Top Two Seeds in Girls 18s Ousted in Third Round of USTA Winter National Championships; Hovde's NIL Deal with Duke

The third round of the girls 18s USTA Winter National Championships in Orlando produced two major upsets today, with unseeded Kira Farrakhova defeating No. 1 seed Addison Lanton 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 and Sobee Oak, a No. 17 seed, beating No. 2 seed Joanna Kennedy 7-6(4), 6-1.

The girls 18s has just seven seeded players remaining for Tuesday's round of 16, and only one single digit seed in No. 3 Carrie-Anne Hoo.

In contrast, the girls 16s draw has 13 seeded players in the round of 16 including the top 4: Carlota Moreno[1], Paige Wygodzki[3], Kohana Darroch[4] and Aya Manning[2].

Nine seeds remain in the boys 18s round of 16, but none in the bottom quarter. Gray Kelley eliminated No. 2 seed Prathinav Chunduru[2] 6-2, 3-0 ret. in the second round and also won today.  2024 Kalamazoo 16s champion Gus Grumet, seeded No. 5, lost to Jaden Brady, a No. 17 seed 4-6, 7-6(6), 7-5, but Kalamazoo 16s finalist Arin Pallegar, a No. 17 seed, has made his way into the round of 16.

In the boys 16s, top seed Safir Azam has been cruising, losing only six games in his first three matches. No. 2 seed Theo Hegarty lost 6-4, 6-1 in the second round to Shaan Majeed, who then lost to No. 17 seed Teodor Davidov today 6-2, 6-7(6), 6-1.

Eleven seeds remain in the boys 16s.

I had missed this notice in the overview tab for the Orlando tournament providing the information on what wild cards are being offered for the top finishers in this year's Level 1 USTA National Championship in Orlando.

• G18 Singles Champion - Main Draw Singles 2025 J300 Indian Wells
• G18 Singles Finalist - Main Draw Singles 2025 ITF J100
• G18 Singles 3rd place - Main Draw Singles 2025 ITF J60
• G18 Singles 4th place - Qualifying Singles 2025 ITF J60
• G18 Singles 5th place - Main Draw Singles 2025 ITF J30
• G16 Singles Champion - Main Draw Singles 2025 J60 Las Vegas
• B18 Singles Champion - Main Draw Singles 2025 J300 Indian Wells
• B18 Singles Finalist - Qualifying Sinlges 2025 J300 Indian Wells
• B18 Singles 3rd Place - Main Draw Singles 2025 J60 Las Vegas
• B18 Singles 4th Place - Qualifying Singles 2025 J60 Las Vegas
• B18 Sing;es 5th Place - Qualifying Singles 2025 J30 Eau Claire
• B16 Singles Champion - Qualifying Singles 2025 J300 Indian Wells
• B16 Singles Finalist - Main Draw Singles 2025 J60 Las Vegas

I haven't had a chance to check this out yet, but Playsight streams should be available here.

At the 12s and 14s Winter Nationals in San Antonio, the seeds have fared better, although girls 14s No. 2 seed Sofia Kedrin lost to unseeded Sophia Dumitrascu 7-6(5), 6-4 in the second round. Dumitrascu also got a win today. Eleven girls 14s seed remain in contention for the title, including Michelle Lee[1],Adelyn Gross[3] and Anna Scott Laney[4].

The boys have 14 seeds through to the fourth round including Eli Kaminski[1], Dylan Meineke[4], Aayush Vartak[3] and Rafael Pawar[2].

The girls 12s round of 16 will feature nothing but seeds, with only two of the Top 16 seeds failing to advance. The top four seeds are all still in contention:  Violetta Mamina[1], Gabrielle Villegas[3], Lucy Dupere[4] and Christina Li[2].

The boys 12s feature 13 seeds, including No. 1 seed David Bender and No. 2 seed Stanley Oriala Jr. 

Tennis Recruiting Network published an article today about the NIL deal Liv Hovde recently signed with the Duke collective, with quotes from her legal representative Darren Heitner. While no dollar amounts are disclosed for Hovde, there is this:

Opendorse, an NIL marketplace, projects women’s and men’s tennis players earn about $5,000 annually through NIL.

I don't know where this number is coming from, perhaps it's an average, which doesn't mean much in this context. It could very well be the case in the future that NIL earnings for sought-after tennis student-athletes will be this low or lower, but I am certain that the top juniors, most of whom do not have a junior slam title on their resume, are being offered much more than that by many schools, including Duke. The consensus is that this is not sustainable for a non-revenue sport like tennis once the House settlement is implemented next year, but right now the very top juniors have a window to sign deals that will fund their first few seasons as pros. How many schools will go all in on tennis in the future remains to be seen, but at the moment there are plenty of bidders for the top tennis talent.