Kalamazoo Champions Shut Out in US Open First Round; Texas A&M's Stoiana and Michigan State's Baris Top ITA Preseason Rankings, Joint No. 1 Among Newcomers

It was a brutal Day Two for wild cards at the US Open with all four Americans who received that means of entry falling in the first round.

2024 Kalamazoo champion Matt Forbes(Michigan State) challenged ATP No. 57 Roman Safiullin of Russia throughout, and never looked out of his league, but was unable to convert a set point serving for the second set at 5-3, and, failing to take that opportunity, eventually was eliminated 6-4, 7-6(2), 6-2. As with all the wild cards, too many unforced errors proved the difference, with Forbes making 66 to Safiullin's 41.

2019 and 2021 Kalamazoo champion Zachary Svajda ran into a player at the top of his game, with No. 30 seed Matteo Arnaldi hitting 37 winners and making only 24 unforced errors in a 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 romp over the 21-year-old from San Diego.

2022 and 2023 Kalamazoo champion Learner Tien, who received his wild card via the USTA US Open Wild Card Challenge, has faced a seed in each of the past three years, and this time it was No. 24 seed Arthur Fils of France, who earned a 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory over the 18-year-old from Irvine. 

Tien got off to a terrible start, going down 4-0, but much of that was due to the form Fils showed, not making an unforced error until the fifth game. Tien fought back, and when he held in the second set from 0-40 down at 2-all, he found the level he'd displayed all summer, keeping Fils on defense in the next four games.

But unforced errors, which Tien usually keeps to a minimum, began to multiply, and although he finished with less than Fils, 40 to 52, he had substantially fewer winners, just 11 to Fils 38. Tien continued to fight, even when down 1-5, 0-40, but he saved seven match points before Fils finally closed it out on his serve.

NCAA women's singles champion Alexa Noel also got off to a poor start against Sara Sorribes Tormo of Spain, trailing 5-0, and although the second set was more competitive, the University of Miami All-American gave up a break in the fourth game of the second set and Sorribes Tormo made that stand up in a 6-1, 6-3 victory.

So far the 16 wild cards have not fared well, with Girls 18s champion Iva Jovic, Naomi Osaka and Tristan Schoolkate, the Tennis Australia reciprocal, (addition: the French reciprocal Alexandre Muller is also through) winning their first round matches. Wild cards Stan Wawrinka and Bianca Andreescu are playing their first round matches tonight. Note: Wawrinka and Andreescu both lost Tuesday night.

No. 11 seed Danielle Collins(Florida, Virginia) lost to Caroline Dolehide 1-6, 7-5, 6-4, with a first round loss marking the end of her slam career. The two-time NCAA singles champion is expected to continue to compete throughout the remainder of the WTA season, but declined to participate in a retirement ceremony after her loss today.  For more on Collins and her impact on the WTA tour, see this article from the usopen.org.

Today's results and tomorrow's second round matches featuring Americans:

Jannik Sinner[1](ITA) d. Mackenzie McDonald 2-6, 6-2, 6-1, 6-2
Alex Michelsen d. Eliot Spizzirri[Q] 6-1, 7-5, 6-3
Arthur Fils[24](FRA) d. Learner Tien[WC] 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2
Tommy Paul[14] d. Lorenzo Sonego(ITA) 6-4, 6-2, 5-7, 6-2
Sebastian Korda[16] d. Corentin Moutet(FRA) 7-6(3), 6-1, 6-0
Alex De Minaur[10](AUS) d. Marcos Giron 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4
Matteo Arnaldi[30](ITA) d. Zachary Svajda[WC] 6-3, 6-2, 6-1
Roman Safiullin(RUS) d. Matthew Forbes[WC] 6-4, 7-6(0), 6-2

Ashlyn Krueger d. Shuai Zhang(CHN) 0-6, 6-1, 7-5

Caroline Dolehide d. Danielle Collins[11] 1-6, 7-5, 6-4

Sofia Kenin d. Emma Raducanu(GBR) 6-1, 3-6, 6-4

Jessica Pegula[6] d. Shelby Rogers 6-4, 6-3

Sara Sorribes Tormo(ESP) d. Alexa Noel[WC] 6-1, 6-3 

Anna Bondar(HUN) d. Bernarda Pera 6-3, 3-6, 6-3

Anna Kalinskaya[15](RUS) d. Lauren Davis 6-2, 6-2

Karolina Muchova(CZE) d. Katie Volynets 6-3, 7-5

Varvara Lepchenko[Q] d. Brenda Fruhvirtova(CZE) 2-1 ret.

