Dilek Saves Four Match Points in Third Set Tiebreaker to Deliver Georgia's Second Straight ITA Women's Division I Team Indoor Championship; Seeds, Matchups for Men's Indoor First Round Set for Friday; Kennedy Earns First Challenger Victory in Baton Rouge

Georgia freshman Deniz Dilek was up 6-0, 2-0, then down 5-0 and 6-3 in the third set tiebreaker of the deciding match of this year's ITA Women's Division I Team Indoor Championships. A whole lot happened in between, but Dilek simply would not concede defeat, with the result a 4-3 victory for defending champion Georgia over a formidable Ohio State team.

When Georgia took the courts this evening at the Combe Tennis Center on the campus of Northwestern University, they looked the part of the favorite, with the No. 2 seeds taking big leads at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles, while Ohio State, playing in their first Team  Indoor final, were up 5-1 at No. 3 doubles. 

Anastasiia Lopata and Patricija Paukstyte of Georgia closed out their match at line 2 6-1, but Dilek and Aysegul Mert had to win a deciding point with Dilek serving at 4-3 to keep their lead, and Mert came from 0-40 down before serving out the doubles point at 5-4. Meanwhile, Georgia's Anastasiia Gureva and Emma Dong had come all the way back from 5-1 down to even their match with Sophia Cisse-Ignatiev and Audrey Spencer, when Dilek and Mert put the point on the board for the Bulldogs. 

Ohio State had lost the doubles point in their quarterfinal win over North Carolina and their semifinal win over Texas A&M yesterday, so the Buckeyes were hardly daunted, even when Georgia took two quick sets with Dilek at line 3 and Anastasiia Gureva at line 4 charging out of the gates. But Ohio State began working their way back into matches they appeared out of, and when the final two first-sets were completed in tiebreakers, each team had three.  

That meant Ohio State had to win a three-set match, but after trailing Dilek 6-0, 2-0, Sophia Cisse-Ignatiev earned a split. Gureva made it 2-0 Georgia with a 6-2, 6-2 pounding on Nao Nishino at line 4, but the other five singles matches remained too close to call, with all but one on serve. 

Teah Chavez finally got Ohio State on the board with a 7-5, 6-4 win over Aysegul Mert, the hero in Georgia's 4-3 semifinal win over Auburn, at line 2. Georgia went up 3-1 with Sofia Rojas's 7-6(3), 6-4 victory over Hephzibah Oluwadare at line 6, but Luciana Perry countered with a 7-6(4), 6-4 win over Lopata at line 1. By that time, the last two matches were in tiebreakers, with Dong of Georgia needing to win a tiebreaker from Audrey Spencer at line 5 to force a third set. She could not, with Spencer saving a set point at 6-7 and closing out a 6-4, 7-6(7) win on her second match point to make it 3-3.

By that time Dilek trailed 5-0 in the tiebreaker, but the 18-year-old from Turkey won the next three points, before Buckeye sophomore Cisse-Ignatiev made it 6-3. Dilek played two solid points on serve to make it 6-5, then hit big with such depth up the middle that Cisse-Ignatiev was forced into an error. Cisse-Ignatiev earned a fourth match point with a first serve return error from Dilek, but hit a forehand wide to make it 7-7. 

Dilek then played a point that will live in Bulldog lore, tracking down a good drop shot from Cisse-Ignatiev and ripping a winner crosscourt to give her team its first championship point. She converted when Cisse-Ignative netted a backhand after a short rally, sending the Bulldogs into a jumping circle of red as they celebrated their third consecutive national title, with the 2025 NCAA championship sandwiched between their two National Indoor titles.

Georgia now has six ITA National Team Indoor titles, but all credit to Ohio State for their stunning performances throughout the tournament that has taken that program to new heights and gave college tennis fans a final to remember.

Georgia[2] d. Ohio State[5] 4-3

Doubles:
1. Deniz Dilek and Aysegul Mert(UGA) d. Hephzibah Oluwadare and Teah Chavez(OSU) 6-4
2. Anastasiia Lopata and Patricija Paukstyte(UGA) d. Luciana Perry and Flora Johnson(OSU) 6-1
3. Sophia Cisse-Ignatiev and Audrey Spencer(OSU) v Anastasiia Gureva and Emma Dong(UGA) 5-5, dnf

Order of finish: 2, 1

Singles:
1. Luciana Perry(OSU) d. Anastasiia Lopata(UGA) 7-6(4), 6-4
2. Teah Chavez(OSU) d. Aysegul Mert(UGA) 7-5, 6-4
3. Deniz Dilek(UGA) d. Sophia Cisse-Ignatiev(OSU) 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(7)
4. Anastasiia Gureva(UGA) d. Nao Nishino(OSU) 6-2, 6-2
5. Audrey Spencer(OSU) d. Emma Dong(UGA) 6-4, 7-6(7)
6. Sofia Rojas(UGA) d. Hephzibah Oluwadare(OSU) 7-6(3), 6-4

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

A replay of the match can be found at the Cracked Racquets YouTube Channel.

The ITA Men's Division I Team Indoor Championships begin Friday in Texas, with the seeds and the match times announced today. I'll be at SMU throughout the event, as I was last year.

ITA Men's Division I Team Indoor Championships first round matches 

Friday February 13, 2026

All times Central

Baylor site

Wake Forest[1] v UC Santa Barbara[8] 6:30 pm

Central Florida[4] v Baylor[5] 3:30 pm

Texas A&M[6] v Texas[3] 12:00 pm

LSU[7] v TCU[2] 9:00 am

SMU site

Ohio State[1] v SMU[8] noon

Stanford [4] v Arizona State[5] 9:00 am

Florida[6] v Mississippi State[3] 6:30 pm

Clemson[7] v Virginia[2] 3:30 pm

The two USTA Pro Circuit events this week are both men's events, with another M15 in Florida, this one in Sunrise, and an ATP Challenger 50 in Baton Rouge Louisiana.

After losing to eventual finalist Borna Gojo(Wake Forest) of Croatia 6-0, 6-0 in the first round last week in Cleveland in his Challenger main draw debut, University of Virginia signee Jack Kennedy picked up his first Challenger victory today, beating Antoine Ghibaudo(Kentucky) of France 6-4, 6-4.

In a Wednesday first round match in Sunrise, wild card Gavin Goode and Andy Johnson will play for the fourth time, with Johnson holding a 2-1 edge in their head-to-head on the ITF Junior Circuit.

Upstart Ohio State Faces Defending Champion Georgia in Tuesday's ITA Women's Division I Team Indoor Final; Four More ITF Junior Circuit Titles Last Week for Americans

There will be a new face and a familiar face in Tuesday night's final of the ITA Division I Women's Team Indoor Championships after defending champion Georgia came from behind to beat Auburn and Ohio State earned the program's a first trip to a national final with a win over Texas A&M.

Georgia looked down and out against Auburn this afternoon in Evanston, but roared backed from a 3-1 deficit to beat top seed Auburn 4-3 to return to the final.

Georgia, the No. 2 seed, lost the doubles point and dropped five first sets in singles. But freshman Deniz Dilek, the only Bulldog to win a first set, closed out Angella Okutoyi at line 3 7-5, 6-1 to put her team on the board. Auburn built the lead to 3-1 with straight-sets wins by Ava Esposito at line 5 and Ashton Bowers at line 4, and the Tigers' Ekaterina Khayrutdinova served for her match with Aysegul Mert at 6-3, 5-4 at line 2. But Mert broke back, and with Georgia's Anastasiia Lopata at line 1 and Emma Dong at line 6 already having forced third sets, everything rode on Mert getting through her second set. Mert, who had lost to Khayrutdinova in two previous meetings, trailed 3-0 in the tiebreaker, but won seven of the next nine points to force a third.

The third sets of the remaining three matches were all close, 4-4 at 1, 3-3 at 2 and 4-3 at 6. But Dong got the break for a 5-3 lead at 6, after Eva Ionescu had been up 40-0 in the game and served it out to make it 3-2.

Lopata was up 5-4 on serve at 1 and Mert was up 4-3 serving at 2, after seven straight breaks to start the third set. She got the crucial hold and had four match points in Khayrutdinova's 3-5 service game, when Khayrutdinova's call was overturned by the ELC after a Mert challenge, making it 0-40. But Khayrutdinova wasn't rattled, winning the next four points with some aggressive play, forcing Mert to serve it out. 

Mert took a 40-0 lead, made an error on her first match point, but forced an error with a big forehand to send Georgia back to the championship match against Ohio State.

The Buckeyes, seeded No. 5, had to find four singles points after dropping the doubles point to the third-seeded Aggies, but they had proven capable of that in their 4-2 quarterfinal win over No. 1 seed North Carolina on Saturday. 

Texas A&M made it 2-0 with Lucciana Perez continuing her steamrolling of opponents, beating Luciana Perry 6-2, 6-1. Perry had played number 1 in the Buckeyes' first two matches, but coach Melissa Schaub moved Teah Chavez to 1, as well as switching the lineup at line 3 and 4 and lines 5 and 6. Those switches paid off handsomely, with Chavez putting Ohio State ahead with her straight-sets win over Mia Kupres, and Audrey Spencer at 6, Hephzibah Oluwadare at 5 and Nao Nishino at 4 following with straight-sets victories one right after the other to earn the 4-2 win. 

Ohio State had reached the ITA Team Indoor semifinals in 2016 and 2017, but this will be their first final. Georgia will be playing for its sixth Team Indoor Championship Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. Central.

Cracked Racquets will have coverage of the final at their YouTube channel.

