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:
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.
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)
0 comments:
Post a Comment