Roland Garros Junior Championships Begin Sunday with Fifteen Americans in Action; Five US Women, Three US Men Reach RG Second Week for First Time in 40 Years; Zhang and Kypson Meet for Little Rock Challenger Title Sunday

The Roland Garros Junior Championships begin Sunday, with 15 of the 19 Americans in the boys and girls draws on the schedule. Twelve US boys, four of them seeded, and seven US girls, with four of them also seeded, are hoping to match Kaylan Bigun's run to the title last year. 

Three-quarters of the junior first round matches are on Sunday's schedule; with the day off yesterday for the qualifiers, there is no need to have them play Monday, but the four singles finalists at the ITF J300 in Belgium this afternoon received a travel day Sunday and won't play until Monday.

That includes Maximus Dussault, who lost to No. 6 seed Luis Guto Miguel of Brazil, 6-4, 6-2 in today's singles final. Ksenia Efremova of France, also the No. 6 seed, beat No. 4 seed Petra Konjikusic of Serbia 7-5, 1-6, 7-6(2) in the girls final. 

In the doubles finals Friday, unseeded Yannik Alvarez of Puerto Rico and Jacob Olar won the boys championship match, beating No. 4 seeds Valentin Garay of Argentina and Ty Host of Australia 6-4, 6-1 in the final. No. 4 seeds Vendula Valdmannova of the Czech Republic and Ida Wobker of Germany took the girls doubles title, beating the unseeded Russian pair of Felitsata Dorofeeva-Rybas and Anna Pushkareva 7-6(4), 6-3. Dorofeeva-Rybas, 15, and Pushkareva, 16, were not accepted into qualifying at Roland Garros, so they were not eligible for special exemptions in Paris.

In addition to Dussault, the Americans playing their first round matches Monday are Jack Kennedy, Australian Open finalist Benjamin Willwerth and qualifier Capucine Jauffret, who has drawn top seed Emerson Jones of Australia.

The seeds:

Boys:

1. Andres Santamarta Roig(ESP)

2. Jacopo Vasami(ITA)

3. Osaki Paldanius(FIN)

4. Jack Kennedy(USA)

5. Jagger Leach(USA)

6. Benjamin Willwerth(USA)

7. Yannick Alexandrescou(ROU)

8. Amir Omarkhanov(KAZ)

9. Ivan Ivanov(BUL)

10. Timofei Derepasko(RUS)

11. Alexander Vasilev(BUL)

12. Alan Wazny(POL)

13. Ryo Tabata(JPN)

14. Nikita Bilozertsev[SE](UKR)

15. Jan Kumstat(CZE)

16. Keaton Hance(USA)

Girls:

1. Emerson Jones(AUS)

2. Kristina Penickova(USA)

3. Jeline Vandromme(BEL)

4. Teodora Kostovic(SRB)

5. Tereza Krejcova(CZE)

6. Luna Vujovic(SRB)

7. Jana Kovackova(CZE)

8. Hannah Klugman(GBR)

9. Julieta Pareja(USA)

10. Alena Kovackova(CZE)

11. Ruien Zhang(CHN)

12. Julia Stusek(GER)

13. Charo Esquiva Banuls(ESP)

14. Annika Penickova(USA)

15. Thea Frodin(USA)

16. Laima Vladson(LAT)

Sunday's first round junior matches featuring Americans:

Keaton Hance[16] v William Rejchtman Vinciguerra(SWE)

Jack Satterfield v Daniel Jade[WC](FRA)

Maxwell Exsted v Mathys Domenc[WC](FRA)

Jagger Leach[5] v Zangar Nurlanuly(KAZ)

Noah Johnston v Hyu Kawanishi[SE](JPN)

Ronit Karki[Q] v Manas Dhamne[Q](IND)

Ryan Cozad v Linus Lagerbohm[Q](FIN)

Dominick Mosejczuk v Ryo Tabata[13](JPN)

Jack Secord v Damien Clerc[WC](FRA)

Kristina Penickova[2] v Rositsa Dencheva(BUL)

Leena Friedman[Q] v Brooke Black[Q](GBR)

Julieta Pareja[9] v Deniz Dilek(TUR)

Maya Iyengar v Maia Burcescu[Q](ROU)

Thea Frodin[15] v Cindy Langlais[WC](FRA)

Annika Penickova[14] v Nellie Taraba Wallberg(SWE)

Junior matches will be streamed on Max, which can be purchased at a monthly rate of $16.99.

For the first time since 1985, eight Americans have advanced to the fourth round at Roland Garros, after wins today by Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula, Madison Keys and Hailey Baptiste. 

From the USTA release on that history:

Eight Americans -- five women, three men -- have reached the singles Round of 16 at the French Open for the first time in 40 years. The last time the Roland Garros fourth round featured eight or more American players was 1985, also with five women and three men:

 

Saturday's third round results of Americans:
Jessica Pegula[3] d. Marketa Vondrousova(CZE) 3-6, 6-4, 6-2
Coco Gauff[2] d. Marie Bouzkova(CZE) 6-1, 7-6(3)
Madison Keys[7] d. Sofia Kenin[31] 4-6, 6-3, 7-5
Hailey Baptiste d. Jessica Bouzas Maneiro(ESP) 7-6(4), 6-1

Tallon Griekspoor(NED) d. Ethan Quinn[Q] 4-6, 6-1, 6-7(2), 6-1, 6-4

Sunday's fourth round matches featuring Americans:

Tommy Paul[12] v Alexei Popyrin[25](AUS)

Ben Shelton[13] v Carlos Alcaraz[2](ESP)

Frances Tiafoe[15] v Daniel Altmaier(GER)

Amanda Anisimova[16] v Aryna Sabalenka[1](BLR)

In the all-British, all-TCU battle today, Cam Norrie defeated Jacob Fearnley 6-3, 7-6(1), 6-2.

Qualifier Patrick Kypson(Texas A&M) and wild card Michael Zheng(Columbia) will play for the ATP Challenger 75 title in Little Rock Arkansas Sunday, with Kypson defeating Andres Andrade(Florida) of Ecuador 6-3, 6-2 and Zheng beating No. 2 seed Liam Draxl of Canada 6-4, 6-4 in today's semifinals.

Kypson, 25, who won his last Challenger two weeks ago in Bogota, is seeking his fifth Challenger title; he has never lost a Challenger final. Zheng, 21, will be playing in his second Challenger final after losing to Kei Nishikori of Japan in the Puerto Rico Challenger final in June of 2023.

The singles finals are set for Sunday at the $15,000 SoCal Pro Series tournaments in San Diego.

No. 2 seed Keegan Smith(UCLA) will face unseeded University of San Diego graduate Savriyan Danilov of Russia for the men's title. Danilov defeated Canadian qualifier Jaden Weekes 6-1, 6-2, while Smith got past wild card Rohan Murali(Harvard) 6-2, 7-6(2).

The women's title will be decided by top seed Dejana Radanovic of Serbia and unseeded Katie Swan of Great Britain. Radanovic beat Mao Mushika(Cal) of Japan 7-6(9), 6-2 in the semifinals; Swan ended the run of qualifier Claire Hill(UNC) 6-4, 6-1.

Top seeds Anita Sahdiieva(Baylor, LSU) and Haley Giavara(Cal) claimed the women's doubles championship, beating the unseeded Australian pairing of Lily Taylor(Arizona State) and Lily Fairclough(USC) 6-1, 6-3 in today's final.

The men's doubles title also went to the top seeds, with Finn Bass(Baylor) of Great Britain and Matt Hulme(Coastal Georgia, Omaha) of Australia defeating the unseeded Mexican team of Daniel Moreno(LSU, Loyola Marymount) and Manuel Sanchez 6-4, 7-5.

My Article on SoCal Pro Series; Friedman, Jauffret and Karki Qualify for Roland Garros Juniors; Four Americans Reach RG Fourth Round; Zheng Advances to Little Rock Challenger Semis; CEO Lew Sherr Leaves USTA for Mets

My article exploring the inception of the SoCal Pro Series and how it might serve as a template for more USTA Pro Circuit events in the future is up today at Tennis Recruiting Network. I was able to talk with founder Chris Boyer, alum Learner Tien and new USTA General Manager of USA Tennis Tracy Davies about the Pro Series, giving me the opportunity to learn more about how it has assisted players from Southern California in beginning the long climb up the WTA and ATP rankings. 

Now in the first week of its fourth year, the SoCal Pro Series should serve as a template for an increase in similar regional clusters throughout the country, with Davies revealing the goals for implementing that in the next three years.

The singles semifinals are set in San Diego this week, with the women's final four featuring one American: Claire Hill, a UNC rising sophomore, who won the quarterfinal battle of teen qualifiers with Olivia Center, a UCLA rising sophomore, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4. Hill will play Katie Swan of Great Britain Saturday; the other semifinal will feature Cal rising junior Mao Mushika of Japan, the No. 7 seed, and top seed Dejana Radonovic of Serbia. Radonovic defeated Duke rising freshman Claire An 6-0, 6-2.