Women's ITA Division I Team Indoor Semifinals February 9, 2026

Georgia[2] d. Auburn[1] 4-3
Doubles:
1. Deniz Dilek and Aysegul Mert(UGA) d. DJ Bennett and Stefani Webb(AUB) 6-2
2. Angella Okutoyi and Ava Esposito(AUB) d. Anastasiia Lopata and Patricija Paukstyte(UGA) 6-1
3. Ekaterina Khayrutdinva and Ashton Bowers(AUB) d. Emma Dong and Anastasiia Gureva(UGA) 7-5

Order of finish: 2, 1, 3

Singles:

1. Anastasiia Lopata(UGA) d. DJ Bennett(AUB) 1-6, 6-2, 6-4

2. Aysegul Mert(UGA) d. Ekaterina Khayrutdinova(AUB) 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-4

3. Deniz Dilek(UGA) d. Angella Okutoyi(AUB) 7-5, 6-1

4. Ashton Bowers(AUB) d. Anastasiia Gureva(UGA) 6-4, 6-3

5. Ava Esposito(AUB) d. Sofia Rojas(UGA) 6-4, 6-4

6. Emma Dong(UGA) d. Eva Ionescu(AUB) 3-6, 6-3, 6-3

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

Ohio State[5] d. Texas A&M[3] 4-2

Doubles:

1. Mia Kupres and Lucciana Perez(TAMU) d. Hephzibah Oluwadare and Teah Chavez(OSU) 6-3

2. Flora Johnson and Luciana Perry(OSU) v Violeta Martinez and Anna Perelman(TAMU) 5-4, dnf

3. Lexington Reed and Daria Smetannikov(TAMU) d. Sophia Cisse-Ignatiev and Audrey Spencer(OSU) 6-4

Order of finish: 1, 3

Singles:

1. Teah Chavez(OSU) d. Mia Kupres(TAMU) 6-2, 6-4

2. Lucciana Perez(TAMU) d. Luciana Perry(OSU) 6-2, 6-1

3. Lexington Reed(TAMU) v Sophia Cisse-Ignatiev(OSU) 7-5, 5-4 unf

4. Nao Nishino(OSU) d. Violeta Martinez(TAMU) 6-4, 6-2

5. Hephzibah Oluwadare(OSU) d. Daria Smetannikov(TAMU) 6-3, 6-4

6. Audrey Spencer(OSU) d. Anna Perelman(TAMU) 6-1, 6-4

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

======================================

In addition to the titles by Michael Antonius and Janae Preston at the ITF J300 in Ecuador,  which I covered in Saturday's post, six other Americans won titles on the ITF Pro Circuit.

At the J60 in Mexico, Chase Bowden won his first title on the ITF Junior Circuit, and is the first player I can recall claiming a title when they received entry based on their WTN ranking. Bowden, a 16-year-old from Florida, has competed in the Battle of Boca series of events there, which has doubtless assisted in building up his World Tennis Number ranking.  Bowden, obviously not seeded, defeated No. 2 seed Justin Riley Anson 7-5, 6-4 in an all-USA final.

In the girls doubles final, No. 7 seeds Enya Hamilton and Autumn Xu won their second ITF junior doubles title, beating No. 2 seeds Sofia Mills and Mexico's Maria Jose Gil Castillo 6-0, 6-3 in the final. 

At the J30 in Sri Lanka, Swanika Roy won her second straight title, this week as the top seed, after winning the week before as the No. 4 seed. The 16-year-old defeated No. 2 seed Yeon Joo Cha of Korea 6-3, 6-1 in the final.

At the J30 in Kenya, sisters Bi-Neh Awantang 15, and Mbongta Awantang 16, won their first ITF Pro Circuit title in doubles; after defeating the top seeds in the second round, the unseeded pair took the title when No. 3 seed Kudzai and Kuzivaishe Chapepa of Zimbabwe retired at 4-6, 5-3. 

There is another J300 in South America this week in Lima Peru, with Janae Preston the No. 3 seed. Other seeded US girls are Lani Chang[5] and Yael Saffar[6]. 

Michael Antonius is not making the switch from hard courts to clay, with the only seeded boy No. 5 Agassi Rusher, who qualified. Navneet Raghuram, who reached the semifinals last week in Ecudador, is also in the draw.

The top boys seed is Emilio Camacho of Ecuador, with Candela Vazquez of Argentina the top girls seed.

Smith Defends Cleveland Challenger Title; Day Wins W50 in Orlando; USA Shuts Out Hungary to Advance in Davis Cup; Zheng and Svajda Receive Dallas Open Wild Cards, TCU Pair Claim Doubles WC

Colton Smith returned to the scene of his first ATP Challenger title one year ago and emerged with his second Cleveland Open Challenger 75 title today. The 22-year-old former All-American was a senior at Arizona when he defeated Eliot Spizzirri(Texas) 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-3 in the 2025 final; now beginning his first full season as a professional, the No. 2 seed defeated former Wake Forest All-American Borna Gojo of Croatia 6-4, 7-5 in today's final, avenging his loss to Gojo in the Sioux Falls Challenger in October of 2024.

Smith, who saved a match point in his first round against Cannon Kingsley(Ohio State), moves up to 142 in the live rankings; his career high is 133.

At the USTA Pro Circuit W50 in Orlando, unseeded Kayla Day won her second title of the year, beating wild card Katrina Scott  6-4, 6-2 in today's final. Day, the 2016 USTA National 18s champion, is back into the WTA Top 200 with this title.

Ryan Colby(USC, Georgia) fell in the final of the M15 in Palm Coast Florida, with No. 2 seed Tommaso Compagnucci of Italy defeating Colby 6-3, 7-6(3).

At the W50 in Portugal, former North Carolina All-American Fiona Crawley won the biggest title of her career, with the No. 7 seed beating 18-year-old Elizara Yaneva of Bulgaria 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-4 in the final. Crawley is up to a career-high 202 in the WTA rankings.

The United States Davis Cup Team clinched a spot in September's second round of qualifying today in Hungary, with Christian Harrison and Austin Krajicek(Texas A&M) beating Zsombor Piros and Fabian Marozsan 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in the doubles to give the US the 3-0 win. Emilio Nava won the dead rubber over Matyas Fuel 6-2, 6-3 to make the final score 4-0.

The United States will play an away tie in the Czech Republic in September, after losing 3-2 to the Czech team in the second round of qualifying last September in Delray Beach.

The ATP 500 Nexo Dallas Open begins Monday, with four of the five players on the US Davis Cup team making the trip back from Europe to compete.

Christian Harrison, who won the Dallas title last year with Evan King, is playing with Neal Skupski(LSU) of Great Britain and the Australian Open doubles champions are the No. 2 seeds. Austin Krajicek is playing with Nikola Mektic of Croatia and they have drawn No. 1 seeds Marcel Granollers of Spain and Horacio Zeballos of Argentina. 

Tommy Paul, the No. 5 seed, plays Jenson Brooksby in the first round, while Ethan Quinn(Georgia) will play wild card Trevor Svajda.

Svajda, the 19-year-old junior at SMU, also received a Dallas Open wild card last year and played Quinn in the first round, falling 6-4, 6-2.

Another interesting rematch features wild card Michael Zheng,  the Columbia senior and two-time NCAA champion, and Sebastian Korda. Last month Zheng beat Korda in the first round of the Australian Open after getting through qualifying.

The third wild card went to Eliot Spizzirri, the former Texas star, whose profile was raised considerably after his second round loss to Jannik Sinner in Australia last month. Spizzirri will play James Duckworth of Australia in the first round.

The qualifying concluded today with Zachary Svajda, Rafael Jodar(Virginia) of Spain, Jack Pinnington Jones(TCU) of Great Britain and Sho Shimabukuro of Japan reaching the main draw. 

Svajda faces No. 3 seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain; Jodar plays defending champion Denis Shapovalov of Canada, the No. 7; Pinnington Jones faces No. 4 seed Flavio Cobolli of Italy and Shimabukuro plays Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia.

TCU's Duncan Chan and Cosme Rolland De Ravel won the Collegiate Doubles Wild Card Playoff and will compete in the main draw. They will face Constantin Frantzen(Baylor) of Germany and Robin Haase of the Netherlands in the first round.

I plan to be at the Dallas Open on Wednesday, as I am heading to that city for the ITA Men's Division I Team Indoor Championships, which begin Friday.

The four semifinalists at the ITA Women's Division I Team Indoor had the day off today as the Champaign semifinalists Ohio State and Texas A&M travel north to Northwestern. Georgia and Auburn will play at 3:30 pm Central time, followed by Ohio State and Texas A&M, not before 6:30 pm.

Cracked Racquets will be providing coverage on their YouTube channel.

Buckeye Women Take Down No.1 UNC, OSU Men Beat No.1 Virginia; Antonius and Preston Claim ITF J300 Titles in Ecuador; Smith Returns to Cleveland Challenger Final; Day vs Scott for W50 Orlando Title; Quinn Gives US Davis Cup Team 2-0 Lead in Hungary

Saturday was a good day to be an Ohio State tennis fan, with both the women and the men taking down the No. 1 teams in the country.

Although the North Carolina women were not technically No. 1 in the last coaches poll released, they were the No. 1 seeds in this weekend ITA Division I women's Team Indoor Championships, but their pedigree did not intimidate the fifth-seeded Buckeyes. 

After getting absolutely blitzed in doubles, Ohio State won five of six first sets in singles and closed out two of those matches to take a 2-1 lead. UNC's Tatum Evans finished her match in straight sets to tie it, and Ohio State closed out another straight sets win to go up 3-2. But Reese Brantmeier at line 1 and Thea Rabman at line 6 had won second sets to give North Carolina a chance for a memorable comeback. Rabman had trailed 4-1 in the second set before winning five straight games, so the momentum was definitely with the Tar Heels, but Hephzibah Oluwadare of Ohio State closed out her big lead in the third set, putting that second set behind her and clinching the upset.

Ohio State will play another surprise winner in Monday's semifinals, after No. 3 seed Texas A&M defeated No. 2 seed Oklahoma 4-2. 

The Northwestern site's quarterfinals went as seeded, with No. 1 Auburn beating NC State 4-1 and No. 2 seed Georgia shutting out No. 3 seed LSU.

