My Article on College Tennis's Move to Electronic Line Calling; Kennedy, Frodin and Penickova Advance to ITF J500 Banana Bowl Semis; BNP Paribas Open Wild Cards Include Jovic, Basavareddy; Six Americans Reach Semis in California

I wrote an article for Tennis Recruiting Network back in 2021 about the implementation of Electronic Line Calling for the US Open Junior Championships that year, but the technology used at slams wasn't viable for less lucrative tennis tournaments. The hope was that the cost would drop, and although Hawkeye Live, used at most slams and ATP and WTA events, remains financially out of reach, other companies have made gains in finding less expensive alternatives.

One company, PlayReplay, has advanced through the shadow testing and pilots of its electronic line calling system, which has been used at four of the USTA Level 1 National Indoor Championships last fall, as well as at three Division I college events last fall. The most important test of their system was at this month's ITA Division I women's and men's Team Indoor Championships, giving me an opportunity to observe it in person at the men's Team Indoor in Dallas. The result is this article, which, like the US Open junior article, helped me understand the process of adopting this technology, which is now finding its way from tennis to other major sports. 

I appreciate everyone who agreed to be interviewed for this article, which provides perspectives from coaches, players, umpires, administrators and others as college tennis begins to adopt the popular and much-needed technology. With the USTA behind these efforts at automating line calling, down to the recreational level, expect to see more of these pilots the rest of this year.

Three Americans have advanced to the semifinals of the ITF J500 Banana Bowl in Brazil, with No. 2 seed Annika Penickova and No. 11 seed Thea Frodin reaching a J500 semifinal for the first time.

Frodin defeated top seed and defending champion Kaitlyn Rolls 6-2, 6-2, while Penickova beat No. 8 seed Victoria Luiza Barros of Brazil by the same score. Frodin will play No. 3 seed Luna Maria Cinalli of Argentina, while Penickova's opponent in the semifinals, also from Argentina, is No. 10 seed Sol Ailin Larraya Guidi. Penickova defeated Larraya Guidi 7-6(3), 6-1 in the quarterfinals of the J300 warmup last week in Porto Alegre; Frodin lost to Cinalli 7-5, 6-1 in the first round of the Bradenton J300 back in 2023.

No. 2 seed Jack Kennedy, who reached the semifinals of the last J500 he played, the Orange Bowl, is through to the final four again with a 6-3, 6-2 win over unseeded Ivan Ivanov of Bulgaria. That's very similar to the score of Ivanov's win over Kennedy in the Junior Orange Bowl 14s final in 2022, which was 6-2, 6-3 for Ivanov. 

Kennedy will play No. 8 seed Joao Pedro Didoni Bonini of Brazil, who beat unseeded compatriot Vicente Freda 6-2, 6-4. Top seed Andres Santamarta Roig, the Orange Bowl champion, cruised past No. 5 seed Rannick Theodor Alexandrescour of Romania 6-0, 6-1 and will face unseeded Brazilian Pedro Henrique Chabalgoity. In the only three-set boys quarterfinal, Chabalgoity beat No. 7 seed Keaton Hance 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. 

No. 8 seeds Ronit Karki and Jack Satterfield have reached the boys doubles final, after beating No. 5 seed Ryan Cozad and Jack Secord 6-1, 7-5 in today's semifinals. Karki and Satterfield will face No. 4 seed Alexandrescou and Ryo Tabata of Japan in the final. 

The BNP Paribas Open announced the bulk of the wild cards for the upcoming tournament, which begins Sunday with women's qualifying matches. 

Learner Tien(USC), who had been announced as a wild card, moved into the main draw on his own ranking; the replacement for his wild card has yet to be announced. One women's main draw wild card remains to be awarded.

Belinda Bencic, Sloane Stephens and, as previously announced, Petra Kvitova, have received main draw wild cards, as have Robin Montgomery, Alycia Parks, Bernarda Pera and Iva Jovic. Jovic, who lost in the first round of qualifying to Taylor Townsend at the BNP Paribas Open last year, had a quick turnaround after reaching the final of Spring Texas tournament last year; this year, the main draw wild card should relieve that pressure while she continues to compete at the W35 in Arcadia.

Women's qualifying wild cards have been awarded to Clervie Ngounoue, Julieta Pareja, Kristina Penickova, Whitney Osuigwe and Valerie Glozman, who received her qualifying wild card for winning the ITF J300 in Indian Wells last year. Twenty-year-old Hanne Vandewinkel of Belgium is the only non-American receiving a women's qualifying wild card. 

The men's main draw wild cards have been awarded to Reilly Opelka, Tristan Boyer(Stanford) and Nishesh Basavareddy. Next Gen champion Joao Fonseca of Brazil had been previously announced as a wild card. 

Four of the five qualifying wild cards were awarded to current or former college players, with the fifth still to be determined. Arizona senior Colton Smith, Texas A&M freshman Theo Papamalamis of France, former Texas All-American Eliot Spizzirri and UCLA freshman Rudy Quan. Quan received his qualifying wild card for winning the ITF J300 tournament in Indian Wells last year. 

In past years, a player from the John McEnroe Tennis Academy often received a qualifying wild card, but that did not happen this year.

Top seed Jovic is through to the semifinals of the USTA Pro Circuit Arcadia W35, after beating No. 5 seed Maria Mateas(Duke) 7-5, 6-4. She will play qualifier Kylie McKenzie, who beat No. 7 seed Despina Papamichail of Greece 6-0, 6-3.  

Wild card Fiona Crawley(UNC) defeated No. 2 seed Carson Branstine(Texas A&M) of Canada 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 and will face another Canadian, LSU freshman Kayla Cross, the No. 6 seed, in the semifinals. Cross defeated qualifier Stefania Rogozinska Dzik(Loyola Marymount) of Poland 6-1, 6-1.  Due to rain the forecast, the final is scheduled to play Saturday after the semifinals and the doubles final. Future NC State player Tori Osuigwe and former NC State star Alanis Smith will face Aldila Sutjiadi(Kentucky) and Janice Tjen(Oregon, Pepperdine) in the doubles final. 

Three Americans are through to the semifinals of the ATP Challenger 100 in San Diego: two former NCAA singles champions and a former ITA year-end No. 1. 

Former ITA Player of the Year Eliot Spizzirri(Texas), who has that BNP Paribas Open qualifying wild card coming right up, advanced to the semifinals with another comeback victory, beating No. 6 seed Taro Daniel of Japan 6-7(2), 6-0, 6-4. He will face No. 8 seed and 2023 NCAA singles champion Ethan Quinn(Georgia), who had another marathon win this evening, beating top seed Arthur Cazaux of France 7-5, 6-7(1), 6-4 in three-hours and 15 minutes. 

Former UCLA Bruin Mackenzie McDonald, the 2016 NCAA singles champion, defeated wild card and SMU sophomore Trevor Svajda 6-3, 6-4. McDonald, the fourth seed, will face No. 5 seed Kamil Majchrzak of Poland, after Majchrzak beat Alex Bolt of Australia 7-6(2), 1-1 ret.

Six US Juniors Advance to ITF J500 Banana Bowl Quarterfinals; Spizzirri and Quinn Join Svajda and McDonald in San Diego Challenger Quarterfinals; Tien Earns Second Top 5 Win in Acapulco; Jovic, Crawley Reach W35 Quarterfinals

Half of the quarterfinalists at this week's ITF J500 Banana Bowl are Americans, with one guaranteed to advance to the semifinals after today's third round action in Gaspar Brazil.

Top seed and defending champion Kaitlyn Rolls, a University of Virginia recruit, defeated unseeded Ava Rodriguez, a University of Georgia recruit 7-5, 6-4 and will play another American on Friday: No. 11 seed Thea Frodin. Frodin defeated No. 7 seed Allegra Korpanec Davies of Great Britain, who she had beaten at the Orange Bowl in December 6-3, 2-6, 6-2. 

No. 4 seed Maya Iyengar, a 6-2, 6-1 winner over Spain's Juliana Giaccio, will face No. 10 seed Sol Ailin Larraya Guidi of Argentina on Friday. No. 2 seed Annika Penickova defeated No. 13 seed Maia Burcescu of Romania 6-4, 6-3 and will play No. 8 seed Victoria Luiza Barros of Brazil in the quarterfinals. Barros defeated No. 12 seed Leena Friedman 7-5, 5-7, 6-3.  In the only quarterfinal without an American, No. 3 seed Luna Maria Cinalli of Argentina will face No. 5 seed Laima Vladson of Lithuania; Vladson, who has won the past two J300s on the South American clay, defeated No. 9 seed Capucine Jauffet 6-1, 6-2.

No. 7 seed Keaton Hance and No. 2 seed Jack Kennedy have advanced to the boys singles quarterfinals, along with three Brazilians.

The only quarterfinal that was predicted by seeds will feature top seed Andres Santamarta Roig of Spain and No. 5 seed Yannick Alexandrescou of Romania. In the other top half quarterfinal, Hance, a 6-1, 6-4 winner over No. 9 seed Luis Guto Miguel of Brazil, will play unseeded Pedro Henrique Chabalgoity, who beat No. 16 seed Yannik Alvarez of Puerto Rico 6-4, 6-3. 

No. 8 seed Joao Pedro Didoni Bonini of Brazil will face unseeded compatriot Vicente Freda in the quarterfinals, after Freda upset No. 3 seed William Rejchtman Vinciguerra of Sweden 7-6(6), 6-3. 

The fourth quarterfinal will feature a rematch of the 2022 Junior Orange Bowl 14s final, with unseeded Ivan Ivanov of Bulgaria facing No. 2 seed Kennedy. Ivanov, who won that final 6-2, 6-3, defeated unseeded Jacob Olar 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 in today's third round, while Kennedy did not lose a game to No. 15 seed Ryo Tabata of Japan. 

