found here.
Last week in Seattle, the first round of the D-I Women's Team Indoor Championships produced two upsets, with the No. 5 Pepperdine and No. 7 Georgia going out. Today in New York, the Men's Team Indoor Championships opened with losses by three of the top eight seeds, with No. 3 Texas dropping a 4-2 decision to No. 14 Arizona, No. 7 South Carolina falling to No. 10 Texas A&M 4-1 and No. 8 seed Columbia losing to No. 9 Harvard 4-2.
The women did produce a 4-3 result--Ohio State's win over Georgia--while the men did not, but there was still plenty of drama, mostly from unexpected places.
Texas lost the doubles point, which seemed a necessity for Arizona with the strength of the Longhorns singles lineup, but then Arizona went out and took five first sets in singles, giving them all sorts of paths to the upset. Ironically the one match where Arizona didn't win the first set clinched it for the Wildcats, with Herman Hoeyeraal defeating Cleeve Harper 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(5) for the fourth point. Texas forced third sets in four matches and won two of them, at lines 1 and 2, but the hole was just too deep, and Arizona came away with the 4-2 decision. Texas, the 2023 Team Indoor finalists, did not have Siem Woldeab in their lineup. Arizona will face No. 6 seed Wake Forest in the quarterfinals, with the Demon Deacons defeating No. 11 Michigan 4-1. That match is at 6:30 p.m.
Top seed Ohio State also had an unexpected battle with No. 16 seed Alabama, although the Buckeyes did manage to secure a 4-2 win. After losing the doubles point and first sets at lines 1 and 2, Ohio State had to rely on their depth, but they got wins from the 3, 4, 5 and 6 spots to advanced to the quarterfinals. Their quarterfinal opponent will be Harvard, who closed out the evening with a tight 4-2 win over host Columbia. Harvard and Ohio State will play at 3:30 p.m Saturday.
The 9 a.m. quarterfinal will feature No. 5 seed Tennessee against No. 4 Virginia and the noon quarterfinal will see No. 2 seed TCU, face No. 10 Texas A&M.
Texas A&M lost the doubles point to South Carolina, but rallied to take five first sets in singles. Unlike Texas, the Gamecocks couldn't force any third sets and the Aggies collected a 4-1 victory. TCU looked like the two-time defending Indoor champions they are, blanking No. 15 seed Arizona State.
Tennessee defeated No. 12 Southern California 4-0 and Virginia took out No. 13 Duke 4-1.
Cracked Racquets is providing its CrossCourt Cast for all four quarterfinals Saturday at their YouTube Channel, with commentary by Alex Gruskin and Mike Cation.
New York NY
February 16, 2024
TCU[2] 4 Arizona State[15] 0
Doubles:
1. Bor Artnak and Max McKennon(ASU) v Sebastian Gorzny and Pedro Vives(TCU) 4-3, unfinished
2. Jake Fearnley and Jack Pinnington Jones(TCU) v Martin Vergara Del Puerto and Murphy Cassone(ASU) 6-1
3. Duncan Chan and Lui Maxted(TCU) d. Constantinos Koshis and Jacob Bullard(ASU) 6-3
Order of finish: 2, 3
Singles:
1. Jake Fearnley(TCU) v Murphy Cassone(ASU) 7-6(3), 6-5 unfinished
