Corpus Christi Champion Andrew Johnson Extends Winning Streak as ITF J300 Pan Am Begins; Florida's Thornqvist Retires; Brantmeier Injunction Denied; Baptiste Leads AO Wild Card Challenge

©Colette Lewis 2024--
Spring, Texas--

The first day of competition at the ITF J300 Pan American Regional Championships at the Giammalva Racquet Club in Spring Texas doesn't feature any seeds, who have first round byes. But it gives the six qualifiers and six wild cards a chance to test their games against at a major event on the USA's junior ITF circuit, and many took advantage of it on a hot and sunny day in suburban Houston.

Fifteen-year-old wild card Andrew Johnson of Rancho Palos Verdes California was coming into his first ITF J300 tournament with well earned confidence, having won his first ITF Junior Circuit singles title last week at the J60 in Corpus Christi. Johnson, who moved up to 579 in the ITF rankings after the title, lost as many as three games in a set only twice in his six victories last week, and continued that theme today, defeating 17-year-old Jacob Olar, ranked 219, 6-2, 6-0.

Johnson, who trained at the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona for a week prior to traveling with USTA National Coach Jon Glover for this two-week Texas swing, said he has been focused on adding more aggressive shots during this stretch of victories.

"I was playing smart last week, playing more aggressive than I usually do," said Johnson, who won the Junior Orange Bowl 14s, the Winter Nationals 14s and the Easter Bowl 14s in succession in a four-month stretch before moving up to the 16s division, where he reached the USTA Clay Courts final this year. "Corpus Christi was very important, it was my first singles title in the ITF, and it was very special to me. I felt so good after."

Olar is much bigger than Johnson, but Johnson was able to neutralize that advantage, putting returns at Olar's feet when he came in, and if that didn't result in an error, passing him after an approach shot.

"My returns were definitely better than usual today," Johnson said. "And my backhand was really solid, backhand line. Everything was working today. I think confidence is a big part of it; I've been playing pretty well, so it's still going."

Johnson will play No. 10 seed Maximus Dussault in Tuesday's second round. Johnson is one of three wild cards advancing, with Gavin Goode and 2024 Kalamazoo 16s champion Gus Grumet also making the second round.

Grumet will kick off play Tuesday on Court 1, against No. 2 seed and 2023 Kalamazoo 16s champion Cooper Woestendick.

Qualifiers earning wins today in the boys first round are Nicolas Pedraza. Marcel Latak, Bullion Sharp and Arnav Bhandari.

Four of the six qualifiers also advanced in the girls draw:Eva Oxford, Calla McGill, Sara Shumate and Joanna Kennedy. And, just as with the boys, three of the six wild cards won their first round matches: Sara Ye, Hannah Ayrault and Elena Mireles.

The first round of doubles was also played today, with the seeded teams taking the courts on Tuesday.  Maya Iyengar and Aspen Schuman are the top girls seeds; future UNC teammates Ian Mayew and Kase Schinnerer are No. 1 in the boys draw, with defending champions Jagger Leach and Matisse Farzam seeded No. 2.

Roland Thornqvist and the 2011 NCAA National Champions

After the recent retirement announcement of Stanford's Lele Forood, I wasn't expecting to read that another coach with multiple NCAA women's team championships would follow, but that happened today, with Florida's Roland Thornqvist leaving the head coaching position, effective immediately, after 24 years leading the Gators. Thornqvist, who took over from the late coaching legend Andy Brandi in 2001, won four NCAA team titles in 2003, 2011, 2012 and 2017. Still only 54, Thornqvist "hasn't ruled out coaching, but may also pursue a post in an athletic administrative capacity," according today's release at floridagators.com.

After nearly two months, the preliminary injunction requested by Reese Brantmeier's attorneys was denied by the judge, meaning that student-athletes who want to remain NCAA eligible continue to be bound by the rules that limit the amount of prize money they may accept at professional tournaments to the expenses they incur. The case will continue to work its way through the courts, this simply keeps the current rules in place until that case is decided. The judge's remarks in denying the injunction can be found in this article from the Carolina Journal.

The first update on the USTA's 2025 Australian Open reciprocal wild card for women came out today, with last week the first of the four-week period designated for WTA points accumulation. From today's release:

ORLANDO, Fla., October 7, 2024 – Hailey Baptiste leads the women's side of the Australian Open Wild Card Challenge after its first official week. Baptiste's leading total of 80 points includes results from two events, as she qualified and reached the second round of the China Open WTA 1000 in Beijing (which began on September 25), then reached the second round of the WTA 125 event in Hong Kong. Sixteen-year old Iva Jovic, this year's USTA Girls' 18s national champion, is second with 75 points counted from winning the title at the USTA Pro Circuit W75 in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. 

 

The current top of the women's standings (player's current ranking in parenthesis): 

 

1. Hailey Baptiste (102) -- 80

2. Iva Jovic (216) -- 75
T3. Sofia Kenin (162) -- 35
T3. Lea Ma (474) -- 35

 

The women's wild card will be awarded to the American with the most ranking points earned at a maximum of three tournaments during its four-week window. The women's Challenge window runs through the week of October 21. All indoor and outdoor hard-court and carpet events at the W35 level and above are included in the Challenge.