Two more Americans advanced to Friday's quarterfinals of the ATP Challenger 100 in San Diego, joining Trevor Svajda(SMU) and Mackenzie McDonald(UCLA), who face each other.

Eliot Spizzirri(Texas) came back to defeat former Georgia Tech star Andres Martin, a qualifier, 1-6, 6-1, 6-4, while No. 8 seed 2023 NCAA singles champion Ethan Quinn(Georgia) took the scenic route against wild card Jenson Brooksby before posting a 6-3, 5-7, 7-6(5) victory.

Quinn served for the match at 6-3, 5-3 and had two match points before losing that game and the next three to give Brooksby new life. Quinn then went up 5-2 in the third set and had a match point in that game, which Brooksby saved. Quinn didn't get to a match point serving at 5-4, and trailed 5-3 in the tiebreaker, but he took the last four points to secure the win.

Spizzirri's opponent in the quarterfinals will be No. 6 seed Taro Daniel of Japan, who defeated qualifier Alex Rybakov(TCU) 7-6(9), 7-6(1). Quinn will play the winner of tonight's second round match between top seed Arthur Cazaux and Constant Lestienne, both of France.

Qualifier Learner Tien(USC) earned his second ATP Top 5 victory of the year last night in the second round of the ATP 500 in Acapulco, beating top seed and ATP No. 2 Alexander Zverev of Germany 6-3, 6-4, coming from 4-1 down in the second set to advance to his second ATP quarterfinal. For more on Tien's win and what has him in the same sentence and status as Andy Roddick, see this article from the ATP. 

Two qualifiers and a wild card have advanced to the quarterfinals of the USTA Pro Circuit W35 in Arcadia California. Seventeen-year-old Iva Jovic, no doubt relieved to be back home and in warm and dry conditions after the cold and rain in Spring Texas, is through to the quarterfinals. The top seed looked to be breezing against Stanford recruit Alyssa Ahn, a qualifier, but she had her hands full in the rest of the match before securing a 6-0, 1-6, 7-5 victory.  She will face No. 5 seed Maria Mateas(Duke), who beat 17-year-old qualifier Alexis Nguyen 7-5, 7-6(3). Qualifier Kyle Mckenzie, who received a walkover from 2023 NCAA champion Fangran Tian(UCLA) of China will face No. 7 seed Despina Papamichail of Greece.

Wild card Fiona Crawley(North Carolina) defeated 2015 NCAA singles finalist Carol Zhao(Stanford) of Canada, the No. 8 seed, 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-0. Crawley will play No. 2 seed Carson Branstine(Texas A&M) of Canada, who beat Haruna Arakawa of Japan 7-6(8), 6-2. 

LSU freshman Kayla Cross of Canada, the No. 6 seed, defeated Eryn Cayetano(USC) 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 and will play Loyola Marymount's Stefania Rogozinska Dzik of Poland, who beat fellow qualifier Tori Osuigwe 6-4, 0-6, 6-3. 

Australian Open Finalists Willwerth and Penickova Top Acceptance Lists at ITF J300 San Diego; Seven US Girls Reach Banana Bowl Round of 16; Nguyen Advances at Arcadia W35; Svajda Defeats Krueger at San Diego Challenger

2025 Australian Open finalists Kristina Penickova and Benjamin Willwerth are the ITF Top 10 juniors who have entered next month's ITF J300 in San Diego, with the acceptances released yesterday. The tournament, which for the second straight year is restricted to juniors from the United States and Canada, has only one Canadian girl and four Canadian boys on the initial acceptance lists.

In addition to Penickova, who reached the final last year in San Diego, boys champion Jack Kennedy is returning to defend his title. 

Notable absences include Nadia Lagaev of Canada, who just won back-to-back J200s in the Dominican Republic and reached the San Diego quarterfinals last year; Nicolas and Mikael Arseneault of Canada, who also played San Diego last year.  Americans in the ITF Top 30 not entered in San Diego are: Jagger Leach, who has entered the ITF J300 in Indian Wells the week prior, Dominick Mosejczuk and Maxwell Exsted, who did not enter Indian Wells, and of course Tyra Grant and 2024 San Diego champion Iva Jovic, who have played exclusively on the Pro Circuit this year.

Jordan Lee, the Orange Bowl 16s champion, is entered in Indian Wells, not San Diego; with Lee, it's likely because he is allowed only 14 tournaments on the ITF Junior Circuit as a 14-year-old, until he turns 15 in May. I believe he's already played 12, so he may want to save one for April, with a J200 in Canada and two J100s in Florida, where he lives.

Seven US girls have advanced to the third round at the J500 Banana Bowl in Gaspar Brazil, along with three US boys. Top seed Kaitlyn Rolls will play unseeded Ava Rodriguez in the only third round match between Americans. The other five US girls in the round of 16 are Thea Frodin[11], Capucine Jauffret[9], Maya Iyengar[4], Leena Friedman[12] and Annika Penickova[2].

Boys from the United States in the third round are Keaton Hance[7], Jacob Olar and Jack Kennedy[2]. Olar defeated No. 6 seed Valentin Garay of Argentina 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 to reach the third round of J500 for the first time. Atlanta resident Yannik Alvarez[16], who represents Puerto Rico, is also into the round of 16. 

One player I'm hoping to see as a wild card at the Indian Wells or San Diego J300s who is not on the acceptance lists is Alexis Nguyen, who I last saw compete at Indian Wells in 2024. The 17-year-old from Sacramento, who recently made a verbal commitment to North Carolina for 2026 along with twin sister Avery, has been playing mostly USTA Pro Circuit events the past year, and after two Pro Circuit events this year in Florida and Texas, the 2022 Orange Bowl 16s champion returned to California for qualifying at this week's USTA Pro Circuit W35 in Arcadia. 

She drew 2025 Australian Open girls champion Wakana Sonobe, the top seed in qualifying, who had made a big splash earlier this month in Abu Dhabi by qualifying and winning a round at the WTA 500 tournament there. Nguyen won that first round 6-3, 1-6, 10-8, then qualified yesterday with a 7-6(4), 6-2 win over Brandy Walker(Northern Arizona). In first round action today, Nguyen breezed past lucky loser Natsuho Arakawa(Arkansas, Washington) 6-1, 6-1 to set up a meeting with No. 5 seed Maria Mateas(Duke). Arakawa was replacing Kristina Penickova, who withdrew. 

Iva Jovic, the top seed, beat lucky loser Veronika Miroshnichenko 6-1, 6-3 and will face qualifier Alyssa Ahn, the Stanford recruit. Jovic and Ahn played in the second round of the Indian Wells J300 last year, with Jovic winning 6-2, 6-0. 

2023 NCAA singles champion Fangran Tian(UCLA) of China is back in Southern California and will play qualifier Kylie Mckenzie in the second round after a 6-1, 7-5, win over wild card Kelly Keller(Arkansas).

No. 4 seed Kayla Cross of Canada beat LSU teammate and fellow freshman Tilwith Di Girolami, a qualifier, 6-4, 6-2 and will play Eryn Cayetano(USC), who received a special exemption from the mess in Spring Texas and advanced with a 6-2, 2-0 retirement from Alana Smith(NC State). NC State recruit Tori Osuigwe, a qualifier, defeated No. 4 seed Jazmin Ortenzi of Argentina 7-6(7), 6-4 and will face yet another qualifier who advanced to the second round in Loyola Marymount grad student Stefania Rogozinska Dzik of Poland. Rogozinska Dzik defeated Anastasia Tikhonova of Russia 6-3, 6-2. 

Fiona Crawley, the former North Carolina All-American, is returning to competition for the first time since last October with a wild card. Crawley defeated qualifier Ema Burgic(Baylor) and will play either No. 8 seed Carol Zhao, a Spring W50 survivor, of Canada, or fellow wild card Anna Frey, who recently announced a verbal commitment to North Carolina for spring of 2026. 

There were just four singles matches today at the ATP Challenger 100 in San Diego, but one was a big upset, with wild card Trevor Svajda defeating No. 7 seed Mitchell Krueger 6-3, 6-3. Svajda, a sophomore at SMU, had only faced one player ranked higher than Krueger, currently at 138, and that was back in 2023, when he lost to No. 111 James Duckworth of Australia in the first round of the US Open men's qualifying, after earning a wild card with his runner-up finish at Kalamazoo. It's the second Challenger quarterfinal for the 19-year-old from San Diego, who also reached the quarterfinals at the Little Rock 75 last May.

On Friday, Svajda will play No. 4 seed Mackenzie McDonald(UCLA), who defeated Matteo Gigante of Italy 6-3, 7-5 this evening.

Rolls, Santamarta Top Seeds at J500 Banana Bowl; Svajda Tops Pinnington Jones in San Diego Challenger First Round; Spring W50 Ends Without Champion; Virginia Women Top Latest D-I Rankings; D-II and D-III Indoor Update

The first round of singles is complete at this week's J500 Banana Bowl in Brazil, which has moved from Blumenau to Gaspar this year. Kaitlyn Rolls is defending her title as the No. 1 seed, while boys top seed Andres Santamarta Roig of Spain is returning to junior competition for the first time since the Australian Open. Below are the seeds, with asterisks indicating a first round loss. 

