Maloney and Yamalapalli Win SoCal Pro Series Titles in LA; Main Draw at Bloomfield Hills Challenger Begins Monday; Cash and Galloway Claim Second ATP Title in Mallorca; USTA National Hard Courts Registration Underway

Sunday was quiet on the ATP and WTA tours with Wimbledon beginning Monday, leaving the only action today in Challenger qualifying and the ITF World Tennis Tour.

The SoCal Pro Series is heading for its home stretch, with the fifth of the seven consecutive tournaments concluding today in Los Angeles. 

Patrick Maloney, a 2023 Michigan graduate, won his first ITF men's World Tennis Tour singles title at the Kramer Club, with the No. 8 seed defeating qualifier Colton Smith, a rising senior at Arizona, 6-3, 1-6, 6-3. It was the first singles final on the Pro Circuit for both Maloney and Smith. Maloney won back-to-back doubles titles the past two weeks as well, so he has withdrawn from next week's SoCal Pro Series tournament in Lakewood.

In the women's singles final, top seed Sahaja Yamalapalli of India defeated No. 3 seed Amy Zhu(Michigan) 6-4, 7-6(4) for her fourth women's ITF World Tennis Tour singles title. The 23-year-old Sam Houston State graduate, currently 320 in the WTA rankings before these points are added, is the second highest-ranked woman in India, trailing only 31-year-old Ankita Raina. She has also withdrawn from next week's Lakewood tournament.

The Lakewood tournament is the only women's USTA Pro Circuit tournament next week, but the men's Challengers return after a three-week break for the Bloomfield Hills Challenger 75. Now in its second year, the only men's Challenger in Michigan again has attracted plenty of college players, with all three wild cards having college ties.

Eighteen-year-old Learner Tien(USC), who won three SoCal Pro Series titles this month, received a main draw wild card, as did NCAA singles finalist Michael Zheng(Columbia) and recent Georgia Tech graduate Andres Martin. Tien and Martin are on Monday's schedule, and both take on former Ohio State Buckeyes; Tien faces James Trotter of Japan, and Martin plays top seed JJ Wolf. Zheng will play a qualifier in the first round.

Nishesh Basavareddy(Stanford), Ozan Baris(Michigan State) and Micah Braswell(Texas), all of whom played the NCAA singles tournament last month in Stillwater, are in the main draw, with I believe Baris and Braswell getting Accelerator spots, while Basavareddy got in as an alternate. Baris will play 2023 NCAA champion Ethan Quinn(Georgia) in a first round match Monday.

I noted the Eastbourne doubles titles for former LSU stars Michael Venus and Neal Skupski Friday, but didn't note the Mallorca ATP 250 title yesterday for another pair of collegians: Julian Cash of Great Britain and American Robert Galloway.

Cash and Galloway, who won their first ATP titles in Delray Beach this past February, claimed the Surbiton Challenger, reached the Stuttgart 250 final and earned this title, all this month. The 27-year-old Cash played at Mississippi State and Oklahoma State; the 31-year-old Galloway played at Wofford. With their 6-4, 6-4 win over Diego Hidalgo(Florida) of Ecuador and Alejandro Tabilo of Chile in the Mallorca final, they will both move to career-highs in the ATP rankings, with Cash at 39 and Galloway at 35.

The USTA National Clay Courts are just a week away, and once again they will conflict with my trip to Wimbledon for the Junior Championships, so I will not be able to follow them as closely as I would like. You can find links to all the USTA Clay Court tournament sites at the USTA National Junior Calendar.

Registration for the  USTA Hard Court Nationals is now open; it will close early on July 11.

The Billie Jean King Girls 18s and 16s National Championships in San Diego sent out their first release on the tournament last week, which can be found here. Included is the information about the wild cards for the US Open. I assume they are the same for the boys 18s and 16s in Kalamazoo. Please note that the 16s doubles champions are not guaranteed a US Open Junior Championships wild card; there seems to be confusion about this every year.

18s Singles Champion – US Open Main Draw Singles and US Open Juniors Main Draw Singles

18s Doubles Champions – US Open Main Draw Doubles and US Open Juniors Main Draw Doubles (required to play with same partner)

18s Singles Finalist – US Open Qualifying Singles and US Open Juniors Main Draw Singles

18s Singles 3rd place – US Open Juniors Main Draw Singles

18s Singles 4th place – US Open Juniors Qualifying Singles

18s Singles 5th place – US Open Juniors Qualifying Singles

16s Singles Champion – US Open Juniors Main Draw Singles

The USTA sites for the Nationals:

Girls 18s and 16s San Diego: (tournament website: https://www.ustagirlsnationals.com/)

https://playtennis.usta.com/competitions/youth-tennis-san-diego/Tournaments/overview/F536F55E-0F59-4487-A0B4-DEB0BBD6F831

Boys 18s and 16s Kalamazoo: (tournament website: ustaboys.com)

https://playtennis.usta.com/competitions/kalamazoocollege/Tournaments/overview/631D27CD-231B-4E18-9554-E0E2CFCD1416

Girls 14s Rome Georgia:

https://playtennis.usta.com/competitions/metro-tennis-associates/Tournaments/overview/7CDB9C68-4438-4CD5-92BF-50B24AE5F0C9

Girls 12s  Peachtree Corners Georgia:

https://playtennis.usta.com/competitions/metro-tennis-associates/Tournaments/overview/7CDB9C68-4438-4CD5-92BF-50B24AE5F0C9

Boys 14s and 12s Mobile Alabama:

https://playtennis.usta.com/competitions/mobile-area-tennis-association/Tournaments/overview/4283EBBA-5169-4A28-8ED8-3FF3642589BE?previewMode=true

No. 1 Seed Bigun Among 16 US Juniors in ITF J300 Roehampton; 15 Americans in Action Monday at Wimbledon; Fearnley Feature; Shnaider, Fritz Win Bad Homburg, Eastbourne Titles; Qualifier Smith Reaches $15K Final in LA

The warmup event for the Wimbledon Junior Championships begins Sunday at the ITF J300 in Roehampton, with 16 American juniors in the draw.

Roland Garros champion Kaylan Bigun is the top seed, and he will also be the No. 1 seed at Wimbledon when it begins Saturday July 6. Cooper Woestendick is the only other American who is seeded, at No. 11. The other boys competing this week at Roehampton are Jagger Leach, Alex Razeghi, Jack Kennedy, Ian Mayew, Matthew Forbes, Kase Schinnerer, Max Exsted and Trevor Svajda.

Svajda received entry based on his ATP ranking, currently 673, for both Roehampton and Wimbledon. Akasha Urhobo, who also received acceptance to Wimbledon based on her pro ranking, is not in the draw in Roehampton, although she is still on the acceptance list for Wimbledon. There have been several high profile withdrawals in the Wimbledon Junior Championships in the past couple of weeks, with Australian Open boys champion Rei Sakamoto of Japan and Roland Garros girls champion Tereza Valentova of the Czech Republic now out, as is Maya Joint of Australia, who lost to McCartney Kessler in the second round of women's qualifying this past week. 

2024 Australian Open girls champion Renata Jamrichova of Slovakia is still on the Wimbledon Junior acceptance list, but she is not playing Roehampton. She also didn't play the warmup to the Australian Open juniors, or the warmup to Roland Garros, so she obviously feels no need for that particular preparation. 

The US girls in the Roehampton draw are Tyra Grant[3], Iva Jovic[5], Kristina Penickova[8], Katie Rolls[11], Shannon Lam and Thea Frodin. Christasha McNeil lost in the final round of qualifying today to Erin Pearce of Great Britain 6-4, 4-6, 10-8.

Roland Garros girls finalist Laura Samson is the top seed, with Hannah Klugman of Great Britain, who made the final round of women's qualifying on the same Roehampton courts two days ago, the No. 4 seed. Australian Open girls finalist Emerson Jones of Australia is the No. 2 seed.

The Wimbledon order of play for men's and women's first round singles Monday was released today, with 15 of the 29 Americans in action. 

Monday's Wimbledon first round matches featuring Americans:

Coco Gauff[2] v Caroline Dolehide
Emina Bektas v Aryna Sabalenka[3](BLR)
Sloane Stephens v Victoria Azarenka[16](BLR)
Madison Keys[12] v Martina Trevisan(ITA)
McCartney Kessler[Q] v Maria Sakkari[9](GRE)
Peyton Stearns v Daria Saville(AUS)
Emma Navarro[19] v Qiang Wang(CHN)
Taylor Townsend v Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova[25](RUS)

Aleks Kovacevic v Daniil Medvedev[5](RUS)
Tommy Paul[12] v Pedro Martinez(ESP)
Ben Shelton[14] v Mattia Bellucci[Q](ITA)
Alex Michelsen v Lloyd Harris(RSA)
Frances Tiafoe[29] v Matteo Arnaldi(ITA)
Brandon Nakashima v Sebastian Baez[18](ARG)

Recent TCU graduate Jake Fearnley, who received a main draw wild card into Wimbledon after winning the Nottingham Challenger, will play his first round match against Alejandro Moro Canas of Spain on Tuesday. The ATP talked with Fearnley about how he got his start in tennis and what he gained from college, noting that Fearnley has wins over both Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz in the juniors. TCU Associate head coach Devin Bowen discusses Fearnley's growth while in college, and how he has been able to overcome the self doubts and countless injuries that could have derailed a pro career.

Taylor Fritz[13] will not play until Tuesday, so he will have two days to rest after claiming his third ATP title in Eastbourne today. Fritz, who now has eight ATP titles, defeated Australia's Max Purcell 6-4, 6-3 in the final and with the title, he will return to his position of No. 1 American, which he lost, for just one week, to Tommy Paul. For more on the final, see this ATP article.