ITA Women's Division I Team Indoor Quarterfinals, February 7, 2026

Illinois Site:

Texas A&M[3] d. Oklahoma[2] 4-2

Doubles:
1. Mia Kupres and Lucciana Perez(TAMU) d. Roisin Gilheany and Evialina Laskevich(OKLA) 7-5
2. Salakthip Ounman and Julia Garcia Ruiz(OKLA) d. Anna Perelman and Violeta Martinez(TAMU) 7-5
3. Laura Brunkel and Oyiniomo Quadre(OKLA) d. Daria Smetannikov and Lexington Reed(TAMU) 6-2

Order of finish: 3, 1, 2

Singles:

1. Evialina Laskevich(OKLA) v Mia Kupres(TAMU) 3-6, 6-2, 4-3, unf

2. Lucciana Perez(TAMU) d. Julia Garcia Ruiz(OKLA) 6-3, 6-4

3. Lexington Reed(TAMU) d. Chloe Noel(OKLA) 6-3, 6-3

4. Edda Mamedova(OKLA) d. Violeta Martinez(TAMU) 7-6(4), 6-3

5. Daria Smetannikov(TAMU) d. Salakthip Ounmang(OKLA) 6-1, 6-3

6. Anna Perelman(TAMU) d. Oyinlomo Quadre(OKLA) 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 

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

Ohio State[5] d. North Carolina[1] 4-2

Doubles:

1. Ange Oby Kajuru and Susanna Maltby(UNC) d. Hephzibah Oluwadare and Teah Chavez(OSU) 6-2

2. Alanis Hamilton and Reese Brantmeier(UNC) d. Luciana Perry and Floria Johnson(OSU) 6-2

3. Tatum Evans and Anna Frey(UNC) v Sophia Cisse-Ignatiev and Audrey Spencer(OSU) 4-4, dnf

Order of finish: 1, 2

Singles:

1. Reese Brantmeier(UNC) v Luciana Perry(OSU) 3-6, 7-5, 4-5, unf

2. Teah Chavez(OSU) d. Ange Oby Kajuru(UNC) 6-3, 6-2

3. Tatum Evans(UNC) d. Nao Nishino(OSU) 6-4, 6-3

4. Sophia Cisse-Ignatiev(OSU) d. Anna Frey(UNC) 7-6(4), 6-1

5. Audrey Spencer(OSU) d. Alanis Hamilton(UNC) 7-5, 6-3

6. Hephzibah Oluwadare(OSU) d. Thea Rabman(UNC) 6-1, 4-6, 6-1

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

Northwestern site:

Georgia[2] d. LSU[3] 4-0

Doubles:

1. Deniz Dilek and Aysegul Mert(UGA) d. Kenna Erickson and Ella McDonald(LSU) 6-2

2. Anastasiia Lopata and Patricija Paukstyte(UGA) d. Cadence Brace and Addison Lanton(LSU) 6-1

3. Anastasiia Gureva and Emma Dong(UGA) v Carolina Kuhl and Alexia Marginean(LSU) 5-2, unf

Order of finish: 2, 1

Singles:

1. Cadence Brace[LSU} v Aysegul Mert(UGA) 6-1, 5-4, unf

2. Ella McDonald(LSU) v Anastasiia Lopata(UGA) 6-1, 4-6 1-0, unf

3. Deniz Dilek(UGA) d. Carolina Kuhl(LSU) 6-3, 7-5

4. Anastasiia Gureva(UGA) d. Florentine Dekkers(LSU) 6-0, 6-0

5. Emma Dong(UGA) v Addison Lanton(LSU) 6-3, 1-6, unf

6. Sofia Rojas(UGA) d. Kenna Erickson(LSU) 6-0, 6-2

Order of finish: 4, 6, 3

Auburn[1] d. NC State[5] 4-1

Doubles:

1. Gabriella Broadfoot and Victoria Osuigwe(NCST) d. Stefani Webb and DJ Bennett(AUB) 6-0

2. Angella Okutoyi and Ava Esposito(AUB) d. Jasmine Conway and Anna Zyryanova(NCST) 6-4 

3. Ekaterina Khayrutdinova and Ashton Bowers(AUB) v Mia Slama and Lavinia Tanasie(NCST) 6-4

Order of finish: 1, 2, 3

Singles:

1. DJ Bennett(AUB) d. Mia Slama(NCST) 6-2, 6-4

2. Gabriella Broadfoot(NCST) v Ekaterina Khayrutdinova(AUB) 2-6, 6-1, 4-3, unf

3. Angella Okutoyi(AUB) v Anna Zyryanova(NCST) 6-4, 4-6, unf

4. Ashton Bowers(AUB) d. Victoria Osuigwe(NCST) 6-4, 6-2

5. Lavinia Tanasie(NCST) d. Eva Ionescu(AUB) 6-3, 6-3

6. Ava Esposito(AUB) d. Jasmine Conway(NCST) 6-4, 6-4

Order of finish: 6, 1, 5, 4

In Columbus, the Ohio State men, No. 2 in the recent coaches poll, defeated No. 1 Virginia 5-2, although the match was 4-1 at the clinch. Ohio State won the doubles point and got wins from Alex Bernard at line 5, Loren Byers at line 6 and the clinch from Preston Stearns at 2. Virginia got its points from freshman Andres Santamarta at line 3 and Dylan Dietrich at 1, with Bryce Nakashima getting the Buckeyes' fifth point at line 4.

Ohio State has now beaten No. 1 Wake Forest and No. 1 Virginia, so I expect that they will be the top seeds at next week's Men's Team Indoor in Texas. Both Virginia and Ohio State will be at the SMU site, with Wake Forest at the Baylor site for the first two rounds.

For the complete box score, see this article from ohiostatebuckeyes.com.

Janae Preston and Michael Antonius have gotten off to great starts this, with the pair, both born in 2010, picking up their second ITF J300 titles of the year today in Salinas Ecuador.

Preston, who doesn't turn 16 until August, defeated Sarah Ye, playing in her first J300 final, 6-1, 6-1 in the all-USA final. Preston, who did not lose more than three games in any set this week, now has a 10-match winning streak at J300s, after winning the Coffee Bowl in Costa Rica two weeks ago.

As impressive as Preston has been, Antonius has gone undefeated in 2026, winning both singles and doubles last week at the J300 in Colombia and this week in Ecuador. Antonius, who turned 16 last month, defeated Ecuador's Lucas Yunez 6-0, 6-3 in the final for his tenth consecutive singles victory. With his eight doubles wins, Antonius is 18-0 so far this year.

At the ATP Challenger 75 in Cleveland, No. 2 seed Colton Smith(Arizona) will defend his title against unseeded Borna Gojo of Croatia. Smith defeated Keegan Smith(UCLA) 7-6(4), 6-1 in today's semifinal, with Gojo beating qualifier Joshua Sheehy(Abilene Christian), who was playing in his first Challenger semifinal at age 29, 6-3, 7-6(8).

The unseeded team of Cannon Kingsley(Ohio State) and Jody Maginley(Northern Kentucky) won the doubles title, beating No. 2 seeds George Goldhoff(Texas) and Colum Puttergill of Australia 6-3, 6-4 in today's final.

The final of the USTA Pro Circuit M50 in Orlando will feature two unseeded Americans with Kayla Day taking on wild card Katrina Scott. Day defeated fellow left-hander Kayla Cross(LSU) of Canada, the No. 5 seed, 6-4, 6-4. Scott breezed past qualifier Eryn Cayetano(USC) 6-0, 6-1.

Lia Karatancheva of Bulgaria and Anita Sahdiieva(Baylor, LSU) of Ukraine won the doubles title, with the No. 4 seeds defeating the unseeded team of Thaisa Pedretti of Brazil and Noelia Zeballos Melgar of Bolivia 6-3, 6-4 in the final.

At the M15 in Palm Coast Florida, Ryan Colby(USC, Georgia), who won his first Pro Circuit title in November, will play for his second Sunday. The unseeded 22-year-old will face No. 2 seed Tommaso Compagnucci of Italy in the final. Colby defeated unseeded Joao Vitor Goncalves Ceolin of Brazil 6-4, 6-2, while Compagnucci beat unseeded Fermin Tenti 6-3, 7-6(4).

The doubles title went to No 2 seeds Tenti and Ignacio Monzon of Argentina, who beat top seeds Compagnucci and Argentina's Manuel Mouilleron Salvo 7-6(4), 6-4. 

At a Davis Cup First Round Qualifying match in Hungary, the US team took a 2-0 lead, with Tommy Paul winning the first singles match over Zsombor Piros 7-6(3), 6-3 and Ethan Quinn(Georgia) saving four match points in the final set tiebreaker to beat Fabian Marozsan 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(11).

Christian Harrison and Austin Krajicek(Texas A&M) will attempt to close it out Sunday morning when they play Piros and Marozsan in the doubles match. 

Top Seeds Auburn and North Carolina Cruise into Women's Team Indoor Quarterfinals; All-USA Girls Final, Antonius Goes for Two Straight at ITF J300 Ecuador; Cayetano Reaches First M50 Semifinal in Orlando; Damm into ATP 250 Semifinal

The top two seeds had no trouble with the hosts today as both North Carolina and Auburn picked up 4-0 wins in the first round of the ITA Division I Women's Team Indoor Championships in Champaign and Evanston Illinois. 

The two matches between the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds are going on now, but I'm going to post with the results of the first six matches and add those singles results in a couple of hours. Only one of the six completed matches went the distance, with No. 2 seed Oklahoma beating No. 7 seed Texas 4-3, with the match decided at line 6, with the score 6-4 in the third.

The quarterfinals are set for noon and 3:30 p.m. Central time Saturday. Cracked Racquets will have coverage via two separate feeds, one for each location, at their YouTube Channel.