Boys 

1. Andres Santamarta Roig(ESP)

2. Jack Kennedy(USA)

3. William Rejchtman Vinciguerra(SWE)

4. *Alejandro Arcila(COL)

5. Yannick Theodor Alexandrescou(ROU)

6. Valentin Garay(ARG)

7. Keaton Hance(USA)

8. Joao Pedro Didoni Bonini(BRA)

9. Luis Guto Miguel(BRA)

10. *Ryan Cozad(USA)

11. Noah Johnston(USA)

12. *Victor Cunha Winheski de Lima(BRA), 

13. *Jack Secord(USA)

14. Dante Pagani(ARG)

15. Ryo Tabata(JPN)

16. Yannik Alvarez(PUR)

Girls

1. Kaitlyn Rolls(USA)

2. Annika Penickova(USA)

3. Luna Maria Cinalli(ARG)

4. Maya Iyengar(USA)

5. Laima Vladson(LTU)

6. Yoana Konstantinova(BUL)

7. Allegra Korpanec Davies(GBR)

8. Victoria Luiza Barros(BRA)

9. Capucine Jauffret(USA)

11. Thea Frodin(USA)

12. Leena Friedman(USA)

13. Maia Burcescu(ROU)

14. *Valentina Mediorreal Arias(COL)

15. *Claire An(USA)

16. Ishika Ashar(USA)

In addition to those listed above, Americans who have reached the second round are: Ronit Karki, Jacob Olar, Ava Rodriguez, Lucy Oyebog Atang and Welles Newman.

Iyengar and Penickova are the top seeds in the girls doubles, with Rolls and Frodin the No. 2 seeds. Santamarta Roig and Rejchtman Vinciguerra are the No. 1 seeds in boys doubles, with Kennedy and Hance seeded No. 2.

The inaugural ATP Challenger 100 in San Diego is underway, with the event taking place at the Barnes Tennis Center, which will host the ITF J300 North American Regional March 17-22. 

Three players who competed in last week's ITA Men's Team Indoor Championships in Dallas were in the main draw: Wake Forest's Stefan Dostanic, the MTI's Most Outstanding Player, lost in the final round of qualifying, with former TCU All-American Alex Rybakov getting a bit of revenge for the Horned Frogs, but Dostanic got into the main draw as a lucky loser. He lost today to Constant Lestienne of France 6-3, 6-4.

The other two MTI competitors are TCU junior Jack Pinnington Jones, who lost to Dostanic in the deciding match in the final, and sophomore Trevor Svajda, who went 1-1, with his match against Dostanic unfinished for host SMU.

Svajda, who grew up and lives in San Diego and is certainly at home at Barnes Tennis Center, defeated Great Britain's Pinnington Jones 6-3, 7-6(4) in a first round match today. Svjada will play No. 7 seed Mitchell Krueger next, who trains at the SMU facility and was there hitting right before the Team Indoor began.

The other current collegian in the main draw, Arizona senior Colton Smith, lost to No. 5 seed Kamil Majchrzak of Poland in the first round 7-6(3), 6-4. 

After a miserable week of weather in Spring Texas for the women's USTA Pro Circuit W50, the quarterfinals and semifinals took place Monday afternoon and evening, but the final was not played. Iva Jovic and Texas A&M senior Mary Stoiana, who beat Carol Zhao(Stanford) of Canada 6-7(4), 6-4, 11-9 in semifinals, both get a finalist's 20 points and $3995 in prize money.

The latest ITA Division I Team rankings were released today, with a new No. 1 on the women's side: Virginia. Although previous No. 1 Georgia won it's first conference match over South Carolina, the Women's Team Indoor Champions, and has only one loss, to North Carolina, they were passed this week by the Cavaliers, who have two losses, including a 4-0 defeat to Georgia in the Indoor semifinals. It's the first time in Virginia women's history that a team has been ranked No. 1. Click on the heading to go to the full 75-team rankings

Division I Team Top Ten, February 25, 2025

(previous ranking in parentheses)

Women:

1. Virginia(2)

2. Georgia(1)

3. Michigan(5)

4. North Carolina(3)

5. Texas A&M(6)

6. Auburn(4)

7. Tennessee(7)

8. Ohio State(9)

9. Duke(10)

10. LSU(8)

While the Top 10 women were simply rearranged, the men had just one change, with nine of the top 10 in exactly the same position as last week. Arizona's win over San Diego moved it into the No. 9 position, with Texas A&M, who lost to Florida State, dropping from 9 to 12.

Division I Men Top Ten:

1. Wake Forest(1)

2. TCU(2)

3. Ohio State(3)

4. Texas(4)

5. Virginia(5)

6. Stanford(6)

7. San Diego(7)

8. Columbia(8)

9. Arizona(14)

10. NC State(10)

While I was providing my in-depth coverage of the ITA Division I Men's Team Indoor in Dallas, I wasn't able to follow the three other Team Indoor Championships that took place during and immediately after that event.

In Indianapolis, the men's Division II Team Indoor Championships produced a first-time winner in West Florida, with the No. 7 seeds defeating No. 8 seeds Washburn 4-0 in the final. Top seeds St. Leo's and Flagler both lost in the quarterfinals. The ITA recap is here and the West Florida recap is here. 

The winner of the women's Division II Team Indoor Championships, which concluded Sunday, can be dubbed a dynasty now, with the Barry women claiming their fourth straight title. Top seed Barry, who defeated No. 6 seed Midwestern State 4-0 in the final, didn't drop a point in its three victories. The ITA recap is here; the Barry recap is here.

The men's Division III Team Indoor Championships, also last weekend, ended with Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, a perennial contender for the NCAA team title in the spring, collecting a rare Indoor title, with the No. 2 seed defeating top seed Chicago 4-3 in the final. CMS, who hadn't won an Indoor title since 2001, avenged their 5-4 loss to Chicago in the NCAA D-III final last May. The ITA recap is here; the CMS recap is here.

The women's Division III Team Indoor Championships begin Friday in Memphis, with Chicago and CMS also the No. 1 and No 2 seeds for that event. 

Dussault and Lagaev Go Back-to-Back at ITF J200s in Dominican Republic; Jovic Reaches Final of Cold-Delayed W50 in Texas; My Appearance on No-Ad No-Problem Podcast to Recap D-I Men's Team Indoor; Interviews with Acapulco ATP 500 Qualifiers Tien and Basavareddy

While I followed the results of the ITF J300 in Brazil, the warmup to this week's J500 Banana Bowl, where Noah Johnston swept the titles and Thea Frodin made both finals last week, there were several other titles for Americans on the ITF Junior Circuit. Floridian Maximus Dussault won his second consecutive J200 in the Dominican Republic, a feat matched by Canadian Nadia Lagaev. 

Dussault, a 17-year-old left-hander who has committed to TCU for this fall, was the top seed both weeks and didn't lose a set in his 10 victories. In the all-USA final, Dussault, now up to 45 in the ITF junior rankings, defeated No. 8 seed Nischal Spurling 6-0, 6-2. Spurling did collect a title in the doubles, partnering with Ford McCollum. The unseeded pair from Los Angeles beat No. 4 seeds Emanuel Ivanisevic of Croatia and Vitor Ryden of Sweden 7-6(3), 6-1 in the final.

Lagaev, also a 17-year-old left-hander, dropped just one set in her ten victories, beating No. 5 seed Hyunyee Lee of Korea 6-3, 7-6(4). Lagaev, who has verbally committed to Georgia for the fall of 2026, is now up to No. 30 in the ITF junior rankings. 

Top seeds Lagaev and Kayla Moore lost in the doubles final to No. 3 seeds Sabrina Lin and Great Britain's Daniela Piani 6-3, 6-3.

At the J60 in Eau Claire Wisconsin, No. 12 seed Roman Sancilio and top seed Thara Gowda won their second career ITF Junior Circuit singles titles in all-USA finals. 

The 17-year-old Sancilio defeated unseeded Aaron Beduhn in the final, while Gowda, 16, defeated Sophia Budacsek 6-1, 7-5. 

Gowda also took the girls doubles title, with Karlin Schock, with the top seeds beating No. 3 seeds Budacsek and Sobee Oak 6-1, 6-0. No. 5 seeds Tej Bhagra and Chase Kelley took the boys doubles title, beating top seed Adrian Treacy and Avner Wong 6-1 6-2 in all-USA final.

At the J60 in Guatemala, unseeded Carolina Castro won her first ITF Junior Circuit title, with the 16-year-old from Maryland defeating No. 8 seed Camille Allegre 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(6) in another all-USA final. 

Top seeds Jordyn Hazelitt and Canada's Elicia Lin won the girls doubles title, beating Castro and Sasha Miroshnichenko 6-1, 7-6(2) in the final. 

Sixteen-year-old Jerald Carroll swept the boys titles at the J30 in Mexico. The third-seeded Floridian defeated unseeded Sebastian Garcia Puente of Mexico 6-0, 6-1 in the singles final, and partnered with Peru's Alessandro Rubini Garcia Belaunde for the boys doubles title. The No. 3 seeds defeated No. 4 seed Valentino Arjona and Rodrigo Garza of Mexico 2-6, 6-2, 10-5 in the final.

After playing just five games in reaching the cold-delayed quarterfinals today at the W50 in Spring Texas, 17-year-old Iva Jovic advanced to the semifinals with a 6-4, 6-1 win over qualifier Eryn Cayetano(USC), and then reached the final with a 6-3, 4-6, 10-7 win over Caty McNally. The final is still scheduled for tonight, with Jovic's opponent not yet determined, with Texas A&M senior Mary Stoiana playing Canada's Carol Zhao(Stanford) in the semifinals. Stoiana defeated Whitney Osuigwe 6-2, 3-6, 10-7 in the quarterfinals.

Over the weekend I spoke with John Parsons about the recently concluded ITA Men's Division I Team Indoor Championshps for his No-Ad No-Problem podcast, which is a must-listen (his weekly podcast, not my guest appearance) for any D-I college tennis fan. John and I were both in Dallas and at a men's Team Indoor Championship for the first time since 2013 so we had a lot to discuss. Our wide-ranging conversation touched on the SMU facility, the buzz around the tournament, SMU men's head coach Grant Chen's successful efforts to make it a special event, the Electric Line Calling system being used, our standout players and matches and the story lines we're following in the next two months as the conference season gets going. John knows his stuff and college tennis is fortunate to have him as an advocate for the sport.