In the men's semifinals, University of San Diego's Savriyan Danilov of Russia is through to face qualifier Jaden Weekes of Canada, a rising senior at the University of Kentucky. Harvard rising junior Rohan Murali, who trains at Barnes and received a wild card this week, will face No. 2 seed Keegan Smith(UCLA).

Three US juniors advanced to the main draw of the Roland Garros Junior Championships, which begin Sunday in Paris.

Leena Friedman, a Yale rising freshman, will make her junior slam debut after beating top seed Anastasija Cvetkovic of Serbia 3-6, 6-3, 6-1; 17-year-old Capucine Jauffret, who qualified for the US Open last fall, also came from behind, defeating No. 2 seed Yushan Shao of China 2-6, 6-4, 7-5.

Ronit Karki, who was the first player out of the main draw at the freeze deadline (the acceptance lists are back up on the ITF Junior website), made it in through qualifying, with the 17-year-old, seeded No. 4, defeating Haydar Cem Gokipinar of Turkey 6-2, 6-3. 

When they begin play Sunday, the American juniors will have at least four compatriots to follow in the fourth round of men's and women's singles at Roland Garros, with Tommy Paul[12], Ben Shelton[13], Frances Tiafoe[15] and Amanda Anisimova[16] all advancing today.  At least one more American is guaranteed to advance, with 2025 Australian Open champion Madison Keys facing 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin in Saturday's third round. 

Friday's third round results of Americans:

Frances Tiafoe[15] d. Sebastian Korda[23] 7-6(6), 6-3, 6-4

Tommy Paul[12] d. Karen Khachanov[24](RUS) 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(7), 3-6, 6-3

Ben Shelton[13] d. Matteo Gigante[Q](ITA) 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 

Elina Svitolina[13](UKR) d. Bernarda Pera 7-6(5), 7-6(5)

Amanada Anisimova[16] d. Clara Tauson[22](DEN) 7-6(4), 6-4

Saturday's third round matches featuring Americans:

Jessica Pegula[3] v Marketa Vondrousova(CZE)

Coco Gauff[2] v Marie Bouzkova(CZE)

Madison Keys[7] v Sofia Kenin[31]

Hailey Baptiste v Jessica Bouzas Maneiro(ESP)

Ethan Quinn[Q] v Tallon Griekspoor(NED)

Also on Saturday's schedule is the TCU Horned Frog battle between Great Britain's Cameron Norrie(2014-2017) and Jake Fearnley(2019-2024). For more on that match, see this article from the TCU athletics website.

NCAA 2024 fall champion Michael Zheng, a rising senior at Columbia, has reached the semifinals of the ATP Challenger 75 in Little Rock Arkansas, joining three former collegians in the final four. 

The 21-year-old Zheng, who received a wild card, beat former Georgia Tech All-American Andres Martin 6-4, 6-2 and will face former Kentucky All-American Liam Draxl of Canada, the No. 2 seed, next.

In the top half, qualifier Patrick Kypson(Texas A&M) extended his Challenger winning streak to 10 matches(including qualifying) with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Rio Noguchi of Japan. Kypson, who won the Bogota Challenger 50 two weeks ago, will face unseeded Andres Andrade(Florida) of Ecuador Saturday. 

In a surprise release today, the USTA announced that Lew Sherr, the USTA's Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director, would be leaving the organization, effective June 30, with USTA president and chairman of the board Brian Vahaly and COO and Chief Legal Officer Andrea Hirsch named as interim replacements.

Sherr, who had been the USTA's Chief Revenue Officer in his 12 years there prior to being named to his current position, which is the top non-volunteer position in the organization, in 2022. Sherr had succeeded Michael Dowse, whose tenure was just over two years. 

I had gotten used to stability in that position during the long tenure of Gordon Smith, who led the USTA from 2007 to 2019, but he was an outlier. Lee Hamiton, who preceded Smith, was in the position for three years and Rick Ferman, who Hamilton succeeded was there for seven years.

Although the USTA did not mention it in their release, Sherr is leaving the USTA for the position of president of business operations for the New York Mets major league baseball team, according to this Associated Press article.

Dussault Reaches Final at ITF J300 in Belgium; Four Americans Advance to Final Round of Qualifying at Roland Garros Juniors; Quinn Among Five US Men in Roland Garros Third Round; Fourth Annual SoCal Pro Series Underway in San Diego

Maximus Dussault, who turns 18 a week from today, has advanced to his first ITF J300 final at the Astrid Bowl in Belgium. The unseeded TCU incoming freshman defeated Kerem Yilmaz of Turkey 6-3, 6-2 today in his second ITF J300 semifinal appearance. 

I was wrong when I said the finals were on Friday; the doubles finals are on Friday, but the singles finals are on Saturday, with tomorrow a day off for the finalists, a very unusual ITF Junior Circuit scheduling format.

Dussault will face No. 6 seed Luis Guto Miguel of Brazil, who defeated No. 2 seed Nikita Bilozertsev of Ukraine 6-0, 6-3 in today's semifinals. The 16-year-old Miguel will be playing in his second J300 final, having lost his first at the South American Closed in March. The girls final Saturday features No. 4 seed Petra Konjikusic of Serbia and No. 6 seed Ksenia Efremova of France.

The unseeded team of Yannick Alvarez of Puerto Rico and Jacob Olar, who had today off, will play in the doubles final Friday against No. 4 seeds Valentin Garay of Argentina and Ty Host of Australia. 

Four of the five Americans in the first round of Roland Garros Junior qualifying advanced to Thursday's final round.

No. 4 seed Ronit Karki beat wild card Benoit Geldof of France 7-6(5), 6-2 and will face unseeded Haydar Cem Gokpinar of Turkey for a place in the main draw. No. 10 seed Matisse Farzam defeated Gustavo Albieri of Brazil 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 and will play No. 7 seed Luka Talan Lopatic of Slovenia. Lachlan Gaskell lost to Victor Cunha Winheski de Lima of Brazil 6-2, 6-1.

In the girls draw, No. 12 seed Leena Friedman beat French wild card Milena Ciocan 6-3, 6-4 and will face top seed Anastasija Cvetkovic of Serbia in the final round. No. 15 seed Capucine Jauffret defeated Lea Nilsson of Sweden 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(5) to set up a meeting with No. 2 seed Tushan Shao of China.

As I've said many times, it's great to see Australia and France use full third sets in junior qualifying, rather than the match tiebreaker that Wimbledon and the US Open employ.

2023 NCAA champion Ethan Quinn was the only American man in action in singles today at Roland Garros, and the former University of Georgia star made the most of it, battling for four hours and 14 minutes to defeat lucky loser Alexander Shevchenko of Kazakhstan 6-4, 4-6, 6-7(5), 7-6(3), 7-5.  Quinn was up a break 3-1 in the final set, lost it, but kept his composure throughout his final three service games, saving five break points before breaking Shevchenko at love in the final game. 

Quinn's progress toward the ATP Top 100--he is now at 96 and into the Top 100 for the first time in the live rankings--had stalled last year, until he broke through at the Champaign Challenger last November. He and his coach Brian Garber spoke to Ben Rothenburg about the mental roadblocks he overcame in this article in Rothenburg's newletter Bounces.

The USTA provided the information that the five US men in the third round is the most since 1996.

Thursday's second round results of Americans:

Ethan Quinn[Q] d. Alexander Shevchenko[LL](KAZ) 6-4, 4-6, 6-7(5), 7-6(3), 7-5

Mirra Andreeva[6](RUS) d. Ashlyn Krueger 6-3, 6-4

Elsa Jacquemot[WC](FRA) d. Alycia Parks 6-2, 6-7(4), 6-1 

Jessica Pegula[3] d. Ann Li 6-3, 7-6(3)

Madison Keys[7] d. Katie Boulter(GBR) 6-1, 6-3

Sofia Kenin[31] d. Victoria Azarenka(BLR) 7-6(5), 6-4

Hailey Baptiste d. Nao Hibino[Q](JPN) 6-3, 6-2

Jessica Bouzas Maneiro(ESP) d. Robin Montgomery 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 

Coco Gauff[2] d. Tereza Valentova[Q](CZE) 6-2, 6-4

Friday's third round matches featuring Americans:

Frances Tiafoe[15] v Sebastian Korda[23]

Tommy Paul[12] v Karen Khachanov[24](RUS)

Ben Shelton[13] v Matteo Gigante[Q](ITA)

Bernarda Pera v Elina Svitolina[13](UKR)

Amanada Anisimova[16] v Clara Tauson[22](DEN)

I have an article coming out tomorrow at Tennis Recruiting Network on the SoCal Pro Series, which began its fourth year this week at the Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego. 

The seven-week series of $15,000 joint men's and women's events is unique in the USTA Pro Circuit world, and it has been especially important to the juniors and college players in Southern California. I talked to its most famous alum for my article, and also was able to discuss the history and future of it with founder Chris Boyer and new General Manager of USA Tennis Tracy Davies.

One of the areas that sets the SoCal Pro Series apart is the coverage provided by the section, with a prime example the article posted on the SoCal website after Wednesday's action.