ITA Division I Women's Team Indoor Championships

Round of 16 results, February 6, 2025

Northwestern site:

LSU[3] d. Tennessee[6] 4-0

Doubles:

1. Kenna Erickson and Ella McDonald(LSU) d. Catherine Aulia and Leyla Britez Risso(TENN) 6-4

2. Vanesa Suarez and Francesca Mattioli(TENN) d. Cadence Brace and Addison Lanton(LSU) 6-4

3. Alexia Marginean and Carolina Kuhl(LSU) d. Saray Yli-Piipari and Maeve Thornton(TENN) 7-6(3)

Order of finish: 1, 2, 3

Singles:

1. Cadence Brace(LSU) d. Vanesa Suarez(TENN) 6-2, 6-1

2. Ella McDonald(LSU) v Leyla Britez Risso(TENN) 7-5, 5-3, dnf

3. Carolina Kuhl(LSU) d. Catherine Aulia(TENN) 6-4, 6-3

4. Addison Lanton(LSU) d. Francesca Mattioli(TENN) 6-0, 6-1

5. Florentine Dekkers(LSU) v Sara Yli-Piipari(TENN) 7-6(2) 5-1, dnf

6. Elim Yan(TENN) v Kenna Erickson(LSU) 6-0, 2-6, 3-2, dnf

Order of finish: 4, 1, 3

Georgia[2] d. Virginia[7] 4-1

Doubles:

1. Deniz Dilek and Aysegul Mert(UGA) d. Melodie Collard and Vivian Yang(UVA) 6-4

2. Martina Genis Salas and Annabelle Xu(UVA) d. Anastasiia Lopata and Patricija Paukstyte(UGA) 6-3

3. Emma Dong and Anastasiia Gureva(UGA) d. Katie Rolls and Isabelle Lacy(UVA) 6-1

Order of finish: 3, 2, 1

Singles:

1. Vivian Yang(UVA) v Anastasiia Lopata(UGA) 6-4, 5-6, dnf

2. Annabelle Xu(UVA) v Aysegul Mert(UGA) 6-4, 3-6, dnf

3. Isabelle Lacy(UVA) d. Deniz Dilek(UGA) 6-3, 3-6, 6-1

4. Anatastasiia Gureva(UGA) d. Martina Genis Salas(UVA) 6-3, 7-6(2)

5. Sofia Rojas(UGA) d. Melodie Collard(UVA) 6-2, 2-6, 6-3

6. Emma Dong(UGA) d. Katie Rolls(UVA) 6-3, 6-3

Order of finish: 6, 4, 3, 5

Auburn[1] d. Northwestern[8] 4-0

Doubles:

1. DJ Bennett and Stefani Webb(AUB) d. Mika Dagan Fruchtman and Neena Feldman(NU) 6-2

2. Margot Phanthala and Erica Jessel(NU) d. Angella Okutoyi and Merna Refaat(AUB) 3-2, ret.

3. Ekaterina Khayrutdinova and Ashton Bowers(AUB) d. Marelie Raath and Maia Loureiro(NU) 6-2

Order of finish: 2, 3, 1

Singles:

1. DJ Bennett(AUB) v Margot Phanthala(NU) 6-3, 6-4

2. Ekaterina Khayrutdinova(AUB) d. Neena Feldman(NU) 6-2, 6-2

3. Autumn Rabjohns(NU) v Angella Okutoyi(AUB) 7-4, 3-6, unf

4. Ashton Bowers(AUB) v. Maia Loureiro(NU) 7-6(2), 2-5 unf

5. Ava Esposito(AUB) v Marelie Raath(NU) 7-6(3), 4-2, unf

6. Alice Battesti(AUB) d. Mika Dagan Fruchtman(NU) 6-1, 6-3

Order of finish: 2, 6, 1

NC State[5] d. Oklahoma State[4] 4-3

Doubles:

1. Rose Marie Nijkamp and Anastasiya Komar(OKST) d. Gabriella Broadfoot and Victoria Osuigwe(NCST) 6-2

2. Olivia Lincer and Marcela Lopez(OKST) d. Anna Zyryanova and Jasmine Conway(NCST) 6-3

3. Luca Udvardy and Lucia Peyre(OKST) v Mia Slama and Lavinia Tanasie(NCST) 5-4, unf

Order of finish: 1, 2

Singles:

Singles:

1. Olivia Lincer(OKST) d.  Gabriella Broadfoot(NCST) 6-1, 6-2

2. Mia Slama(NCST) d. Anastasia Komar(OKST) 6-1, 6-7(5), 6-4

3. Anna Zyryanova(NCST) d. Rose Marie Nijkamp(OKST) 7-6(3), 6-3

4. Lucia Peyre(OKST) d. Lavinia Tanasie(NCST) 6-2, 6-2

5. Victoria Osuigwe(NCST) d. Luca Udvardy(OKST) 7-6(7), 7-6(1)

6. Jasmine Conway(NCST) d. Marcela Lopez(OKST) 6-3, 6-4

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

Illinois site:

Texas A&M[3] d. Vanderbilt[6] 4-2

Doubles:

1. Lucciana Perez and Mia Kupres(TAMU) d. Sophia Webster and Celia-Belle Mohr(VAND) 6-4

2. Bridget Stammel and Valeria Ray(VAND) d. Violeta Martinez and Anna Perelman(TAMU) 6-4

3. Lexington Reed and Daria Smetannikov(TAMU) d. Erin Pearce and Mia Ramakita(VAND) 6-4

Order of finish: 1, 2, 3

Singles:

1. Mia Kupres(TAMU) d. Celia-Belle Mohr(VAND) 5-7, 6-4, 6-1

2. Lucciana Perez(TAMU) d. Valeria Ray(VAND) 6-1, 6-1

3. Bridget Stammel(VAND) d. Lexington Reed(TAMU) 6-2, 6-4

4. Violeta Martinez(TAMU) d. Mia Yamakita(VAND) 7-5, 6-3

5. Trinetra Vijayakumar(VAND) v Daria Smetannikov(TAMU) 6-7(6), 7-5, unf.

6. Erin Pearce(VAND) d. Tilde Stromquist(TAMU) 6-2, 6-2

Order of finish:

2, 6, 3, 4, 1

Oklahoma[2] d. Texas[7] 4-3

Doubles:

1. Ariana Pursoo and Anastasia Abbagnato(TEX) d. Evialina Laskevich and Roisin Gilheany(OKLA) 6-2

2. Julie Garcia Ruiz and Salakthip Ounmang(OKLA) d. Christasha McNeil and Salma Drugdova(TEX) 6-2

3. Laura Brunkel and Oyiniomo Quadre(OKLA) d. Elizabeth Ionescu and Carmen Herea(TEX) 6-2

Order of finish: 1, 3, 2

Singles:

1. Carmen Herea(TEX) d. Evialina Laskevich(OKLA) 0-6, 6-4, 6-3

2. Anastasia Abbagnato(TEX) d. Julia Garcia Ruiz(OKLA) 6-4, 6-2

3, Christasha McNeil(TEX) d. Chloe Noel(OKLA) 2-6, 6-1, 6-4

4. Edda Mamedova(OKLA) d. Eszter Meri(TEX) 6-0, 6-0

5. Salakthip Ounmang(OKLA) d. Ariana Pursoo(TEX) 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-0

6. Laura Brunkel(OKLA) d. Elizabeth Ionescu(TEX) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4

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

North Carolina[1] d. Illinois[8] 4-0

Doubles:

1. Ange Oby Kajuru and Susanna Maltby(UNC) v. Tess Bucher and Alice Xu(ILL) 5-2, unf

2. Alanis Hamilton and Reese Brantmeier(UNC) d. McKenna Schaefbauer and Kimiko Cooper(ILL) 6-1

3. Tatum Evans and Anna Frey(UNC) d. Ariel Madatali and Cara Mester(ILL) 6-1

Order of finish: 2, 3

Singles:

1. Reese Brantmeier(UNC)  d. McKenna Schaefbauer(ILL) 6-2, 6-3 

2. Ange Oby Kajuru(UNC) v Kimiko Cooper(ILL) 7-6(5), 2-2, unf

3. Tatum Evans(UNC) d. Ariel Madatali(ILL) 6-3, 6-0

4. Anna Frey(UNC) d. Tess Bucher(ILL) 6-0, 6-1

5. Alanis Hamilton(UNC) v Alice Xu(ILL) 6-3, 3-2, unf

6. Theadora Rabman(UNC) d. Elizabeth Isyanov(ILL) 6-4, 1-2, unf 

Order of finish: 4, 3, 1

Ohio State[5] d. Duke[4] 4-2

Doubles:

1. Liv Hovde and Shavit Kimchi(DUKE) d. Hephzibah Oluwadare and Teah Chavez(OSU) 7-6(2)

2. Flora Johnson and Luciana Perry(OSU) d. Eleana Yu and Claire An(DUKE) 6-0 

3. Sophia Cisse-Ignatiev and Audrey Spencer(OSU) d. Aspen Schuman and Irina Balus(DUKE) 7-5

Order of finish: 2, 1, 3

Singles:

1. Luciana Perry(OSU) d. Irina Balus(DUKE) 6-4, 1-6, 6-3

2. Teah Chavez(OSU) d. Liv Hovde(DUKE) 6-0, 2-6, 6-4

3. Aspen Schuman(DUKE) d. Nao Nishino(OSU) 6-2, 2-6, 6-4

4. Audrey Spencer(OSU) d. Eleana Yu(DUKE) 6-3, 4-6, 6-0

5. Hephzibah Oluwadare(OSU) v Shavit Kimchi(DUKE) 4-6, 7-6(5), 3-3 unf

6. Claire An(DUKE) d.  Flora Johnson(OSU) 6-2, 6-2

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

The girls singles final at the ITF J300 in Salinas Ecuador will feature two Americans, with No. 3 seed Janae Preston looking for her second title at that level this year, while No. 7 seed Sarah Ye will be playing for her first.

The 15-year-old Preston, who won the title at the Coffee Bowl in Costa Rica last month, defeated No. 6 seed Yael Saffar 6-2, 6-0 in the semifinals today and hasn't lost a set this week. She will play 16-year-old Sarah Ye, who defeated Sona Depesova of Slovakia 6-3, 6-1.  Ye made the quarterfinals of the J500 Orange Bowl as a qualifier in December, but in J300s, reaching the semifinals was a first for her.  Ye and Preston met in the semifinals of a J60 back in October of 2024, with Preston winning that 3-6, 6-0, 6-1.

Boys top seed Michael Antonius will play for his second straight ITF J300 title Saturday, after he defeated No. 3 seed Xavier Massotte of Canada 6-3, 6-1, repeating his semifinal win over Massotte at last week's J300 in Colombia.

The 16-year-old from Buffalo New York will play No. 8 seed Lucas Yunez of Ecuador, who derailed a second all-USA singles final with a 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over Navneet Raghuram.

Antonius and his partner Takahiro Kawaguchi of Japan won their second consecutive doubles title, with the No. 2 seeds beating top seeds Massotte and Mathys Domenc of France 6-3, 6-4.

Top seeds Marianne Angel of Mexico and Sofia Meabe of Argentina won the girls doubles title, beating No. 4 seed Fleur De Bresser of the Netherlands and Pietra Rivoli of Brazil 5-7, 7-5, 10-7 in the final. 

