Easter Bowl 12s and 14s Recap; USTA Selects Tracy Davies as First General Manager of USA Tennis; Ekstrand Beats Top Seed Brace at W35 in Mississippi; Pareja and Smith Reach WTA, ATP Quarterfinals

I'll have a lot more content coming from last month's three weeks covering major junior events in Southern California, with videos from all finals at the ITF J300 Indian Wells, ITF J300 San Diego and FILA Easter Bowl, as well as a couple of photo galleries for Tennis Recruiting Network. That will be later this month, once I've completed my recaps from the Easter Bowl and the March Aces column for Tennis Recruiting Network. The first recap was published today, with my summary of the 12s and 14s Easter Bowl Championships. Congratulations to all those competing on the final day, who handled a difficult day with few complaints and impressive competitive performances.

The USTA began a search for a new position it created last fall, when General Manager of Player Development Martin Blackman left after 10 years heading Player Development. That new position, General Manager of USA Tennis, was filled today, with long-time USTA administrator Tracy Davies named to "oversee an expanded high performance division that joins Player Development, Pro Circuit, Collegiate, Junior Competition, and International Team Events into a single cohesive department."

I don't know Davies, but am optimistic that her USTA experience and her background as a former collegiate player will assist in what is uncharted territory for the organization in bringing all the various entities under one person's direction.  

Blackman discussed with me back in January what the new USA Tennis General Manager's role might be, which can be found at this TRN article. Let's hope you all see Davies in your sections this summer.

The complete release, with comments from Davies, USTA CEO Lew Sherr, USTA President and Board Chair Brian Vahaly and Billie Jean King Cup captain Lindsay Davenport can be found at usta.com.

Teenagers had great success today at the women's USTA Pro Circuit W35 in Jackson Mississippi, with Stanford recruit Monika Ekstrand, a 17-year-old wild card, taking out top seed Cadence Brace of Canada, a 20-year-old LSU freshman, 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 in first round action.

Ekstrand will play wild card Alexis Nguyen, last month's ITF J300 Indian Wells finalist, who beat qualifier Kolie Allen(Ohio State) 6-1, 6-3.

Fifteen-year-old qualifier Kristina Liutova of Russia defeated No. 5 seed Martina Okalova(Tulsa) of Slovakia 6-1, 6-3 and will face 2019 NCAA singles finalist Katarina Jokic(Georgia) of Serbia. 

No. 8 Tori Osuigwe, a North Carolina State signee, defeated fellow 18-year-old Mia Yamakita, a qualifier, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 to advance against lucky loser Salma Ewing(USC, Texas A&M), who beat qualifier Marcella Cruz(Vanderbilt, Wake Forest) 6-4, 6-1.

University of Arizona senior Colton Smith has played a grand total of two ATP events, and he has already reached his first quarterfinal at the ATP 250 in Houston. Qualifier Smith, the 22-year-old from Washington, defeated wild card Ethan Quinn(Georgia) 6-3, 6-4, on a surface he never plays on in college and is playing on for the first time this week in the pros.

Now up to 166 in the live rankings, Smith is banking valuable points in the USTA's Roland Garros Wild Card Challenge; he will face the winner of tonight's match between top seed Tommy Paul and wild card Cristian Garin of Chile in the quarterfinals. 

Another qualifier who got in via a wild card and is now through to the quarterfinals is 16-year-old Californian Julieta Pareja at the WTA 250 in Colombia. There's no question she had a dream draw, facing a local wild card in the first round and a lucky loser in the second, but she's seized the opportunity she was handed. The ITF J300 Indian Wells champion defeated Patricia Tig of Romania 6-3, 7-6(3) and won't face a seed in the quarterfinals. Her opponent will be the winner of tonight's match between Leolia Jeanjean(Baylor, Arkansas, Lynn) and Selena Janicijevic, both of France.