Wednesday's second round matches featuring Americans:

Madison Keys[14] v Maya Joint[Q](AUS)

Coco Gauff[3] v Tatjana Maria(GER)

Taylor Townsend v Paula Badosa[26](ESP)

Peyton Stearns v Daria Kasatkina[12](RUS)

Iva Jovic[WC] v Ekaterina Alexandrova[29](RUS)

Emma Navarro[13] v Arantxa Rus(NED)

Frances Tiafoe[20] v Alexander Shevchenko(KAZ)

Taylor Fritz[12] v Matteo Berrettini(ITA)

Ben Shelton[13] v Roberto Bautista Agut(ESP)

Mitchell Krueger[Q] v Jiri Lehecka[32](CZE)

Brandon Nakashima v Arthur Cazaux(FRA)

 

Kalamazoo 18s doubles champions Nikita Filin and Alex Razeghi play their first round match against Nicolas Barrientos of Colombia and Skander Mansouri(Wake Forest) of Tunisia Wednesday evening. Tyra Grant and Aleks Kovacevic play Learner Tien and Clervie Ngounoue in the first round of mixed doubles Wednesday night.

The ITA released the preseason rankings for Division I today, and, as always, there are no surprises, with those no longer eligible from the May 2024 final rankings removed, and everyone else moving up.  Stanford's Nishesh Basavareddy, who was not expected to return to school this fall, is not in these preseason rankings, nor is TCU's Jack Pinnington Jones or NCAA champion Filip Planinsek of Alabama. All three are expected to return for the dual match season, but that could change, of course, depending on their results on the Pro Circuit this fall.

The only two women's Top 20 players from last year still eligible but not in the preseason rankings are Alexa Noel, who announced she was turning pro and not using her final year of eligibility, and Alexandra Yepifanova of Stanford. NCAA doubles champions Dasha Vidmanova and Ayesegul Mert are not in the doubles preseason rankings.

The newcomer rankings have been expanded to 20 players this year. The Texas women have four of the top 10, while the UCLA men have two of the top 10.

Maya Joint, who will open play on Arthur Ashe Stadium Wednesday against Madison Keys, is, unsurprisingly, the top women's newcomer, currently 108 in the WTA live rankings. 

She faces the same dilemma as North Carolina's Fiona Crawley, who qualified for the main draw last last year: how to retain her collegiate eligibility when she has earned substantial prize money from her performance at the US Open. In Joint's case, after a first round win, it's $140,000; she talks about the issue, and insists she will attend Texas this fall, in this article.

ITA Division I Preseason Top 10

Women:

1. Mary Stoiana, Texas A&M

2. Dasha Vidmanova, Georgia

3. Celia-Belle Mohr, Vanderbilt

4. Connie Ma, Stanford

5. Ange Oby Kajuru, Oklahoma State

6. Reese Brantmeier, North Carolina

7. Rachel Gailis, Florida

8. Savannah Broadus, Pepperdine

9. Nicole Khirin, Texas A&M

10. Sarah Hamner, South Carolina

Men:

1. Ozan Baris, Michigan State

2. Michael Zheng, Columbia

3. Oliver Tarvet, San Diego

4. Cooper Williams, Duke

5. Colton Smith, Arizona

6. Radu Papoe, Cornell

7. Gavin Young, Michigan 

8. Karlis Ozolins, Illinois

9. Jack Anthrop, Ohio State

10. Shunsuke Mitsui, Tennessee

Doubles Top 5

Women:

1. Ange Oby Kajuru and Anastasiya Komar, Oklahoma State

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

3. Melodie Collard and Elaine Chervinsky, Virginia

4. Luciana Perry and Sydni Ratliff, Ohio State

5. Maria Sholokhova and Alina Mukhortova, Wisconsin

Men: 

1. Petar Jovanovic and Benito Sanchez Martinez, Mississippi State

2. Niels Ratiu and Freddy Blaydes, Georgia

3. Togan Tokac and Giulio Perego, Texas A&M

4. Paul Inchauspe and Filippos Astreinidis, Princeton

5. Maxwell Smith and Noa Vukadin, Clemson

Newcomers Top 10

Women:

1. Maya Joint, Texas

2. Valerie Glozman, Stanford

3. Eszter Meri, Texas

4. Cadence Brace, LSU

5. Aya El Aouni, Central Florida

6. Mio Mushika, San Diego

7. Ashton Bowers, Texas

8. Talia Neilson-Gatenby, Florida

9. Ariana Pursoo, Texas

10. Irina Balus, Duke

Men:

1. Antoine Ghibaudo, Kentucky

2. Peter Benjamin Privara, Harvard

3. Rudy Quan, UCLA

4. Ioannis Xilas, Wake Forest

5. Rafael Jodar, Virginia

6. Niccolo Baroni, Mississippi State

7. David Fix, Pepperdine

8. Walid Ahouda, Central Florida

9. Kaylan Bigun, UCLA

10. Jan Sebesta, Florida State