At the USTA Pro Circuit W50 in Orlando, qualifier Eryn Cayetano has reached her first semifinal above the W15 level, with the former USC All-American defeating qualifier Haley Giavara(Cal) 6-4, 6-2 in today's quarterfinals. The 24-year-old Cayetano, who has won six W15 titles, will play wild card Katrina Scott, who beat qualfier Martina Capurro Taborda(Oklahoma) of Argentina 6-2, 4-6, 6-0.

In the top half semifinal, No. 5 seed Kayla Cross(LSU) of Canada will face Kayla Day after Cross defeated qualifier Sofia Cabezas(Iowa State, Tennessee) of Venezuela 7-5, 6-3 and Day outlasted No. 7 seed Mary Stoiana(Texas A&M) 6-3, 0-6, 7-6(4).

Ryan Colby(USC, Georgia) is the only American remaining at the M15 in Palm Coast Florida. He defeated Aleksa Ciric(Georgia Gwinnett) of Serbia 7-5, 7-5 and will play unseeded Joao Vitor Goncalves Ceolin of Brazil, who beat top seed Andrew Fenty(Michigan) 6-2, 7-5.

The run of 16-year-old qualifier Jerrid Gaines Jr came to an end with a 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 losse to Fermin Tenti of Argentina. Tenti faces No. 2 seed Tommaso Campagnucci of Italy in the semifinals.

Martin Damm has been healthy for close to a year now, and the 22-year-old's steadily improving ATP ranking allowed him to compete in the Australian Open qualifying this year, where he reached the main draw. This week, after qualifying at the ATP 250 in Montpelier France, the 2018 Kalamazoo 16s champion has picked up wins over veterans Hubert Hurkacz of Poland and Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain to reach his first ATP quarterfinal, and he beat Luca Nardi of Italy 6-3, 7-6(8) today. Damm will play Adrian Mannarino of France in the semifinals Saturday.

Five Americans Advance to Semifinals of ITF J300 Ecuador; Gaines Reaches Palm Coast M15 Quarterfinals; Four Qualifiers Advance at Orlando W50, Seven Americans Reach Cleveland Challenger Quarterfinals; UTR Pro Tennis Tour Update

The semifinals are set at the ITF J300 in Salinas Ecuador, with three US girls and two US boys still in contention for the singles titles.

Top seed Michael Antonius, who swept the titles last week at the J300 in Colombia, defeated qualifier Koki Nara of Japan 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 in today's quarterfinals. For the second week in a row, he will play Canadian Xavier Massotte, the No. 3 seed, in the semifinals. Massotte, who lost 6-3, 6-0 to Antonius last week, beat Christopher Thies of Germany 6-4, 7-5. Unseeded Navneet Raghuram advanced to his first J300 semifinal with a 1-6, 6-0, 6-4 win over Takahiro Kawaguchi of Japan. He will play No. 8 seed Lucas Yunez of Ecuador, who defeated No. 2 seed Mathys Domenc of France 7-6(6), 6-1.

No. 6 seed Yael Saffar defeated No. 2 seed Pietra Rivoli of Brazil 6-3, 6-1 and will face No. 3 seed Janae Preston, who eliminated Lani Chang 6-3, 6-2. Preston, who won the ITF J300 title in Costa Rica two weeks ago, did not play the Colombia J300 last week.

The player preventing a second all-USA semifinal is Sona Depesova of Slovakia, who beat qualifier Kathryn Cragg 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(5). She will play No. 7 seed Sarah Ye, who beat Daniella Britton of Great Britain 7-5, 6-4.

Antonius and Kawaguchi, the No. 2 seeds, will play for their second straight doubles title on Friday.

After getting his first ATP point with a win yesterday, 16-year-old Jerrid Gaines Jr didn't stop there, advancing to Friday's quarterfinals with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Charles Bertimon(VCU) of France at the M15 in Palm Coast Florida. He will play unseeded Fermin Tenti of Argentina next.

Andy Johnson lost to No. 5 seed Ignacio Monzon of Argentina 6-2, 6-1. Top seed Andrew Fenty(Michigan) and Ryan Colby(USC, Georgia) are the two Americans, in addition to Gaines, in the quarterfinals.

At the W50 in Orlando, there are four qualifiers and just two seeds remaining after today's second round. Qualifier Sofia Cabezas(Iowa State, Tennessee) defeated Stanford freshman Monika Ekstrand 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 and will play LSU sophomore Kayla Cross of Canada, the No. 5 seed. Cross will obviously not be in Chicago for her team's first round match against Tennessee, who will also not have recently announced addition Katrina Scott. Scott defeated fellow wild card Lea Ma(Georgia) 6-3, 7-5 to advance to the quarterfinals. She will play qualifier Martina Capurro Taborda(Oklahoma) of Argentina.

Former USC All-American Eryn Cayetano defeated No. 2 seed Maria Carle(Georgia) of Argentina 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 and will face former Cal All-American Haley Giavara, who beat qualifier Ena Koike of Japan 7-5, 6-2.

The other quarterfinal is also between two Americans, with No. 7 seed Mary Stoiana(Texas A&M) playing Kayla Day.

Seven of the eight quarterfinalists at the ATP Challenger 75 in Cleveland Ohio are Americans, including three qualifiers.

Daniel Milavsky(Harvard) will face qualifier Joshua Sheehy(Abilene Christian), who will be competing in his first Challenger quarterfinal.

Borno Gojo(Wake Forest) of Croatia will play qualifier Quinn Vandecasteele(Oregon) and No. 7 seed Stefan Kozlov faces Keegan Smith(UCLA).

Defending champion Colton Smith(Arizona), the No. 2 seed, will face qualifier Stefan Dostanic(USC, Wake Forest). The two met last year in the second round of the Cleveland Challenger, with Smith winning 6-4, 6-4. Smith saved a match point in his 3-6, 7-6(6), 6-4 first round victory over Cannon Kingsley(Ohio State).

The first month of the UTR Pro Tennis Tour is in the books, with the results from the tournaments in the United States below. Prize money is $20,000 for events without an asterisk.

MEN:

December 27 Knoxville TN
Aleksa Ciric d. Asahi Harazaki 2-6, 7-6(5), 6-4

December 27 Newport Beach CA
did not finish due to weather

December 29 Waco TX
Cooper Woestendick d. Chad Kissell 6-3, 6-3

January 4 Athens GA

Noah Johnston d. Sacha Palta 7-5, 7-6(4)

January 5 Newport Beach CA

Maciej Rajski d. Hugo Hashimoto 6-2, 6-4

January 5 South Bend IN

Sebastian Dominko d. Perry Gregg 7-6(2), 3-6, 7-5

*January 12 Stillwater OK

Nicolas Kobelt d. Charlie Valentine 6-3, 4-6, 6-2

*January 12 Philadelphia PA

Aram Noroozian d. Benjamin George 6-4, 6-3

January 12 Chapel Hill NC

Roan Jones d. Ian Mayew 5-7, 7-6(7), 6-2

January 19 Bonita Springs FL

Tomas Compagnucci d. Joao Vitor Goncalves Ceolin 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(4)

January 19 Newport Beach CA

Maciej Rajski d. Rishvanth Krishna 6-3, 6-0

January 26 Newport Beach CA

Hugo Hashimoto d. George Hakopian 6-0, 3-0 ret.

*12.5K Prize Money

WOMEN:

December 27 Newport Beach CA

Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer v Hanna Chang DNF

December 28 Boca Raton FL

Ekaterina Khayrutdinova d. Ema Burgic 6-1, ret.

December 29 Waco TX

Dalayna Hewitt d. Alina Shcherbinina 6-0, 6-3

January 5 Athens GA

Aysegul Mert d. Deniz Dilek 6-3, 6-4

January 5 Newport Beach CA

Hanna Chang d. Veronika Miroshnichenko 7-5, 6-2

January 5 South Bend IN

Bianca Molnar d. Ellie Coleman 6-4, 4-6, 6-4

*January 12 Stillwater OK

Alina Shcherbinina d. Martina Okalova 4-6, 6-4, 6-0

January 12 Boca Raton FL

Katerina Mandelikova d. Victoria Bervid 6-1, 6-2

January 19 Newport Beach CA

Veronika Miroshnichenko d. Shakhnoza Khatamova 6-0, 6-3

*January 26 Bonita Springs FL

Najah Dawson d. Emma Jackson 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(4)

January 26 Newport Beach CA

Veronika Miroshnichenko d. Sofia Johnson 6-0, 2-6, 6-3

*12.5K Prize Money

January Aces; Cragg Upsets No. 1 Seed in ITF J300 Ecuador; Virginia Men Move to Top Spot in Coaches Poll, New No. 1 in D-I Men's Singles; Gaines Earns First ATP Point in Palm Coast; Ekstrand Ousts Top Seed Osuigwe in Orlando

My column for the Tennis Recruiting Network featuring the top performances of the previous month is now available for January, featuring titles won by current and former collegians and juniors. The Australian Open and Les Petits As are always at the heart of the first month of the year, and 2026 is no exception, but Challenger-level titles and expertise in both singles and doubles are also highlighted.

At the ITF J300 in Salinas Ecuador, qualifier Kathryn Cragg defeated top seed Sofia Meabe of Argentina 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 to reach the quarterfinals.  Cragg, 14, also qualified for last week's J300 in Colombia and also played the top seed in the second round, but she lost to Welles Newman 6-3, 6-0. 

Cragg is one of five US girls in the quarterfinals, with No. 7 seed Sarah Ye, No. 3 seed Janae Preston, who plays Lani Chang and No. 6 seed Yael Saffar, who plays No. 2 seed Pietra Rivoli of Brazil. Rivoli beat last week's J300 Colombia champion Olivia Traynor 6-3, 7-6(3), in the first round.

Unseeded Navneet Raghuram beat No. 4 seed Dan Brand 6-1, 6-1 to reach the quarterfinals. Top seed Michael Antonius's second round score has not been posted. 

The ITA's first Division I singles and doubles rankings since last November were published today, and there is a new man at the top, with SMU's Trevor Svajda taking over the top spot from Columbia's Michael Zheng. Zheng, of course, is the two-time NCAA singles champion, beating Svajda in November's final, but Zheng has not played collegiately as much before and since that title, so Svajda moved up.

