Zheng's NCAA Singles Title Defense Continues; Brantmeier Lone Seed in Women's Semifinals; Urhobo Reaches Boca Raton W35 Singles Semifinals, Doubles Final: Reddy Beats Top Seed Miguel at J300 Zapopan

Rebounds from first set losses were the theme of the singles quarterfinals Friday at the NCAA Division I Championships in Lake Nona Florida, with five of the eight semifinalists taking that route.

Three of the four men's semifinalists posted comebacks, including defending champion Michael Zheng of Columbia, who dropped his first set of the tournament before defeating No. 8 seed Ozan Baris 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. The unseeded Zheng now has a ten-match winning streak in the NCAA tournament, with his forehand just too much for Baris in the third set, after Baris had played controlled and error-free first set to take the lead in the rematch of the 2024 NCAA final. 

Zheng's opponent in the semifinal is the only seeded player remaining in the men's draw: fellow Ivy Leaguer Paul Inchauspe of Princeton. Inchauspe, a junior from France. Inchauspe, who saved match points in his second win over Lucca Iu of UC-Santa Barbara, came from a set down for the third time this week to beat unseeded Luca Pow of Wake Forest 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. 

Zheng and Inchauspe played once in Ivy League conference play in 2024, with their match going unfinished.

The other men's semifinal Saturday will feature two unseeded players, with Trevor Svajda of SMU facing Martin Borisiouk of NC State. Svajda, a junior, has found his form this week after two three-set wins on Tuesday and Wednesday, posting the only straightforward men's victory today with a 6-3, 6-2 decision over Petar Jovanovic of Mississippi State, a 9-16 seed.  Svajda is the first SMU player to reach the semifinals since 1986.

Borisiouk, who had his 9-16 seed removed when Jack Loutit of Kentucky received entry as an alternate, ended the undefeated start to Michigan redshirt freshman Max Dahlin's collegiate career with a 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 victory. 

It will be the first meeting between the 25-year-old Borisiouk and the 19-year-old Svajda.

The women's semifinals will feature three new faces and one seed: Reese Brantmeier of North Carolina.

Brantmeier, a 9-16 seed, won a 74-minute first set over No. 2 seed Carmen Herea of Texas, with her 5-1 lead evaporating. She saved set points in her 5-6 service game and in the tiebreaker, but the 21-year-old senior took control in the second set against an error-prone Herea to post a 7-6(8), 6-0 victory. 

She will play Southern Cal sophomore Jana Hossam Salah, who beat Carolina Gomez Alonzo of Arkansas 3-6, 7-5, 6-0. Hossam, who is just 18 years old, will face her first seed of the week when she plays Brantmeier.

The top half has Cal senior Berta Passola Folch facing Mississippi's Emily Welker in an unexpected semifinal, after Passola Folch beat Kyoka Kubo of Kansas 7-5, 6-2 and Welker upset No. 4 seed Savannah Dada-Mascoll of Appalachian State. 

Welker, a 25-year-old graduate student from Germany, saved a match point on a deuce point serving at 3-5 in third set, and Dada-Mascoll couldn't get to match point serving at 5-4. Welker went up 6-5 by again winning a deciding point and broke Dada-Mascoll to secure her place in the semifinals. Welker is only the third Ole Miss woman to reach the NCAA semifinals, with the last to do it 2018 NCAA champion Arianne Hartono. Passola Folch is the first Cal player to reach the semifinals since Lynn Ch, also unseeded, reached the 2014 final.

With all the chaos in the singles, at least in regards to seeds, one of the women's doubles semifinals will actually feature two teams that were seeded to be there.

No. 4 seeds Sophia Webster and Celia-Belle Mohr of Vanderbilt will face No. 2 seeds Roisin Gilheany and Gloriana Nahum of Oklahoma for a place in the final.

All four men's teams are unseeded, and no players have advanced to both semifinals, with Brantmeier and Dahlin both losing in the doubles quarterfinals today.

Doubles quarterfinal results:

Mans Dahlberg and Dylan Dietrich, Virginia d. Aidan Kim and Bryce Nakashima[5-8], Ohio State 6-7(4), 7-6(5), 10-5

Tanapatt Nirundorn and Henry Jefferson, Florida d. Max Stenzer and Sean Daryabeigi, South Carolina 6-4, 6-2

Aaron Sandler and Manfredi Graziani, Penn d. Andrew Delgado and DK Suresh[2], Wake Forest 6-7(3), 7-5, 10-7

Nikita Filin and Brandon Carpico, Ohio State d. Max Dahlin and Bjorn Swenson[4], Michigan 6-2, 6-1

Daniela Borruel and Lily Fairclough, Southern Cal d. Leena Friedman and Orly Oglivy, Yale 6-1, 6-4

Victoria Osuigwe and Gabriella Broadfoot, NC State d. Oby Kajuru and Susanna Maltby[3], North Carolina 5-7, 6-1, 12-10

Sophia Webster and Celia-Belle Mohr[4], Vanderbilt d. Annabelle Xu and Martina Genis Salas[5-8], Virginia 6-0, 6-4

Roisin Gilheany and Gloriana Nahum[2], Oklahoma d. Reese Brantmeier and Alanis Hamilton, North Carolina 6-3, 4-6, 10-5

All four singles semifinals are scheduled for 10 a.m. and all four doubles semifinals are scheduled for 1 p.m.

