Smith and Tien Advance to Charlottesville Challenger Quarterfinals; Karue Sell Feature; WTA 125 Dow Tennis Classic Preview; Krueger Replaces Pegula for BJK Cup; VCU Plans New Tennis Facility

Arizona senior Colton Smith, who received a special exempt entry into this week's ATP Challenger 75 in Charlottesville Virginia after reaching the final at last week's Challenger in Sioux Falls, is through to the quarterfinals after defeating wild card Reilly Opelka 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-4 in tonight's second round match. Smith was able to break Opelka three times, and was not broken after the seventh game of the first set. After getting the only break in the third set in the fifth game, Smith held on, finishing that always nerve-racking final game with a big forehand and perfect backhand volley. Smith will face unseeded James Trotter(Ohio State) of Japan, who defeated Brandon Holt(USC) 6-2, 6-3.

No. 2 seed Learner Tien reached the quarterfinals earlier today, defeating Nicolas Mejia of Colombia 6-4, 7-6(8). Tien was unable to convert his five match points serving at 6-4, 5-4, but he saved four set points in the tiebreaker, three from 6-3 down. The two-time Kalamazoo champion has now reached at least the quarterfinals of all ten Challengers he has played in 2024 (and his career). He will take on unseeded Mark Lajal of Estonia on Friday. Lajal defeated No. 6 seed Patrick Kypson, 7-6(4(, 6-3. 

Lucky loser Chris Rodesch, the recent University of Virginia graduate, advanced to a second round meeting with 2019 NCAA singles champion Paul Jubb(South Carolina) of Great Britain Thursday, defeating wild card Govind Nanda(UCLA) 6-4, 6-3.

Thirty-year-old Karue Sell, a former UCLA Bruin, has resusciated a dormant pro tennis career via the unusual route of YouTube star. The Brazilian, who lives in Torrance California, stayed in tennis after he stopped playing in 2019, giving private lessons, serving as a hitting partner for Naomi Osaka and working with former UCLA teammate Marcos Giron. As his popularity on YouTube grew, he began putting many of his own lessons into practice in lower level events in 2023, and having success, continued to play regularly while documenting it all on YouTube.

This lengthy feature on Sell from the Los Angeles Times provides a look at his climb up the rankings, his daily life, and the challenges of any professional in the no man's land, financially, of a rankings in the 300s, outside the ranking necessary to qualify for slams. Sell has financial backing, including from a company co-founded by another former Bruin teammate Clay Thompson, but he is acutely aware of how fortunate he is in that regard. 

I hope you are able to access the article--I know it can be challenging to negotiate news website these days without a subscription, but it is a very thorough and comprehensive look at the life of a professional outside the Top 100.

I will be making my annual visit to the Dow Tennis Classic in Midlan this weekend, and although it will be even more brief than usual, I look forward to catching up with many of the junior and college players I've covered in years past. The tournament always gets excellent coverage from the local newspapers; here is the Midland Daily News preview of this year's event.

Jessica Pegula has withdrawn from the USA's Billie Jean King Cup team, with 2021 USTA 18s champion Ashlyn Krueger named as her replacement. Already without Coco Gauff, Emma Navarro and Madison Keys, team captain Lindsay Davenport will travel to Spain for a first round contest with Slovakia with Krueger, Danielle Collins, Peyton Stearns, Caroline Dolehide and Taylor Townsend.

Virginia Commonwealth University has broken ground on a new athletic village, which is expected to include an 18-court tennis facility with six indoor and 12 outdoor courts. VCU's commitment to its tennis programs has been in question since this spring, when Anthony Rossi left the men's head coaching position after six years to become associate head coach at Florida and women's head coach Vivian Segnini departed to join the WTA administration staff. 

Dimitar Kutrovsky, the men's assistant at Alabama, was named Rossi's replacement in July, but women's assistant Rifanty Kahfiani, who was named interim head coach in August when Segnini left, is still referred to that way on the coaches roster. But last week's announcement of the hiring of Lucy Harper as the associate head coach refers to Kahfiani as the head coach, so perhaps the website has yet to be updated. In any case, neither program has even a minimum number of players on their 2024-25 rosters, each showing just four players.

The women had seven last year; four with remaining eligibility are no longer on the roster. 

The men's roster from last year is not available, but four (of nine) men on the 2022-23 roster who would have eligibility remaining are not on the current roster of four players.

All this is say that there has been undeniable upheaval in both programs this year, so a commitment to a new facility has to considered a positive development.