Damian Secore spoke with 2019 NCAA doubles champion Keegan Smith(UCLA), qualifier Dominique Rolland(Arizona, UC-Santa Barbara) and qualifier Olivia Center(UCLA) after their wins yesterday. Smith, the No. 2 seed this week, expressed his gratitude in having this opportunity to play near home for an extended stretch, which is so rare for tennis players.

But it's not just Southern Californians who benefit from these events. Today the University of San Diego's Savriyan Danilov of Russia, who played primarily at line 2 for the Toreros, defeated top seed Andre Ilagan(Hawaii) 6-3, 1-6, 6-3.  Smith defeated Rolland 6-3, 7-5 and UCLA rising sophomore Center beat No. 5 seed Brandy Walker(Northern Arizona) 7-6(6), 6-2. UNC rising sophomore Claire Hill and Duke incoming freshman Claire An have also advanced to the quarterfinals.

The men's San Diego draw is here; the women's is here.

Participants Named for USTA's US Open Collegiate Wild Card Playoffs; Official D-I All-America Lists; Qualifying Begins Thursday for Roland Garros Junior Championships; Six from US Advance to RG Third Round; ATP Little Rock Challenger Underway

With the NCAA Division I Team Championships now behind us, the focus for the top American players in college tennis turns to the USTA's inaugural US Open Collegiate Wild Card Playoffs. Today's release from the USTA is here:

ORLANDO, Fla., May 28, 2025 – The United States Tennis Association (USTA) today announced the participants that will be competing in the US Open Wild Card Playoffs, set to be held at the USTA National Campus, June 16-18.

 

The new event featuring the top American collegiate players, which was announced earlier this month, will more than double the average number of American collegiate players that earn US Open wild cards this year, with six guaranteed US Open wild card entries up for grabs. The winners of the singles and doubles competitions will earn US Open main draw singles and doubles wild cards, respectively, while the men’s and women’s singles finalists will earn US Open qualifying wild cards.

 

The men’s singles field is headlined by Columbia’s Michael Zheng, who won the NCAA men’s singles title last November, and Michigan State’s Ozan Baris, who lost to Zheng in the NCAA men’s singles final. The women’s singles field will feature Auburn’s DJ Bennett, who was the NCAA women’s singles runner-up in November. All three players automatically qualified for the event based upon their NCAA performance, while the remainder of the field is made up of players selected by a committee of USTA staff, college coaches and an ITA representative.

 

The full fields are below (bolded players automatically qualified):

 

Men’s Singles

Ozan Baris (Michigan State)

Stefan Dostanic (Wake Forest)

Aidan Kim (Ohio State)

Michael Zheng (Columbia)

 

Women’s Singles

DJ Bennett (Auburn)

Valerie Glozman (Stanford)

Amelia Honer (UCSB)

Mary Stoiana (Texas A&M)

 

Men’s Doubles

Benjamin Kittay/Gavin Young (Michigan)

Alex Kotzen/Alejandro Moreno (Tennessee)

Nicolas Kotzen/Michael Zheng (Columbia)

Cooper Williams/Theo Winegar (Duke)

 

Women’s Doubles

DJ Bennett/Ava Hrastar (Auburn)

Reese Brantmeier/Alanis Hamilton (North Carolina)

Kaitlyn Carnicella/Sarah Hamner/ (South Carolina)

Olivia Center/Kate Fakih (UCLA)

 

Arizona’s Colton Smith was originally included in the field for men’s singles but he declined the invitation.

 

The singles semifinals will be played on Monday followed by the doubles semifinals on Tuesday and all finals will be contested on Wednesday. The event is free and matches will begin each day at 5 p.m. in order to maximize in-person attendance, while all matches will also be streamed on the USTA National Campus website. 

 

Arizona's Colton Smith is notably absent, perhaps believing he can either a) qualify on his own ranking with his results this summer or b) is in line for a main draw wild card regardless, given his current ATP ranking of 162. With this new wild card guaranteed to a collegian, there are only three discretionary wild cards remaining after the two reciprocals for France and Australia, the Kalamazoo champion's and the winner of the US Open Wild Card Challenge this summer. Smith, of course, is eligible for that wild card. 

Also of note in the women's selections is no Reese Brantmeier in singles; the North Carolina star was injured in the NCAA quarterfinals, although she did receive an invitation in doubles with Alanis Hamilton. Michigan's Julia Fliegner, who finished the season at No. 5 in the ITA singles rankings, was passed over in favor of Valerie Glozman of Stanford, No. 10, and Amelia Honer of UC-Santa Barbara, No. 15.

Michigan State's 14th-ranked Ozan Baris, an automatic qualifier, has the lowest the men's ranking; No. 7 Stefan Dostanic of Wake Forest and No. 8 Aidan Kim of Ohio State, are the next two Americans in the ITA rankings, after NCAA champion Zheng at No. 2.

The official ITA lists of those achieving All-America status have been released. I covered the topic last Wednesday when the final rankings of the season were published, but these two lists for men and women have all singles and doubles All-Americans on one page, in alphabetical order by school name.

Links to the lists of junior/community college and NAIA All-Americans, released today, can be found here.

Qualifying for the Roland Garros Junior Championships begins Thursday, with three US boys and two US girls vying for main draw spots: Ronit Karki[4], Matisse Farzam[10], Lachlan Gaskell, Leena Friedman[12] and Capucine Jauffret[15].

Maximus Dussault, who was three out of the main draw when the initial entry list came out, is not in qualifying, so he either moved into the main draw after the withdrawals of Mees Rottgering and Henry Bernet or he has received a special exempt entry, as he has advanced to Thursday's singles semifinals at the J300 in Belgium. (The acceptance list is no longer available on the ITF Junior Circuit site, so I am trying to piece all this together from my notes.)  Jacob Olar is through to the doubles final in Belgium, so is not on Thursday's schedule there; his partner Yannik Alvarez of Puerto Rico received a regional entry into the Roland Garros main draw, but I'm not sure why their doubles semifinal was played today rather than Friday.

Looking at the draw, I noticed that 13-year-old Daniel Baranes, the 2024 Eddie Herr girls 14s champion who received a wild card into qualifying, is now representing France, after beginning her junior career representing Israel. 

In men's and women's second round singles at Roland Garros, Tommy Paul, Frances Tiafoe, Sebastian Korda, Amanda Anisimova and Bernarda Pera advanced to the third round, joining Ben Shelton, who received a walkover.

Wednesday's second round results of Americans:

Holger Rune[10](DEN) d. Emilio Nava[WC] 6-3, 7-6(5), 6-3 

Tommy Paul[12] d. Marton Fucsovics(HUN) 4-6, 2-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4

Frances Tiafoe[15] d. Pablo Carreno Busta(ESP) 6-4, 6-3, 6-1

Sebastian Korda[23] d. Jenson Brooksby 6-1, 6-2, 7-6(2)

Mariano Navone(ARG) d. Reilly Opelka 6-1, 7-6(1) 6-3

Ben Shelton[13] d. Hugo Gaston(FRA) walkover

Amanda Anisimova[16] d. Viktorija Golubic(SUI) 6-0, 6-2

Bernarda Pera d. Donna Vekic[18](CRO) 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(3)

Jelena Ostapenko[21](LAT) d. Caroline Dolehide 5-7, 6-3, 6-3

Olga Danilovic(SRB) d. Danielle Collins 6-4, 3-6, 6-4

Elena Rybakina[12](KAZ) d. Iva Jovic[WC] 6-3, 6-3

Nine US women are on Thursday's schedule, and just one US man.

Thursday's second round matches featuring Americans:

Ethan Quinn[Q] v Alexander Shevchenko[LL](KAZ)

Ashlyn Krueger v Mirra Andreeva[6](RUS)

Alycia Parks v Elsa Jacquemot[WC](FRA)

Jessica Pegula[3] v Ann Li

Madison Keys[7] v Katie Boulter(GBR)

Sofia Kenin[31] v Victoria Azarenka(BLR)

Hailey Baptiste v Nao Hibino[Q](JPN)

Robin Montgomery v Jessica Bouzas Maneiro(ESP)

Coco Gauff[2] v Tereza Valentova[Q](CZE)

The qualifying and first rounds at the ATP Challenger 75 in Little Rock Arkansas were disrupted by rain over the weekend, but can get back on schedule now after the last of the qualifiers were determined early in the day, and all 16 first round matches are headed for completion, albeit late tonight.

Patrick Kypson(Texas A&M), the top seed in qualifying, advanced to the main draw, where he's playing top seed Mitchell Krueger  tonight. Other Americans through to the main draw via qualifying are Stefan Kozlov and recent Harvard graduate Daniel Milavsky. Kozlov defeated No. 7 seed Aziz Dougaz(Florida State) of Tunisia 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 in the first round of the main draw.

Illinois rising senior Kento Miyoshi of Japan advanced to the main draw and won his first round match when No. 5 seed Santiago Rodriguez Taverna of Argentina retired trailing 7-5, 5-1. 

Darwin Blanch received a wild card but withdrew with an illness, so only two were used, with those going to Alex Kotzen(Columbia, Tennessee) and Michael Zheng(Columbia). Kotzen lost his first round match today; Zheng beat Christian Langmo(Miami) 6-2, 6-2.  

