NCAA Announces Division I Championship Sites for 2026 through 2028; Smith Reaches First Challenger Quarterfinal in Tiburon; UTR Pro Tennis Tour Results
The NCAA had previously awarded its National Championships sites in four-year segments, but under the new leadership of Charlie Baker that parameter was changed, with bids and selections being done in two-year blocks. That means the National Championship selections announced today for all divisions, are for 2027 and 2028.
The prime takeaway for Division I tennis fans is that the University of Georgia is back in the mix, after not hosting the NCAAs since 2017. The Dan Magill Tennis Center, announced today as the site of the 2027 team championships, hosted the men's NCAA championships from 1977 to 1989, and another 15 times from 1991 through 2017, with joint men's and women's NCAA Championships taking place in Athens in 2007, 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2017. I made my first trip to the NCAAs in Athens in 2007, and with the Georgia men taking the team title and John Isner reaching the singles final, I probably got the peak Georgia tennis experience.
It is one of those places, like Wimbledon, Kalamazoo and Ojai, that personifies the history of specific levels of the sport and weaves those past narratives into the present. It's no secret that the lack of a six-court indoor facility was one of the big reasons that Georgia was shut out in the bidding from 2018-2025, but now that that has been rectified, Georgia will now host two years in a row. Previously selected for the 2026 team championships, Georgia will also host the 2026 individual championships.
Although this year's move of the individual championships to the fall was supposed to be a two-year pilot program, it appears from this announcement that it is being extended for at least two more years, through the fall of 2027.
Georgia's announcement is here.
The USTA National Campus is the other site tapped for the NCAA National Championships, with the University of Central Florida the host school. Already announced as the site for the 2025 NCAA individual championships in the fall, the National Campus will host the 2027 individual championships and the 2028 team championships for Division I.
The USTA's announcement is here.
The 2027 Division II championships were awarded to Surprise Arizona. Claremont California will host Division III team and individual championships in 2027 and Rome George will host Division III team and individual championships in 2028. The 2028 Division II host will be announced, in conjunction with the Division II National Championships Festival, at a later date.
Arizona senior Colton Smith reached his first ATP Challenger quarterfinal today at the Tiburon 75, with the wild card beating Remy Bertola of Switzerland 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. Smith will face TCU junior Jack Pinnington Jones, who reached his third career Challenger quarterfinal today with a 6-4, 6-4 win over No. 4 seed Tristan Schoolkate of Australia.
It's been more than three months since my last update on UTR Pro Tennis Tour results in the United States, and there will probably be just one more, at the end of the year.
WOMEN:
July 1 Manchester CTAmy Zhu d. Ariana Pursoo 6-3, 6-3
July 15 Long Beach CA
Emma Charney d. Anne Christine Lukemeyer 6-3, 6-3
August 4 Boca Raton FL
Katherine Hui d. Zoe Hammond 6-1, 6-0
August 19 Boise ID
Elise Wagle d. Neena Feldman 6-7(5), 7-6(3), 6-2
September 1 Knoxville TN
Iryna Shymanovich d. Catherine Aulia 2-6, 6-1, 6-3
September 8 Lawrence KS
Iryna Shymanovich d. Camille Kiss 6-1, 6-2
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