Miller Beats Kudmetova to Reach WTA 125 Midland Quarterfinals; Crossley Downs Cross at Miami W35; Liutova Makes Lincoln W15 Quarterfinals; Four Americans Advance in Knoxville; Top Seed Out at Conference Masters; Gauff Earns Semi Berth at WTA Finals

On Tuesday, recent University of Michigan All-American Kari Miller saved two match points in her 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-1 first round win over lucky loser Jamie Loeb(UNC) at the WTA 125 Dow Tennis Classic in Midland Michigan. The 22-year-old from Ann Arbor, who received a main draw wild card, doubled that number of match points saved today against No. 9 seed Polina Kudermetova of Russia, beating the WTA No. 114 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(8) to advance to the Friday's quarterfinals. Miller trailed 6-4, 7-6 and 8-7 in the tiebreaker before securing her best win as a pro.

Miller, who is the niece of former WTA No. 40 Anne Miller of Midland, will face No. 8 seed Lesia Tsurenko of Ukraine Friday. After her win over Loeb, the Midland Daily News published this article on Miller and her connection to Midland, which is not only family related, but the scene of the best moments of her stellar high school career at Ann Arbor Pioneer. Miller also reveals how her career at Michigan prepared her for the success she is having now in her first few months on the Pro Circuit.

I mentioned in last night's post that Ellie Coleman, the Duke senior, would have a tough commute back to North Carolina for the East Sectional, but after losing her doubles match, with Miller as her partner, late last night, she did get to Chapel Hill in time to play her first round match and won it.

At the W35 in Miami, Mayu Crossley of Japan, a UCLA recruit, defeated No. 2 seed Kayla Cross 6-4, 6-1 to advance to the quarterfinals. The 18-year-old Crossley, currently 21 in the ITF junior rankings, reached a W35 final in Boca Raton Florida in May, but she was able to post only one win in the three junior slams this summer. She will play No. 6 seed Allie Kiick in the quarterfinals Friday. 

Central Florida sophomore Olivia Lincer of Poland reached the quarterfinals via a walkover from top seed Liv Hovde. Lincer will play Georgia senior and No. 8 seed Dasha Vidmanova of the Czech Republic who led Usue Arconada 6-3, 3-0 when Arconada retired. Former Georgia All-American Lea Ma, at No. 4, the highest seed remaining, will play unseeded Texas A&M freshman Lexington Reed and No. 7 seed Anna Rogers(NC State), the champion of last week's W35 in Norman, will look to extend her winning streak against unseeded Thaisa Pedretti of Brazil. Pedretti defeated No. 3 seed Madison Sieg(USC) 6-1, 3-6, 6-4.

Fourteen-year-old qualifier Kristina Liutova has reached the quarterfinals of the W15 in Lincoln Nebraska, which is just her second Pro Circuit event. Liutova, who beat No. 5 seed Carolyn Campana(Wake Forset, Vanderbilt, Pepperdine) in the first round 7-5, 2-6, 7-6(10), but had a much simpler victory today over Ana Zamburek of the Dominican Republic 6-3, 6-0. Luitova, who lives in the US and won the 2023 USTA National 16s Clay Court and Hard Court titles, will face unseeded Auburn junior DJ Bennett Friday.

In addition to Bennett, Americans in the quarterfinals are top seed Amy Zhu(Michigan), Florida junior Rachel Gailis and Pepperdine senior Savannah Broadus. 

The quarterfinals are set at the ATP Challenger 75 in Knoxville Tennessee, with Nishesh Basavareddy(Stanford), No. 3 seed Learner Tien(USC), Eliot Spizziri(Texas) and No. 2 seed Christopher Eubanks(Georgia Tech).

Basavareddy advanced over No. 5 seed Zachary Svajda 6-4, 6-0 yesterday, while Tien, Spizzirri and Eubanks won their spots in the final eight today.  Tien, who kept intact his streak of making at least the quarterfinals of all 11 Challengers he's played this year, eked out a 4-6, 6-2, 7-6(1) victory over qualifier Micah Braswell(Texas). Spizzirri defeated Karue Sell(UCLA) of Brazil 3-6, 7-5, 6-1 and Eubanks avenged his Sioux Falls Challenger quarterfinal loss to Murphy Cassone(Arizona State) 6-2, 2-6, 6-3.  Eubanks and Spizzirri will play in the quarterfinals; Eubanks won their previous Challenger meeting this summer in the first round in Lincoln. 

Recent Tennessee graduate Johannus Monday is keeping the fans engaged in Knoxville, with the 22-year-old from Great Britain defeating No. 6 seed Patrick Kypson 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(7) this afternoon by saving match points at 6-5 and 7-6 in the tiebreaker.  Someone's streak will end Friday, when Monday, who has won 17 straight matches after claiming three consecutive $25Ks, takes on last week's Charlottesville Challenger champion James Trotter(Ohio State) of Japan, who has seven straight Challenger wins now.

The quarterfinals of the inaugural Conference Masters tournament will be played Friday in Rome Georgia, without women's top seed Claudia De Las Heras of San Diego. De Las Heras, who had a first round bye, lost in the second round to Sofia Barbulescu of Richmond 6-4, 6-2. The winners of tomorrow's quarterfinal matches qualify for the NCAA singles championships in less than two weeks. The draws are here.  Cracked Racquets is providing coverage on the ITA YouTube Channel.

Three Americans are through to the semifinals of the WTA Finals in Riyadh Saudi Arabia, with Coco Gauff advancing in singles and Nicole Melichar-Martinez (with former Georgia star Ellen Perez of Australia) and Taylor Townsend (with Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic) in doubles.  

Gauff will play WTA No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, with the winner facing the winner of the semifinal between Qinwen Zheng of China and Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic for the title.