Former NC State star Diana Shnaider won the WTA 500 in Bad Homburg Germany today, with the unseeded 20-year-old from Russia beating unseeded Donna Vekic of Croatia 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 for her second WTA title and first at the 500 level. With the title, Shnaider will move to No. 30 in the WTA rankings. Unlike Fritz, Shnaider is on Monday's schedule. She will play 2021 Wimbledon finalist Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic.

At the SoCal Pro Series $15K in Los Angeles, qualifier Colton Smith and No. 8 seed Patrick Maloney will play in a pro final for the first time after posting semifinal victories today.  Smith, a rising senior at Arizona who made NCAA singles semifinals last month in Stillwater, defeated teammate and fellow qualifier Jay Friend of Japan 6-2, 6-0 in his first Pro Circuit semifinal. Maloney, who graduated from Michigan in 2023, broke through to a final for the first time in five attempts, beating No. 3 seed Alex Knaff(Florida State) of Luxembourg 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.

Maloney will go into the singles final as the doubles champion, with he and Joshua Charlton(Oregon) of Australia winning a second consecutive title on the SoCal Pro Circuit. The Rancho Santa Fe champions last week, the top seeds defeated Ohio State teammates Jack Anthrop and Bryce Nakashima 7-6(5), 7-6(6) in this afternoon's final.

The singles final at the women's W15 in Los Angeles will feature top seed Sahaja Yamalapalli(Sam Houston State) of India and No. 3 seed Amy Zhu(Michigan). Yamalapalli defeated University of Florida rising junior Rachel Gailis 6-0, 6-4, while Zhu outlasted No. 5 seed Victoria Flores(Georgia Tech, Pepperdine) 6-2, 1-6, 6-2. 

In the women's doubles final, No. 3 seeds Anita Sahdiieva(Baylor, LSU) of Ukraine and Stefani Webb(Central Florida) of Australia defeated No. 2 seeds Lily Fairclough(USC) and Tenika Mcgiffin(Tennessee) of Australia 7-5, 4-6, 10-6 for their first title as a team.

Roehampton ITF J300 Qualifying Underway; 29 Americans to Compete in Wimbledon Main Draw; Former LSU Tigers Skupski and Venus Win Back-to-Back ATP Doubles Titles; Maloney Ousts Top Seed Kwiatkowski at SoCal Pro Series $15K in LA

The brief junior grass court season began today with qualifying at the ITF J300 in Roehampton, the day after the men's and women's Wimbledon qualifying concluded.

Just two Americans are competing in qualifying, both girls: Christasha McNeil, the No. 2 seed, and 14-year-old Welles Newman. McNeil won her first round qualifying match over British wild card Sophya Devas 6-2, 6-2, and on Saturday will play No. 15 seed Erin Pearce for a spot in the main draw. Newman lost to No. 14 seed Marelie Raath of Great Britain 4-6, 6-4, 12-10. I have yet to receive any information from the All England Club on the US representatives for the U14 tournament the second week of Wimbledon, but the fact that Newman is already playing on grass there suggests she will be one of the two US girls competing in that event.

The top seeds in the qualifying are 14-year-old Victoria Barros of Brazil and 17-year-old Lorenzo Beraldo of Italy, both of whom advanced to Saturday's final round of qualifying.

The Wimbledon draws were released this morning, with 18 US women and 11 US men competing in the 2024 Championships. 

The US women:
Sofia Kenin
Bernarda Pera
Danielle Collins[11]
Lauren Davis
Katie Volynets[Q]
Alycia Parks[Q]
Robin Montgomery[Q]
Ashlyn Krueger
Jessica Pegula[5]
Taylor Townsend
McCartney Kessler[Q]
Emina Bektas
Peyton Stearns
Madison Keys[12]
Sloane Stephens
Emma Navarro[19]
Caroline Dolehide
Coco Gauff[2]

The US men:

Alex Michelsen

Ben Shelton[14]

Aleks Kovacevic

Frances Tiafoe[29]

Brandon Nakashima

Tommy Paul[12]

Sebastian Korda[20]

Mackenzie McDonald

Taylor Fritz[13]

Marcos Giron

Christopher Eubanks

I'll post the first round matchups when the order of play is released.

In addition to 29 Americans, there are 30 former collegiate players competing in the singles main draws this year, 11 of them from the United States. A list of all 30 can be found in this article from the ITA.

The doubles draws were also released today, with the two highest seeded Americans at No. 3: Rajeev Ram(Illinois), who is playing with Joe Salisbury(Memphis) of Great Britain, and Nicole Melichar-Martinez, who is playing with Ellen Perez(Georgia) of Australia.

Certainly a team to watch will be New Zealand's Michael Venus and Neal Skupski of Great Britain, who are the No. 9 seeds. The former LSU Tigers, who have only played together four times,  have won ATP titles the past two weeks, claiming the Queen's Club 500 title last week and today winning the 250 in Eastbourne. Skupski won his first men's slam title last year at Wimbledon, with Wesley Koolhof of the Netherlands, who is now playing with Nikola Mektic of Croatia. They are the No. 7 seeds.

The women's semifinals have been decided at the SoCal Pro Series this week in Los Angeles, with current collegian Rachel Gailis set to take on No. 1 seed Sahaja Yamalapalli of India in the top half. The rising junior and All-American at the University of Florida earned her third consecutive straight-sets victory today, beating UC-Santa Barbara's All-American Amelia Honer 6-1, 6-2. Yamalapalli defeated UCLA rising freshman Kate Fakih 6-1, 6-1.

In the bottom half, No. 5 seed Victoria Flores(Georgia Tech, Pepperdine) earned her semifinal berth with a 6-1, 1-6, 7-6(3) win over No. 2 seed Jessica Failla(USC, Pepperdine). Flores will play No. 3 seed Amy Zhu(Michigan), who defeated Ana Grubor of Canada 6-4, 6-2. 

There is still one men's semifinal yet to play, with qualifier Colton Smith taking on wild card Spencer Johnson(UCLA) in a night match at the Kramer Club, with the winner facing qualifier Jay Friend of Japan. Smith, a rising senior, and Friend, a rising junior, played 1 and 2 for Arizona this past season. Friend defeated No. 4 seed  Keegan Smith(UCLA) 6-3, 6-1.

The top half semifinal will feature No. 3 seed Alex Knaff(Florida State) of Luxembourg and No. 8 seed Patrick Maloney(Michigan). Knaff defeated Ohio State rising junior Jack Anthrop 6-4, 1-6, 7-6(5), while Maloney took out top seed Thai Kwiatkowski(Virginia) 6-1, 7-5. It's easily the best win by ranking for ATP No. 799 Maloney in this, his first full season on the Pro Circuit; Kwiatkowski is currently 289 in the ATP rankings. Maloney will be playing in his fifth USTA Pro Circuit semifinal, looking for his first trip to a final.

Volynets, Kessler, Parks and Montgomery Qualify for Wimbledon Main Draw; ITA Announces Six Women Collegians Eligible for ITF Accelerator Program; Les Petits As USA Regional Playoffs This Summer

Although none of the seven US men in Wimbledon qualifying made it through to the main draw, four of the 15 US women had success in the final round of qualifying today at Roehampton.

Top seed Katie Volynets saw her matches get progressively easier in the past three days, beating Talia Gibson of Australia 6-0, 6-1 today.

Alycia Parks ended the run of 15-year-old Hannah Klugman of Great Britain 6-3, 6-3, although Klugman did win as many games as Parks' first two opponents combined.

After her three-tiebreak, three-hour victory yesterday, 19-year-old Robin Montgomery probably needed to close out Valentina Ryser of Switzerland in two sets, and she did, qualifying for her first main draw appearance at Wimbledon with a 7-6(3), 6-2 win. 

Former University of Florida All-American McCartney Kessler qualified for her first Wimbledon the hard way, winning all three of her matches in three sets, and the last two from a set down. Kessler, the No. 20 seed, defeated No. 3 seed Renata Zarazua of Mexico 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.

I spoke with Kessler last fall at the WTA 125 Dow Tennis Classic as she was moving up the rankings for this Tennis Recruiting Network article, and she has been continuing to tick off milestones ever since. The 24-year-old from Georgia won the USTA's Australian Open Wild Card Challenge and picked up her first slam win in Melbourne; won a WTA 125 in Mexico in February as a lucky loser, and now has qualified for a major for the first time. Her brother McClain, who also played at Florida, has been coaching her, and was with her this week in Roehampton.

One answer from the article linked above has stuck with me over the months:

CL: What is the most important lesson you learned in college tennis that's helped you in the pros?

MK: The main thing is just the competing aspect, the mental part. It's so different in college; you're playing and it doesn't matter if you don't feel well, if you're having a bad day, you just have to do your best to compete, to stay on the court as long as possible, even if you're not going to win your match, to give your teammates peace of mind.

In the pros, you have so many tournaments, and if you're having a bad day, it's pretty easy to let the match go and move on to the next week. Which is nice, but coming from college, I feel like I do a pretty good job of winning, or at least competing, on the days I don't feel well or don't feel like I'm playing well.

After her three wins this week, Kessler has demonstrated that she's still drawing from that lesson in competing she learned in college.

The two Americans in action today who fell short of qualifying are Max Cressy(UCLA), who lost a three-hour battle to Felipe Meligeni Alves of Brazil 6-4, 1-6, 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-4; and Amanda Anisimova, who was beaten by Eva Lys[25] of Germany 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

The main draw ceremony is scheduled for 10 a.m. local time Friday.