The most anticipated match of the first round is later tonight, with Virginia rising sophomore Rafael Jodar of Spain, using entry via the ATP ITF Junior Accelerator Program, facing No. 2 seed Liam Draxl(Kentucky) of Canada.

Twenty-two Americans Reach Roland Garros Second Round; Eisenman Delivers Second NCAA D-III Title in Two Days for CMS; O'Brien, Dussault and Satterfield Advance to Quarterfinals at ITF J300 in Belgium

American women had another banner day at Roland Garros, with seven of the eight in action today on Day Three of the first round moving on. They join the seven who advanced on the first two days, giving the US women a first round record of 14 wins and five losses. According to the USTA, the 14 US women in the second round of Roland Garros is the most since 1987.

The US men went 8-7 in the first round, making the overall first round record for Americans 22-12. The USTA has determined that's the most second round appearances by Americans since 1994, when 24 advanced.

Wednesday's second round matchups for Americans are below, with the first all-American match, men or women, of the tournament featuring Sebastian Korda and Jenson Brooksby. Along with the winner of that match, Ben Shelton will be in the third round after receiving a walkover from Hugo Gaston of France.

In addition to all the Americans I've been focusing on, I wanted to mention that last year's Roland Garros girls singles and doubles champion, Tereza Valentova of the Czech Republic, is through to the second round after qualifying for the main draw. Valentova, who moved on from juniors after Roland Garros last year, is already in the WTA Top 200, earning her spot in the qualifying with her results in those past 11 months. The French federation does not extend qualifying wild cards to the previous year's junior champion as Australia and Wimbledon usually do. Today, Valentova defeated French wild card Chloe Paquet 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 for her first main draw win at a slam. The 18-year-old plays No. 2 seed Coco Gauff next.

Tuesday's first round results of Americans:

Sofia Kenin[31] d. Varvara Gracheva(FRA) 6-3, 6-1
Coco Gauff[2] d. Olivia Gadecki(AUS) 6-2, 6-2
Jessica Pegula[3] d. Anca Todoni(ROU) 6-2, 6-4
Alycia Parks d. Karolina Muchova[14](CZE) 6-3, 2-6, 6-1
Hailey Baptiste d. Beatriz Haddad Maia[23](BRA) 4-6, 6-3, 6-1
Joanna Garland[Q](TPE) d. Katie Volynets 6-3, 3-6, 6-4
Ashlyn Krueger d. Suzan Lamens(NED) 6-3, 6-4
Ann Li d. Maria Lourdes Carle[Q](ARG) 6-4, 6-0

Alexander Zverev[3](GER) d. Learner Tien 6-3, 6-3, 6-4

Novak Djokovic[6](SRB) d. Mackenzie McDonald 6-3, 6-3, 6-3

Federico Gomez[LL](ARG) d. Aleks Kovacevic 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-1

Ethan Quinn[Q] d. Grigor Dimitrov[16](BUL) 2-6, 3-6, 6-2, ret.

Wednesday's second round matches featuring Americans:

Emilio Nava[WC] v Holger Rune[10](DEN)

Tommy Paul[12] v Marton Fucsovics(HUN)

Frances Tiafoe[15] v Pablo Carreno Busta(ESP)

Jenson Brooksby v Sebastian Korda[23]

Reilly Opelka v Mariano Navone(ARG)

Ben Shelton[13] d. Hugo Gaston(FRA) walkover

Amanda Anisimova[16] v Viktorija Golubic(SUI)

Bernarda Pera v Donna Vekic[18](CRO)

Caroline Dolehide v Jelena Ostapenko[21](LAT)

Danielle Collins v Olga Danilovic(SRB)

Iva Jovic[WC] v Elena Rybakina[12](KAZ)

The NCAA college tennis season ended today, with the crowning of the Division III women's singles and doubles champions. Junior Lindsay Eisenman of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps joined the CMS's Advik Mareedu as an NCAA singles champion. Top seed Mareedu won his title yesterday, with much less stress than No. 8 seed Eisenman, who got past No. 5 seed Jacqueline Soloveychik of Wesleyan 6-1, 6-7(5), 6-4. Eisenman is the second CMS woman to win an NCAA singles title.

Babson's Oliver Soffer and Matia Cristiana defended their doubles title, with the No. 3 seeds defeating top seeds Nina Farhat and Sahana Raman of Middlebury 6-2, 6-2 in the final. 

The final warm-up tournament for the Roland Garros Junior Championships is this week's J300 in Belgium, and with the year's second junior slam beginning Sunday, the finals are scheduled for Friday.

Jagger Leach, the top seed, lost in the first round to Luka Talan Lopatic of Slovenia 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, but five American boys advanced to the second round, including 15-year-old qualifier Michael Antonius, who beat No. 3 seed Egor Pleshivtsev of Russia 6-1, 6-7(3), 7-5.  Antonius lost today to Ziga Sesko of Slovenia 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, but unseeded Maximus Dussault reached the quarterfinals with a 7-5, 6-3 win over No. 7 seed Kuan-Shou Chen of Taiwan and No. 5 seed Jack Satterfield beat compatriot Jacob Olar, a qualifier, 6-2, 6-2 to join him in the final 8.  Satterfield faces No. 2 seed Nikita Bilozertsev of Ukraine, who is playing in his fifth straight week, having won two J200s and reached the final in the J300 Santa Croce and the semifinals last week in Milan. Dussault plays unseeded Connor Doig of South Africa in Wednesday's quarterfinals. 

The girls draw also lost its top seed in the first round with Vendula Valdmannova of the Czech Republic losing to Ida Wobker of Germany 6-4, 7-6(8). The No. 2 girls seeds also lost, with American qualifier Ireland O'Brien defeating Yushan Shao of China 3-6, 6-0, 6-4. The 17-year-old O'Brien defeated Maja Pawelska of Poland 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-2 today to reach her first J300 quarterfinal. She will face No. 6 seed Ksenia Efremova of France next.

Vanderbilt Tops Men's D-I Recruiting Class Rankings; Mareedu Claims NCAA D-III Singles Title, Women's Final Tuesday; Six More Americans Advance at Roland Garros; DeLuccia's J100 Title Among Four ITF Junior Circuit Singles Championships for Americans

The Tennis Recruiting Network's 2025 men's D-I spring recruiting class rankings were revealed today, with Vanderbilt taking the No. 1 spot. When TCU still had a verbal commitment from Jagger Leach, back in January, they were No. 1, but Leach's switch to Stanford shook up the spring rankings, and Vanderbilt's addition of another ITF Top 30 junior proved enough to send them to the top spot.

The other Top 10 teams are, in order, Illinois, Georgia, North Carolina, Penn, Columbia, Stanford, Kentucky, San Diego and Arizona State.  The complete list of 25 schools in the rankings is available at the link above.

The women's Division I spring rankings will be out next Monday.

The Division III men's singles and doubles champions were decided today in Claremont California, with top seed Advik Mareedu of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps continuing his year-long dominance with a 6-0, 6-1 win over defending finalist Kael Shah of Denison. 

The article on the C-M-S website calls Mareedu's junior season the best in Division III history, and it's hard to argue with that given his ITA Cup title in the fall, a 41-1 record (the sole loss to a Division II opponent in a third-set tiebreaker), and just four sets lost in his matches against D-III opponents, none this week in the NCAA singles draw.

The men's doubles title went to No. 2 seeds Andrei Leonov and Pat Otero of Chicago, who defeated unseeded Vuk Vuksanovic and Javier Gonzalez of Tufts 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(5) in the final.

The women's singles final Tuesday will feature No. 5 seed Jacqueline Soloveychik of Wesleyan and No. 8 seed Lindsay Eisenman of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. 

Women's semifinals results:

Jacqueline Soloveychik[5](Wesleyan) d. Jimena Menendez(NYU) 6-0, 5-7, 6-2
Lindsay Eisenman[8](CMS) d. Emily Kantrovitz[2](Emory) 6-1, 6-4

The women's doubles final Tuesday features top seeds Nina Farhat and Sahana Raman of Middlebury against No. 3 seeds and defending champions Olivia Soffer and Matia Cristiani of Babson.

Cracked Racquets will provide coverage of the finals at ncaa.com.

Six more American advanced to the second round with wins today at Roland Garros, although No. 4 seed Taylor Fritz was upset in the first round, as was No. 9 seed Emma Navarro. Twenty-two Americans have completed first round matches Sunday and Monday, with 14 reaching the second round; the remaining 12 will play Tuesday.

