Liutova Wins First Pro Event at W35 Las Vegas; Korda Captures Delray Beach ATP 250; CMS Repeats as Men's Division III Indoor Champions; Barry Continues Dominance of D-II Women's Indoor; No. 2 Ohio State Women Hang On, No. 4 LSU Falls

Last week all four pro tournaments in the United States were won by Americans; this year it was just the ATP 250 in Delray Beach that featured a champion from the United States, with the four other tournaments going to international players.

Sixteen-year-old Kristina Liutova, who was born in Moscow but has lived in the United States for many years, captured her first pro title, beating wild card Melije Clarke of Texas 6-2, 6-4 in today's final at the W35 in Las Vegas. The unseeded Liutova, who did not drop a set all week, is 9-1 on the USTA Pro Circuit this year, (including qualifying), with her only loss to Eli Mandlik 7-5 in the third in the quarterfinals of W100 in San Diego late last month.

Liutova, No. 34 in the ITF junior rankings, should move into the WTA Top 500 when the points are added. She is entered in the Tucson ITF J300, which begins in two weeks.

Unseeded Sebastian Korda won his third ATP title this afternoon at the 250 in Delray Beach, defeating No. 5 seed Tommy Paul 6-4, 6-3 in the final. Korda was 2-7 in ATP finals entering today's championship match. For more on the final, see this article from the ATP website.

No. 2 seeds Nikola Mektic and Austin Krajicek(Texas A&M) won the doubles title, beating wild cards Benjamin Kittay(UNC, Michigan) and Ryan Seggerman(Princeton, UNC) 6-7(3), 6-3, 11-9. Kittay and Seggerman had a match point at 9-8 in the tiebreaker.

At the WTA 125 Dow Tennis Classic in Midland Michigan, 23-year-old Alina Charaeva of Russia, the No. 5 seed, won the biggest title of her career, although she lost a two-break lead in the second set before squeezing by unseeded Hanyu Guo of China 6-4, 7-6(4).

In doubles, top seeds Sabrina Santamaria(USC) and Qianhui Tang of China took the title via walkover from unseeded Alana Smith(NC State) and Mary Stoiana(Texas A&M).

Wild card Hunter Heck(Illinois) fell in the final of the M15 in Naples Florida, losing to No. 2 seed Tommaso Compagnucci of Italy 6-4, 6-3. 

At the W15 in Palm Coast Florida, former Old Dominion All-American Sofia Johnson of Great Britain, a qualifier, defeated top seed Thaisa Pedretti of Brazil 6-4, 6-2 to win her first ITF women's World Tennis Tour title. Johnson dropped just one set, to Georgia recruit Bella Payne in the semifinals, in her seven victories.

No. 2 seed Claremont-Mudd-Scripps defended their ITA Men's Division III National Team Indoor title today in Minnesota, defeating No. 4 seed Chicago 4-1. Warren Pham, who had also clinched CMS's first ever Men's Indoor title last year, clinched again at line 2 this year. The box score is here; the CMS release is here.

The top-seeded Barry women won their sixth Division II National Team Indoor title today in Indianapolis, beating No. 6 seed West Florida 4-0. Barry has won every Team Indoor title they have competed in, with the event beginning for D-II in 2020; the only year they did not win, 2021, they did not play. 

Three notable results from Top 5 women's Division I teams who were in action today, with No. 2 Ohio State surviving at trip to Stillwater, where the Cowgirls were short-handed. No. 25 Oklahoma State had to forfeit No. 3 doubles, but still took the point with wins at lines 1 and 2. They also had to forfeit No. 6 singles, even with Melisa Ercan making her first appearance of the season. Their usual No. 6 Marcela Lopez, was out, and Lucia Peyre, back this spring after her torn ACL, suffered a torn Achilles and is out for the season. Ohio State got wins from Luciana Perry at 1, Teah Chavez at 2 and Audrey Spencer at 4, with Perry clinching a 4-2 win, with Rose Marie Nijkamp of Oklahoma State getting a three-set win at line 3 after the clinch. For the full box score, see this article from the Ohio State website.

No. 4 LSU, playing without their No. 1 Cadence Brace, who qualified for the WTA 500 in Merida Mexico this weekend, and their No. 2 Kayla Cross, who lost in qualifying, fell to unranked Ole Miss 5-2 in Oxford. Again the match was played out, after Ole Miss had secured the clinch with the doubles point and victories at lines 1, 4 and 6.  The full box score is available in this article from the Ole Miss website.

No. 5 Texas A&M got by No. 10 Texas in College Station, with the Aggies clinching it 4-2 with the doubles point and singles victories at lines 2, 5 and 3. Again the match was played out, with Texas taking the final point at line 1. See this article from the Texas A&M website for the details.