Three Teens Reach Semifinals at W35 in Las Vegas; Tien Outlasts Tiafoe at Delray; Men's D-III and Women's D-II ITA Team Indoors Underway; Gardner-Webb Drops Tennis; D-I Indoor All-Tournament Teams

Seventeen-year-old Julieta Pareja and 16-year-olds Melije Clarke and Kristina Liutova are through to the all-USA semifinals of the USTA Pro Circuit W35 in Las Vegas, and while the temperatures were in the low 50s, it was sunny there today, allowing the tournament to finish the second round and play all four quarterfinals after a wet day Thursday.

Pareja, the No. 3 seed, got a retirement from LSU freshman Ella McDonald, the No. 8 seed, after Pareja won the first set 6-1. Pareja will face the unseeded Liutova, who beat Texas freshman Anastasia Abbagnato of Italy 6-3, 7-5 in the second round and got a retirement from top seed Vivian Wolff(Georgia, UCLA) with Liutova leading 7-5, 1-0.

Clarke beat fellow wild card Savannah Broadus(Pepperdine) 6-4, 7-5 and will play unseeded Salma Ewing(USC, Texas A&M) Saturday. 

At the M15 in Naples, both Michael Antonius and qualifier Teodor Davidov lost in the quarterfinals, with wild card Hunter Heck(Illinois) the only American to reach the semifinals. But at the W15 in Palm Coast, two teens have reached the semifinals: wild card Carlota Moreno, playing her first pro event, and No. 6 seed Bella Payne. 

At the WTA 125 Dow Tennis Classic in Midland, No. 2 seed Dasha Vidmanova(Georgia) of the Czech Republic beat UNC freshman Anna Frey 6-2, 6-2 to reach the semifinals. Vidmanova's college rival Mary Stoiana(Texas A&M), seeded eighth, beat Katherine Sebov of Canada 6-3, 6-4, but they'll renew that rivalry only if they both win Saturday.

Tonight at the ATP 250 in Delray Beach, No. 4 seed Learner Tien defeated No. 8 seed Frances Tiafoe 7-6(5), 3-6, 7-5 to avenge his 2023 US Open first round loss. It was a roller coaster of a match, with Tien up 3-0 in the first, then down 4-5, with Tiafoe serving for the set. He had two set points, but Tien broke, lost his serve, then broke Tiafoe again to force the tiebreaker. Up 2-0 in the second, Tien proceeded to lose six of the next seven games after Tiafoe took a medical timeout. Tiafoe's momentum continued at the start of the third set, with a 2-0 lead, but Tien saved three break points to keep from going down 5-2 and then broke Tiafoe when he served for the match at 5-4, winning nine of the last 10 points to finish the two-hour and 20 minute match. 

Tien will play the winner of tonight's quarterfinal between top seed Taylor Fritz and No. 5 seed Tommy Paul, a rematch of the 2015 Roland Garros and US Open boys finals.

Sebastian Korda, who beat No. 2 seed Casper Ruud of Norway 4-6, 6-2, 6-2, will face No. 3 seed Flavio Cobolli of Italy in the other semifinal.

While I was concentrating on the Division I Team Indoor Championships, both NAIA Indoor Championships and the Men's Division II Championships were decided this month. The Georgia Gwinnett men won their third straight NAIA Team Indoor title, defeating Tennessee Wesleyan 4-1 in the final. The Keiser women won their second straight NAIA Team Indoor title, beating Lindsey Wilson 4-1 in the championship match. Perennial D-II powerhouse Barry avenged the loss in the final last year to West Florida, beating them 4-0 in Sunday's final in Indianapolis. There has been no update on the ITA website, but the box score is here.

The Division II women's Team Indoor, also in Indianapolis, began today, with the Barry women, seeded No. 1, hoping to make it two titles for the Buccaneers this month.

The Division III Men's Team Indoor Championships are underway in Minnesota, with reigning NCAA champion Denison the top seed. Live scoring for both the current Team Indoor events is available at the iOnCourt site.

The Division III Women's Team Indoor Championships are next weekend in Tennessee, with Washington-St. Louis the top seeds.

College tennis lost another, actually two, programs this week, with Division I Gardner-Webb eliminating both its men's and women's tennis teams after this season. Tennis Recruiting Network has more on the athletic department's announcement.

Men's Division I Team Indoor All-tournament team:

Doubles:
1. Alex Chang and Alex Razeghi, Stanford
2. Duncan Chan and Cosme Rolland de Ravel, TCU
3. Filip Apltauer and Albert Pedrico, TCU

Singles:
1. Sebastian Gorzny, Texas
2. Kalin Ivanovski, Texas
3. Jack Anthrop, Ohio State
4. Sebastian Eriksson, Texas
5. Stiles Brockett, Virginia
6. Lucas Marionneau, Texas

Most Outstanding Player: Sebastian Gorzny, Texas

For the full release, including each player's results, see this article from the ITA.

Women's ITA Division I Team Indoor All-tournament team:

Doubles:

1. Deniz Dilek and Aysegul Mert, Georgia

2. Angella Okutoyi and Ava Esposito, Auburn

3. Ekaterina Khayrutdinova and Ashton Bowers, Auburn

Singles:

1. Luciana Perry, Ohio State

2. Teah Chavez, Ohio State

3. Deniz Dilek, Georgia

4. Anastasiia Gureva, Georgia

5. Audrey Spencer, Ohio State

6. Sofia Rojas, Georgia

Most Outstanding Player: Deniz Dilek, Georgia

For the full release, including each player's results, see this article from the ITA.