Ben Rothenberg is at the ATP 500 in Acapulco this week, and he spoke to both Learner Tien and Nishesh Basavareddy after their first round qualifying wins Saturday, catching up with the two rising American teenagers after their first Australian Open pro experiences last month. The interviews at Rothenburg's Bounces are behind a paywall (which he does for some articles, but not all), but please consider subscribing, even if you don't want to pay, as a free subscription, which goes directly to your email inbox, is available. Both Tien and Basavareddy won their final round qualifying matches, with Tien set to play Cam Norrie(TCU) of Great Britain later tonight, and Basavareddy likely to play Dallas Open champion Denis Shapovalov of Canada Tuesday.

Johnston Sweeps Titles at ITF J300 in Brazil; Blanch, Bonding Earn First ITF Men's Singles Titles; Corwin Claims Naples $15K; Texas A&M Women Come From 3-0 Down to Beat Texas

Noah Johnston added his first ITF singles title at the J300 level today in Porto Alegre Brazil, with the 17-year-old left-hander from South Carolina coming back to defeat qualifier Ivan Ivanov of Bulgaria  6-7(3), 7-6(5), 6-1 in his first appearance in a J300 final. Johnston's sweep should  move him back up the ITF Junior rankings, so he should not have to worry about making Roland Garros Junior Championships main draw. Johnston is the No. 11 seed in next week's J500 Banana Bowl in Gaspar Brazil.

Thea Frodin, the No. 4 seed, dropped her third ITF J300 final in three appearances, losing to last week's Asuncion Bowl champion, unseeded Laima Vladson of Lithuania 2-6, 6-2, 6-2. Frodin is also the No. 11 seed in Gaspar next week.

Seventeen-year-old Darwin Blanch, whose only junior tournament last year was Kalamazoo, won his first ITF men's World Tennis Tour title at a M15 today in Spain. The unseeded Blanch, who lost to now Ohio State freshman Nikita Filin in the B18s round of 32 as the No. 2 seed last August, came from a set down for the third time in his five victories, beating No. 2 seed and former Florida All-American Oliver Crawford of Great Britain 1-6, 7-5, 7-5. Blanch, the 2022 Kalamazoo 16s champion, had reached two M15 finals last year.

Blanch was one of three Americans to win M15s this week, with Martin Damm, the 2018 Kalamazoo 16s champion claiming the title in Egypt with the No. 2 seed taking a 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 decision from No. 7 seed Alexandr Binda of Italy.

And closer to home, but still connected to Kalamazoo, Felix Corwin(Minnesota) won his third M15 title in Naples Florida, beating qualifier Daniel Paty in a nearly three-hour final 6-4, 6-7(7), 7-6(6). Paty saved two match points in the second set, while No. 7 seed Corwin, the son of former Kalamazoo Nationals tournament director Timon Corwin, trailed 6-4 in the final set tiebreaker before taking the last four points of the match.

Also of note on the 15K level, 17-year-old Oliver Bonding of Great Britain earned his first ITF men's singles title in Lannion France, using an ITF junior reserved spot based on his ITF junior ranking to gain entry in the main draw. Bonding played a tiebreaker in each of his straight-sets wins, going 5-0, including his 6-3, 7-6(9) win over No. 8 seed Axel Garcian of France.

They finally played a match today at the women's W50 in Spring Texas, but that second round match didn't start until late afternoon and apparently only one court was playable. Maria Mateas(Duke) defeated Elli Mandlik 7-5, 1-6, 6-4 to advance to the quarterfinals; three more second round matches need to be played and I don't know if the tournament will finish or not. 

In Austin Texas, less than three hours away, they have been playing qualifying for the WTA 250 ATX Open there all day, with both first and second rounds of qualifying scheduled. Victoria Hu(Princeton) and Hina Ioune are the only two Americans to reach the second round of qualifying. Former University of Texas standout Malaika Rapolu, who is up to 549 in the WTA rankings after playing the Pro Circuit post-graduation last May, received a main draw wild card.

Texas A&M's No. 1 Mary Stoiana was on the schedule all day at the Spring W50 event, and even though her opponent had not been determined by match time, she was unable to compete for the sixth-ranked Aggies in their SEC opener with rival Texas, ranked 11th. That moved everyone in the lineup up a spot and required shuffling their doubles, and they lost the doubles point and singles at lines 1 and 6. Trailing 3-0, Texas A&M had the consolation of having won the first set in the remaining four matches, but they had no margin of error. Mia Kupres and Lexington Reed closed out their matches in straight sets at 2 and 5, but Daria Smetannikov dropped her second set to Texas's Carmen Herea at line 5, Longhorn Ashton Bowers served for her second set at line 3 against Lucciana Perez. Bowers couldn't hold, but had a set point in the tiebreaker, only to be overtaken by Perez, who earned the Aggies' third point 7-6(6), 7-6(7). Smetannikov had led 3-1 in third over Herea, but wasn't able to hold serve after that, assisted only in by the fact that Herea was also unable to hold. Six breaks later, Smetannikov got the final break, clinching for the Aggies with a 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 decision.

For more on the match, see this article from the Texas A&M website.

Frodin, Johnston Reaches ITF J300 Brazil Finals; Cold Cancels Play Again at W50 in Texas, Second Round Matches Still Unplayed; Corwin Reaches Naples $15K Final; Cash and Glasspool Win ATP 500 Title; Holt, Budkov Kjaer Reach Challenger Finals

Sixteen-year-old Thea Frodin and 17-year-old Noah Johnston will compete for their first ITF J300 titles Sunday in Porto Alegre Brazil after both posted straight-sets victories Saturday.

No. 4 seed Frodin reached her third ITF J300 final with a 6-4, 6-1 win over No. 2 seed Annika Penickova in an all-USA semifinal, while the unseeded Johnston advanced to his first J300 final with a 6-0, 7-6(3) win over No. 6 seed Luis Guto Miguel of Brazil.

Johnston will face qualifier Ivan Ivanov of Bulgaria, who avenged his 2022 Eddie Herr 14s quarterfinal loss to Keaton Hance, the No. 7 seed, in a semifinal even closer than that one, with Ivanov earning a 7-6(6), 6-7(4), 6-3 win today. Johnston and Ivanov were set to play last week in the quarterfinals of the J300 in Paraguay, but Ivanov retired down 1-0 in the first set.

Johnston won his ninth ITF Junior Circuit doubles title, with partner Jacob Olar. The unseeded pair defeated top seeds Hance and Jack Kennedy 7-5, 6-4 in the final, and did not drop a set in the tournament.

The top seeds in the girls doubles also lost to an unseeded team, with Sol Ailin Larraya Giudi of Argentina and Nauhany Vitoria Leme Da Silva of Brazil beating No. 1 seed Katiylyn Rolls and Frodin 4-6, 6-1, 12-10 in the final. 

Frodin's opponent in the singles final is unseeded Laima Vladson of Lithuania, who defeated No. 3 seed Luna Maria Cinalli of Argentina 7-6(5), 1-6, 7-6(8).  The 17-year-old Vladson, who also beat Cinalli in a third-set tiebreaker in the quarterfinals on her way to the title at last week's J300 in Paraguay, had never advanced past the quarterfinals of a J300 until last week.

The unseasonable winter weather in Texas persisted today, with no play in the first round of qualifying at the WTA 250 in Austin and no play at all, for the second straight day, at the USTA Pro Circuit W50 in Spring. 

The  four remaining Spring second round matches, as well as the quarterfinals and semifinals are scheduled to be played Sunday, with the weather forecast better (although not great); I assume there will be some short scoring, probably a match tiebreaker in lieu of a third set, for the quarterfinals and semifinals, with the final held over until Monday, but that is just speculation on my part. 

At the other USTA Pro Circuit tournament this week, a men's $15,000 event in Naples Florida, No. 7 seed  Felix Corwin has advanced to the final. The former University of Minnesota standout defeated former Ohio State All-American Cannon Kingsley, the No. 6 seed, 7-6(3), 6-1 in today's semifinals. Corwin will face qualifier Daniel Paty of the Czech Republic, who beat qualifier Victor Lilov 6-0, 5-7, 6-0.

Paty won the doubles title today, with partner Joao Vitor Goncalves Ceolin of Brazil, with the unseeded pair defeating top seeds Jamie Vance and Tennyson Whiting(BYU) 2-6, 6-3, 11-9. 

Seventeen-year-old Mirra Andreeva of Russia became the youngest WTA 1000 winner (that level dates back to 2009) with her title today in Dubai. The 2023 Australian Open girls finalist, who reached No. 1 in the ITF junior rankings for one week that year, defeated Clara Tauson of Denmark 7-6(1), 6-1. Taylor Townsend and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic won the doubles title in Dubai.

The British pair of Lloyd Glasspool, who won the NCAA doubles title while at Texas in 2015, and Julian Cash, a former standout at Mississippi State and Oklahoma State, won their third ATP title today in Doha, beating two other former collegiate stars from Great Britain: Neal Skupski(LSU) and Joe Salisbury(Memphis). Glasspool and Cash, who have been playing together for six months, defeated Skupski and Salisbury 6-3, 6-2 in the final. For more on the Glasspool and Cash title run, see this article from the ATP website.

2024 Wimbledon boys champion Nicolai Budkov Kjaer of Norway has reached his first ATP Challenger final at the 75 tournament in Glasgow Scotland. The 18-year-old Budkov Kjaer, who is into the ATP Top 350 with this run, will play, improbably, another one of the three Norwegians in the ATP Top 1000, 27-year-old Viktor Durasovic. 

Former USC All-American Brandon Holt is into his fourth Challenger final after winning his first Challenger title last month in Thailand. The sixth-seeded Holt, competing at the 100 tournament in Pune India, will face unseeded Dalibor Svrcina of the Czech Republic for the title. Holt is now up to a career-high 144 in the ATP rankings.

Two former Kalamazoo 16s champions are through to the finals of $15Ks, with 2018 champion Martin Damm, returning from another injury suffered last fall and winter, is through to the final in Egypt. The No. 3 seed, Damm will play No. 7 seed Alexandr Binda of Italy for the title.