The ITA announced today the six Division I collegiate women who have qualified for the second year of the ITF Accelerator Program. They are: Mary Stoiana(Texas A&M), Amelia Rajecki(NC State), Alexa Noel(Miami), Dasha Vidmanova(Georgia), Kari Miller(Michigan) and Anastasiia Lopata(Georgia). The first five qualified by ranking, Lopata by reaching the NCAA final.

I've expressed my dismay over the inequity between the men's and women's Accelerator Programs several times; 20 men, and more, if they reach the NCAA quarterfinals, get the benefit of the ATP Accelerator Program, and all the wild cards they receive are for the ATP Challenger level. 

The ITF does have a more or less comparable level for women, the W75s, but instead of the eight wild cards the Top 10 men get into Challengers 50 and 75s, the six women get only four wild cards and it is said to be to W60s, W40s and W25s. I think this may be a mistake in the release, as, at least in the United States, there are no longer any W60s or W40s or W25s. The current categories on the 2024 USTA Pro Circuit women's calendar are W100s, W75s, W50s, W35s and W15s.  Even if the wild cards are to W75s, W50s and W35s, the opportunities are much reduced compared to the men. 

I'm baffled as to how the ITF can justify this disparity; when I asked them about it last year, I didn't get a satisfactory explanation, only assurances that they would continue ongoing discussions of the program. I understand anything is better than nothing, but how can they let this disparity go on for another year, while continuing to send out press releases about how important gender equity is to them?

If Dave Mullins, the new CEO of the ITA, should decide that upgrading the women's Accelerator program is a top priority, I don't know anyone who would argue against that.

If you've looked closely at Zootennis the past week, and I hope you do check out the sponsor ads on occasion, you'll notice two ads for the Les Petits As Regional Playoffs next month at the John McEnroe Tennis Academy. These are just two of the tournaments that are being held across the country this summer that provide 13 and under players with the opportunity to compete in the National Playoffs this fall that will determine the players who will represent the United States in Tarbes in January of 2025. 

All the LPA Regional Playoffs are UTR events; you can find a complete list of all the tournaments here.

Six Americans, 15-yo Klugman Advance to Thursday's Final Round of Wimbledon Qualifying; Georgia Tech's Martin Receives ATP Atlanta Open Main Draw Wild Card; Top Seeds Advance at LA $15Ks; New ITA CEO Talks with TRN

One US man and five US women have advanced to Wimbledon's final round of qualifying in Roehampton Thursday, with just one more win required for an opportunity to compete at the All England Lawn Tennis Club next week.

Maxime Cressy is the only American man of the five competing today to advance to the final round; the former UCLA star and 2019 NCAA doubles champion has played in the Wimbledon main draw the past two years, but last summer his ranking fell out of the top 100, and he's been competing on the ATP Challenger Tour most of this year. Grass is the best surface for his game, but he lost in the first round of the two Challenger 125s he played as warmups, so a run like this in qualifying seemed unlikely.

Five of the nine US women competing today advanced to the final round of qualifying, just two of them seeded: No. 1 Katie Volynets and McCartney Kessler[20](Florida). Amanda Anisimova, Alycia Parks and Robin Montgomery are the three unseeded US women in the final round Thursday.

Anisimova came from a set and 4-0 down to defeat No. 4 seed Hailey Baptiste, Parks and Volynets cruised, Montgomery earned a three-hour, three-tiebreak victory that featured no breaks of serve, and Kessler rebounded for a three-set victory over Texas incoming freshman Maya Joint of Australia.

For more on Anisimova's win, see this article from the Wimbledon website.

Wednesday's Wimbledon second round qualifying results of Americans:

Maxime Cressy d. Thiago Tirante[21] 7-6(9), 6-3
Maxime Janvier(FRA) d. Emilio Nava[30] 7-6(1), 6-3
Leandro Riedi(SUI) d. Patrick Kypson 6-2, 3-6, 7-5
James Duckworth[4](AUS) d. Nicolas Moreno de Alboran 7-6(6), 6-4
Hugo Grenier(FRA) d. Zachary Svajda[24] 5-7, 7-6(4), 7-5

Katie Volynets[1] d. Simona Waltert(SUI) 6-3, 6-2
Robin Montgomery d. Kamilla Rakhimova[10](RUS) 7-6(0), 6-7(4), 7-6(4)
McCartney Kessler[20] d. Maya Joint(AUS) 2-6, 6-4, 6-2
Amanda Anisimova d. Hailey Baptiste[4] 6-7(3), 7-5, 6-1
Alycia Parks d. Tereza Martincova(CZE) 6-1, 6-3
Amarni Banks[WC] d. Kayla Day[26] 7-6(6), 6-3
Zarina Diyas d. Sachia Vickery[29] 3-6, 7-5, 7-5
Valentina Ryser(SUI d. Varvara Lepchenko 6-2, 6-7(4), 6-3

There are five teenagers remaining in the Wimbledon qualifying, four of them 19 years old: 2021 US Open girls champion Montgomery; Alexandra Eala of the Philippines, the 2022 US Open girls champion; Marina Stakusic of Canada and Anca Todoni of Romania. The fifth is 15-year-old Hannah Klugman of Great Britain, who beat 19-year-old Linda Fruhvirtova of the Czech Republic 6-2, 0-6, 6-4. The reigning Orange Bowl champion, who is a resident of Wimbledon, was not on show court 1 for her first round win yesterday, but she was the center of attention there today, and still managed to handle the occasion. Tomorrow she will face Parks, who is on one of her unplayable runs right now. After winning the W125 on grass in Italy last week, as a qualifier, the big-serving 23-year-old has lost just six games in her two qualifying matches, while hitting 17 aces. An intriguing contrast in styles and experience makes that match a must-see.

It, as well as the men's match between David Goffin[9] of Belgium and Mattia Bellucci of Italy, is scheduled to be streamed on ESPN+.

Thursday's final round qualifying matches featuring Americans:

Maxime Cressy v Felipe Meligeni Alves(BRA)

Katie Volynets[1] v Talia Gibson(AUS)

McCartney Kessler[20] v Renata Zarazua[3](MEX)

Amanda Anisimova v Eva Lys[25](GER)

Robin Montgomery v Valentina Ryser(SUI)

Alycia Parks v Hannah Klugman[WC](GBR)

The last ATP 250 in Atlanta is next month, with the tournament eliminated from the ATP calendar after this year. While it's always disappointing to lose a tournament based in the United States, it's especially unfortunate for college tennis fans, as the event always provided a main draw wild card for a collegiate player and promoted it as a part of its College Night.

Andres Martin, who just graduated from Georgia Tech, has received that college wild card the past two years, beating Thanasi Kokkinakis of Australia in the first round in 2022, and he will play the final Atlanta Open as a wild card this year as well. The player list was announced yesterday, along with Martin's wild card. With the Olympics the following week, the field may be missing a few players who would normally be preparing for the tournaments in Canada, Cincinnati and the Open, but it features three top 30 players: Ben Shelton, Adrian Mannarino of France and Frances Tiafoe. 

The top seeds in the men's and women's draws at the SoCal Pro Series tournaments at the Kramer Club in Los Angeles are through to the second round. 

2017 NCAA singles champion Thai Kwiatkowski(Virginia) defeated Jake Van Emburgh(Oklahoma, Ohio State) 6-2, 6-2 yesterday; in today's first round action women's No. 1 seed Sahaja Yamalapalli of India defeated qualifier Elise Wagle(UCLA) 7-6(1), 7-6(4) and No. 2 seed Jessica Failla(USC, Pepperdine) beat wild card Brandy Walker(Northern Arizona) 6-3, 6-2. Men's No. 2 seed Andre Ilagan(Hawaii) plays qualifier Colton Smith tonight.

Fourteen-year-old Sophie Suh, a blue chip from Orange California, received a wild card and yesterday beat USC rising senior Parker Fry, also a wild card, 7-6(1), 6-1, to post a win in her first Pro Circuit tournament appearance.

Jessica Alsola(Cal) of Canada defeated No. 8 seed Chloe Noel(Oklahoma) of France 6-2, 7-6(7) and wild card Amelia Honer(UC-Santa Barbara) defeated No. 4 seed Kylie McKenzie 6-3, 6-0.  UCLA rising freshman Kate Fakih, who received entry via the ITF's junior reserved program, defeated qualifier Ema Burgic(Baylor) 6-4, 6-1.

Tennis Recruiting Network's Rhiannon Potkey recently spoke to new Intercollegiate Tennis Assocation CEO Dave Mullins about taking over position from Tim Russell, while addressing many of the challenges confronting college tennis right now with so much of the landscape in collegiate athletics in flux. It's the first official mention I've seen of the possibility of betting as a revenue stream for college tennis; I'm skeptical, but open to hearing more about what would be done to insure the integrity of the sport is not damaged by that association.

Orange Bowl Expected to Move to Fort Lauderdale in 2025; Nine US Women Advance to Second Round of Wimbledon Qualifying; Klugman Gets First Wimbledon Women's Victory

Due to a massive storm this morning in Michigan, I do not have power or wifi and am not expected to have either until tomorrow, so I thought I should get my post up sooner rather than later, while my computer battery is still charged and my hotspot is still functioning. Normally I would be previewing the USTA Pro Circuit tournaments this week; there are only two--the men's and women's SoCal Pro Series joint $15Ks in Los Angeles--and they play very late in the day on the West Coast, so I'll have more on those events tomorrow.