Monday's first round results of Americans:

Jessica Bouzas Maneiro(ESP) d. Emma Navarro[9] 6-0, 6-1

Robin Montgomery d. Diane Parry[WC](FRA) 6-2, 6-1

Bernarda Pera d. Caroline Garcia(FRA) 6-4, 6-4

Madison Keys[7] d. Daria Saville[Q](AUS) 6-2, 6-1

Elisabetta Cocciaretto(ITA) d. Taylor Townsend[LL] 6-3, 6-2

Danielle Collins d. Jodie Burrage(GBR) 7-6(1), 6-4

Elena-Gabriela Ruse(ROU) d, McCartney Kessler 7-5, 7-6(3)

Caroline Dolehide d. Greet Minnen(BEL) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4

Daniel Altmaier(GER) d. Taylor Fritz[4] 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1

Sebastian Korda[23] d. Luciano Darderi(ITA) 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2

Tallon Griekspoor(NED) d. Marcos Giron 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-5

Tuesday's first round matches featuring Americans:

Sofia Kenin[31] v Varvara Gracheva(FRA)

Coco Gauff[2] v Olivia Gadecki(AUS)

Jessica Pegula[3] v Anca Todoni(ROU)

Alycia Parks v Karolina Muchova[14](CZE)

Hailey Baptiste v Beatriz Haddad Maia[23](BRA)

Katie Volynets v Joanna Garland[Q](TPE)

Ashlyn Krueger v Suzan Lamens(NED)

Ann Li v Maria Lourdes Carle[Q](ARG)

Learner Tien v Alexander Zverev[3](GER)

Mackenzie McDonald v Novak Djokovic[6](SRB)

Aleks Kovacevic v Federico Gomez[LL](ARG)

Ethan Quinn[Q] v Grigor Dimitrov[16](BUL)

The ITF Junior Circuit produced four American singles champions last week, led by Isabelle DeLuccia's title at the J100 in the Dominican Republic. The 16-year-old from New Jersey, seeded No. 2, defeated No. 7 seed Aishi Bisht of India in the final 7-6(2), 1-6, 6-4 for her second ITF Junior Circuit singles title.

DeLuccia also reached the doubles final with partner Carrie-Anne Hoo, but the top seeds were beaten by No. 2 seeds Sarah Ye and Ukraine's Sofia Bielinska 6-3, 2-6, 11-9.

No. 8 seed Shaan Majeed reached the boys singles final, falling to top seed Volodymyr Gurenko of Canada 6-2, 6-1. Gurkeno, 17, has won three ITF titles, two at the J100 level, since mid-April.

At the J60 in El Salvador, unseeded 15-year-old Charles Minvielle won his first ITF Junior Circuit title, beating No. 7 seed Tristan Stratton 6-3, 6-3 in the all-US final.

Top seeds Sophia Budaczek and Guatemala's Carlota Balseiro won the girls doubles title, beating No. 3 seeds Sofia Mills and Canada's Ashvini Gopalan 2-6, 6-2, 12-10 in the final. Budaczek, also the top seed in singles, lost in the final to No. 3 seed Balseiro 6-0, 6-4.

At the J30 in Great Britain, 17-year-old Maria Batinic won her first ITF Junior Circuit title, with the No. 4 seed beating unseeded Tanishka Naveen 0-6, 7-5, 6-1 in the final. 

At the J30 in Kenya, 17-year-old James Scholer won his first ITF Junior Circuit singles title. Scholer, seeded eighth, defeated unseeded Kaito Tokukura of Japan 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 in the final. 

Vasami and Vujovic Claim ITF J500 Milan Titles; Eight Americans Advance in Opening Day at Roland Garros; Americans Fall in Pro Circuit Finals; Barry Women Reclaim D-II Title; D-III Men's Singles Final Monday

Fifteen-year-old Luna Vujovic of Serbia and 17-year-old Jacopo Vasami of Italy claimed the singles titles today at the ITF J500 Trofeo Bonfiglio in Milan, and moved to the top of the list of contenders for titles at the Roland Garros Junior Championships in two weeks.

The ninth-seeded Vujovic, whose lone ITF Junior Circuit singles title was at the J200 level last year, defeated 16-year-old Californian Julieta Pareja, the No. 11, 6-3, 6-3 in the girls final. Vujovic won the Wimbledon 14U tournament two years ago and a week later claimed the European 14s title. She had already made a J500 final, falling to Elizara Yaneva of Bulgaria in the final of last November's J500 in Mexico.

The fifth-seeded Vasami won a battle of in-form players, defeating No. 13 seed Ivan Ivanov of Bulgaria 6-7(8), 6-2, 6-1. Vasami, who reached an ATP Challenger quarterfinal in April, now has two ITF J500 titles after winning in Cairo in February. Ivanov, who won an ITF men's World Tennis Tour 15K a week before Milan, is also top contender at Roland Garros. 

Last year Kaylan Bigun got the boost he needed after his Milan title, taking the Roland Garros title two weeks later.

Eleven Americans were in action on the first day of Roland Garros main draw play today, and eight of them, including both USTA wild cards, earned victories.

Men's wild card winner Emilio Nava, in his first appearance in the main draw at Roland Garros, defeated Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands 6-2, 7-5, 7-5. Women's wild card winner Iva Jovic had a much less straightforward win, defeating Renata Zarazua of Mexico 6-3, 5-7, 6-4. The 17-year-old from California led 6-3, 5-2 and had three match points serving at 5-4, 40-0, but Zarazua won the last five games of the set to force a third by making no unforced errors and drawing Jovic into the net and passing or lobbing her. 

Jovic, serving up 4-3 in the third set, lost that game, but broke Zarazua for a third chance to serve for the match and this time she converted after Zarazua saved another match point at 40-0.

Jovic has received wild cards in the last three slams and has now won a round in all three.

Sunday's first round results of Americans:

Tommy Paul[12] d. Elmer Moller[LL](DEN) 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-3, 6-1

Mariano Navone(ARG) d. Brandon Nakashima[28] 7-6(2), 4-6, 6-1, 6-2

Juan Manuel Cerundolo[Q](ARG) d. Alex Michelsen[32] 6-3, 6-2, 6-4

Reilly Opelka d. Rinky Hijikata(AUS) 1-6, 6-3, 7-5, 7-6(3)

Frances Tiafoe[15] d. Roman Safiullin(RUS) 6-4, 7-5, 6-4

Ben Shelton[13] d. Lorenzo Sonego(ITA) 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3

Emilio Nava[WC] d. Botic van de Zandschulp(NED) 6-2, 7-5, 7-5

Jenson Brooksby d. Jaime Faria(POR) 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2

Eva Lys(GER) d. Peyton Stearns[28] 6-0, 6-3 

Amanda Anisimova[16] d. Nina Stojanovic[Q](SRB) 6-3, 4-1, ret.

Iva Jovic[WC] d. Renata Zarazua(MEX) 6-3, 5-7, 6-4

Monday's first round matches featuring Americans:

Emma Navarro[9] v Jessica Bouzas Maneiro(ESP)

Robin Montgomery v Diane Parry[WC](FRA)

Bernarda Pera v Caroline Garcia(FRA)

Madison Keys[7] v Daria Saville[Q](AUS)

Taylor Townsend[LL] v Elisabetta Cocciaretto(ITA)

Danielle Collins v Jodie Burrage(GBR)

McCartney Kessler v Elena-Gabriela Ruse(ROU)

Caroline Dolehide v Greet Minnen(BEL)

Taylor Fritz[4] v Daniel Altmaier(GER)

Sebastian Korda[23] v Luciano Darderi(ITA)

Marcos Giron v Tallon Griekspoor(NED)

All three Americans in the USTA Pro Circuit finals fell short of the titles today. Unseeded Gabriela Lee(Texas Tech) of Romania, who hadn't won a title since 2022, defeated No. 8 seed Robin Anderson(UCLA) 6-3, 6-1 at the W50 in Pelham Alabama.

At the W35 in Orlando, 17-year-old wild card Bella Payne lost to top seed Jenny Duerst of Switzerland 6-4, 6-4 in this morning's final. 

Like Payne, unseeded Adhithya Ganesan fell short of his first title in his first appearance in a final in the M25 in Orlando. The 19-year-old rising Florida junior fell to No. 5 seed Renzo Olivo 3-6, 6-4, 6-3. 

The NCAA team championships are now complete, with the Division II women's tournament concluding today in Altamonte Springs Florida. Top seed Barry avenged its loss in the 2024 final to No. 2 seed Nova Southeastern, claiming a 4-3 decision and its ninth title. Nova Southeastern took the doubles point and No. 1 and No. 2 singles, but Barry got three points from the 4,5 and 6 positions, with all those matches decided in straight sets. The match came down to No. 3 singles, with Barry's Andrea Di Palma taking a 6-1, 4-6, 6-1 decision over Sofia Shing to clinch the Buccaneers seventh title in the past eight years. The box score is here.

There are no individual championships in Division II, so the last of NCAA tennis will be the Division III singles and doubles championships in Claremont California Monday and Tuesday.

The men's singles final is at 1 pm Eastern time Monday, with top seed Advik Mareedu of CMS facing unseeded Kael Shah of Denison. Cracked Racquets will provide coverage at ncaa.com.

Advik Mareedu[1](CMS) d. Noah Laber(Middlebury) 6-4, 6-2

Kael Shah(Denison) d. Javier Gonzalez (Tufts) 3-0, ret.

The men's doubles final, scheduled for 3 p.m. Eastern, will feature Vuk Vuksanovic and Javier Gonzalez(Tufts) and Andrei Leonov and Pat Otero[2](Chicago).

The women's singles quarterfinals were today, with the results below. The women's singles semifinals will also be at 1 p.m. Eastern Monday, with doubles semifinals not before 4 p.m.