Darwin Blanch, the 2022 Kalamazoo 16s champion, who is still just 17, advanced to the final in Spain, where the unseeded left-hander will play former Florida All-American Oliver Crawford of Great Britain, the No. 2 seed. 

My ITA Men's D-I Team Indoor Recap, All-Tournament Team Announced; Four Americans Reach Semifinals at ITF J300 in Brazil; Three Americans Advance to Naples $15K Semifinals; Cold Weather Cancels Play Friday at W50 in Texas

If you didn't follow my daily coverage of the ITA Men's Team Indoor Championships from Dallas, you can catch up with just one article in my recap of the tournament, published today at the Tennis Recruiting Network. Although I still am no fan of no-ad, I have missed covering college tennis in person, so I am grateful for all that SMU men's head coach Grant Chen did to convince me to come to Dallas for the event, which was an unqualified success. I am planning a TRN article about the Electronic Line Calling system that was in use during the Division I Women's and Men's Team Indoor Championships for next Friday, and I will be joining John Parsons on his No-Ad, No-Problem podcast this weekend to offer my impressions of the tournament in more detail.

We'll be talking about the All-Tournament Team, which was released today by the ITA. It's unusual that the Most Outstanding Player isn't on the All-Tournament Team at his position, but Wake Forest graduate student Stefan Dostanic's performance in the final set that decided the championship had to be recognized, so I have no argument with that anomaly.

ITA Men's Division I Team Indoor Championships All-Tournament Team:

Singles:

1. Oliver Tarvet, San Diego

2. Pedro Vives, TCU

3. Lui Maxted, TCU

4. Ioannis Xilas, Wake Forest

5. Cooper Woestendick, TCU

6. Luca Pow, Wake Forest

Doubles:

1. DK Suresh and Stefan Dostanic, Wake Forest

2. Samir Banerjee and Alexander Razeghi, Stanford

3. Ioannis Xilas and Franco Capalbo, Wake Forest

Most Outstanding Player: Stefan Dostanic, Wake Forest

All four Americans who reached Friday's quarterfinals at the ITF J300 in Porto Alegre have advanced to the semifinals, with No. 4 seed Thea Frodin and No. 2 seed Annika Penickova playing Saturday for a spot in the final.

Frodin defeated unseeded Alyssa James of Jamaica 6-2, 6-2, while Penickova beat No. 7 seed Sol Ailin Larraya Guidi of Argentina 7-6(3), 6-1 in the quarterfinals.

The US boys will have to win one more match before they play each other, with unseeded Noah Johnston defeating No. 5 seed Yannick Theodor Alexandrescou of Romania 7-5, 7-5 and No. 7 seed Keaton Hance defeating Dante Pagani of Argentian 6-2, 6-1.

Johnston's opponent in the semifinals will be 15-year-old Luis Guto Miguel of Brazil, the No. 6 seed, who beat Ian Vertberger of Argentina 6-0, 6-0.  

Hance will face qualifier Ivan Ivanov of Bulgaria, who beat unseeded Ryo Tabata of Japan 6-3, 5-7, 7-6(3).  Ivanov and Hance played in the quarterfinals of the Eddie Herr 14s back in 2022, with Hance winning a three-hour and 30-minute contest 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-3. Hance went on to reach the final; Ivanov went on to beat Jack Kennedy in the final of the Junior Orange Bowl 14s two weeks later.

Hance and Johnston will face off for a title regardless of their singles results Saturday, with Hance and Kennedy, the top seeds, play unseeded Jacob Olar and Johnston in the doubles final.

Olar and Johnston defeated Ronit Karki and Jack Satterfield 6-4, 7-5; Kennedy and Hance advanced via walkover from Alexandrescou and Tabata.

Frodin will play for the girls doubles title Saturday, with Kaitlyn Rolls, after the top seeds defeated unseeded Welles Newman and Lucy Oyebog Atang 4-6, 6-2, 10-8 in the semifinals today. Frodin and Rolls will play unseeded Larraya Guidi and Nauhany Vitoria Leme Da Silva of Brazil, who defeated the unseeded team of James and Capucine Jauffret 6-2, 6-1.

The success rate was the same for Americans at the men's $15,000 USTA Pro Circuit tournament in Naples Florida, with all three quarterfinalists advancing to Saturday's semifinals.

Cannon Kingsley(Ohio State) had received a walkover from top seed Dmitry Popko of Kazakhstan, so he didn't play today, but the No. 6 seed will take on No. 7 seed Felix Corwin(Minnesota) for a place in the final. Corwin defeated unseeded Taha Baadi(Wake Forest, Kentucky) 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. Victor Lilov defeated Argentina's Ignacio Monzon 6-4, 6-0, and will face fellow qualifier Daniel Paty of the Czech Republic in the semifinals. Paty beat No. 2 seed Tommaso Compagnucci of Italy 6-3, 6-3.

The cold weather in Southern Texas continued to cause problems at the women's USTA Pro Circuit W50 in Spring Texas and the forecast is not promising for Saturday either.

No matches were played Friday, although Iva Jovic did advance to the quarterfinals via a walkover from Renata Jamrichova of Slovakia, last year's Australian Open and Wimbledon girls champion. Temperatures were in the 30s most of the day, the entire doubles tournament was cancelled yesterday, and there is a chance of "mixed winter precipitation" is in the forecast for Saturday. Four second round matches still need to be completed, along with the quarterfinals, with the assumption that the semifinals and finals will take place on Sunday.  The weather looks much better for next week, when the main draw of the WTA 250 in Austin Texas gets underway, but this weekend's qualifying there will also feel the impact of this persistent cold, unless they move those matches to an indoor facility.

Wake Forest Men Take Over No. 1 Spot in ITA Rankings; Cold Disrupts W50 in Spring Texas; Three Americans Reach Quarterfinals at Naples $15K; Penickova, Frodin, Hance and Johnston Advance to ITF J300 Quarterfinals in Brazil

The ITA's first computerized team rankings for the 2025 dual match season were released today, and is often the case, the Team Indoor Champions are in the top spot.

The Georgia women had been at No. 1 prior to their title in Evanston last week, but the Wake Forest men have supplanted TCU at No. 1, which is not a given with how the ranking algorithm works.

The Texas A&M women, who reached the Indoor final, are way down at 6, with semifinalist Oklahoma now at 16. I usually post only the Top 10, but with the first computer rankings, as with the first coaches poll, I'm listing the top 25.  The full rankings, which go to 75 now that the computer is involved, can be found by clicking on the heading.

Women's D-I Team Top 25
1. Georgia*
2. Virginia*
3. North Carolina*
4. Auburn*
5. Michigan*
6. Texas A&M*
7. Tennessee*
8. LSU*
9. Ohio State
10. Duke
11. Texas*
12. Oklahoma*
13. Texas Tech
14. NC State
15. Baylor
16. Oklahoma State*
17. Wisconsin
18. Southern California
19. Clemson
20. Central Florida
21. Alabama
22. Notre Dame
23. UCLA*
24. Yale
25. Pepperdine*

*Participated in women's Team Indoor

The women's top eight all played the Indoor, while three WTI teams--Stanford[34], Illinois[41] and Northwestern[47]--are outside the Top 25.

Men's D-I Team Top 25

1. Wake Forest*

2. TCU*

3. Ohio State*

4. Texas*

5. Virginia*

6. Stanford*

7. San Diego*

8. Columbia*

9. Texas A&M*

10. NC State*

11. Central Florida*

12. Michigan*

13. Harvard

14. Arizona

15. Duke*

16. Tennessee

17. Cal

18. Baylor*

19. Alabama

20. Illinois

21. Pepperdine

22. Oklahoma

23. Miami

24. Princeton

25. Southern California

*Participated in men's Team Indoor

The top 12 men's teams played the Indoor, with two teams participating in the Indoor, No. 28 Kentucky and No. 52 SMU, outside the Top 25.

The individual rankings were also updated, with NCAA fall champions Michael Zheng of Columbia and Dasha Vidmanova of Georgia retaining the No. 1 positions.

Men's D-I Singles Top 10

1. Michael Zheng, Columbia

2. Pedro Vives, TCU

3. Colton Smith, Arizona

4. Oliver Tarvet, San Diego

5. Carl Emil Overbeck, Cal

6. Ozan Baris, Michigan State

7. Timo Legout, Texas

8. Jay Friend, Arizona

9. DK Suresh, Wake Forest

10. Stefan Dostanic, Wake Forest

Men's D-I Doubles Top 5

1. Oliver Tarvet and Stian Klaassen, San Diego

2. Pedro Vives and Lui Maxted, TCU

3. Luciano Tacchi and Luca Pow, Wake Forest

4. Stefan Dostanic and DK Suresh, Wake Forest

5. Youcef Rihane and Alex Bulte, Florida State

Women's D-I Singles Top 10

1. Dasha Vidmanova, Georgia

2. DJ Bennett, Auburn

3. Mary Stoiana, Texas A&M

4. Julie Fliegner, Michigan

5. Elza Tomase, Tennessee

6. Valerie Glozman, Stanford

7. Maria Sholokhova, Wisconsin

8. Irina Balus, Duke

9. Luciana Perry, Ohio State

10. Reese Brantmeier, North Carolina

Women's D-I Doubles Top 5:

1. Elaine Chervinsky and Melodie Collard, Virginia

2. Maddy Zampardo and Gabriella Broadfoot, NC State

3. Susanna Maltby and Carson Tanguilig, North Carolina

4. Olivia Center and Kate Fakih, UCLA

5. Avelina Sayfetdinova and Mariia Hlahola, Texas Tech

Texas A&M senior Mary Stoiana, No. 3 in the latest rankings, has split her time between college and USTA Pro Circuit events so far this year. This week Stoiana is competing at the W50 in Spring Texas, at the Giammalva Racquet Club, the site of fall Pan American Closed ITF J300 the past two years. While we had fantastic weather in Spring (outside Houston) last October, the same cannot be said of this week's tournament, with the severe cold snap extending to southern Texas. (The wild chill was below zero when we left Dallas Wednesday). Despite all that Stoiana has posted her best professional result of the year, reaching the quarterfinals with a 6-0, 6-2 win over qualifier Madison Sieg(USC), a 2023 NCAA singles semifinalist. Stoiana had defeated No. 3 seed Selena Janicijevic of France 6-4, 6-0 in the first round.