Orange Bowl entrance at Veltri Tennis Center in Plantation FL

I have news regarding the Orange Bowl that I'd like to share today, with the caveat that nothing is official. But, if you've read my annual Eight Intriguing Questions for Tennis Recruiting Network every January, you know that a move from the Veltri Tennis Center in Plantation Florida has been a possibility for the past four years. In this year's Eight Questions, I mentioned Fort Lauderdale's Holiday Park as an option, and it appears that will be the Orange Bowl site beginning in 2025. From an email to Jimmy Evert Tennis Center members this spring:

Hello JETC Members,

Exciting updates and improvements are on the way!

Facility Improvements
The City of Fort Lauderdale Parks Bond project for JETC includes 3.5 million dollars for key improvements such as:

🎾 A redesigned layout

🎾 A paved pathway between courts for enhanced accessibility

🎾 State-of-the-art sub-surface irrigation systems (hydro-courts) for optimal playing conditions and sustainability

🎾 Three hard courts will be converted to clay

🎾 New fencing with dividers between courts will be installed

🎾 Court lighting will be upgraded to LED

🎾 A new Stadium Court with 210 permanent seats will be constructed in the southeast corner, replacing the two (2) existing clay courts

🎾 New shade structures will be added to accommodate all twenty clay courts

Partnership with Orange Bowl and United States Tennis Association (USTA)

On May 21st , our City Commission will review a proposal of a partnership with the Orange Bowl and USTA. In support of the Orange Bowl International Tennis Championships at JETC and future quarterly tournaments and/or events to be hosted by the Orange Bowl and USTA, the Orange Bowl would enhance the City’s scheduled clay court maintenance with a Legacy Gift Project in the amount of $1.5 Million Dollars provided over ten (10) years. These tournaments bring great exposure to our nationally popular facility.

The Legacy Gift Project includes annual resurfacing of our clay courts to ensure they are in optimal playing condition. In addition, top-dressing and a surface lift that includes laser grading for all courts will be completed every 5 years.

To ensure the facility is ready for the first Orange Bowl International Tennis Championship, the Orange Bowl is requesting that the City completes the timeline for the improvements in the Parks Bond project no later than September 30, 2025.

This initiative represents a significant investment in the JETC, enhancing its status as a premier tennis facility and the home of the Orange Bowl International Tennis Championships. As part of this agreement, the City will name the Stadium court “Chris Evert Stadium Court”.

We will provide additional updates as these projects progress. The overall goal is to minimize disruption for our members; however, once the City has secured a contractor for the project, we will be able to provide more information.

Thank you for your continued support and understanding.

The city adopted a resolution accepting the O.B. Tennis LLC legacy grant of $1.5 million at its June 4 city commission meeting, with the 36-page resolution providing more details on how it will be used in conjunction with the $3.5 million city commitment to renovations of the facility. 

With the USTA holding the ITF sanction for the Orange Bowl (this is solely about the 16s and 18s tournament, not related to the Junior Orange Bowl 12s and 14s), they decide on the tournament's venue, and has not as yet made any official announcement. I contacted the USTA yesterday and this is the response I received.

"The USTA and the Orange Bowl are actively exploring options for a long-term host for the Orange Bowl International Tennis Championships in South Florida. At this stage, no agreements have been signed and we will communicate any updates as soon as they become official. We are looking forward to the 2024 Orange Bowl International Tennis Championships at the Frank Veltri Tennis Center in Plantation."

I will, of course, pass along any official announcements from the USTA or from the Orange Bowl that I receive in the coming months, which I would expect will be released before the final event at Veltri this December. 

The first round of women's qualifying for Wimbledon is complete, with nine of the 15 US women in the draw advancing to Wednesday's second round. Former Florida All-American McCartney Kessler was featured on the Show Court at Roehampton, the only one that has ESPN+ coverage, I assume because she was playing Rebecca Marino of Canada, who had won the Ilkley W100 Sunday. Marino and Kessler played in the first round of that tournament, with the unseeded Marino earning a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory over No. 4 seed Kessler. Today's rematch was equally as tight, but it was Kessler getting the win, 6-4, 6-7(2), 6-4. Kessler was unable to serve out the match at 5-3 in the third, and Marino had a game point for 5-5, but Kessler won the last three points of the match.

Tuesday's's first round results of Americans:

Katie Volynets[1] d. Francisca Jorge(POR) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
Robin Montgomery d. Vitalia Diatchenko(RUS) 1-6, 6-3, 6-4
Sachia Vickery[29] d. Lina Gjorcheska(MKD) 7-6(1), 7-6(5)
McCartney Kessler[20] d. Rebecca Marino(CAN) 6-4, 6-7(2), 6-4
{Amanda Anisimova d. Valentini Grammatikopoulou(GRE) 6-2, 6-3
{Hailey Baptiste[4] d. Noma Noha Akugue(GER) 7-5, 6-2
Varvara Lepchenko d. Astra Sharma[27](AUS) 6-2 ,6-4
Kayla Day[26] d. Irina Shymanovich 6-2, 6-1
Alycia Parks d. Katarzyna Kawa(POL) 6-0, 6-2
Antonia Ruzic(CRO) d. Louisa Chirico 6-3, 6-1
Despina Papamichail(GRE)  d. Eli Mandlik 7-6(10), 2-6, 6-4
Dominika Salkova(CZE) d. Ann Li 6-4, 6-3
Harmony Tan(FRA) d. Elvina Kalieva 6-0, 6-1
Simona Waltert d. Clervie Ngounoue[WC] 2-6, 6-4, 7-5
Dalma Galfi[18](HUN) d. Hanna Chang 6-7(4), 6-1, 6-3

{will play each other in second round Wednesday

2023 Wimbledon girls champion Ngounoue, who hadn't played competitively since April, actually won more points (94-93) than her opponent Simona Waltert of Switzerland, but three unforced errors serving at 5-5 in the third gave Waltert an opportunity to close the door in the next game and she did.

In the battle between the reigning Orange Bowl champion and the 2021 Orange Bowl champion, it was the former, 15-year-old wild card Hannah Klugman of Great Britain, who came out on top, beating 18-year-old Petra Marcinko of Croatia 6-2, 6-2 to post her first victory in Wimbledon qualifying, after losing in the opening round last year.

For a recap of Klugman's victory, and other matches from today's first round of women's qualifying, see this article at Wimbledon.com.

My Ten Questions for NCAA Champion Alexa Noel; Mosejczuk and Schuman Claim ITF J200 Titles in Mexico, Six Other US Juniors Win ITF Singles Titles; Five American Men Advance in Wimbledon Qualifying

After giving her several weeks to process her NCAA Division I singles title in Stillwater, I spoke to University of Miami graduate Alexa Noel about the course of her collegiate career, with her transfer from Iowa to Miami igniting academic motivation she didn't know she had. After her outstanding junior career, Noel saw tennis as the center of her life, but she explained to me how college changed her perspective and why her plan for a year or two turned into four years and a degree. Still undecided about returning to Miami for her final year of eligibility, Noel discussed her preparations for the US Open, which pro's game she admires, the story behind her tattoo and volunteering as a commencement speaker in this article for Tennis Recruiting Network.

Americans swept the singles titles at three ITF Junior Circuit tournaments last week in North and Central America, with Dominick Mosejczuk and Aspen Schuman taking the highest level titles at the J200 in Veracruz Mexico.

Mosejczuk, the 2023 Orange Bowl 16s champion, was unseeded in his first tournament on this side of the Atlantic since March, and he needed to come back from a set down in his first two victories to advance. But the 17-year-old New Yorker, who trains in Spain, won his final three matches in straight sets, defeating unseeded Valentin Garay of Argentina 6-4, 6-2 in the final. The 200 points boosted Mosejczuk's ITF ranking into the Top 100 for the first time.

Schuman competed in the first two SoCal Pro Series tournaments in San Diego, reaching the quarterfinals and semifinals, but returned to the junior circuit this week in Veracruz as the top seed. The 16-year-old from Northern California dropped just one set during the week, beating No. 4 seed Claire An 6-1, 7-5 in the all-US final. Schuman, who did not enter the Roland Garros or Wimbledon junior championships this summer, is now up to a career-high ITF junior ranking of 38.

Top seeds Noah Johnston and Benjamin Willwerth took the boys doubles title, beating unseeded Ty Host of Australia and Harry Pugh of New Zealand 5-7, 6-1, 10-2. It's their second title as a team this year.

At the J30 in Canada, 15-year-olds Jerrid Gaines Jr and Thara Gowda swept the titles. Gaines, the top seed, defeated qualifier Bryan Assi 6-4, 6-1 in the final for his second title on the ITF Junior Circuit. Gaines and partner Anthony Dry, who were unseeded, won the doubles title with a 7-5, 4-6, 10-4 win over top seeds Cadence Benchetrit and Zackary Kimelman of Canada.

Thara Gowda, the No. 2 seed, won her first ITF Junior Circuit singles title via a walkover over No. 1 seed Anna Tabunshchyk of Canada. Gowda had claimed her first ITF Junior Circuit title earlier in the day, with partner Anna Bennett. The No. 3 seeds defeated the unseeded team of Sofia Kedrin and Switzerland's Goldie Kregar 6-1, 6-0 in the final.

At the J30 in Honduras, 17-year-old Arin Menon, seeded No. 8, won his first ITF Junior Circuit singles title, beating No. 3 seed Rushikesh Sonawane 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(5) in the final. Sixteen-year-old Sarah Stoyanov also won her first ITF Junior Circuit singles title, with the top seed defeating No. 4 seed Victoria Correa Guedea of Mexico 6-4, 6-2 in the final.