2. Bor Artnak(ASU) v Jack Pinnington Jones(TCU) 3-6, 7-5, 1-0, unfinished
3. Max McKennon(ASU) v Pedro Vives(TCU) 2-6, 7-6(5), unfinished
4. Sebastian Gorzny(TCU) d. Martin Vergara Del Puerto(ASU) 6-0, 6-2
5. Lui Maxted(TCU) d. Jacob Bullard(ASU) 6-3, 7-6(5)
6. Tomas Jirousek(TCU) d. Roi Ginat(ASU) 7-5, 6-3
Order of finish: 4, 5, 6
=================
Virginia[4] 4, Duke[13] 1
Doubles:
1. Chris Rodesch and Jeffrey von der Schulenburg(UVA) d. Michael Heller and Andrew Zhang(DUKE) 6-3
2. Edoardo Graziani and James Hopper(UVA) v Pedro Rodenas and Garret Johns(DUKE) 5-3, unfinished
3. Dylan Dietrich and Alexander Kiefer(UVA) d. Connor Krug and Faris Khan(DUKE) 6-3
Order of finish:
3, 1
Singles:
1. Chris Rodesch(UVA) d. Pedro Rodenas(DUKE) 6-4, 6-4
2. Dylan Dietrich(UVA) d. Garrett Johns(DUKE) 6-2, 6-4
3. Inaki Montes(UVA) v Andrew Zhang(DUKE) 3-6, 6-2, 2-1, unfinished
4. Jeffrey von der Schulenburg(UVA) d. Coonor Krug(DUKE) 4-6, 6-2, 6-3
5. Jake Krug(DUKE v Alexander Kiefer(UVA) 7-5, 5-5, unfinished
6. Alexander Visser(DUKE) d. Mans Dahlberg(UVA) 6-2, 6-4
Order of finish: 1, 2, 6, 4
==================
Tennessee[5] 4, Southern California[12] 0
Doubles:
1. Johannus Monday and Angel Diaz(TENN) d. Peter Makk and Lodewijk Weststrate(SoCal) 6-1
2. Filip Pieczonka and Shunsuke Mitsui(TENN) v Karl Lee and Oscar Weightman(SoCal) 6-5, unfinished
3. Filip Apltauer and Younes Lalami(TENN) d. Volodymyr Iakubenko and Samuel Rubell(SoCal)
Order of finish: 1, 3
Singles:
1. Johannus Monday(TENN) d. Peter Makk(SoCal) 6-1, 6-2
2. Shunsuke Mitsui(TENN) d. Lodewijk Weststrate(SoCal) 6-4, 6-1
3. Oscar Weightman(SoCal) v Filip Pieczonka(TENN) 6-4, 5-3, unfinished
4. Volodymyr Iakubenko(SoCal) v Filip Apltauer(TENN) 6-3, 4-3, unfinished
5. Karl Lee (SoCal) v Younes Lalami(TENN) 6-3, 5-4, unfinished
6. Angel Diaz(TENN) d. Samuel Rubell(So Cal) 6-4, 6-2
Order of finish: 1, 2, 6
=================
Texas A&M[10] 4, South Carolina[7] 1
Doubles:
1. Casey Hoole and Toby Samuel(SC) d. Giulio Perego and Togan Tokac(TAMU) 6-2
2. Luke Casper and JC Roddick(TAMU) d. James Story and Lucas Andrade Da Silva(SC) 6-4
3. Jelani Sarr and Sean Daryabeigi(SC) d. Raphael Perot and Tiago Pires(TAMU) 7-5
Order of finish: 1, 2, 3
Singles:
1. Raphael Perot(TAMU) d. Toby Samuel(SC) 6-4, 7-6(8)
2. JC Roddick(TAMU) d. Casey Hoole(SC) 6-3, 6-1
3. Togan Tokac(TAMU) d. James Story(SC) 6-3, 7-6(5)
4. Giulio Perego(TAMU) d. Jelani Sarr(SC) 6-3, 7-5
5. Lucas Andrade Da Silva(SC) v Tiago Pires(TAMU) 6-3, 5-7, 2-0, unfinished
6. Luke Casper(TAMU) v Sean Daryabeigi(SC) 7-5, 5-5, unfinished
Order of finish: 2, 4, 3, 1
=================
Ohio State[1] 4, Alabama[16] 2
Doubles:
1. Enzo Aguiard and Zach Foster(BAMA) d. Andrew Lutschaunig and Justin Boulais(OSU) 6-4
2. Filip Planinsek and Andri Zimnokh(BANA) d. Robert Cash and Bryce Nakashima(OSU) 7-5
3. Cannon Kingsley and JJ Tracy(OSU) d. Roan Jones and Matic Dimic(BANA) 6-2
Order of finish: 3, 1, 2
Singles:
1. Filip Planinsek(BAMA) d. Cannon Kinglsey(OSU) 7-6(2), 7-6(5)
2. Justin Boulais(OSU) v Enzo Aguiard(BAMA) 4-6, 7-6(4), unfinished
3. JJ Tracy(OSU) d. Matias Ponce De Leon(BAMA) 6-3, 6-1