Stephanie Myles posted an update on the weather issues at her Open Court website yesterday, but despite more sunshine today,  temperatures were barely 40 degrees F (Myles, a Canadian, uses the Celsius scale in her article) and only three of the five second round matches were played, after four retirements in the first round.

Top seed Taylah Preston of Australia will face Carol Zhao(Stanford) of Canada in the quarterfinals; Stoiana awaits the winner of the second round match between Whitney Osuigwe and Anastasia Tikhonova of Russia.  No. 2 seed Iva Jovic is playing 2024's two-time junior slam champion Renata Jamrichova of Slovakia, who is using one of her ITF junior accelerator program entries, in a second round match, with the quarterfinals also scheduled for Friday. 

The weather is much more pleasant for the men playing the $15,000 USTA Pro Circuit tournament in Naples Florida, the second consecutive week the Emilio Sanchez Academy has hosted a $15K for men.

Three Americans are through to the quarterfinals: No. 6 seed Cannon Kingsley, No. 7 seed Felix Corwin and qualifier Victor Lilov.  Kingsley received a walkover from top seed Dmitry Popko of Kazakhstan, so he will not play Friday, awaiting the winner of the match between Corwin and unseeded Taha Baadi(Wake Forest, Kentucky) of Canada. Lilov will face unseeded Ignacio Monzon of Argentina in the quarterfinals.

Sixteen-year-old Jack Secord picked up his first ATP point yesterday in Naples, beating No. 3 seed Peter Bertrand(Georgia, South Florida) 6-1, 6-7(3), 6-4. Secord lost in the first round of qualifying in the two $15Ks in Florida earlier this month, but received a main draw entry this week via the ITF's junior reserved program.

The J300 warmup event to next week's J500 Banana Bowl in Brazil in Porto Alegre has reached the quarterfinal round, with two US boys and two US girls advancing.

Top seed Jack Kennedy lost today, to Ian Vertberger of Argentina, but No. 7 seed Keaton Hance and unseeded Noah Johnston both picked up straight-sets wins over Brazilian wild cards.  Hance defeated Vicente Freda 6-1, 6-4 and Johnston beat Leonardo Storck Franca 7-6(3), 6-4. 

Girls top seed Kaitlyn Rolls lost in the first round to Laima Vladson of Lithuania, but No. 2 seed Annika Pennickova and No. 4 seed Thea Frodin completed straight-sets victories today. Penickova defeated Ligaya Murray 6-3, 6-1 and Frodin beat Valentina Mediorreal Arias of Colombia 7-5, 6-4. If both win Friday, the Americans will meet in the semifinals.

Tien and Fonseca Receive BNP Paribas Open Wild Cards; ITF J300 Indian Wells Acceptances Feature Top Americans; USTA Announces Increased Tennis Participation for Fifth Consecutive Year

After a week in Dallas at the ITA Division I Men's Team Indoor Championships, I'll need some time to recover from all the excitement before I head off to the big Southern California junior swing, which begins in less than three weeks.

That begins for me at Indian Wells, for the second week's ITF J300 there, but several wild cards were announced today for the BNP Paribas Open men's and women's singles championships, which begin two weeks from today.

For the second straight year, Venus Williams has received a wild card, with the 44-year-old returning to competition after playing just two matches in 2024.  Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, 34, who is returning to the tour after the birth of her first child, is the other women's singles wild card announced today.

In contrast, the two men's wild cards announced today have a combined age seven year less than Williams, with 2024 Next Gen finalists Learner Tien and Joao Fonseca making their main draw debuts at the BNP Paribas Open. Tien, then a 17-year-old freshman at USC, played a match in the qualifying draw in 2023, losing to Cristian Garin of Chile 7-5, 7-6(7).

As for the ITF J300 in Indian Wells, which begins March 10th, the acceptances were released yesterday, with many Americans at the top of the ITF junior rankings entered. While the tournament is open to juniors from all countries for the second straight year, Americans still dominate the acceptances, because the international players (with the exception of Canadians) are not allowed to enter the J300 in San Diego the following week. But this year, at least at the outset, there are a few more international players in the field, including Top 20 boys Alan Wazny of Poland and William  Rejchtman Vinciguerra of Sweden.

The US girls at the top of the acceptance list are Kristina Penickova, Kaitlyn Rolls, Annika Penickova, Julieta Pareja and Maya Iyengar. The other American girls currently in the main draw are Capucine Jauffret, Thea Frodin, Leena Friedman, Aspen Schuman, Claire An, Ishika Ashar, Ava Rodriguez, Nancy Lee, Shannon Lam, Anita Tu and Maria Aytoyan. The cutoff ranking for main draw is 129.

The three US boys currently in the ITF Top 10—Jagger Leach, Jack Kennedy and Australian Open finalist  Benjamin Willwerth— have entered. Americans joining them in the boys field, which has a cutoff of 125, are Keaton Hance, Ryan Cozad, Noah Johnston, Maximus Dussault, Jack Secord, Jack Satterfield, Lachlan Gaskell, Calvin Baierl, Mattise Farzam, Ronit Karki, Gavin Goode, Yubel Ubri, Simon Caldwell, Jordan Lee, Roshan Santhosh and Nischal Spurling. 

The USTA sent out a release today highlighting a fifth consecutive year of increased participation in the sport in this country, and announced $10 million in grants for building and refurbishing courts to help facilities meet that demand. 

For more information on this, as well as the USTA's Safe Play program, see this article from usta.com.

Dostanic Delivers in Wake Forest's 4-3 Victory Over TCU for Demon Deacons Second ITA Men's Team Indoor Championship

©Colette Lewis 2025--
Dallas Texas--

Wake Forest's Stefan Dostanic returned to college tennis this year for a moment like the one he found himself in Tuesday night with the championship of the ITA Men's Division I Team Indoor on his racquet leading 5-4 in the final set of his match with TCU's Jack Pinnington Jones at line 1.

Dostanic rose to the occasion, starting that nerve-racking game with an ace and making every first serve to hold at love and deliver the Demon Deacons' second Team Indoor Championship in front of a disappointed crowd clad in Horned Frogs Purple.

"This is probably the best moment on a tennis court I've ever had," said the 23-year-old from Irvine California, who spent the first four years of eligibility at the University of Southern California. "At the end, I saw it was going to come down to me, and I thought, just embrace the moment, these are the moments I want to play for, so just have fun and go for it."

Wake Forest looked to be headed for less stressful ending when they took the doubles point and four first sets in singles. 

Dostanic and DK Suresh took out the 2024 NCAA fall champions Lui Maxted and Pedro Vives 6-2 at line 1, while Pinnington Jones and Cooper Woestendick defeated Luciano Tacchi and Luca Pow 6-4, leaving the point up to line 3.  Wake Forest's Franco Capalbo, playing with Ioannis Xilas, served for the match against Duncan Chan and Albert Pedrico at 5-3, but wasn't able to hold. Serving at 4-5, Pedrico and Chan faced two match points, but saved them both, with Chan making a shot so spectacular that it produced a scream of disbelief from a TCU fan before the ball had bounced twice. The referee reminded the crowd not to call out until a point is complete, and play resumed, with Xilas holding at love to go up 6-5. Chan led 40-0 and it looked as if a tiebreaker would decide the point, but a series of errors, including a missed volley by Pedrico on the deciding point, gave Wake Forest a 7-5 set and a one point lead.

Wake's strong start in singles meant TCU needed to force third sets in two matches where they had dropped the first, and they got one of those splits from freshman Woestendick at line 5, against Tacchi, just as Pow was putting Wake Forest up 2-0 with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Pedrico at 6.

TCU pulled even with Maxted defeating freshman Charlie Robertson 7-5, 6-3 at line 3 and Vives, who had saved three set points in the first set tiebreak against Suresh, completing a 7-6(7), 6-3 victory.

Xilas made it 3-2 Wake, fighting off three set points in the second set tiebreaker against Chan at line 4 for a 6-2, 7-6(9) win. 

Pinnington Jones had hung around after dropping a first-set tiebreaker to Dostanic and he seized one of the few opportunities Dostanic gave him, getting the break at 5-6 to force a third set.

In the meantime, Woestendick had taken a 5-3 lead in the third set against Tacchi and was able to close out that comeback, putting all eyes on Court 1, where a full third set would decide the National Championship.

Dostanic got an early break with Pinnington Jones serving a 1-1, and while that would normally be much too early to declare the match over, Dostanic played and served too well throughout the set, giving Pinnington Jones no openings.

"We host an ATP event and you could argue that was Top 100 level tennis there between those two guys," said Wake Forest head coach Tony Bresky, who took the head coaching position in 2011. "At that moment, the way Stef serves that out, I don't know what to say, that's what a pro does. It was unbelievable tennis, unbelievable from JPJ, too. He played maybe one or two bad points in his second service game and that was it."

Dostanic said he took to heart the advice he got from associate head coach Brian Baker on the changeover.

"At 5-4 I'm asking Bakes what do you think I should do," Dostanic said. "He told me, go for the patterns you know best, go for the serves you trust, have a high first serve percentage, don't let him see second serves, and don't back away. My best tennis is my 1-2, so I stuck to my guns and played my high percentage tennis." 

In less than two months as a Demon Deacon, Dostanic has already fulfilled a dream.