Ligaya Murray claimed her second title of the month last week at the J60 in Ecuador, where she was the defending champion. The top seed, the 16-year-old from New York defeated No. 2 seed Valentina Vargas of Ecuador 6-4, 6-2 in the final. 

The eighth singles title of last week went to 16-year-old Michael Savano, who has the rare distinction of winning his first ITF Junior Circuit title on grass. Savano, the No. 3 seed, defeated No. 5 seed Jan Wygona of Poland 6-4, 2-6, 7-5 to take the boys singles title at the J30 in Poland.

Five American men advanced to the second round of Wimbledon qualifying, with their results below. The men now have Tuesday off, with the women's qualifying beginning, while 15 US women begin competing tomorrow for a place in the main draw: Katy Volynets[1], Clervie Ngounoue[WC], Sachia Vickery[29], McCartney Kessler(Florida)[20], Hailey Baptiste[4], Amanda Anisimova, Eli Mandlik, Elvina Kalieva, Louisa Chirico, Hanna Chang, Robin Montgomery, Varvara Lepchenko, Alycia Parks, Ann Li and Kayla Day[26].

Monday's first round results for American men in Wimbledon qualifying:

Emilio Nava[30] d Felix Gill[WC](GBR) 6-4, 6-1

Patrick Kypson d. Stuart Parker[WC](GBR) 6-3, 7-6(3)

Nicolas Moreno de Alboran d. Benoit Paire(FRA) 6-4, 6-1

Zachary Svajda[24] d. Coleman Wong(HKG) 6-4, 6-4

Maxime Cressy d. Marc-Andrea Huesler(SUI) 6-7(3), 6-3, 7-5

Jesper De Jong(NED) d. Denis Kudla 7-6(3), 6-2

Lukas Klein[26](SVK) d. Tristan Boyer 6-4, 7-6(5)

Tien Wins Third Straight, Pareja Claims First Title at Rancho Santa Fe $15Ks; Spizzirri Earns Second $25K Title; Paul Captures ATP 500 Queens Club Championship; Wimbledon Men's Qualifying Features Seven Americans

Eighteen-year-old Learner Tien swept through his third consecutive SoCal Pro Series tournament today at the men's $15,000 tournament in Rancho Santa Fe California. The two-time defending Kalamazoo 18s champion, who played one semester at USC in 2023, defeated qualifier Matthew Summers of Great Britain 6-3, 6-1 in under an hour to post his 15th consecutive victory since returning from three-month layoff.

Tien, who won back-to-back titles at the Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego the first two weeks of SoCal Pro Series before taking a week off last week, was particularly impressive in Rancho Santa Fe, winning all his matches in straight sets and giving up no more than four games in any of the ten sets he won.  He defeated last week's champion Oliver Tarvet(San Diego) of Great Britain 6-1, 6-4 in the second round and SMU's Trevor Svajda, the No. 6 seed, 6-3, 6-4 in yesterday's semifinals. He is not playing the $15K in Los Angeles this coming week, and I anticipate he'll return to the Challenger level in the coming weeks, after reaching two Challenger quarterfinals in January.

In the doubles final played last night, No. 2 seeds Patrick Maloney(Michigan) and Australian Joshua Charlton(Oregon) defeated Svajda and teammate Adam Neff 7-6(5), 6-4. It's the second Pro Circuit doubles title for Maloney and the fourth for Charlton.

While Tien is still just 18, the women's Rancho Santa Fe W15 champion is a full three years younger, with wild card Julieta Pareja taking her first title this afternoon with a 5-7, 6-1, 6-4 win over No. 7 seed Kimmi Hance(UCLA) in the first Pro Circuit final for both. Pareja, currently 190 in the ITF junior rankings, came back from a set down four times in her five victories, which included wins over three seeds.

In the women's doubles final last night, the Campana sisters, Anna and Carolyn, won their first Pro Circuit title, with the unseeded pair, who played at Wake Forest and Pepperdine, defeating unseeded Brandy Walker(Northern Arizona) and Jessica Alsola(Cal) of Canada 6-2, 6-3.

Unseeded Eliot Spizzirri earned his second USTA Pro Circuit $25K title today in Tulsa, with the recent University of Texas All-American defeating No. 2 seed Bernard Tomic(Australia) 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(3). Spizzirri, the ITA Player of Year for 2023 and 2024, had reached the final of last week's $25K in Wichita; his first $25K title came back in 2021 in Decatur Illinois. 

Cadence Brace of Canada won the W35 in Wichita, with the No. 8 seed beating top seed Victoria Hu(Princeton) 7-5, 4-6, 6-3. It's the first Pro Circuit title for the 19-year-old Brace.

Tommy Paul won the biggest title of his career today at the ATP 500 at Queen's Club in London, with the No. 5 seed defeating Lorenzo Musetti of Italy 6-1, 7-6(8) in the final.

With the title Paul will move to 12 in the ATP rankings, and will become the No. 1 American for the first time, with Taylor Fritz dropping to No. 13.

For more on Paul's victory, see this article from the ATP.

Paul was not the only American to claim a grass court title today, with Jessica Pegula taking the WTA 500 in Berlin, saving five match points in her 6-7(0), 6-4, 7-6(3) win over Anna Kalinskaya of Russia.

For more on Pegula's title, see this article from the WTA.

Wimbledon qualifying begins Monday for the men, with seven Americans attempting to advance to the main draw: Emilio Nava[30], Nicolas Moreno de Alboran(UC-Santa Barbara), Zachary Svajda[24], Patrick Kypson(Texas A&M), Tristan Boyer(Stanford), Maxime Cressy(UCLA) and Denis Kudla. 

ESPN+ will be providing coverage of Show Court 1, which will feature the matches of Oliver Crawford(Florida) and Kudla on Monday.

Spizzirri Advances to Second Straight $25K Final; Tien Aims for Third Straight $15K Title; Pareja and Hance Reach Rancho Santa Fe Final; Hu Seeks Second Title Sunday; Wimbledon Wild Card Update

ITA Player of the Year Eliot Spizzirri has advanced to another final at the $25,000 level on the USTA Pro Circuit, his second in as many weeks. The unseeded 22-year-old from Connecticut, who ended his decorated collegiate career at Texas last month, advanced by defeating Alex Kotzen(Columbia, Tennessee) 6-2, 7-5, his fourth straight-sets victory of the week at the $25K in Tulsa Oklahoma. Spizzirri, who lost last week's final in Wichita to teammate Micah Braswell, a result he avenged in Friday's quarterfinals, will play No. 2 seed Bernard Tomic of Australia. Tomic defeated rising Columbia junior Nick Kotzen 6-4, 6-2 in today's other semifinal. 

In the Tulsa doubles final today, two unseeded teams met for the title, with Aidan Kim(Florida, Ohio State) and Cannon Kingsley(Ohio State) defeating Canadian Cleeve Harper(Texas) and Govind Nanda(UCLA) 6-3, 5-7, 10-7.  It's the first Pro Circuit title for the 19-year-old Kim and the third for Kingsley.

Top seed Learner Tien(USC) picked up his 14th straight victory on the SoCal Pro Circuit in today's Rancho Santa Fe $15K semifinals. The 18-year-old from Irvine California defeated No. 6 seed Trevor Svajda(SMU) 6-3, 6-4 in a rematch of the 2023 Kalamazoo 18s final, also won by Tien in straight sets. Standing in the way of Tien's third straight title is 25-year-old Matthew Summers(Denver) of Great Britain, who beat fellow qualifier Jay Friend(Arizona) 6-3, 6-3 to reach his first Pro Circuit final.

UCLA rising senior Kimmi Hance will play in her first USTA Pro Circuit singles final Sunday after the 21-year-old from Torrance, seeded No. 7, squeezed past teammate Anne Christine Lutkemeyer, a qualifier, 5-7, 6-0, 7-6(6).

Hance's opponent will be 15-year-old wild card Julieta Pareja, who is also seeking her first Pro Circuit singles title. Pareja, who is from nearby Carlsbad, defeated rising USC sophomore Lily Fairclough of Australia 6-4, 6-1 in the second W15 semifinal in Rancho Santa Fe.

Victoria Hu will play for her second W35 title in the past three weeks Sunday at the USTA Pro Circuit tournament in Wichita Kansas. The former Princeton Tiger, seeded No. 1, won a second straight three-hour battle Saturday, defeating No. 3 seed Sahaja Yamalapalli of India 6-4, 0-6, 7-5. Hu will face No. 8 seed Cadence Brace of Canada, who beat Jessica Failla(USC, Pepperdine) 6-3, 6-4.

In the Wichita doubles final, former Baylor stars Alicia Herrero Linana of Spain and Melany Solange Krywol of Argentina won their fourth title of the year and their sixth as a team, with the No. 3 seeds defeating 18-year-olds Sophia Webster(Vanderbilt) and Ashton Bowers(Texas) 6-3, 6-3. 

The updated Wimbledon wild card list has been released, with all the qualifying wild cards distributed (three were not used for the men) and most of the doubles wild cards. Former Florida All-American Oliver Crawford, who switched to Great Britain from the US at the beginning of this year, received a men's doubles wild card with Kyle Edmund. Amelia Rajecki(NC State) also received a women's doubles wild card, with Naiktha Bains. 

There is still one women's main draw singles wild card showing as To Be Announced. Qualifying begins Monday, and the draws will come out tomorrow, so that should be granted or passed on soon.