There is also a new No. 1 in the men's team rankings, with Virginia taking over from Wake Forest at the top spot after the Demon Deacons' loss to Ohio State last weekend. The Buckeyes move up to two, receiving five first place votes to Virginia's seven. Click on the headings to see the full lists.

Men's Division I Team Coaches Poll February 4, 2026

(first place votes in bracket, last week's ranking in parentheses)

1. Virginia[7] (2)
2. Ohio State[5] (6)
3. Wake Forest[1] (1)
4. Stanford (3)
5. TCU (4)
6. Mississippi State (7)
7. Texas (5)
8. Texas A&M (8)
9. Central Florida (9)
10. Oklahoma (13)

Men's Division I singles Top 10

1. Trevor Svajda, SMU

2. Dylan Dietrich, Virginia

3. Michael Zheng, Columbia

4. Jay Friend, Arizona

5. Duncan Chan, TCU

6. Petar Jovanovic, Mississippi State

7. Paul Inchauspe, Princeton

8. Max Dahlin, Michigan

9. Matthew Forbes, Michigan State

10. Sebastian Gorzny, Texas

Men's Division I doubles Top 5

1. Brandon Carpico and Nikita Filin, Ohio State

2. Mans Dahlberg and Dylan Dietrich, Virginia

3. DK Suresh and Andrew Delgado, Wake Forest

4. Manfredi Graziani and Aaron Sandler, Penn

5. Max Dahlin and Bjorn Swenson, Michigan

While both of the men's No. 1 spots went to the NCAA finalists, with the champions at No. 2, Reese Brantmeier of North Carolina bucked that trend in women's singles by holding on to her No. 1 ranking. NCAA women's doubles champions Tori Osuigwe and Gabby Broadfoot of NC State are No. 2 behind NCAA semifinalists Roisin Gilheany and Gloriana Nahum of Oklahoma.

Women's Division I singles Top 10

1. Reese Brantmeier, North Carolina

2. Carmen Herea, Texas

3. Luciana Perry, Ohio State

4. Aysegul Mert, Georgia

5. Valerie Glozman, Stanford

6. Savannah Dada-Mascoll, Appalachian State

7. Ange Oby Kajuru, North Carolina

8. Emily Welker, Ole Miss

9. Piper Charney, Michigan

10. Berta Passola Folch, Cal

Women's Division I doubles Top 5

1. Roisin Gilheany and Gloriana Nahum, Oklahoma

2. Gabriella Broadfoot and Victoria Osuigwe, NC State

3. Sophia Webster and Celia-Belle Mohr, Vanderbilt

4. Melodie Collard and Vivian Yang, Virginia

5. Ange Oby Kajuru and Susanna Maltby, North Carolina

On the USTA Pro Circuit today, 16-year-old Jerrid Gaines Jr earned his first ATP point, beating former Ole Miss standout John Hallquist Lithen of Sweden, the No. 8 seed, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 at the M15 in Palm Coast Florida.  Gaines, a qualifier this week, had qualified for two M15s previously, one in November and last week in Naples, but this is his first main draw victory. Sixteen-year-old Andy Johnson also reached the second round, beating Fernando Cavallo of Argentina 6-2, 6-1.

At the W50 in Orlando, 18-year-old Stanford freshman Monika Ekstrand, a wild card, defeated top seed Whitney Osuigwe 7-6(5), 7-6(4) in two and a half hours. Osuigwe is 152 in the WTA rankings; Ekstrand is ranked 355. Half of the seeds are out in Orlando after one round of competition.

North Carolina, Auburn Top Seeds for ITA Women's D-I Team Indoor Championships; Davidov, Stoot and Gaines Qualify at M15 Palm Coast; W50 Underway in Orlando; Martin Upsets Top Seed at Cleveland Challenger

The seeds and draw for the ITA Women's Division I Team Indoor Championships are out, with North Carolina and Auburn the top seeds at the two sites. On Friday there will be four matches at each site, with North Carolina at the top of draw in Campaign and Auburn at the top of the draw in Chicago. 

After the first two rounds, the two semifinalists emerging from the University of Illinois site will take Sunday off to relocate to the Northwestern venue, with the semifinals scheduled for Monday and the final for Tuesday evening.

The complete schedule for the five days can be found here.

Women's Team Indoor first round matches and times:
(all times Central)

Illinois site( 1st and 2nd rounds)

Friday February 6
North Carolina[1] v Illinois[8] 3:30 pm
Duke[4] v Ohio State[5] 6:30 pm

Vanderbilt[6] v Texas A&M[3] 9:00 am
Texas[7] v Oklahoma[2] noon

Northwestern site (1st and 2nd rounds, semis and finals)

Friday February 6
Auburn[1] v Northwestern[8] 3:30 pm
Oklahoma State[4] v NC State[5] 6:30 pm

Tennessee[6] v LSU 9:00 a.m.
Virginia[7] v Georgia[2] noon

The second of five consecutive M15s on the Florida green clay is underway in Palm Coast, with qualifying concluding today and four first round matches played.

Four American teenagers qualified for the main draw today: 19-year-old Dillon Beckles, a Dartmouth recruit; 16-year-old Jerrid Gaines Jr; 15-year-old Teodor Davidov, and 18-year-old Nikolas Stoot, an LSU recruit.

All four of the wild cards played today, with Oleksandr Bielinskyi of Ukraine losting to top seed Andrew Fenty 6-4, 6-1; Liam Krall(SMU) falling to Fermin Tenti of Argentina 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 and Matthew Segura losing to No. 2 seed Tommaso Compagnucci of Italy 6-2, 6-1. The only wild card to win his match was Hunter Heck(Illinois), who beat Ronit Karki 6-4, 6-4. Karki and Andy Johnson received entry via the ITF's Junior Reserved program.

The women's USTA Pro Circuit event this week is a W50 at the National Campus in Lake Nona Florida. 

Three former American collegians qualified: Madison Sieg(USC), Eryn Cayetano(USC) and Haley Giavara(Cal). Julieta Pareja lost in the final round of qualifying to former Iowa State and Tennessee star Sofia Cabezas of Venezuela 2-6, 6-4, 6-2.

Whitney Osuigwe is the top seed, and will play Stanford freshman Monika Ekstrand, a wild card, in the first round Wednesday. Wild cards were given to Akasha Urhobo, who lost to Hanna Chang 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 today; Lea Ma(Georgia) and Katrina Scott, who has been announced as an addition to the Tennessee roster but has yet to compete for the Vols. 

No. 2 seed Maria Carle(Georgia) of Argentina won her first round match today over Alicia Herrero Linana(Baylor) of Spain 1-6, 6-2, 6-2.

At the ATP Challenger 75 in Cleveland, top seed Sho Shimabukuro of Japan, 141 in the current ATP ranking, lost to Dan Martin of Canada, No. 399 in the ATP rankings, 6-3, 6-4 this afternoon. It's the best win of the 26-year-old Martin's career by ranking; he played college tennis at Dartmouth and Miami.

Jack Kennedy's main draw debut didn't go well, with the 17-year-old New Yorked failing to win a game against former Wake Forest All-American Borna Gojo of Croatia. Gojo had nine aces and Kennedy had 34 unforced errors in the 53-minute match.

Qualifier Quinn Vandecasteele(Oregon) defeated No. 5 seed Murphy Cassone(Arizona State) 7-6(2), 6-3 and Christian Langmo(Miami) beat No. 8 seed Alex Rybakov(TCU) 7-6(6), 6-3 last night.

Antonius and Traynor Win ITF J300 Titles in Colombia; Kennedy Makes ATP Challenger Main Draw Debut in Cleveland; Georgia Tops Women's Winter Recruiting Class Rankings; Tommy Paul, Christian Harrison Added to USA's Davis Cup Roster

The ITF J300 in Baranquilla Colombia has always been a popular and successful tournament for American juniors, regardless where its been on the ITF Junior Circuit calendar, with American boys winning five of the past six singles titles. Keaton Hance, the Australian Open boys finalist won it last year, along with Julieta Pareja, and again this year Americans swept the titles, with Michael Antonius winning both the singles and doubles championships and Olivia Traynor collecting her first ITF J300 title.

Antonius, the top seed, didn't drop a set until the final, but had a stern test in the final, with the 16-year-old from Buffalo New York beating unseeded Rhys Lawler of Great Britain 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-1 for his second ITF J300 singles title.

Antonius had already claimed his second ITF J300 doubles title the day before, partnering with Takahiro Kawaguchi of Japan. The No. 2 seeds defeated the unseeded team of Zavier Augustin and Japan's Koki Nara 6-3, 6-4 in the final.

With the two titles, Antonius moved back up to his ITF junior ranking career high of 14.

Traynor, an 18-year-old from New York, hadn't won more than one match in an ITF J300 tournament until last week, but the unseeded University of Michigan recruit picked up five victories to take the title, beating No. 4 seed Jordyn Hazelitt 7-6(3), 6-3. Traynor also advanced to the doubles final with partner Ana Avramovic, with the unseeded pair falling to top seeds Hazelitt and Welles Newman, who also won the doubles title at the ITF J300 in Costa Rica two weeks ago.

Traynor moved from 131 in the ITF junior rankings to 66.

Both Antonius and Traynor are in the draws at this week's J300 in Salinas Ecuador, with Antonius again the No. 1 seed. Traynor, who is unseeded, drew No. 2 seed Pietra Rivoli of Brazil in the first round.

The other two ITF Junior Circuit titles for Americans came at J30s.

At the J30 tournament in Sri Lanka, 15-year-old Swanika Roy won her first ITF Junior Circuit singles title. The No. 4 seed defeated No. 2 seed Aaraa Aasaal Azim of the Maldives 6-3, 6-3; all five of her victories came in straight sets.

At the J30 in Uruguay, 16-year-old Londyn McCord won her first ITF Junior Circuit singles title, with the No. 5 seed beating No. 4 seed Sofia Barbosa Perez of Uruguay 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 in the final. 

Jack Kennedy will make his ATP Challenger main draw debut Tuesday at the Cleveland Open 75 against 2018 NCAA singles finalist Borna Gojo(Wake Forest) of Croatia. Kennedy has played Challenger qualifying matches before, but this is his first main draw match, with that opportunity coming courtesy of the ATP Junior Accelerator Program. After finishing in the Top 10 of the ITF Junior rankings in 2025, Kennedy has up to eight entries at Challengers at the 50 or 75 level this year.