"Coming to Wake, I knew they had a great team," Dostanic said. "This is what I wanted to do, play for a national title. I didn't think it would be a 3-all in the finals of National Indoors, but I'm very happy it did end like this."

Bresky, who led Wake to a first National Indoor title and a first NCAA title in 2018, joked in trophy presentation that there was a little too much purple in the stands, but appreciated the atmosphere which neared capacity throughout the three-and-a-half-hour match.

"You want to play in front of fans," Bresky said. "We had fans and felt their support, but it was nothing like TCU had here; having the seats filled is amazing for college tennis."

TCU head coach David Roditi pointed out in his remarks at the trophy ceremony that the last time TCU lost a Team Indoor final 4-3, which was last year's loss to Ohio State, the season ended with an NCAA championship.

"At the end of day, it was just a great college tennis match," said Roditi, whose teams won the 2022 and 2023 titles. "Amazing for the fans; they got their money's worth. So much purple. It obviously sucks to lose, but at the same time I feel like our program won today, with people coming out to share what these guys are doing. I'm bummed, because we're competitive, but at the same time I love what I saw today. We'd love to win all of them, but Stefan stepped up."

Wake Forest[1] 4, TCU[1] 3

Doubles:

1. Stefan Dostanic and DK Suresh(WAKE) v Lui Maxted and Pedro Vives(TCU) 6-2

2. Jack Pinnington Jones and Cooper Woestendick(TCU) d. Luciano Tacchi and Luca Pow(WAKE) 6-4

3. Franco Capalbo and Ioannis Xilas(WAKE) d. Duncan Chan and Albert Pedrico(TCU) 7-5

Order of finish: 1, 2, 3

Singles:

1. Stefan Dostanic(WAKE) d. Jack Pinnington Jones(TCU) 7-6(3), 5-7, 6-4

2. Pedro Vives(TCU) d. DK Suresh(WAKE) 7-6(7), 6-3

3. Lui Maxted(TCU) d. Charlie Robertson(WAKE) 7-5, 6-3

4. Ioannis Xilas(WAKE) d. Duncan Chan(TCU) 6-2, 7-6(9)

5. Cooper Woestendick(TCU) d. Luciano Tacchi(WAKE) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4

6. Luca Pow(WAKE) d. Albert Pedrico(TCU) 6-2, 6-3

Order of finish: 

6, 2, 3, 4, 5, 1

Wake Forest Squeezes Past Texas 4-3 to Reach ITA Men's D-I Team Indoor Final, TCU Breezes Past Stanford to Advance to Fourth Straight Indoor Final

©Colette Lewis 2025--
Dallas Texas--

It was business as usual for both Wake Forest and TCU, with the top seeds reaching Tuesday evening's final of ITA Division I Men's Team Indoor Championships in contrasting fashion, with the SMU No. 1 seed Demon Deacons getting their third 4-3 win of the season over Texas, while the No. 1 Baylor seed Horned Frogs advanced to their fourth straight Team Indoor final with a 4-0 victory over Stanford.

The Styslinger/Altec Tennis Complex on the SMU campus, the site of the semifinals and finals, drew fans for both Texas teams, but the Longhorn faithful were unable to dent the confidence of the undefeated Wake team, who have won every match this year, including three earlier wins over teams that went on to make the Indoor field. 

Wake started out up 1-0, which they have done in all 13 of their victories this year, by taking the doubles point from Texas with wins at lines 1 and 3, and that point proved the cushion they needed when the teams split first sets in singles.

But by the time Wake's Charlie Robertson had secured a 70-minute 7-6 first set in his match with Pierre-Yves Bailly at line 3, DK Suresh of Wake had already taken the second set from Sebastian Gorzny at line 2, giving Wake a little breathing room. 

But a straightforward 6-4, 6-2 win from Texas freshman Timo Legout over Stefan Dostanic at line 1 brought the Longhorns even, and a second set comeback from Texas freshman Oliver Ojakaar at line 5, who trailed Luciano Tacchi 4-1 before closing out a 6-1, 7-6(3) victory, gave Texas a 2-1 lead. That was short lived, with Wake's Luca Pow pulling his team even with a 6-2, 7-5 win over Sebastian Eriksson at line 6.

In the three remaining matches, Gorzny and Suresh were at 3-3 in the third, Wake's Ioannis Xilas was up 6-3, 5-5 in the second in his line 4 match with Jonah Braswell, and Robertson and Bailly were at 1-1 in the second set. 

Xilas, who lost his break in the second set, still had two match points in the second set tiebreaker, but Braswell approached on the first, forcing a missed pass from Xilas, then blasted a forehand winner on the run within inches of the baseline on the second. Braswell, who had clinched the quarterfinal win over Virginia on Saturday, then converted his first set point in the tiebreaker, with a good first serve forcing a return error, earning a third set.

"I knew I was fitter, I knew I was playing better," said the 23-year-old graduate student from Greece. "I was a bit unlucky in the second set to lose that, I was a break up and had a couple of match points in the breaker, but honestly, he played them very well, so I just kept staying in the present."

Bailly took the second set from Robertson as Gorzny and Suresh were headed to a third set tiebreaker, which was 3-3 at the first change of ends, with Suresh holding for a 4-3 lead. Gorzny then called a ball out on the sideline, which Wake head coach Tony Bresky told Suresh to challenge, and when the ball was reviewed and deemed good, he had his crucial mini-break.

"In the heat of the moment I didn't think to challenge, but TB was there to help me out," said Suresh, a junior from India. "I wasn't sure, but Tony was there and that was good by him."

Gorzny held his next serve for 5-4, but a great first serve gave Suresh two match points, and he converted the first, with his net cord volley falling on Gorzny's side of the net, making 3-2 Wake Forest.

Bailly had built a big lead over Robertson in the third, so Texas still had a chance, although Braswell had to win as well. Serving at 2-3 30-15, Braswell got a time violation point penalty, then lost a deciding point to give Xilas the lead, which he stretched to 5-2. 

"It was a pretty important point at that moment, because I ended up breaking," Xilas said of the time violation. "But to be completely honest, I felt he was taking a bit more time."

After Bailly closed out Robertson 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-1, both teams gathered around court 4, to see if Xilas could serve out the match after Braswell had held for 5-3. Xilas went up 30-0, but a backhand winner from Braswell and forehand error made it 30-all before he stepped up to finish a backhand volley to earn a match point. He missed his first serve, but early in the rally, Braswell sent a forehand long to put Wake Forest, a semifinalist in 2024, into its first Team Indoor final since 2019.

In facing TCU, located 40 minutes from the SMU campus, Bresky is expecting the Wake Forest supporters to be outnumbered in tomorrow night's match.

"We pretty used to that, with some of the road matches we've played," Bresky said. "Our guys on the bench do a great job to keep our guys inspired. I welcome a big crowd, it's great for the guys, it's everything we need. I think you want that atmosphere; it makes it more fun."

Wake Forest[1] 4, Texas[3] 3

Doubles:

1. Stefan Dostanic and DK Suresh(WAKE) d. Lucas Brown and Timo Legout(TEX) 6-3

2. Luciano Tacchi and Luca Pow(WAKE) v Pierre-Yves Bailly and Sebastian Gorzny 6-5, unf.

3. Franco Capalbo and Ioannis Xilas(WAKE) d. Jonah Braswell and Oliver Ojakaar(TEX) 6-4

Order of finish: 1, 3

Singles:

1. Timo Legout(TEX) d. Stefan Dostanic(WAKE) 6-4, 6-2

2. DK Suresh(WAKE) d. Sebastian Gorzny(TEX) 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(4)

3. Pierre-Yves Bailly(TEX) d. Charlie Robertson(WAKE) 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-1

4. Ioannis Xilas(WAKE) d. Jonah Braswell(TEX) 6-3, 6-7(7), 6-3

5. Oliver Ojakaar(TEX) d. Luciano Tacchi(WAKE) 6-1, 7-6(3)

6. Luca Pow(WAKE) d. Sebastian Eriksson(TEX) 6-2, 7-5

Order of finish: 1, 6, 5, 2, 3, 4

In the nightcap, TCU managed to win an extremely close doubles point from Stanford; after the teams had split 7-5 decisions at lines 1 and 2, the point came down to No. 3, with TCU's Duncan Chan and Albert Pedrico taking a 7-6(7) decision after seeing a 5-1 lead in the tiebreaker evaporate.

"That doubles point was so close," said TCU head coach David Roditi, whose team had beaten Stanford on the SMU courts in January in a much closer match than the 7-0 score would suggest. "That was a big doubles point, big momentum."

TCU rode that momentum into singles, taking five first sets, mostly with late breaks to take them 6-4, although Pedrico posted a 6-0 first set at line 6 in his match with freshman Alexander Razeghi. 

Stanford made a small push after Pedrico closed out Razeghi 6-0, 6-4 and freshman Cooper Woestendick took out Hudson Rivera 6-4, 6-1 at line 5. But down 3-0 and unable to get a win from Henry Von Der Schulenburg at line 4, with Duncan Chan gaining a split, the challenge was too great. Stanford sophomore Kyle Kang, returning from a wrist injury that had kept him out until this weekend, did force a third set at line 3 against Lui Maxted, and Samir Banerjee had gotten back on serve in the second set against Jack Pinnington Jones at line 1, but Pedro Vives was on the verge of a victory at line 2, and he delivered, beating Max Basing 6-4, 6-3 to reach his fourth consecutive National Indoor Team Championships final.

Roditi, who has led TCU to Indoor titles in 2022 and 2023 and to the final against Ohio State last year, is not entirely sure why his team excels indoors.

"I think (assistant coach) Devin Bowen does a better job than most getting the guys ready from the very beginning," Roditi said. "We start working early and we take this tournament, and the road to the Indoors, very seriously. But we also have good players, and if you have good players, all of a sudden you're a good coach."