Qualifier Kotzen Ousts Top Seed Krueger at Tulsa $25K, Spizzirri Avenges Last Week's Loss; 15-Year-Old Pareja Beats No. 2 Seed at Rancho Santa Fe W15; Rajecki Wins Wimbledon Qualifying Wild Card in Playoff

The Kotzen family makes up half of the semifinalists at the men's $25,000 USTA Pro Circuit tournament in Tulsa after 23-year-old Alex and 21-year-old Nick won their quarterfinal matches today in contrasting fashion. Alex, who completed his Ivy League eligibility this year at Columbia, but will be using a fifth year at Tennessee, defeated Hawaii All-American Andre Ilagan, the No. 7 seed, 6-1, 6-3 in an hour and 21 minutes.  In the meantime, Nick, a rising junior at Columbia, was facing top seed Mitchell Krueger, currently 189 in the ATP ranking, and it was the qualifier who came out on top in the three-hour and 10-minute battle, 3-6, 7-6(2), 7-6(5). 

The Kotzens are still one more win away from a family final, with Alex facing No. 2 seed Bernard Tomic of Australia, the only seed remaining, and Nick taking on Eliot Spizzirri(Texas). Tomic took out Govind Nanda(UCLA) 6-3, 6-1; Spizzirri avenged his loss in Sunday's Wichita $25K final, beating teammate Micah Braswell 6-3, 6-2. Alex beat Nick last week in the first round of Wichita.

Fifteen-year-old Julieta Pareja has advanced to her first semifinal at a women's W15 tournament, beating No. 2 seed Sara Daavettila(North Carolina) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 today at the SoCal Pro Series tournament in Rancho Santa Fe. Wild card Pareja, who reached her first Pro Circuit quarterfinal two weeks ago in San Diego, will play Australian Lily Fairclough, a rising sophomore at USC, who defeated Brandy Walker(Northern Arizona) 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(2). In the top half, UCLA teammates and doubles partners Anne Lutkemeyer and Kimmi Hance will meet for the first time on the Pro Circuit after quarterfinal wins today. No. 7 seed Hance defeated No. 3 seed Basak Eraydin of Turkey 6-3, 6-3; Lukemeyer continued her dominance over Anna Campana(Wake Forest, Pepperdine) getting her second win in two weeks and third straight in the past year, this one by a score of 6-3, 7-5.

A rematch of the 2023 Kalamazoo 18s final is on tap for Saturday at the men's $15K in Rancho Santa Fe, with top seed Learner Tien(USC) taking on No. 6 seed Trevor Svajda(SMU). Tien, who has sailed through his first three matches this week and has now won 13 consecutive matches on the SoCal Pro Series, defeated No. 8 seed Jacob Brumm(Cal,Baylor) 6-0, 6-1. Svajda beat 2021 Division III champion Leo Vittoontien(Carelton College) of Japan 6-3, 6-1 to set up a second meeting with Tien since the Kalamazoo final, which Tien won 6-0, 6-4, 6-4. Tien won their second round match in the Austin $25K last fall 6-4, 5-7, 10-1, with rain forcing match tiebreakers in lieu of a third set that day.

In the bottom half, two qualifiers will meet in the semifinals, not all that surprising given that seven of the 16 players in the bottom half came through qualifying. Arizona rising senior Jay Friend of Japan defeated UCLA rising junior Aadarth Tripathi 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(3) in today's quarterfinals and will face Matthew Summers(Denver) of Great Britain.  Summers defeated 2013 Kalamazoo champion Collin Altamirano(Virginia) 7-6(3), 7-5.

In addition to Tien, the other top seed still alive is Victoria Hu(Princeton), who barely survived her quarterfinal encounter with Hiroko Kuwata of Japan 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(7) at the W35 in Wichita.  Hu will play No. 3 seed Sahaja Yamalapalli of India, who beat UCF rising sophomore Oliver Lincer of Poland 6-1, 6-1. In the bottom half, No. 5 seed Jessica Failla(USC, Pepperdine) will play No. 8 seed Cadence Brace of Canada after Failla defeated Kayla Cross of Canada 6-4 retired and Brace ended the run of Kate Fakih 6-2, 6-1.

Recent NC State graduate Amelia Rajecki, who did not initally receive a qualifying wild card into Wimbledon, won one instead in the LTA Wimbledon qualifying wild card playoff, which began Thursday and concluded today. The unseeded Rajecki, the ITA National Senior Player of the Year, defeated the No. 2 and No. 4 seeds, as well as an unseeded player in between to earn one of the two qualifying wild cards. Top seed Katy Dunne earned the other. 

The men's winners from today's results are Anton Matusevich and Stuart Parker. Information circulating today indicates that Charlie Broom(Dartmouth, Baylor), originally given a qualifying wild card, has had that upgraded to the one remaining men's main draw wild card.

Seven Former Collegians Make US Olympic Team; Fakih Beats Stoiana at Wichita W35; Pareja Advances to Rancho Santa Fe W15 Quarterfinals; $25K Tulsa Rematch for Spizzirri and Braswell

The USTA announced the players who will represent the United States at next month's Olympics in Paris, with seven of the 11 former NCAA Division I collegiate stars.  The Olympic tennis event will run from July 27 through August 4 at Roland Garros.

In singles, the criteria for nominations limits any country to its four players with the highest rankings, as long as they were in the WTA or ATP Top 56 on the acceptance date, which was June 10. 

The team includes Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula, Danielle Collins(Virginia) and Emma Navarro(Virginia) for women's singles, and Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul, Chris Eubanks(Georgia Tech) and Marcos Giron(UCLA) for men's singles. Rajeev Ram(Illinois) and Austin Krajicek(Texas A&M) are nominated for doubles, with Fritz and Paul also accepted as a doubles team. Desirae Krawczyk(Arizona State) will play with Collins in doubles, with Gauff and Pegula also accepted as a doubles team. The US mixed doubles team will be announced at a later date.

USTA head of women's tennis Kathy Rinaldi is the women's coach, with US Davis Cup captain Bob Bryan serving as the men's coach.

US players who would have been eligible by ranking, but opted not to participate are Ben Shelton(Florida), Sebastian Korda and Francis Tiafoe on the men's side, and Madison Keys on the women's side. 

For more on the 2024 tennis Olympians, including results in previous Olympics and at Roland Garros, can be found here.

Last night at the W35 women's USTA Pro Circuit tournament in Wichita, ITA Player of the Year Mary Stoiana of Texas A&M defeated No. 2 seed Akasha Urhobo 6-3, 6-7(9), 6-0; in today's second round, UCLA rising freshman Kate Fakih took out the nation's top-ranked collegian 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 in just over three hours. Fakih, a 17-year-old from Pasadena California, reached the semifinals of a 2023 SoCal Pro Series tournament last summer, but this is her first quarterfinal above the W15 level. She will face No. 8 seed Cadence Brace of Canada next.

UCF rising sophomore Olivia Lincer of Poland kept her winning streak alive, with last week's W15 champion in the Dominican Republic, who received a special exemption into the main draw this week, beating 16-year-old qualifier Rachael Smith 7-6(1), 6-1 in today's second round. Fakih, Jessica Failla(USC, Pepperdine) and the winner of tonight's match between top seed Victoria Hu(Princeton) and Amelia Honer(UC-Santa Barbara) are the only Americans remaining.

Fifteen-year-old Julieta Pareja of Carlsbad California received a wild card into the SoCal Pro Series W15 this week in Rancho Santa Fe and she has made the most of it, advancing to the quarterfinals with a 3-6, 7-6(1), 6-2 win over No. 6 seed Jessica Alsola(Cal) of Canada. Pareja, who also reached the quarterfinals at the W15 in San Diego two weeks ago, will finally earn a WTA ranking, after she has now earned points in three tournaments. She will play No. 2 seed Sara Daavettila(North Carolina).

UCLA rising junior Anne Lutkemeyer, who beat top seed Amy Zhu(Michigan) in the first round, reached the quarterfinals for the second week in a row, with the 20-year-old qualifier defeating Carolyn Campana(Wake Forest, Vanderbilt, Pepperdine) 7-6(4), 6-1. She plays the younger Campana sister, Anna,(Wake Forest, Pepperdine) next.

At the men's $15,000 tournament in Rancho Santa Fe, just three seeds have advanced to the quarterfinals, all in the top half. No. 1 seed Learner Tien(USC) beat San Diego All-American Oliver Tarvet of Great Britain 6-1, 6-4 to run his winning streak to 12 in the SoCal Pro Series; the 18-year-old will face No. 8 seed Jacob Brumm(Cal, Baylor) in the quarterfinals. No. 6 seed Trevor Svajda, who Tien beat in the 2023 Kalamazoo 18s final, reached the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Ohio State All-American Jack Anthrop. 

In the bottom half, No. 2 seed Strong Kirchheimer was beaten today by qualifier Aadarth Tripathi, a rising junior at UCLA, 2-6, 7-5, 6-3, while No. 3 seed Alex Knaff(Florida State) of Luxembourg lost to Matthew Summers of Great Britain 6-1, 2-6, 6-4.

After meeting in the final of last week's men's $25,000 USTA Pro Circuit tournament in Wichita, Texas teammates Eliot Spizzirri and Micah Braswell will play again this week at the $25,000 tournament in Tulsa, this time in the quarterfinals. 

Wichita champion Braswell, who beat No. 4 seed Cannon Kingsley(Ohio State) in two tiebreakers in the first round, defeated qualifier Luis Carlos Alvarez Valdes of Mexico 6-4, 6-4, while Spizzirri defeated Elio Jose Ribeiro Lago of Italy 6-2, 6-1.