Qualifying was completed today, with five of the six qualifiers former collegians, four from the United States: Joshua Sheehy(Abilene Christian), Justin Boulais(Ohio State) of Canada, Quinn Vandecasteele(Oregon, Matt Kuhar(Bryant), Stefan Dostanic(USC, Wake Forest) and Ben Jones of Great Britain.

Wild cards were awarded to Kaylan Bigun(UCLA), Karl Poling(Princeton, UNC) and Cleveland State junior Lincoln Battle.

Sho Shimabukuro of Japan is the top seed, with defending champion Colton Smith(Arizona) the No. 2 seed. In first round action today, Daniel Milavsky(Harvard) defeated Bigun 6-4, 6-3; Stefan Kozlov[7] beat Cedrik-Marcel Stebe of Germany 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 and Antoine Ghibaudo of France defeated No. 4 seed Bernard Tomic of Australia 6-1, 6-3. Ghibaudo, a sophomore at Kentucky, announced yesterday that he was leaving the Wildcats program to concentrate on his professional career. 

The winter edition of the Tennis Recruiting Network's 2026 women's recruiting class rankings came out today, with Georgia taking the top spot, followed by Texas A&M and North Carolina. Georgia received eight first place votes, Texas A&M four and North Carolina one. The other programs in the top 10 are Tennessee, Clemson, Central Florida, Florida, Auburn, Wake Forest and Florida State.

As the article accompanying the rankings points out, ten of the top 25 this year did not appear in the top 25 last year, with top recruiting classes less predictable in this new era of the transfer portal and NIL and the Ivys less prominent than usual. 

The United States Davis Cup team travels to Hungary this weekend for a first round qualifying match and two additions to the team were announced today: Tommy Paul and Christian Harrison. The USTA release:

Tommy Paul, Christian Harrison Join U.S. Davis Cup Team for 2026 First Round Qualifier vs. Hungary February 7-8

 

TATABÁNYA, Hungary, February 2, 2026 – World No. 22 Tommy Paul and 2026 Australian Open men's doubles champion Christian Harrison have joined No. 68 Ethan Quinn, No. 82Emilio Nava and doubles No. 52 Austin Krajicek on the U.S. Davis Cup Team for its Qualifying First Round tie vs. Hungary February 7-8 in Tatabánya, Hungary. 

 

Paul joins the team for his 11^th tie, while Harrison replaces Rajeev Ram in his debut Davis Cup nomination. This weekend's matches will be played on an indoor clay court at the Tatabányai Multifunkcionális Sportcsarnok.

 

This First Round Qualifying competition is a best-of-five match series that will begin with two singles matches on Saturday, February 7, starting at 1 p.m. local time (7 a.m. ET), then continue with a doubles match and two more singles matches on Sunday, February 8, beginning at 11 a.m. local time (5 a.m. ET). The first nation between the USA and Hungary to win three out of those five matches wins the First Round Qualifier and will advance to the Second Round of Qualifying in late September. Tennis Channel will feature coverage in the U.S.

 

The Hungarian team and Captain Kornel Bardoczky have nominated world No. 46 Fabian Marozsan, No. 176 Zsombor Piros, No. 533 Peter Fajta, No. 622 Mate Valkusz and No. 781 Matyas Fuele.

 

Captains may make up to three combined substitutions / additions to their rosters up until Friday's draw ceremony, when the initial lineups and matchups are set. 

Karabanova, Hotelier Capture Les Petits As Titles; Svajda, Kalieva, Andreescu and Grant Win Championships on USTA Pro Circuit; No. 1 Georgia Women, No. 1 Wake Forest Men Fall at UNC, Ohio State

There were two completely different finals at Les Petits As, the prestigious international tournament for 14-and-under players held annually in Tarbes France.

Girls champion Aleksandra Karabanova of Russia, the No. 10 seed, saved a match point in her 5-7, 7-6(5), 6-0 win over Elizaveta Anikina of Estonia in a final that spanned nearly three hours, while No. 16 seed Lyoma Hotelier of Japan breezed past qualifier Richard Mitchell of Switzerland 6-0, 6-1 in 45 minutes.

Aleksandra Karabanova
photo @Richard van Loon, TopTennis.photos

The drama in the Karabanova - Anikina match was persistent throughout, with Anikina looking for every opportunity to close the net, while Karabanova was able to counteract that by passing well and getting sure winners back in play.  

Although neither has a serve that produces free points, Anikina got only 36 percent of her first serves in, limiting her ability to be aggressive early in the point. Karabanova made only 50 percent of her first serves and had 14 double faults, but she kept her composure despite the frustration she must have felt. 

One of those double faults came at deuce with Karabanova serving at 5-6 in the second set, but Anikina sent a forehand long early in the rally and Karabanova held for the tiebreaker.

That tiebreaker featured two significant line calling controversies, both going against Anikina, which got me thinking that it was odd that the tournament, usually so innovative, didn't have electronic line calling. But then I recalled that the event is a major training ground for aspiring French chair umpires, so maybe that played a role.

In any case, the chair overruled the line judge on the far sideline to give Karabanova the point for 2-2 and then a Anikina ball that looked to be on the line was called wide at 5-all, with Anikina shanking her backhand on the next point to drop the set.

The third set was not as one-sided as it may have looked, but Anikina was making many more unforced errors, possibly due to fatigue. Karabanova went up 5-0 mostly by playing much more conservatively than she had in the first two sets, extending rallies until Anikina missed, and that strategy worked, with Anikina unable to play three good points in succession at any time in the final set.

Lyoma Hotelier
photo @Richard van Loon, TopTennis.photos

The boys final could not have been more different, with Mitchell obviously out of gas after winning seven matches prior to the final. Hotelier, who had won the Tennis Europe Category 1 title in Bolton England the previous week, has won 11 matches in the indoor hard fortnight, losing just two sets in that span.

The four tournaments on the USTA Pro Circuit concluded today in Florida and California, with three American singles champions crowned.

At the ATP Challenger 100, No. 4 seed Zachary Svajda, playing in his hometown of San Diego, defeated top seed Sebastian Korda 6-4, 7-6(5). The two-time Kalamazoo 18s champion, now 23 years old, played the cleaner match against the current ATP No. 53, hitting 22 winners and making just 14 unforced errors, while Korda had 26 winners and 40 unforced errors.

Svajda had only two aces in the match, but couldn't have picked a better time for his second. After Svajda took a 6-3 lead in the second set tiebreaker, Korda hit two winners on his two service points, but Svajda closed out his seventh Challenger title with an ace. He will move to 109 in the ATP rankings, just shy of his career-high of 102.

No. 3 seeds Mac Kiger(North Carolina) and Trey Hildebrand(UCF, Texas A&M) won the doubles title in San Diego, beating the unseeded team of Garrett Johns(Duke) and Karl Poling(Princeton, UNC) 6-3, 6-4 in the final. It's the seventh Challenger title for Kiger and his third with Hilderbrand, who has eight Challenger doubles titles.

At the W100 in San Diego, No. 5 seed Elvina Kalieva won her first title since 2023, beating No. 2 seed Elli Mandlik 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 in today's final. Kalieva had ended the comeback of Jennifer Brady(UCLA) with a 5-7, 7-6(2), 6-2 win in the semifinals, while Mandlik had beaten No. 6 seed Mary Stoiana 6-4, 6-3 in the semifinals.

The 22-year-old Kalieva will rise to a career-high ranking of 154 with the title.

LSU sophomore Kayla Cross of Canada and Alana Smith(NC State) won the doubles title, with the No. 2 seeds beating unseeded Catherine Harrison(UCLA) and Dalayna Hewitt 6-2, 6-3 in the final. 

Bianca Andreescu of Canada continued her comeback in Florida, winning her second title in the past three weeks at the W75 in Vero Beach. The No. 6 seed, Andreescu defeated unseeded Xiaodi You of China 7-5, 6-1 in today's final, played in temperatures in the mid 40s. Andreescu is 13-1 to start the year, with her only loss in the semifinals of the W35 in Bradenton to Akasha Urhobo.

No. 3 seeds Allura and Maribella Zamarripa(Texas) won the doubles title when they were given a walkover by No. 2 seeds Anna Rogers(NC State) and Jazmin Ortenzi of Argentina in the final. 

The title at the M15 in Naples Florida went to No. 8 seed Will Grant(Florida), who beat former Gator teammate Duarte Vale of Portugal, a qualifier, 6-2, 6-3 in the final. It's the first Pro Circuit singles title for the 24-year-old Grant. Vale, 27, has been in the ATP Top 500, but hadn't played in over a year, so started this week unranked.

Tristan McCormick(Notre Dame, Georgia) and 43-year-old Jesse Witten(Kentucky) won the doubles titles, with the unseeded pair beating former Illinois teammates Hunter Heck and Zeke Clark, who were also unseeded, 6-4, 1-6, 10-5 in the final.

With the ITA Team Indoor Championships looming in the next two weeks, teams are preparing by getting as many matches as possible against top teams. With so many new faces and only a few results as the new season begins, it's difficult to flag any outcome as an upset, but both teams who are No. 1 in the coaches poll due to their NCAA titles last year, the Georgia women and the Wake Forest men, lost today.

Georgia traveled to No. 3 North Carolina for their annual blockbuster, and the Tar Heels took care of a young Georgia team with the clinch coming at 4-1. The matches were played out, with the final score 5-2. NCAA champion Reese Brantmeier, who had clinched the Tar Heels 4-3 win over NC State Friday at line 1 singles, got the fourth point with her 7-6(5), 6-4 win over Anastasiia Lopata of Georgia.

Wake Forest played at No. 6 Ohio State, and the Buckeyes shut out the Demon Deacons, taking the doubles point and getting wins from Bryce Nakashima at 4, Preston Stearns at 2 and Nikita Filin at 6. Ohio State had beaten No. 5 Texas 4-1 on Friday, so they are looking to be a serious threat at the National Indoors in two weeks

Sesko and Efremova Claim Australian Open Junior Singles Titles

The Australian Open Junior Championships concluded Sunday in Melbourne with Ziga Sesko of Slovenia and Ksenia Efremova of France coming through tight battles to earn their first junior slam titles.

