My Conversation with Former USTA Player Development Head Martin Blackman; Rodriguez Reaches ITF J300 Coffee Bowl Final; Seven Americans Play Australian Open Junior First Round Matches Saturday; Gauff, Paul Reach AO Fourth Round

Earlier this month I spoke with Martin Blackman, who served as General Manager of Player Development for the USTA from 2015 through the end of last year. When the USTA announced a reorganization in October, the release also revealed that Blackman was leaving. The much broader position that will include Player Development has not yet been filled, but I wanted to highlight the structure and the philosophy that Blackman and Jose Higueras, among many others at Player Development, established and refined over the past ten years. I didn't have much interaction with Blackman in his first stint USTA back in 2009 and 2010, but I did several interviews with him in the first few years after he took over for Patrick McEnroe in 2015 and have followed his role as GM of Player Development closely in the years since.

I feel that after all these years, I'm fairly well-versed in what Player Development does, but I urge you to read his answer to the first two questions I asked in my interview for Tennis Recruiting Network, because I learned a lot more about how the Team USA concept developed, why it looks like it does, and how the foundation is there for the new structure if the current USTA board and management can refrain from blowing it up.

I'm glad Blackman is staying connected to tennis, but I wish that he was still directly influencing American tennis in an official capacity. He has set the bar high, and the USTA has a lot of work ahead to clear it.

The girls final at the ITF J300 Coffee Bowl in Costa Rica and it will not include either of the top two seeds.  Sixteen-year-old Ava Rodriguez, who had never reached a J300 quarterfinal until this week, is now into the final, after defeating top seed Katie Rolls 6-4, 6-1. Rodriguez, who has committed to Georgia for 2026, will face No. 4 seed Mariella Thamm of Germany, who beat No. 2 seed Capucine Jauffret 6-2, 2-6, 6-2.

The boys final will be determined after tonight's all-USA semifinals, with qualifier Michael Antonius facing Ryan Cozad and Yubel Ubri taking on No. 8 seed Jack Satterfield. Ubri defeated No. 6 seed Lachlan Gaskell 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 in the night quarterfinal match.

Seven of the 15 Americans competing in the Australian Open Junior Championships are in action Saturday (tonight in the United States).  The ITF has two previews of the tournament, here and here.

Live scoring is available at the Australian Open website, with live streaming of all matches at ESPN+.

Tommy Paul and Coco Gauff advanced to the fourth round with wins Friday; eight more Americans will attempt to join them in third round action Saturday.

Friday's third round Australian Open results of Americans:

Coco Gauff[3] d. Leylah Fernandez[30](CAN) 6-4, 6-2

Olga Danilovic(SRB) d. Jessica Pegula[7] 7-6(3), 6-1 

Tommy Paul[12] d. Roberto Carballes Baena(ESP) 7-6(0), 6-2, 6-0

Saturday's third round Australian Open matches featuring Americans:

Emma Navarro[8] v Ons Jabeur(TUN)

Madison Keys[19] v Danielle Collins[10]

Taylor Fritz[4] v Gael Monfils(FRA)

Marcos Giron v Jannik Sinner[1](ITA)

Alex Michelsen v Karen Khachanov[19](RUS)

Ben Shelton[21] v Lorenzo Musetti[16](ITA)

Learner Tien[Q] v Corentin Moutet(FRA)