Live scoring is here and the ESPN Select streaming links are here. The link to draws is here.

Randy Walker has an article on the NCAA's move to the fall at his World Tennis Magazine website, with comments from Reese Brantmeier.

John Parsons has been posting daily podcasts from the NCAAs at No-Ad, No-Problem. 

And Cracked Racquets has posted their post-match interviews with players on their YouTube Channel.

Eighteen-year-old Floridian Akasha Urhobo has reached her sixth career Pro Circuit semifinal after the No. 5 seed defeated Sofia Cabezas(Iowa State, Tennessee) of Venezuela 6-2, 7-6(5) today at the W35 in Boca Raton. Urhobo will face No. 6 seed Gergana Topalova of Bulgaria, who advanced to the semifinals when Bella Payne retired trailing 6-1, 1-0.

No. 3 seed Francesa Pace of Italy and No. 2 seed Victoria Hu(Princeton) will meet in the bottom half semifinal after Pace defeated No. 8 seed Rasheeda McAdoo(Georgia Tech) 7-5, 6-4 and Hu beat Kylie Collins(Texas, LSU, Oklahoma State) 6-1, 6-2.

Urhobo and McAdoo will play for the second Boca Raton W35 doubles title as a team tomorrow, with the No. 2 seeds facing No. 3 seeds Ema Burgic(Baylor) of Bosnia and Anita Sahdiieva(Baylor, LSU) of Ukraine in the final. Urhobo and McAdoo, who won the April W35 Boca Raton doubles title, beat unseeded Ingrid Neel(Florida) of Estonia and Abigail Rencheli(NC State) 6-1, 7-5, while Burgic and Sahdiieva defeated top seeds Pace and Martha Matoula of Greece 6-1, 6-3.

Top seed Keegan Smith is through to the semifinals of the M15 in Tallahassee, with the former UCLA All-American beating No. 6 seed Victor Lilov, an Ohio State signee, 6-3, 6-4. Smith will play qualifier Noah Zamora(UC-Irvine), who beat qualifier James Connel(Florida State) 7-5, 7-6(4).

In the bottom half semifinal, No. 7 seed Maik Steiner(Western Michigan) of Germany will play No. 4 seed Ryan Fishback(Virginia Tech) after Steiner defeated Mario Martinez Serrano(Mississippi State) of Spain 6-4, 7-6(5) and Fishback beat Stijn Paardekooper(St. Bonaventure, Utah State) of the Netherlands 6-4, 6-3.

Smith and Evan Bynoe won the doubles title, beating Mississippi State teammates Niccolo Baroni of Italy and Martinez Serrano 6-2, 6-2 in the final. Neither team was seeded.

At the M25 in Austin, top seed Garrett Johns(Duke) will play recent TCU graduate Lui Maxted of Great Britain in the semifinals, with Aidan McHugh and qualifier Andreja Petrovic(North Dakota, Florida State, Duke) of Norway meeting in the bottom half.

Johns defeated No. 7 seed Micah Braswell(Texas) 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(2), while the fifth-seeded Maxted beat Arizona State senior Mathis Bondaz of France 6-1, 6-3.

Maxted, last fall's NCAA doubles champion, will play in the doubles final Saturday, with Pranav Kumar(Texas A&M, SMU). The top seeds will face No. 2 seeds Abraham Asaba(Monmouth, Virginia Tech) of Ghana and Alex Martinez(Oklahoma) of Spain.

Fifteen-year-old Reddy defeated top seed and US Open boys semifinalist Luis Guto Miguel of Brazil today to advance to the final of the ITF J300 in Zapopan Mexico. The unseeded Reddy, who reached his first ITF J300 quarterfinal this week, took out the ITF Junior No. 14 6-0, 6-7(5), 7-5. Next up for Reddy is No. 2 seed Stefan Haita of Romania, who beat unseeded Amaury Abbas of France 7-5, 7-5.

The girls singles final will feature No 8 seed Maia Burcescu of Romania and No. 2 seed Jana Kovackova of the Czech Republic. 

Reddy and partner Navneet Raghuram lost in the doubles semifinals today to No. 7 seeds Jakub Kusy of the Czech Republic and Mustafa Ege Sik of Turkey 6-3, 6-4.