Pareja Reaches Milan ITF J500 Final; Payne and Ganesan Advance to First Pro Finals in Orlando; Washington-St. Louis Women Claim D-III Title; Valdosta State Repeats as D-II Champion; 11 Americans in Action Sunday at Roland Garros

Julieta Pareja's ITF Junior Circuit win streak was extended today in Milan, with the 16-year-old Southern Californian defeating No. 3 seed Hannah Klugman of Great Britain 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in today's ITF J500 Trofeo Bonfiglio semifinals. Pareja, the No. 11 seed, will play 15-year-old Luna Vujovic of Serbia, the No. 9 seed, for the title Sunday. Today's match was the second straight contest that Pareja won from a set down.

While ITF J300 Indian Wells champion Pareja extended her winning streak, No. 7 seed Jack Kennedy saw his snapped, with No. 13 seed Ivan Ivanov of Bulgaria avenging his earlier loss to Kennedy on clay this year in Brazil by breezing past the 16-year-old American 6-2, 6-0.  In the final, Ivanov will face No. 5 seed Jacopo Vasami of Italy, who beat unseeded Nikita Bilozertsev of Ukraine 5-7, 6-4, 6-3. Vasami, a 17-year-old left-hander, won the J500 in Cairo in February.

Kennedy and Keaton Hance also saw their doubles winning streak halted, with the unseeded German team of Jamie Mackenzie and Niels McDonald ending the run of the fifth-seeded ITF J300 Santa Croce champions 6-3, 6-4.

The Kovackova sisters, who won their first Pro Circuit doubles title last month, won the girls doubles title, with the top seeds defeating No. 5 seeds Julie Pastikova of the Czech Republic and Julia Stusek of Germany 4-6, 6-4, 10-3 in today's final.

Live scoring is available at the tournament website.

At the USTA Pro Circuit tournaments in Orlando, unseeded teenagers Bella Payne and Adhithya Ganesan reached their first Pro Circuit singles finals. At the women's W35, wild card Payne defeated No. 2 seed Katrina Scott 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 to reach the final in her second Pro Circuit tournament. The 17-year-old left-hander from Florida, who won the Easter Bowl 18s in March and two ITF junior events in South Florida earlier this month, will face top seed Jenny Duerst of Switzerland for the title Sunday.

Ganesan, a 19-year-old rising junior at the University of Florida, saved five match points in his 3-6, 7-5, 7-6(7) win over No. 8 seed Roberto Cid(South Florida) of the Dominican Republic in the M25 in Orlando. Ganesan, the 2023 Kalamazoo 18s doubles champion, had reached two Pro Circuit semifinals before this week, but had never advanced to a final before.  He will play 33-year-old Renzo Olivo of Argentina, who beat Andres Andrade(Florida) of Ecuador 6-1, 6-3.

Unseeded Keshav Chopra(Georgia Tech) and Fnu Nidunjianzan(Princeton) of China won the men's doubles title, beating unseeded Oren Vasser(William & Mary, Miami) and Leo Vithoontien(Carleton) of Japan 2-6, 7-5, 10-8 in the final. 

Twin sisters Allura and Maribella Zamarripa(Texas) won their ninth ITF women's Pro Circuit doubles title in Orlando. The 22-year-old top seeds defeated No. 3 seeds Isabella Barrera Aguirre and Lexington Reed(Texas A&M) 2-6, 6-2, 10-8 in today's final. 

At the W50 in Pelham Alabama, No. 8 seed Robin Anderson(UCLA) and unseeded Gabriela Lee(Texas Tech) have advanced to Sunday's final. Anderson, who has yet to lose a set this week, defeated No. 7 seed Lea Ma 6-3, 6-3; Lee beat unseeded Alicia Herrero Linana(Baylor) 1-6, 7-5, 6-3.

Top seeds Madeleine Brooks(Middle Tenn,Lipscomb) of Great Britain and Petra Hule(Florida State) of Australia won the doubles title, beating No. 2 seeds Herrero Linana and Anna Rogers(NC State) 6-1, 7-6((4) in the final.

As was the case in the men's final Thursday night in Claremont California, the NCAA Division III women's team title was the first in program history for the champion, Washington-St. Louis. The  Bears, No. 10 in the ITA rankings at the start of the tournament, defeated fourth-ranked Pomona-Pitzer 4-3 in Friday night's final. 

The women's program at Wash U has now equalled the men's number of NCAA titles, with male counterparts winning in 2008. 

The box score from the final is here.

The Tennis Recruiting Network has a recap of both the Denison men's and Washington-St. Louis women's titles runs here.

The D-III individual championships are now underway, with the men's semifinals set for Sunday. The results of today's men's quarterfinals:

Advik Mareedu[1](CMS) d. Andreas Sillaste(Amherst) 6-3, 6-2
Noah Laber(Middlebury) d. Chakor Rajendra(John Hopkins) 6-3, 2-6, 6-2
Kael Shah(Denison) d. Mark Kneiss(Bowdoin), 6-4, 7-6(1)
Javier Gonzalez (Tufts) def. Aiden Drover-Mattinen[2](RPI), 6-2, 4-6, 6-3

The D-III women played their first and second rounds today, with their quarterfinals, shown below, scheduled for Sunday.

Izabele Antanavicius(Emory) v Jacqueline Soloveychik[5](Wesleyan)
Jimena Menendez(NYU) v Jay Xiao(Johns Hopkins)
Lindsay Eisenman[8](CMS) v Lane Durki(Wesleyan)
Emily Kantrovitz [2](Emory) v Eleni Lazaridou(Kenyon)

Cracked Racquets is providing coverage of the individual tournament at ncaa.com.

Top-seeded Valdosta State defended their 2024 NCAA Division II men's title today in Altamonte Springs Florida, defeating No. 7 seed Washburn, which was making its first appearance in an NCAA final, 4-2.  The match was delayed by lightning with Valdosta State holding a 3-2 lead.

The women's Division II team final Sunday will feature a rematch of last year's championship match, with No. 1 seed Barry taking on No. 2 seed Nova Southeastern. Barry defeated No. 5 seed Flagler 4-1 in today's semifinals, with Nova Southeastern beating No. 3 seed Midwestern State by the same score.

Last year Nova Southeastern beat Barry 4-2, ending the Buccaneers' streak of six consecutive NCAA Division II team titles. 

First round action begins Sunday at Roland Garros with 11 Americans on the schedule, including both winners of the USTA's annual Wild Card Challenge: Iva Jovic and Emilio Nava. 

Sunday's first round matches featuring Americans:

Tommy Paul[12] v Elmer Moller[LL](DEN)

Brandon Nakashima[28] v Mariano Navone(ARG)

Alex Michelsen[32] v Juan Manuel Cerundolo[Q](ARG)

Reilly Opelka v Rinky Hijikata(AUS)

Frances Tiafoe[15] v Roman Safiullin(RUS)

Ben Shelton[13] v Lorenzo Sonego(ITA)

Emilio Nava[WC] v Botic van de Zandschulp(NED)

Jenson Brooksby v Jaime Faria(POR)

Peyton Stearns[28] v Eva Lys(GER)

Amanda Anisimova[16] v Nina Stojanovic[Q](SRB)

Iva Jovic[WC] v Renata Zarazua(MEX)

Kennedy Beats Top Seed at ITF J500 in Milan, Pareja Reaches Semifinals; Payne and Ganesan Advance in Orlando $25Ks; Denison Claims NCAA D-III Men's Title; Valdosta State and Washburn Meet Saturday for D-II Men's Title

Jack Kennedy began his lead-up to the Roland Garros Junior Championships last week by winning the singles and doubles titles at the ITF J300 in Santa Croce Italy and he has yet to taste defeat on this trip, reaching the semifinal of ITF J500 Trofeo Bonfiglio in Milan with a 6-2, 6-4 win over top seed Oskari Paldanius of Finland Paldanius had beaten Kennedy 7-6(6), 7-5 in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open Junior Championships this year.

No. 7 seed Kennedy will face No. 13 seed Ivan Ivanov of Bulgaria, who defeated No. 8 seed Timofei Derepasko of Russia 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 in today's quarterfinals. Kennedy and Ivanov met in the 2022 Junior Orange Bowl 14s final, with Ivanov winning that match 6-2, 6-3. Kennedy avenged that loss this year in the quarterfinals of the J500 in Brazil, beating Ivanov 6-3, 6-2. The other semifinal will feature unseeded Nikita Bilozertsev of Ukraine and No. 5 seed Jacopo Vasami of Italy.

Kennedy and Keaton Hance, who won the doubles title last week in Santa Croce, will go for their ninth straight win and a second straight title Saturday against the unseeded German team of Jamie Mackenzie and Niels McDonald. Seeded No. 5, Hance and Kennedy beat No. 2 seeds Derepasko and Vasami of Italy 1-6, 7-6(3), 10-4 in Friday's semifinals.