Top seed Mitchell Krueger has advanced to the quarterfinals, as have both Kotzen brothers of Columbia. Qualifier Nick beat No. 6 seed Filip Peliwo of Poland 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 and Alex, who will be playing at Tennessee this fall as a graduate transfer, defeated qualifier Oliver Okonkwo(Illinois) of Great Britain 6-1, 6-2.

Wimbledon Main Draw Wild Cards Include 2023 Junior Champion Searle and TCU All-American Fearnley; Ngounoue and Four Top British Juniors Receive Qualifying Wild Cards; Lutkemeyer Ousts Top Seed in Rancho Santa Fe; Del Potro to Open Junior Academy in Florida

Most of the Wimbledon wild cards were announced today, with just one men's singles and one women's singles main draw wild card yet to be awarded. Those traditionally go to players who win the ATP Challenger 125 in Ilkley and the ITF Women's 100 in Ilkley this week.

The women's main draw wild cards include four former slam champions: Angelique Kerber of Germany, Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, Naomi Osaka of Japan and Emma Raducanu of Great Britain. The other three announced today are Great Britain's Heather Watson, Francesca Jones and Lily Miyazaki(Oklahoma). 

The men's main draw wild cards do not include any stars of the same magnitude as the women's, and all are British: Liam Broady, Jan Choinski, Arthur Fery(Stanford), Billy Harris, Paul Jubb(South Carolina), Jake Fearnley(TCU) and Henry Searle.

Fearnley's title at last week's Challenger in Nottingham no doubt led to his inclusion in the main draw; Charlie Broom(Dartmouth, Baylor), who lost to Fearnley in the final, was awarded a qualifying wild card. Searle, the Wimbledon boys champion in 2023, would normally be given a qualifying wild card, but he has had some success in Challengers this year and won three matches (two qualifying, one main) last week in Nottingham. 

Broom, who received a special exempt entry, is through to the second round of the Ilkley Challenger, where he'll play two-time Kalamazoo 18s champion Zachary Svajda. 

The qualifying wild cards for women are surprising, in that Amelia Rajecki, the recent NC State graduate, did not receive one. After beating two WTA Top 100 players over the weekend to qualify for the WTA 250 in Birmingham and giving former teammate and WTA Top 50 player Diana Shnaider a good battle in the first round, Rajecki had proven her level was certainly that of the Wimbledon qualifying field, but to no avail. There are still qualifying wild cards available for the playoff the LTA holds Thursday and Friday, so perhaps she still has an opportunity to earn a wild card that way.

2023 Wimbledon girls champion Clervie Ngounoue received the customary qualifying wild card given to the previous year's junior champions, but she has not played since the first of April, putting her participation in doubt. Three other juniors, all from Great Britain, received women's qualifying wild cards: Hannah Klugman(ITF Junior No. 6), Mingge Xu(9) and Mika Stojsavljevic(29). The other three qualifying wild cards went to British players Emily Appleton, Amarni Banks and Sonay Kartal.

Jack Pinnington Jones, the Most Outstanding Player of TCU's NCAA Team Championship last month, received a qualifying wild card, as did Broom, Jay Clarke, Felix Gill, George Loffhagen and ITF Junior No. 22 Oliver Bonding. Two qualifying wild cards are available via the LTA playoff and there is one additional men's qualifying wild card to be announced.

Some doubles wild cards were also announced, including men's main draw wild cards for Fearnley and Pinnington Jones, and Fery and Broome.

Three of the four No. 1 seeds advanced to the second round with wins today at the USTA Pro Circuit tournaments, with Mitchell Krueger (Tulsa $25K), Victoria Hu (Wichita $25K) and Learner Tien (Rancho Santa Fe $15K) all getting through in straight sets. Krueger defeated Murphy Cassone(Arizona State) 6-4, 6-4, Hu beat lucky loser Mary Boyce Deatherage 6-3, 6-2 and Tien defeated Patrick Maloney(Michigan) 6-2, 6-2. But at the $15,000 women's tournament in Rancho Santa Fe, top seed Amy Zhu(Michigan) was eliminated by UCLA rising junior Anne Lutkemeyer, a qualifier, 6-3, 5-7, 6-2. 

The first round is still in progress in Wichita, which had a rain delay earlier.

2009 US Open champion Juan Martin Del Potro has announced he will be entering the highly competitive tennis academy scene in Florida, with a new venture at the Indian Springs Country Club in Boynton Beach. 

The Del Potro Tennis Academy is expected to open in September. For more on Del Potro's motivation for starting an academy and an update on the injuries that have kept him from competing for the past several years, see this article. 

Watch Trailer for Junior Documentary Top Class Tennis, Debuting Next Month on Amazon; USTA US Open Wild Card Challenge Begins July 1; Mullins Named CEO of ITA; Four USTA Pro Circuit Tournaments This Week

An official announcement from Amazon Prime, along with the trailer below, came today regarding the debut of the junior tennis documentary "Top Class Tennis." This documentary, part of the Uninterrupted series, was filmed at the Eddie Herr and Orange Bowl championships in December 2022, following four junior players: Joseph Oyebog, Ariana Pursoo, Stephanie Yakoff and Stiles Brockett.  The four-part series will air on Amazon Prime's FreeVee, with the first installment set for July 18. 

The USTA announced its annual US Open Wild Card Challenge to distribute one of the main draw US Open wild cards it awards each year. The men will have a six-week window, beginning July 1 and lasting through the week of August 5th, with the four best results at any hard-court, $25K and above, tournament anywhere in the world. The women will have a four-week window, beginning July 15 and also lasting through the week of August 5th, with the three best results at hard-court, W35 and above tournaments, counting in the race. Last year's winners were Steve Johnson and Kayla Day.

The ITA announced its new Chief Executive Officer today, with Dave Mullins, who has been with the ITA since 2019 and has been the Chief Operating Office since 2021, selected by the board to replace Tim Russell, who announced his retirement in January. Mullins and Russell will work together as co-CEOs for the next six months, with Mullins taking over on January 1, 2025.

Four USTA Pro Circuit tournaments are underway this week, with the SoCal Pro Series $15Ks for men and women both in Rancho Santa Fe; a $25K for men is in Tulsa Oklahoma and a W35 for women is in Wichita Kansas. 

Like the men's tournament in Wichita last week, the women's qualifying also had a 64-player draw, with eight players qualifying for the 32-player main draw. Americans advancing through qualifying are Paris Corley(Arizona, LSU), Sydni Ratliff(Ohio State), Jada Robinson, 16-year-old Rachael Smith, Camille Kiss and Malkia Ngounoue. 

Victoria Hu(Princeton) and Akasha Urhobo are the top two seeds. Wild cards were awarded to Amelia Honer(UC-Santa Barbara), Carson Tanguilig(North Carolina), Kate Fakih(UCLA) and Wichita State rising sophomore Giorgia Roselli of Italy.

Oliver Lincer of Poland, the rising UCF sophomore, received a special exemption after winning the W15 in the Dominican Republic; Fiona Crawley(North Carolina), who won the W15 in San Diego last week, has now won three consecutive USTA Pro Circuit tournaments since last fall, and will look to extend her 15-match winning streak as the No. 4 seed this week.

In Tulsa, five Americans advanced to the main draw with wins in the final round of qualifying today: Pierce Rollins (Texas A&M, Tulsa) Aidan Kim (Florida, Ohio State), Gabrielius Guzauskas (Illinois), JC Roddick (UCF, Texas A&M) and Nicolas Kotzen(Columbia).

Mitchell Krueger is the top seed, with Bernard Tomic of Australia seeded No. 2. Wild cards were given to Tyler Zink(Georgia, Oklahoma State), Govind Nanda(UCLA), Jonah Braswell(Florida, Texas) and Chad Kissell(Valparaiso).  Micah Braswell(Texas), the champion last week in Wichita, received a special exemption into the main draw.

In Rancho Santa Fe, four of the eight men's qualifiers were from the United States: Colton Smith(Arizona), Aadarsh Tripathi(UCLA), Ryan Dickerson(Duke, Baylor) and Alexander Petrov(Illinois).

Learner Tien(USC) is the top seed, after taking last week off following his two consecutive titles to start the seven-week SoCal Pro Series. Strong Kirchheimer(Northwestern) is the No. 2 seed. 

Wild cards were given to Ethan Schiffman(Cal), William Kleege, Masato Perera(Harvard) and Trevor Svajda, who is the No. 6 seed. Svajda played Alex Frusina(Auburn), who received entry via the ITF's Junior Reserved program in the first round today, with Svajda posting a 6-3, 6-2 win.

Six Americans advanced to the main draw in the women's tournament in Rancho Santa Fe: Ema Burgic(Baylor), Anne Lutkemeyer(UCLA), Gianna Oboniye(Mississippi State), Bianca Molnar(Notre Dame), Kaila Barksdale(Utah) and Elise Wagle(UCLA). 

Amy Zhu(Michigan) and Sara Daavettila(North Carolina) are the top two seeds. Wild cards were awarded to Maxine Murphy(Washington State), Filippa Bruu-Syversen(San Diego), Katie Codd(Duke) and 15-year-old Julieta Pareja. Fifteen-year-old Thea Frodin received entry via the ITF Junior Reserved program and won her first round match today over Elyse Tse(Washington State) of New Zealand 6-4, 7-5.

