Kennedy Reaches First M25 Semifinal in Winston-Salem; Four US Men Reach ATP 250 Semifinals, Jovic Advances in Auckland; Former USTA Florida Executive Director Arrested

Wild card Jack Kennedy has advanced to his fourth USTA Pro Circuit semifinal and his first at the M25 level, with a 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-2 win over Stefan Dostanic(USC, Wake Forest), the 2025 NCAA Team Championships' Most Outstanding Player, in Winston-Salem.

Kennedy will face unseeded Shunsuke Mitsui of Japan, a former University of Tennessee All-American, who beat No. 7 seed and 2025 ITA All-American champion Jay Friend of Japan, a senior at the University of Arizona, 1-6, 7-6(3), 6-3.

Wake Forest junior Luca Pow of Great Britain, who reached the semifinals of the M15 in Winston-Salem last October, continued his impressive results on his home courts. The 20-year-old wild card defeated No. 6 seed Bor Arnak of Slovenia, a junior at Arizona State, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. 

Pow will play No. 5 seed Keegan Smith, the former UCLA All-American, who beat No. 3 seed Daniel Milavsky(Harvard) in yet another three-set comeback, 1-6, 6-4, 6-2.

In today's doubles final, No. 2 seeds Milavsky and partner Braden Shick(NC State) won their first title as a team with a 6-4, 7-6(3) win over unseeded Ryan Colby(USC, Georgia) and Noah Zamora(UC-Irvine).  Milavsky, 24, now has seven pro doubles titles and Shick, 22, has four.

At the ITF J300 in New Delhi India, No. 6 seed Vihaan Reddy lost to No. 5 seed Arnav Papakar of India 6-3, 7-6(2). Papkar will play No. 2 seed Flynn Thomas of Switzerland in the final. The girls final is between No. 5 seed Ekaterina Dotsenko of Russia and unseeded Miku Kitaoka of Japan.

There are four tournaments this first week of the 2026 ATP and WTA season(not including United Cup), and there are a total of six Americans in those eight semifinals, with the ATP 250 in Brisbane Australia having three.

Alex Michelsen will play the only seed remaining, No. 1 Daniil Medvedev of Russia, with the other semifinal between Brandon Nakashima(Virginia) and Aleks Kovacevic(Illinois).

The fourth US man in a semifinal is Marcos Giron(UCLA), who will play No. 2 seed Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan at the Hong Kong 250.

Iva Jovic is through to the semifinals of the WTA 250 in Auckland, with the No. 3 seed facing top seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine.

And at the WTA 500 in Brisbane, No. 4 seed Jessica Pegula will play No. 16 seed Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine for a place in the final.

Today's news of the arrest of former USTA Florida Executive Director Doug Booth in North Carolina on child sex offense charges came as a shock to me, but that's because I had not checked the USTA's Safe Play Disciplinary List, where his name appears. I am personally Safe Play certified, but I did not know about this public list, and I urge all coaches, parents and players to review it regularly when interacting with a new coach or teacher.