4. Jack Anthrop(OSU) d. Andri Zimnokh(BAMA) 7-5, 6-3
5. Robert Cash(OSU) d. Roan Jones(BAMA) 7-5, 7-6(3)
6. Alexander Bernard d. Zach Foster(BAMA) 6-2, 6-0
Order of finish: 6, 3, 4, 1, 5
=================
Arizona[14] 4, Texas[3] 2
Doubles:
1. Eliot Spizzirri and Cleeve Harper(TEX) d. Jay Friend and Colton Smith 6-3
2. Eric Padgham and Herman Hoeyeraal(AZ) d. Pierre-Yves Bailly and Eshan Talluri(TEX) 6-4
3. Sasha Rozin and Gustaf Strom(AZ) d. Micah Braswell and Jonah Braswell(TEX) 6-3
Order of finish: 1, 2, 3,
Singles:
1. Eliot Spizzirri(TEX) d. Colton Smith(AZ) 4-6, 7-5, 6-3
2. Micah Braswell(TEX) d. Jay Friend(AZ) 5-7, 6-3, 6-1
3. Gustaf Strom(AZ) d. Gilles-Arnaud Bailly(TEX) 6-4, 3-6, 6-2
4. Nick Lagaev(AZ) d. Pierre-Yves Bailly(TEX) 6-3, 6-4
5. Herman Hoeyeraal(AZ) d. Cleeve Harper(TEX) 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(5)
6. Casper Christensen(AZ) v Lucas Brown(TEX) v 6-2, 6-7(5), 3-2, unfinished
Order of finish:
4, 2, 1, 3
===========
Harvard[9] 4, Columbia[8] 2
Doubles:
1. Theo Winegar and Michael Zheng(COL) d. Cooper Williams and Daniel Milavsky(HAR) 6-4
2. Ronan Jachuck and Masato Perera(HAR) d. Nicolas Kotzen and Max Westphal(COL) 7-5
3. Henry von der Schulenburg and David Lins(HAR) d. Alex Kotzen and Sachin Palta(COL) 6-2
Order of finish: 3, 1, 2
Singles:
1. Cooper Williams(HAR) d. Michael Zheng(COL) 6-3, 7-5
2. Henry von der Schulenburg(HAR) v Alex Kotzen(COL)
3. Daniel Milavsky(HAR) d. Nicolas Kotzen(COL) 6-1, 7-5
4. Max Westphal(COL) d. Ronan Jachuck(HAR) 6-2 6-4
5. Hugo Hashimoto(COL) d. Melchior Delloye(HAR) 6-1, 6-4
6. Valdemar Pape(HAR) d. Sachin Palta(COL) 6-3, 7-6(4)
Order of finish: 5, 3, 4, 1, 6
=================
Wake Forest[6] 4, Michigan[11] 1
Doubles:
1. Jacob Bickersteth and Gavin Young(MICH) v Holden Koons and DK Suresh(WAKE) 6-6 (5-4) unfinished
2. Filippo Moroni and Matthew Thomson(WAKE) d. Patorn Hanchaikul and Will Cooksey(MICH) 6-2
3. Luca Pow and Luciano Tacchi(WAKE) d. Alex Cairo and Nicholas Steiglehner(MICH) 7-6(7)
Order of finish: 2, 3
Singles:
1. Filippo Moroni(WAKE) v Gavin Young(MICH) 7-6(2), 2-1, unfinished
2. DK Suresh(WAKE) d. Jacob Bickersteth(MICH) 6-2, 7-6(9)
3. Patorn Hanchaikul(MICH) d. Matthew Thomson(WAKE) 6-3, 6-3
4. Luciano Tacchi(WAKE) d. Bjorn Swenson(MICH) 6-4, 6-4
5. Will Cooksey(MICH) v Holden Koons(WAKE) 6-3, 5-3, unfinished
6. Luca Pow(WAKE) d. Nicholas Steiglehner(MICH) 6-4, 6-3
Order of finish: 3, 4, 6, 2
=================
The semifinals of the ATP 250 Delray Beach Open feature four Americans, the top three seeds and Marcos Giron(UCLA). Top seed and defending champion Taylor Fritz beat former UNC All-American Rinky Hijikata 6-3, 6-3; No. 2 seed Frances Tiafoe defeated lucky loser Flavio Cobolli of Italy 6-4, 6-2; No. 3 seed Tommy Paul beat Jordan Thompson of Australia 6-2, 6-3, and Giron ended the run of wild card Patrick Kypson(Texas A&M) 6-4, 6-4. Fritz will face Giron and Paul will play Tiafoe in Saturday's semifinals, with Paul and Tiafoe scheduled for 3 p.m. and Giron and Fritz set to take the court at 8 p.m.
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