Thorat Wins J100 in Mexico; Ashar, Mata, Oak, Plunkett Earn ITF Junior Circuit Titles; Kratzer Among Winners on UTR Pro Tennis Tour

The only J300 tournament last week on the ITF Junior Circuit was on clay, in Bamberg Germany, with juniors not able to play on grass anywhere nearly as much as the pros in the weeks leading up to the Wimbledon Junior Championships. Generally it's just the Roehampton J300 the first week of Wimbledon that affords juniors any experience on the surface, although there are a variety of exhibition and junior team events often organized for the week before Roehampton.

In Bamberg, Mayu Crossley of Japan took the title, with the No. 1 seed going through qualifying in order to participate in the tournament; the UCLA recruit, who has won six of her seven ITF junior titles on clay, including two J500s, defeated 14-year-old Victoria Barros of Brazil, the No. 8 seed, 6-4, 7-5 in the final. Crossley, who did not drop a set all week, had lost in the first round of the Roland Garros Junior Championships this year, where she wasn't seeded, but now has her junior ranking back up to 22.

The boys title in Bamberg went to Germany's Diego Dedura-Palomero, the No. 3 seed, who defeated No. 4 seed Oskari Paldanius of Finland 6-1, 6-2 in the final. It is the seventh ITF Junior Circuit singles title for the 16-year-old, but his first at the J300 level, and he is up to a career-high of 37 in the latest ITF junior rankings.

American juniors collected five ITF Junior Circuit singles titles last week, with University of Florida recruit Abhishek Thorat taking top honors with the singles championship at the J100 in Veracruz Mexico. Thorat, a 17-year-old rising senior, defeated 16-year-old Gavin Goode 6-4, 6-2 in a final between unseeded Americans. It's the third ITF Junior Circuit singles title for Thorat, who did not drop a set in his six victories.

 

Goode and partner Ryan Cozad won the boys doubles title, with the unseeded pair defeating top seeds Ty Host of Australia and Harry Pugh of New Zealand 6-2, 6-4 in the final. Goode and Cozad dropped just one set, to the No. 2 seeds, in their five victories.

Unseeded Maria Aytoyan reached the girls singles final, losing to top seed Emma Dong of Canada 6-2, 7-6(5).

At the J60 in Guatemala, 16-year-old Floridian Ishika Ashar, the No. 5 seed, collected her second ITF Junior Circuit singles title, both coming this year. Ashar defeated unseeded Ireland O'Brien 6-4, 6-1, taking the title without dropping a set.  

Isabelle DeLuccia and Hadley Appling, the No. 4 seeds, won the all-US girls doubles final, beating the unseeded team of O'Brien and Sophia Budacsek 6-3, 6-0. Top seeds Zavier Augustin and Omar Rhazali won the boys doubles title, beating No. 2 seeds Lev Seidman and France's Sasha Colleu 6-1, 6-1 in the final.

Thirteen-year-old Te'anna Mata won her second straight J30 girls singles title in Congo, again taking out Anna Hsu of Taiwan in the final. Two weeks ago, Hsu was the No. 2 seed; last week she was No. 1, with the unseeded Mata posting another straight-sets victory, this one by a 6-2, 6-3 score. Mata also reached the girls doubles final last week.

At the J30 in Ottawa Canada, 16-year-old Connor Plunkett of New York swept the titles, winning his first singles title on the ITF Junior Circuit and his second doubles title. Plunkett defeated the top seed in the first round and didn't lose a set after that, getting the title when unseeded Arjun Prabhakar of the US retired trailing 3-1 in the first set.  Plunkett and Victor Maya of Canada took the doubles title, with the unseeded pair defeating No. 3 seeds Caden Colburne and Andy Kepche of Canada 6-2, 2-6, 10-7 in the final.

Sixteen-year-old Sobee Oak claimed her first ITF Junior Circuit title in Ottawa, with the unseeded New Yorker defeating unseeded Kaya Moe 7-5, 6-7(4), 6-4 in another all-US singles final. Moe did win the doubles title, with partner Olivia Cutone; the No. 4 seeds defeated No. 3 seeds Oak and Canada's Neda Rahimkhani 6-4, 6-3 in the final.

And somehow I missed the girls singles title two weeks ago at the J60 in South Africa for Koronayashe Rugara. The 16-year-old Rugara, seeded No. 6, defeated top seed Danielle Dai Chapman of South Africa 2-6, 7-6(6), 6-4 in the final for her first ITF Junior Circuit title. 

The latest results for the UTR Pro Tennis Tour tournaments in the United States are below. There have been less than two tournaments per month in the April, May and June, but the pace does pick up in the next six months, with 14 men's and 11 women's tournaments already scheduled for July-December. 

2017 USTA National 18s champion Ashley Kratzer has returned to competitive tennis after a four-year ban for testing positive for a banned substance in March of 2020. Kratzer, who reached a WTA career-high of 200 in August of 2018, last played on the Pro Circuit in January of 2020, where she lost in qualifying at a WTA 125 in Newport Beach California.

WOMEN:

April 15 San Antonio TX

Victoria Rodriguez d. Ana Sofia Sanchez 6-1, 6-3

April 21 Boca Raton FL

Malkia Ngounoue d. Jada Robinson 6-1, 5-7, 6-4

May 13 Newport Beach CA

Ashley Kratzer d. Carolyn Campana 6-2, 6-4

June 10 Charleston SC

Piper Charney d. Kaitlyn Carnicella 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-3

MEN:

April 15 San Antonio TX

Trey Hilderbrand d. Osgar O'Hoisin 6-4, 6-4

April 28 Boca Raton FL

Alex Kuperstein d. Dian Nedev 7-5, 6-4

May 20 Newport Beach CA

Lui Maxted d. Duncan Chan 5-7, 6-2, 6-2

June 10 Charleston SC

Landon Ardila d. Lucas Brown 7-5, 6-3

Braswell and Fearnley's Smooth Transition to Professional Titles; Rajecki Qualifies for WTA 250, Meets Familiar Face in First Round; Crawley and Tarvet Earn Titles in SoCal Pro Series $15Ks in San Diego

Four weeks ago today, University of Texas senior Micah Braswell and TCU fifth-year Jake Fearnley played each other in the NCAA Team Championships. Braswell won that match at line 2 4-6, 6-3, 6-1, although Fearnley's team did claim the title with a 4-3 victory overall. Both lost in the round of 16 of the NCAA singles championship, Braswell to eventual champion Filip Planinsek of Alabama, Fearnley to eventual finalist Michael Zheng of Columbia, but have now begun their pro careers with titles after qualifying for events this week.

Braswell defeated teammate Eliot Spizzirri 6-4, 6-3 in today's championship match of the $25,000 USTA Pro Circuit tournament in Wichita Kansas, capturing his second Pro Circuit title after winning a $25K in Austin in 2022. As impressive as the week was for the 22-year-old from Florida, Fearnley outdid him on the grass courts of Nottingham, winning the ATP Challenger 125 there today when he had not earned a victory on the Challenger Tour prior to this week.

The 22-year-old from Scotland had to play two matches today, beating Mattia Bellucci of Italy 6-3, 6-1 in the semifinals, then downing fellow qualifier Charlie Broom(Dartmouth, Baylor) 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. Fearnley, who won a $25K to start 2024, before returning to Fort Worth for the dual match season, will improve his ATP ranking from 525 to 274, putting him in good position for US Open qualifying with any additional success this summer. It also marks him as a likely candidate for a Wimbledon main draw wild card, with the bulk of those expected to be announced Wednesday.

After posting her first WTA Top 100 victory yesterday in the first round of qualifying at the WTA 250 in Birmingham, NC State graduate Amelia Rajecki earned another one today to qualify for the main draw. The 22-year-old from Nottingham, who was named ITA Senior Player of the Year last week, defeated WTA No. 77 Katie Volynets 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-4, coming from 4-0 down in the third set to earn a place in the main draw of a WTA tournament for the first time. 

Despite the fact that Rajecki is making her WTA main draw debut, she'll know plenty about the game of her first round opponent: Diana Shnaider. Currently 48 in the WTA rankings, Shnaider, who played No. 1 for the Wolfpack last year while Rajecki was playing at line 3, was inside the WTA Top 100 most of her time in Raleigh. For more on Rajecki's win, see this article from the LTA.

At the SoCal Pro Series $15,000 tournaments at the University of San Diego, top seed Fiona Crawley(North Carolina) and No. 8 seed Oliver Tarvet(San Diego) of Great Britain emerged this afternoon as the champions.

In the women's final, Crawley, a 22-year-old from Texas, beat No. 6 seed Sara Daavettila, a former teammate of Crawley's at UNC, 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 for her third USTA Pro Circuit title. 

Tarvet, a rising junior at San Diego, defeated unseeded Nathan Ponwith(Georgia, Arizona State) 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 in a three-hour-plus men's final. It's the third Pro Circuit title for the 20-year-old Tarvet.

It was another big week for $15K titles for current/recent collegians in tournaments all over the world, with three picking up their first career singles titles on the Pro Circuit.

Illinois rising senior Karlis Ozolins of Latvia won his first ITF men's World Tennis Tour singles title at a $15,000 tournament in Korea.

Mississippi State rising junior Petar Jovanovic of Montenegro won his first title on the ITF men's WTT as qualifier, winning eight matches at a $15,000 tournament in Serbia.

Central Florida rising sophomore Olivia Lincer of Poland won her first ITF women's World Tennis Tour title at a $15,000 tournament in the Dominican Republic, beating Cal rising senior Katja Wiersholm 7-6(4), 6-1 in the final.

Recent Pepperdine graduate Janice Tjen won her second straight W15 in Tunisia.

And in non-college titles of note, 18-year-old Kaitlin Quevedo of Naples Florida, now representing Spain, won her sixth title, and her third this year, at a W15 in Madrid.