US Teams Win Groups, Advance to Quarterfinals of Junior Davis Cup and Junior Billie Jean King Cup; Johnston, Willwerth, Long and Dussault Earn First ATP Points; Miyoshi Reaches Champaign Challenger Quarterfinals; Brantmeier Amends NCAA Lawsuit

The teams representing the United States at the Junior Davis Cup and Junior Billie Jean King Cup this week in Turkey have won their round robin groups to advance to the quarterfinals of the ITF's 16-and-under international team competition.  

The US girls team of Tyra Grant, Julieta Pareja and Kristina Penickova defeated Germany 3-0 today, losing just one game in the two singles victories by Grant and Pareja. They won all three of their round robin matches 3-0. They will play Japan, who finished second to Romania in their round robin group. US Open girls singles finalist Wakana Sonobe, Japan's No. 1 player, lost to  Maia Burcescu, clinching the top spot in the group for Romania.

The US boys defeated Poland 3-0, with Keaton Hance and Jack Kennedy earning the singles points, and Hance and Jack Secord taking the doubles. The boys will face Taiwan in the quarterfinals, who defeated Brazil 2-1 in a deciding doubles match to qualify from Group 4.

Thursday was scheduled to be a day off, but the weather forecast for Sunday is such that officials fear the events may not finish, so the quarterfinals will be played Thursday.  Links to live streaming and live scoring can be found here.

Teams advancing from round robin groups
Junior Davis Cup

Round Robin Group 1
1. USA
2. Poland

RR 2

1. Kazakhstan
2. France

RR 3
1. Romania
2. Japan

RR 4
1. Germany
2. Taiwan

Junior Billie Jean King Cup

Round Robin Group 1
1. Great Britain
2. Brazil

RR 2
1. Romania
2. Japan

RR 3
1. Czech Republic
2. Australia

RR 4
1. USA
2. Germany

Quarterfinals in ITF 16U Team Event in Turkey Thursday:
Junior Davis Cup:

USA v Taiwan
Japan v Kazakhstan
Romania v France
Poland v Germany

Junior Billie Jean King Cup:

Great Britain v Germany
Australia v Romania
Czech Republic v Brazil
Japan v USA

A quartet of American boys earned their first ATP points today at the men's USTA Pro Circuit $15,000 tournament in Boca Raton Florida, and even more impressive than that number is the fact that all four were playing in their first Pro Circuit event.

Qualifier Noah Johnston, who turns 17 next week, defeated lucky loser Matt Thomson(Wake Forest) 6-4, 6-4; 17-year-old Benjamin Willwerth defeated qualifier Daniel Milavsky(Harvard) 2-6, 6-4, 6-1; USTA 18s Clay Court champion Dylan Long, an 18-year-old wild card, beat Stijn Paardekooper(St. Bonaventure, Utah State) of the Netherlands 6-7(2), 6-3, 6-4 and 17-year-old qualifier Maximus Dussault beat qualifier Dian Nedev of Bulgaria 6-2, 6-3.  All will play seeds Thursday, with Johnston taking on No. 8 Miles Jones, Willwerth facing No. 6 seed Axel Nefve(Notre Dame, Florida), Long playing No. 4 seed Stefan Dostanic(USC, Wake Forest) and Dussault facing No. 3 seed Will Grant(Florida).

University of Illinois junior Kenta Miyoshi of Japan, who received a wild card into this week's ATP Challenger 75 in Champaign, has advanced to the quarterfinals, saving a match point to defeat Aidan McHugh of Great Britain 2-6, 7-6(4), 7-5 tonight at the Atkins Tennis Center. McHugh served for the match at 6-2, 5-4 and had a match point in that game, but once he lost that set, he became increasingly irritable, while Miyoshi jumped out to a 4-2 third set lead. Miyoshi lost the break, but held for 5-all, broke and then served out the match at love for his first Challenger quarterfinal.  Miyoshi, who qualified for next week's NCAA singles championship by reaching the Midwest Regional final, faces Jack Pinnington Jones(TCU) of Great Britain, who beat Patrick Maloney(Michigan) 6-2, 6-4 today. Ethan Quinn(Georgia) is through to the quarterfinals after beating Hady Habib(Texas A&M) of Lebanon 6-4, 6-4. Quinn faces qualifier Micah Braswell(Texas), who defeated No. 8 seed Beibit Zhukayev of Kazakhstan 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(4). 

Reese Brantmeier's lawsuit challenging the NCAA's rules against student-athletes collecting prize money has been amended, narrowing the focus from all student-athletes to tennis players only. Added as a plaintiff in the lawsuit is Texas freshman Maya Joint, and damages, which were not previously part of Brantmeier's case, are now included.  A copy of the amended complaint, courtesy of Boise State professor Sam C. Ehrlich, can be found here.