Julieta Pareja also has an ITF Junior Circuit winning streak going. The ITF J300 Indian Wells champion, seeded No. 11, beat unseeded Lilli Tagger of Austria 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 for her ninth straight win. She will face No. 3 seed and fellow 16-year-old Hannah Klugman of Great Britain in Saturday's semifinals.  The other girls semifinal will feature 15-year-old Luna Vujovic of Serbia, the No. 9 seed, and No. 16 seed Laima Vladson of Lithuania, who have split their last two meetings on the ITF Junior Circuit.

At the USTA Pro Circuit W35 in Orlando, 17-year-old wild card Bella Payne is through to the semifinals after defeating qualifier Jamilah Snells(Louisville) 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 today. Payne, playing in her second Pro Circuit main draw, will play No. 2 seed Katrina Scott, who avenged her loss to No. 6 seed Monika Ekstrand two weeks ago in Boca Raton with a 2-6, 7-5, 6-2 victory today.

The men's $25,000 tournament in Orlando features just one semifinalist from the United States, Adhithya Ganesan, a rising junior at the University of Florida. The unseeded 19-year-old defeated No. 4 seed Patrick Maloney(Michigan) 6-4, 6-4 to advance to his third ITF men's Pro Circuit semifinal.  Ganesan will play No. 8 seed Roberto Cid(South Florida) of the Dominican Republic for a spot in his first Pro Circuit final.

The NCAA Division III men's championship match was last night in Claremont California, with second-ranked Denison defeating fourth-ranked Case Western 4-2 for the program's first NCAA title.

Dave Schilling, who was a men's assistant coach at Ohio State for many years, took the reins at his alma mater five years ago and built the program into a national contender. Last year's appearance in the NCAA team quarterfinals was its first ever.

The first title didn't come easily however, as Big Red barely survived their quarterfinal meeting with Johns Hopkins, with freshman Nick Meyers saving four match points before prevailing in a third-set tiebreaker in the last match on in Denison's 4-3 win. Against 2023 NCAA champion Case Western last night, Denison blitzed through the doubles point, but lost five first sets in singles before turning matches around at lines 1,2 and 4 to ultimately post a 4-2 victory.  The box scores is here.

For more on Schilling's construction of a national championship team, see this denison.edu article.

The Division II men's team final is set for Saturday afternoon in Altamonte Springs Florida, with No. 1 seed and undefeated Valdosta State taking on No. 7 seed Washburn, making its first appearance in an NCAA final. Valdosta State defeated No. 4 seed Lubbock Christian 4-0, while Washburn upset No. 3 seed UT-Tyler 4-0.

The women's D-II semifinals are Saturday, with top seed Barry facing No.  5 seed Flagler and No. 2 and defending champion Nova Southeastern taking on No. 3 seed Midwestern State.

Live coverage of Saturday's action will be available at ncaa.com, with Cracked Racquets providing commentary.

The qualifying concluded today at Roland Garros, and although Taylor Townsend lost 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 to Daria Saville of Australia, she received entry as a lucky loser, becoming the 19th US woman in the main draw. Play begins Sunday in Paris.

Kennedy and Pareja Advance at ITF J500 in Milan; Quinn Qualifies for Roland Garros; Payne and Ekstrand Reach W35 Orlando Quarterfinals; SoCal Pro Series, JMTA College Combine Begin Soon

The quarterfinals are set for Friday at the ITF J500 Trofeo Bonfiglio in Milan, with two Americans still in contention in singles.

No. 11 seed Julieta Pareja, playing in just her second tournament since reaching the semifinals of the WTA 250 in Bogota in early April, defeated Nauhany Leme Da Silva of Brazil 6-1, 6-3 to advance to a quarterfinal meeting with Lilli Tagger of Austria. Although unseeded, the 17-year-old Tagger won a W35 in March and is up to 506 in the WTA rankings. Pareja, 16, is at 317, a career high.

The other seeded American, No. 8 Thea Frodin, lost to No. 9 seed Lunca Vujovic of Serbia 6-2, 7-6(1) in today's third round. Unseeded Rositsa Dencheva of Bulgaria, who has been playing mostly on the ITF women's World Tennis Tour, beat top seed and Orange Bowl champion Tereza Krejcova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-2 in the second round and No. 14 seed Beatrise Zeltina of Latvia 6-3, 6-4 today. Five US boys were seeded this week, but only No. 7 seed Jack Kennedy has managed to make it to the quarterfinals, although five American boys did advance to today's round of 16.

For the second week in a row, Kennedy played Jack Satterfield, beating him in three sets in the semifinals of the J300 in Santa Croce Italy and in today's third round 7-5, 7-5. Kennedy will play top seed Oskari Paldanius of Finland, who squeezed past No. 16 seed Noah Johnston 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-4. Paldanius and Kennedy played in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open in January, with Paldanius winning 7-6(6), 7-5.

Unseeded Ronit Karki lost to No. 8 seed Timofei Derepasko of Russia 6-3, 6-2 and No. 2 seed Jagger Leach was beaten by Pierluigi Basile of Italy 6-2, 7-6(2).  

Kennedy and Hance, the No. 5 seeds in doubles and last week's champions in Santa Croce, have reached the semifinals, as has Frodin, who is playing this week with Yoana Konstantinova of Bulgaria. 

Live scoring is available at the tournament website.

Due to rain earlier in the week, the final round of qualifying at Roland Garros will extend through Friday, but the main draws were published today. Fifteen US men are in the draw, including Ethan Quinn(Georgia), who qualified today with a 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(5) win over Thiago Tirante of Argentina, the 2019 ITF World Junior Champion. Quinn, who competed in the US Open main draw as the 2023 NCAA singles champion, has qualified for a slam for the first time with his win today.

The other two American men left in the qualifying lost today in the second round, with Eliot Spizzirri(Texas) losing to Giulio Zeppieri of Italy 6-2, 6-3 and Nicolas Moreno de Alboran(UC-Santa Barbara) falling to Lukas Klein of Slovakia 6-3, 6-7(3), 6-4.

There will be either 18 or 19 US women in the main draw, depending on the outcome of the final round qualifying match Friday between Taylor Townsend and Daria Saville of Australia. Townsend defeated Hanna Chang, in a match resumed late in the third set, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(5). Varvara Lepchenko lost her final round qualifying match to Nina Stojanovic of Serbia 4-6, 6-1, 7-5.

Below are the matchups for Americans this weekend; it's surprising that with so many US players in the draw, none have to play a fellow American. Click on the headings for the draws.

MEN:

Top Half (Monday/Tues)

Learner Tien v Alexander Zverev[3](GER)

Marcos Giron v Tallon Griekspoor(NED)

Aleks Kovacevic v Emil Ruusuvuori(FIN)

Mackenzie McDonald v Novak Djokovic[6](SRB)

Bottom Half(Sunday/Monday)

Reilly Opelka v Rinky Hijikata(AUS)

Brandon Nakashima[28] v Mariano Navone(ARG)

Emilio Nava[WC] v Botic van de Zandschulp(NED)

Frances Tiafoe[15] v Roman Safiullin(RUS)

Jenson Brooksby v Jaime Faria(POR)

Sebastian Korda[23] v Luciano Darderi(ITA)

Alex Michelsen[32] v qualifier

Taylor Fritz[4] v Daniel Altmaier(GER)

Tommy Paul[12] v qualifier

Ben Shelton[13] v Lorenzo Sonego(ITA)

WOMEN:

Top Half(Sunday/Monday)

Danielle Collins v Jodie Burrage(GBR)

Amanda Anisimova[16] v qualifier

Peyton Stearns[28] v Eva Lys(GER)

Bernarda Pera v Caroline Garcia(FRA)

Iva Jovic[WC] v Renata Zarazua(MEX)

Caroline Dolehide v Greet Minnen(BEL)

Bottom Half(Monday/Tuesday)

Ashlyn Krueger v Suzan Lamens(NED)

Katie Volynets v qualifier

McCartney Kessler v Elena-Gabriela Ruse(ROU)

Alycia Parks v Karolina Muchova[14](CZE)

Ann Li v qualifier

Jessica Pegula[3] v Anca Todoni(ROU)

Madison Keys[7] v qualifier

Sofia Kenin[31] v Varvara Gracheva(FRA)

Hailey Baptiste v Beatriz Haddad Maia[23](BRA)

Robin Montgomery v Diane Parry[WC](FRA)

Emma Navarro[9] v Jessica Bouzas Maneiro(ESP)

Coco Gauff[2] v Olivia Gadecki(AUS)

The quarterfinals at the W35 in Orlando will feature two American teenagers who have been on quite a roll the past several months. 

Seventeen-year-old wild card Bella Payne, the Easter Bowl 18s champion, defeated No. 4 seed Makenna Jones 6-2, 6-1 in the second round today. Payne, who won ITF J100 and J200 tournaments earlier this month, played her first Pro Circuit tournament a month ago. She will face qualifier Jamilah Snells(Louisville) in the quarterfinals. 

Eighteen-year-old Monika Ekstrand, the No. 6 seed this week, has played seven of the last eight weeks and has won two W35 titles in that span. The Stanford recruit will take on No. 2 seed Katrina Scott in the quarterfinals, with Ekstrand having beaten Scott 6-4, 6-4 in the first round en route to the Boca Raton W35 title two weeks ago. Ekstrand beat 17-year-old Alexis Nguyen 6-1, 4-6, 6-1 in today's second round. 

