My Article on Junior Practice Partners at ATP Dallas Open; Zheng, Jodar Receive BNP Paribas Open Main Draw Wild Cards; Exsted Faces Wolf at Naples M15; Three Teens Advance to W35 Arcadia Semis; Easter Bowl Entry Lists

As I mentioned earlier this month, when I wrote about attending the Dallas Open while I was there for the ITA Men's Team Indoor, I don't see much professional tennis live. I catch a game here and there at Wimbledon and the US Open, but I'm usually too busy with the juniors to see much more than that, so mostly I see pro tennis at ATP Challenger or WTA 125 level.

Although I enjoyed my day at the Dallas Open and wrote about two of the matches I saw here, but I was also preparing an article focusing on the local juniors who were serving as practice partners for the pros. I enjoyed talking with both Eliot Spizzirri and Ethan Quinn about their experiences in that role as juniors, and with four of the juniors who were on site that day warming up and practicing with the pros. I'm not sure I grasped what a rite of passage such a role is for juniors, but I hope this Tennis Recruiting Network article conveys the importance of that apprenticeship. 

The full list of wild cards for the BNP Paribas Open was announced today, with two-time NCAA champion Michael Zheng,  in his senior year at Columbia, receiving a main draw wild card. He is joined by Gael Monfils of France, Rafael Jodar(Virginia) of Spain, Martin Damm and Zachary Svajda.

The women's main draw wild cards were awarded to Venus Williams, Bianca Andreescu of Canada, Donna Vekic of Croatia, Jennifer Brady(UCLA), Sloane Stephens, Alycia Parks, Katie Volynets and 2025 Roland Garros girls champion Lilli Tagger of Austria. 

The men's qualifying wild cards feature five teenagers, with the oldest 19-year-old SMU junior Trevor Svajda. Stanford freshman Jagger Leach, 18,  received a qualifying wild card for winning the ITF J300 Indian Wells title last March; he is joined by reigning Kalamazoo champion Darwin Blanch, 18, 16-year-old Andy Johnson and 15-year-old Izyan Ahmad, who is part of the BNP Paribas-sponsored high performance group at the John McEnroe Tennis Academy.

In contrast, the women's qualifying wild cards were given to an older group: Elli Mandlik, 24, Elvina Kalieva, 22, Mary Stoiana(Texas A&M), 22, and teens Akasha Urhobo, 19, Julieta Pareja, 17 and Emerson Jones of Australia, 17. Pareja, like Leach, earned her qualifying wild card as the 2025 ITF J300 Indian Wells champion.

Eighteen-year-old Max Exsted, a freshman at USC, is through to his second M15 semifinal this week in Naples Florida, beating No. 8 seed Kaylan Bigun(UCLA) 6-3, 6-3 in their first meeting. Exsted, who reached his first M15 semifinal in December, played for over four hours yesterday, but that didn't translate to any advantage for the 19-year-old Bigun. Exsted will play wild card JJ Wolf(Ohio State), who has had no trouble at this level in his first competitive matches in over a year. Wolf defeated unseeded Evan Bynoe 6-2, 6-1 in today's quarterfinal. The top half quarterfinal will feature No. 4 seed Miguel Tobon of Colombia and unseeded John Hallquist Lithen(Ole Miss) of Sweden.

Exsted and Tobon, the top seeds, will play for the doubles title Saturday against unseeded Adam Jones and Toby Martin of Great Britain.

For the second week in a row, three teenagers have advance to the semifinals of a USTA Pro Circuit W35. One of them, 16-year-old Kristina Liutova, won the title last week in Las Vegas; this week in Arcadia California, Liutova has added to her winning streak, beating No. 7 seed Haley Giavara(Cal) 7-5, 6-0 today. 

Liutova will play 17-year-old qualifier Thea Frodin, who beat No. 4 seed Hanna Chang today 6-4, 6-1. They have not played in juniors or on the Pro Circuit. Frodin, an Australian Open girls semifinalist, reached the semifinals of a USTA Pro Circuit W15 last fall, but will be playing in her first semifinal at the W35 level Saturday.

Top seed Akasha Urhobo defeated No. 5 seed Eryn Cayetano(USC) 6-7(5), 6-0, 6-1 and will play No. 3 seed Lea Ma(Georgia), who defeated No. 6 seed Julieta Pareja, a semifinalist last week, 6-4, 7-6(6).

The selections for next month's USTA National Level 1 Easter Bowl have been published for all four age divisions, with the 12s and 14s scheduled to play from Saturday March 21st through Thursday March 26th and the 16s and 18s competing from Tuesday March 24th through Sunday March 29th.

Winter Nationals champion Dimitriy Flyam tops the boys 12s acceptance list, with Summer Yang, the Winter Nationals doubles champion, at the top of the girls 12s list.

Les Petits As quarterfinalist Nadia Poznick, Bolton and National Indoor champion Anna Kapanadze and recent ITF J60 Claremont champion Isha Manchala lead a strong girls 14s field, with National Indoor champion Ishaan Marla topping the boys 14s list. 

Lennart Hammargren and National Indoor champion Eli Kaminski are 1 and 2 on the boys 16s acceptance list, with National Indoor champion Sylvana Jalbert and Winter National champion Shristi Selvan the top two on the girls 16s list.

Omar Rhazali and Yashwin Krishnakumar led the boys 18s field, with Kalamazoo 16s champion and last year's Easter Bowl 16s champion Marcel Latak also entering. Tristan Stratton, who Latak beat in the Easter Bowl 16s final is also on the acceptance list.

Calla McGill and Ellery Mendell are the top two entrants in the girls 18s, with Easter Bowl 16s champion Armira Kockinis looking to add another Easter Bowl title to her resumé. 

See the Easter Bowl website for more on the upcoming tournament.