Vives, who is 6-0 in singles in dual matches this year, and is the 2024 fall NCAA doubles champion with another four-year Indoor veteran in Maxted, isn't convinced that all the Horned Frogs' experience will have an impact on Tuesday's result.

"I don't think it will be an advantage," said Vives, a 23-year-old from Spain. "It will just be one more match. Maybe if they were to be in a position to clinch--some of us have been in that position, so maybe that could be on of the differences, but they have a very veteran team, I think their average age is like 21, 22, so I think they're mature enough not to have it in their heads that much, but it's going to be great, and I can't wait for it."

TCU[1] 4, Stanford[6] 0

Doubles:

1. Lui Maxted and Pedro Vives(TCU) d. Max Basing and Kyle Kang(STAN) 7-5

2. Samir Banerjee and Alexander Razeghi(STAN) d. Jack Pinnington Jones and Cooper Woestendick(TCU) 7-5

3. Duncan Chan and Albert Pedrico(TCU) d. Nicholas Godsick and Henry Von Der Schulenburg(STAN) 7-6(7)

Order of finish: 2, 1, 3

Singles:

1. Jack Pinnington Jones(TCU) v Samir Banerjee(STAN) 6-4, 4-5, unf.

2. Pedro Vives(TCU) d. Max Basing(STAN) 6-4, 6-3

3. Lui Maxted(TCU) v Kyle Kang(STAN) 4-6, 6-1, 1-1

4. Duncan Chan(TCU) v Henry Von Der Schulenburg(STAN) 4-6, 6-3, unf.

5. Coppoer Woestendick(TCU) d. Hudson Rivera(STAN) 6-4, 6-1

6. Albert Pedrico(TCU) d. Alexander Razeghi(STAN) 6-0, 6-4

Order of finish: 6, 5, 2

The match is scheduled for 6:30 pm central time, with Cracked Racquets providing coverage at their YouTube Channel.

Italy's Vasami and Sweden's Wallberg Claim J500 Titles in Egypt; Dussault Earns J200 Title, Three More US Juniors Capture ITF Singles Titles; Johns Takes Naples $15K; Ngounoue Wins W50 in Great Britain; Anisimova Earns WTA 1000 Doha Title

I spent most of today's off-day for the main draw ITA Division I Men's Team Indoor Championships watching consolation matches and catching up with some of the freshmen from Stanford and TCU who had arrived in SMU after winning their quarterfinal matches in Baylor on Saturday, but I won't be providing any reporting on Virginia's 4-1 win over North Carolina State or Texas A&M's 4-2 win over Kentucky, so that I can review the week on the ITF Junior Circuit, USTA Pro Circuit, the ITF Women's WTT and the pros, before I return to detailed coverage of the Men's Team Indoor semifinals and finals the next two days. Streaming of the semifinals Monday, beginning at 3:30 pm Central time will be available at the Cracked Racquet YouTube channel. Wake Forest plays Texas first, with the semifinal between TCU and Stanford to follow.

The first ITF J500 tournament of 2025, contested in Cairo Egypt this week, concluded with titles No. 3 seed Jacopo Vasami of Italy and No. 10 seed Nellie Taraba Wallberg of Sweden, both 17-year-olds in their final year of junior eligibility.

Taraba Wallberg defeated No. 11 seed Rada Zolotareva of Russian 7-6(5), 1-6, 6-3 in the final, while Vasami won his first J500 singles title in just his second appearance at that level, claiming a 6-2, 6-2 victory over unseeded Savva Rybkin of Russia in the championship match.

Vasami swept the titles in Cairo, partnering with Alan Wazny of Poland to take the doubles championship. The top seeds defeated unseeded Alvaro Jimenez of Spain and Ziga Sesko of Slovenia 6-3, 6-4 in the final.

No. 7 seeds Charo Esquiva Banuls of Spain and Flora Johnson of Great Britain won the girls doubles title, beating No. 6 seed Dora Miskovic of Croatia and Sonja Zhenikhova of Germany 6-2, 6-1 in the final. 

It was a banner week for Americans on the ITF Junior Circuit, and although both Keaton Hance[6] and Noah Johnston[5] lost in the singles semifinals of the J300 Asuncion Bowl in Paraguay, Thea Frodin did capture the doubles title there with Yoana Konstantinova of Bulgaria. The top seeds defeated Ana Maria Fedotova of the Dominican Republic and Sol Ailin Larraya Guidi of Argentina 6-2, 6-2 in the final. Tops seeds Hance and Valentin Garay of Argentina lost the boys final via a walkover, given to Thomas Miranda and Leornardo Storck Franca of Brazil.

At the J200 in the Dominican Republic, American boys swept the titles, with Maximus Dussault, the top seed, defeating Gavin Goode, the No. 12 seed 7-5, 6-3 in the all-US final. It's Dussault's second ITF Junior Circuit singles title, with the other coming at a J60 in the Dominican Republic in 2023. The boys doubles title was also decided among Americans, with unseeded Ford McColllum and Nischal Spurling defeating No. 4 seed Simon Caldwell and Zachary Cohen 7-6(2), 6-4 in the final.  

2024 USTA National 16s champion Ishika Ashar, the No. 2 seed, lost in the girls singles final to top seed Nadia Lagaev of Canada 7-6(3), 5-7, 6-2. Lagaev and Daniela Piani of Great Britain took the girls doubles title, beating Sabrina Lin and Serbia's Masa Jankovic, the No. 7 seeds, 6-2, 7-5 in the final.

At the J100 in South Africa, 15-year-old Navneet Raghuram won his first ITF Junior Circuit singles title, with the No. 8 seed defeating No. 5 seed Xavier Massotte of Canada 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the final. He also reached the doubles final, with Canadian partner Finn Muller. The No. 4 seeds lost to the unseeded British team of Rhys Lawlor and Eric Lorimer 6-3, 3-6, 10-7 in the championship match. 

JoAnna Kennedy took the title this week at the J60 in Medford New Jersey, one of two ITF Indoor tournaments in the United States in February. The unseeded 17-year-old from Colorado, didn't drop a set during the week, beating No. 2 seed Anastasia Pleskun 6-2, 6-4 in the all-US final. Unseeded Shristi Selvan and Kendall Smith won the girls doubles title, beating top seeds Aurora Lugo of Puerto Rico and Arina Vansovich of Belarus 7-6(2), 6-3 in the final.  

An unseeded team also won the boys doubles title in an all-US final, with Kayden Colombo and Anthony Dry defeating Jack Dermenjyan and Muyang Yi 6-2, 3-6, 11-9 in the final.

The fourth singles title for an American junior came at the J60 in Guatemala, with 14-year-old Jordyn Hazelitt, the No. 3 seed, winning her second singles title on the ITF Junior Circuit with a 7-6(5), 4-6, 7-5 win over unseeded compatriot Scarlett Fagan, also 14.

Hazelitt also took the doubles title, with Canadian partner Elicia Lin, with the top seeds defeating Camille Allegre and Olivia Allegre 6-2, 4-6, 10-7 in the final.

At the J60 in Mexico, Joseph Hernandez won the boys doubles title with Miguel Daiha of Brazil, with the No. 6 seeds beating No. 8 seeds Nicolas Dagda Mireles and Guillermo Narcio of Mexico 5-7, 7-6(4), 10-7 in the final. Sophia Cedeno, who reached the girls singles final, won the doubles title with partner Zoe Levresse Zavala of Mexico. The top seeds defeated No. 2 seed Emanuela Lares and Maria Isabel Suarez of Colombia 6-3, 6-1 in the championship match.

And at the J30 in Bahrain, Muaz Malik won the boys doubles title with Kaushik Arunkumar of India. The No. 4 seeds defeated No. 3 seeds Amir Jaber and Talai Shatara of Jordan 6-2, 6-3 in the final.

At the USTA Pro Circuit men's $15,000 tournament in Naples Florida, former Duke All-American Garrett Johns won his second title in the last three weeks on the green clay. The 24-year-old from Georgia, seeded No. 8, defeated No. 7 seed Lorenzo Joaquin Rodrigues of Argentina 6-4, 6-4 in today's final. 

Former Georgia Tech teammates Keshav Chopra and Andres Martin won the doubles title, with the No. 4 seeds beating No. 3 seeds Rodriguez and Ignacio Monzon of Argentina 7-6(5), 6-4 in the final. 

Eighteen-year-old Clervie Ngounoue, the 2023 Wimbledon girls and USTA National 18s champion, won the W50 this week in Birmingham England, her fourth ITF women's World Tennis Tour singles title. Unseeded, Ngounoue defeated the No. 3 and No. 2 seeds en route to the final, where she beat No. 5 seed Viktoria Hruncakova of Slovakia 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. Ngounoue, who will rise to around 250 in the WTA ranking when the points are added, is just a few good results away from earning entry into the women's singles qualifying at Roland Garros and Wimbledon this year.

At the ATP 250 in Delray Beach, Alex Michelsen advanced to the semifinals in singles, but it was Brandon Nakashima(Virginia) earning the American title this week. Partnering with singles champion Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia, Nakashima and Kecmanovic defeated Dallas Open champions Christian Harrison and Evan King(Michigan) 7-6(3), 1-6, 10-3 in the final. It's the first ATP doubles title for Nakashima. For more on the doubles final, see this article from the ATP website.

Amanda Anisimova won the WTA 1000 in Doha, beating Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-4, 6-3 in the final. It's the third and biggest title for the 23-year-old, who will move into the WTA Top 20 for the first time. For more on the final, see this article from the WTA website.

And at the ATP 250 in Buenos Aires, ATP Next Gen Finals champion Joao Fonseca of Brazil won his first title, with the unseeded 18-year-old defeating Francisco Cerundolo(South Carolina) of Argentina 6-4, 7-6(1). The 2023 US Open champion is the youngest South American champion in the ATP Tour era, which dates to 1990. For more on the final, see this article from the ATP website.