I would like to take this opportunity to make sure that you're aware of a couple of my sponsors' upcoming events.

The John McEnroe Tennis Academy's ninth annual College Combine is scheduled for June 28th and June 29th at Sportime/JMTA in Port Washington New York. The deadline to apply in Saturday May 31st.  For more information, click on the ad to the left, or check out this press release.

The SoCal Pro Series is now set to begin its fourth year, with seven consecutive weeks of men's and women's $15,000 tournaments in Southern California beginning next Monday. I have an article in the works about this Circuit, which will be serving as a template for increasing ITF-level events in the United States in the next two years. 

Registration for pre-qualifying for the last three events is still open; click on the ad to the left for more information.

ITA Division I Final Rankings; More Surprises in NCAA Division III Team Semifinals; D-II Women's Quarterfinals, Men's Semis Set; Quinn and Lepchenko Advance to Roland Garros Final Round Qualifying

The final rankings of the 2024-2025 season were released today by the ITA, with NCAA champions Wake Forest men and Georgia women ending the year, unsurprisingly, as the No. 1 teams. Top 10 teams are listed below; click on the heading for the list of all 75 teams ranked. 

D-I Final Men's Team Top 10:

1. Wake Forest

2. TCU

3. Texas

4. Stanford

5. Virginia

6. Ohio State

7. NC State

8. Columbia

9. San Diego

10. Mississippi State

The final singles and doubles rankings are important for several reasons. For underclassmen, they provide the basis for the preseason rankings next season. The rankings also determine All-American status, with the Top 20 in the final rankings getting that coveted honor. Some players had already earned All-American status by reaching the round of 16 in November's NCAA individual tournament, but those who did not play the fall had the dual match season to build their Top 20 rankings and many did. The asterisks indicate those who did not earn that designation in the fall. A list of players who earned All-American status in singles in the fall can be found at this post.

For the men, the Top 20 ranking also has another significant benefit, as they qualify for the ATP/ITA College Accelerator program. Those in the Top 10 who are done with school can receive up to eight ATP Challenger 50 and 75 main draw wild cards, while those ranked 11-20 can receive up to eight qualifying wild cards. Those staying in school have access to six to use between July and December of this year. 

Singles:

1. Timo Legout, Texas

2. Michael Zheng, Columbia

3. Colton Smith, Arizona

4. *Rafael Jodar, Virginia

5. *Oliver Tarvet, San Diego

6. DK Suresh, Wake Forest

7. *Stefan Dostanic, Wake Forest

8. Aidan Kim, Ohio State

9. Jay Friend, Arizona

10. Kenta Miyoshi, Illinois

11. *Samir Banerjee, Stanford

12. *Jack Pinnington Jones, TCU

13. Pedro Vives, TCU

14. Ozan Baris, Michigan State

15. *Carl Emil Overbeck, Cal

16. Corey Craig, Florida State

17. *Connor Thomson, South Carolina

18. *Peter Makk, Southern California

19. *Dylan Dietrich, Virginia

20. *Sebastian Dominko, Notre Dame

Doubles:

1. Lui Maxted and Pedro Vives, TCU

2. Petar Jovanovic and Benito Sanches Martinez, Mississippi State

3. *Cooper Williams and Theo Winegar, Duke

4. *Togan Tokac and Theo Papmalamis, Texas A&M

5. *Braden Shick and Fons Van Sambeek, NC State

6. Timo Legout and Lucas Brown, Texas

7. *Lucas Andrade da Silva and Connor Thomson, South Carolina

8. *Charlie Robertson and DK Suresh, Wake Forest

9. *Stefan Dostanic and DK Suresh, Wake Forest

10. *Jack Loutit and Eli Stephenson, Kentucky

*Earned All-America status via Top 20 singles/Top 10 doubles ranking

D-I Final Women's Team Top Ten:

1. Georgia

2. Texas A&M

3. Michigan

4. North Carolina

5. Duke

6. Ohio State

7. Virginia

8. Auburn

9. Tennessee

10. Oklahoma

The women's Accelerator Program via the ITA and ITF is much less generous, with only the Top 5 players in the rankings receiving a maximum of five wild cards into ITF W75(1), W50(2) and W35(3) events if they are leaving school and three if they are staying in school.

Singles:

1. Dasha Vidmanova, Georgia

2. Mary Stoiana, Texas A&M

3. DJ Bennett, Auburn

4. *Elza Tomase, Tennessee

5. Julia Fliegner, Michigan

6. *Celia-Belle Mohr, Vanderbilt

7. *Reese Brantmeier, North Carolina

8. *Cadence Brace, LSU

9. Luciana Perry, Ohio State

10. Valerie Glozman, Stanford

11. Nicole Khirin, Texas A&M

12. *Maria Sholokhova, Wisconsin

13. *Anastasiia Lopata, Georgia

14. Connie Ma, Stanford

15. *Amelia Honer, UC-Santa Barbara

16. *Sarah Hamner, South Carolina

17. *Piper Charney, Michigan

18. *Teah Chavez, Ohio State

19. Savannah Broadus, Pepperdine

20. *Alexa Noel, Miami

Doubles:

1. *Mell Reasco and Dasha Vidmanova, Georgia

2. *Alanis Hamilton and Reese Brantmeier, North Carolina

3. Elaine Chervinsky and Melodie Collard, Virgina

4. *Mao Mushika and Jessica Alsola, Cal

5. Maddy Zampardo and Gabriella Broadfoot, NC State

6. *Cadence Brace and Kayla Cross, LSU

7. *Sarah Hamner and Kaitlyn Carnicella, South Carolina

8. *Rose Marie Nijkamp and Anastasiya Komar, Oklahoma State

9. *Avelina Sayfetdinova and Mariia Hlahola, Texas Tech

10. *Celia-Belle Mohr and Sophia Webster, Vanderbilt

*Earned All-America status via Top 20 singles/Top 10 doubles ranking

While the Division I NCAA Team Championships may have proceeded very much as expected in the quarterfinals, the Division III Team Championships have not. Neither final features the top-ranked team (no seeds are listed in the Division III team draws), with No. 1 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men losing to No. 4 Case Western last night 4-2, after defending champion and No. 1 women's seed Chicago had lost to Washington-St. Louis in the quarterfinals. 

Case Western, the 2023 NCAA D-III men's champions, will face second-ranked Denison for the title Thursday at 8 p.m., with coverage by Cracked Racquets on ncaa.com.  Denison, who survived a 4-3 battle with Johns Hopkins in the quarterfinals, saving three dual match points, defeated third-ranked Tufts 4-1 last night.

In today's women's semifinals, Washington-St. Louis proved their win over Chicago was no fluke. The tenth-ranked Bears, who were playing in the program's first NCAA semifinal today, defeated ninth-ranked Johns Hopkins 4-1 to advance against fourth-ranked Pomona-Pitzer. The Sagehens defeated third-ranked Emory 4-1 to reach their first final since 1992. The women's team final is Friday. 

The Division II women's quarterfinals are scheduled for Thursday in Altamonte Springs Florida, with top seed Barry and No. 2 seed Nova Southeastern both advancing. 

After the men's quarterfinals were played today, the semifinals will feature top seed Valdosta State versus No. 4 seed Lubbock Christian in the top half and No. 7 seed Washburn versus No. 3 seed UT-Tyler in the bottom half. Washburn upset No. 2 seed Barry 4-3 today. 

Cracked Racquets will be providing coverage of the D-II semifinals and finals beginning Friday.

Rain prevented the completion of the second round of qualifying today at Roland Garros, but two Americans did advance to the final round of qualifying before the weather deteriorated: Varvara Lepchenko and 2023 NCAA singles champion Ethan Quinn(Georgia). More on their qualifying runs can be found in this article at the Roland Garros website.

Wednesday's second round qualifying matches featuring Americans:

Vavara Lepchenko[16] d. Jana Fett(CRO) 1-6, 6-4, 6-3

Taylor Townsend[6] v Hanna Chang 4-6, 6-3, 5-4, postponed

Vilius Gabuas(LTU) d. Tristan Boyer[16] 7-5, 6-3 

Matteo Gigante(ITA) d. Zachary Svajda 6-4, 6-4

Eliot Spizzirri[15] v Giulio Zeppieri(ITA) postponed

Ethan Quinn[11] d. Bernard Tomic(AUS) 6-3, 6-3

Nicolas Moreno de Alboran v Lukas Klein(SVK) postponed

Federico Arnaboldi(ITA)d. Michael Mmoh, walkover

Thursday's qualifying matches featuring Americans:

Second round (postponed from Wednesday):

Eliot Spizzirri[15] v Giulio Zeppieri(ITA)

Nicolas Moreno de Alboran v Lukas Klein(SVK)

Taylor Townsend[6] v Hanna Chang 4-6, 6-3, 5-4, to finish

Final round: 

Ethan Quinn[11] v Thiago Tirante[24](ARG)

Varvara Lepchenko[16] v Nina Stojanovic(SRB)