In the boys final, No. 7 seed Sesko became the first Slovenia boy to win a junior slam singles title, coming back to defeat No. 4 seed Keaton Hance of the United States 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Hance took the opening set after getting a second break of serve for a 3-2 lead and holding to close out the opening set. Hance was not getting many first serves in but he was returning well and winning rallies behind his second serve.

Sesko picked up his game in the second set, got his forehand under control and came from 0-30 down serving at 1-1 to find a higher level. He continued to serve well, and kept Hance playing defense, with his winner count by the match's end nearly twice that of Hance at 32 to 17.

Sesko finally broke Hance to take a 4-2 lead, but he needed to save a break point serving for the set, which he did with a forehand winner, to close out the second set 6-3.

The third set began with Sesko maintaining his level from the second set, and he broke Hance for a 3-1 lead. Hance held and then broke back, with Sesko playing a rare poor game serving at  3-2, but Hance dropped his next service game at love. Sesko held quickly for a 5-3 lead but Hance wasn't ready to concede, saving two match points in his service game with a forehand winner and a good first serve to put the pressure back on Sesko. 

Sesko was up to the task, starting with an ace and ending with a good first serve that Hance shanked high in the air, with a few seconds passing before it bounced well out and the electronic line calling recorded voice made the call. 

The two 17-year-olds embraced at the net, and the crowd in the Rod Laver Arena was generous in their applause after an entertaining final.

Sesko is the first player traveling with the ITF's Grand Slam Player Development Touring Team to win a junior slam title since Ricardas Berankis in 2007.

In the girls final, which was first up on Rod Laver Arena, No. 3 seed Ksenia Efremova of France prevailed over unseeded Ekaterina Tupitsyna of Russia 6-3, 7-5, with the match a study in contrasting styles.

Statistics don't always tell the story of a match, but in this case provide some insight, although intangibles and physical issues also played a role.

Efremova hit only five winners and made 18 unforced errors, while Tupitsyna struck 21 winners and made 45 unforced errors.

Although Efremova is a year younger, the 16-year-old, born in Russia but now representing France, has much more experience at the highest level of junior tennis. She has been touted as a future star since the 12s, trains at the Mouratoglou Academy and was a quarterfinalist in Melbourne as a 14-year-old in 2024. 

Tupitsyna had not won a match in her only other two junior slam appearances last year, and that may have been a factor in her slow start. She quickly fell behind 4-0, with Efremova simply keeping the rally going long enough for Tupitsyna to miss. 

But Tupitsyna held for 4-1 and began to find her form, with the pace and depth she had displayed all week putting her right back in the set. She got one break back and held a second time for 4-3, even earning a break point in Efremova's next service game. But Efremova, who made 72 percent of her first serves, held her advantage with a good first serve to make it 5-3 and then broke Tupitsyna from 40-15 up to claim the set.

After Tupitsyna took a bathroom break, she came out firing, taking a 3-0, two-break lead with her power too much for Efremova. But after dropping serve after having a point for a 4-0 lead, Tupitsyna asked for a trainer and went off-court for nine minutes, returning with her left thigh heavily taped. 

She lost the next five games, with the injury obviously affecting her side to side movement, but Efremova couldn't serve out the match at 5-3. Tupitsyna made one last push, holding for 5-all, but Efremova did not panic, winning two key points serving at 30-all to take the 6-5 lead.

The next game also went to 30-all, but Tupitsyna made the error in a 22-shot rally and Efremova took her opportunity to end it on her first chance.

Efremova is just the second French girl to win the Australian Open girls title and the first since Virginie Razzano in 1999. She will rise to No. 1 in the ITF junior rankings with the title.

Hance Faces Sesko in Australian Open Boys Final, Efremova and Tupitsyna Meet for AO Girls Title; Harrison and Skupski Capture Men's Doubles Title in Melbourne; Bender and Gardality Win Les Petits As Doubles Championship

I am planning to do two posts today, this one with a recap of Saturday's single semifinals and doubles finals at the Australian Open Junior Championships, and one much, much later tonight, after the completion of Sunday's singles finals.

For the fourth time in five years, an American boy has reached the Australian Open final, with Keaton Hance joining Bruno Kuzuhara(2022), Learner Tien(2023) and Benjamin Willwerth(2025) after beating No. 8 seed Zangar Nurlanuly of Kazakhstan 6-3, 6-2 in the semifinals.

After a messy win over Kuan-Shou Chen of Taiwan in the quarterfinals, the fourth-seeded Hance was in notably better form against Nurlanuly, who made 34 unforced errors, while hitting only nine winners. Nurlanuly started well, with a 3-1 lead, but Hance was able to lift his level enough to win five straight games and take the 36-minute set.

Nurlanuly had four double faults in the first set, which didn't help his cause, but even more damaging were the two he had in the first game of the second set, both at deuce. Hance broke after the second and held easily for 2-0, and while Nurlanuly kept within range, he appeared to be physically hampered in the last half of the set, taking an off-court medical timeout before Hance served at 3-2. Hance showed no signs of being bothered by the delay, holding at love for 4-2 and breaking quickly for a 5-2 lead. 

Serving for the final, Hance went down 15-30, but won the next three points, closing out the match with a forehand winner and an ace.

Hance's opponent in the final will be No. 7 seed Ziga Sesko of Slovenia, who beat No. 3 seed Ryo Tabata of Japan 6-3, 6-3, in similarly routine fashion. Unlike Hance, who had 10 winners and 22 unforced errors, Sesko was net positive in winners with 26, against 22 unforced errors and faced only one break point.

Neither Sesko nor Hance, both 17, had been beyond the singles quarterfinals of a junior slam until this week, and while Hance is hoping to emulate Kuzuhara, the last American boys champion in Melbourne, Sesko is in unchartered waters for his country as the first Slovenia boy to make a junior slam singles final.

Both Hance and Sesko were 0-1 against their semifinal opponents, with those losses coming at the 2022 ITF World Junior Tennis 14U team competition in the Czech Republic. That is also the same tournament where Hance and Sesko met for the only time, with Sesko winning their match 6-2, 6-0 in the round robin stage.

In the girls semifinals, unseeded Ekaterina Tupitsyna of Russia continued her unexpected run, beating No. 8 seed Thea Frodin 6-3, 6-4.  After getting a break to go up 3-2 in the first set, Frodin lost eight straight games. Down 4-0, Frodin got one of the breaks back and held for 4-3, but couldn't draw even, and Tupisyna held at love earn her spot in the final. The 17-year-old had not won a match in her two previous appearances at junior slams in 2025.

In the only semifinal to go three sets, No. 3 seed Ksenia Efremova of France defeated unseeded Rada Zolotareva of Russia 6-0, 4-6, 6-4. The 16-year-old, who changed her representation from Russia to France earlier in her junior career, is playing her third Australian Open Junior tournament, having reached the quarterfinals in her 2024 debut as a 14-year-old. She also reached the quarterfinals at last year's US Open Junior Championships.

As is the tradition at the Australian Open, the junior finals are played back-to-back on Rod Laver Arena usually before the women's singles final. With the junior tournament ending on a Sunday this year, they will be played prior to the men's final, beginning with the girls final at 8 p.m Saturday in the United States, followed by the boys final.

The girls doubles title was won by top seeds Alena Kovackova and Jana Kovackova, who beat unseeded Tereza Hermanova and Denisa Zoldakova 6-1, 6-3 in an all-Czech final. The Kovackova sisters now have won two junior slams in a row, after taking the US Open girls doubles title last September. 

The boys doubles title went to the unseeded pair of Connor Doig of South Africa and Dimitar Kisimov of Bulgaria, who beat the Australian wild card team of Ymerali Ibraimi and Cooper Kose 6-3, 6-4 in the final. 

For more on the junior doubles finals, see this article from the Australian Open website.

Christian Harrison and Great Britain's Neal Skupski(LSU) won the men's doubles title, with the No. 6 seeds beating Australian wild cards Jason Kubler and Marc Polmans 7-6(4), 6-4. It's the first slam title for Harrison and the second for Skupski, with this their first major as a team. For more on the final, see this article from the Australian Open website.

No. 4 seeds Elise Mertens of Belgium and Shuai Zhang of China won the women's doubles title, beating No. 7 seeds Anna Danilina(Florida) of Kazakhstan and Aleksandra Krunic of Serbia 7-6(4), 6-4 in the final.

No. 5 seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan won the women's singles title, beating No. 1 seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.

The singles finals are set and the doubles champions have been crowned at Les Petits As, the prestigious 14-and-under tournament in Tarbes France.

Qualifier Richard Mitchell of Switzerland has already won seven matches this week, dropping just one set in the process, with the 13-year-old facing last week's champion in Bolton, No. 16 seed Lyoma Hotelier of Japan, in Sunday's final. 

Mitchell defeated No. 9 seed Luis Bernardo Saraiva of Portugal 6-3, 6-4, while Hotelier beat No. 10 seed Jonas Waelti of Switzerland 6-2, 6-2 for his tenth consecutive win.

Top girls seed Elizavetz Anikina of Estonia defeated No. 5 seed Polina Kashitsyna of Russia 7-6(5), 6-1 to reach the final, where her opponent will be No. 10 seed Aleksandra Karabanova of Russia. Karabanova defeated unseeded compatriot Vasilisa Marchenko 6-1, 6-4 in Saturday's semifinals.

Karabanova won the girls doubles title with Kashitsyna; the No. 4 seeds defeated the unseeded Russian team of Varvara Makarova and Ildana Zaripova 6-3, 7-5 in the final.

Boys’s Doubles Champions

Daniel Gardality | David Bender#LespetitsAs #Usta pic.twitter.com/BvP90TUAIl

— Les Petits As - Le Mondial Wilson (@LesPetitsAs) February 1, 2026

The unseeded American team of David Bender and Daniel Gardality won the boys doubles title, beating No. 5 seeds Martin Adamca and Matteo Sanson of Slovakia 6-4, 6-3 in the final. Bender and Gardality took out the No. 4 and No. 7 seeds in the second and quarterfinal rounds.

Live streaming and live scoring can be found here.