NCAA Division I Team Championships Begin Thursday with Men's Quarterfinals, Women's Quarterfinals Friday; Ayrault Reaches Quarterfinals at ITF J300 in Santa Croce Italy

©Colette Lewis 2026--

Athens GA--

Final preparations were underway today at the Dan Magill Tennis Center in Athens Georgia, with signage and banners being assembled and practices held on all 12 courts in anticipation of Thursday's and Friday's quarterfinals.

The photo of the top three courts at Georgia, with the newly renovated press box above them, will be my office for the next four days. It's extremely rare for a tennis facility to have a press box overlooking the courts, so it's a special treat for me to return that luxury this week in Athens.

The men's quarterfinals are first up this year, as they are every even year, with Texas and Baylor the opening act at the final site this year.

Thursday's men's quarterfinals:

Texas[2] v Baylor[10] 10 a.m. (All times Eastern)

Ohio State[3] v TCU[6] 1 p.m.

Wake Forest[1] v Arizona[8], 4 p.m.

Virginia[4] v Mississippi State[5]

Final approved lineups for the men are here.

Friday's women's quarterfinals:

Auburn[2] v LSU[10] 10 a.m.

Ohio State[3] v Pepperdine[11] 1 p.m.

Georgia[1] v North Carolina State [8] 4 p.m.

Texas A&M[4] v North Carolina[5]

Final approved lineups for the women are here.

The NCAA finals tournament page is here; live scoring is provided by iOnCourt, with the men's link here and the women's link here.

All matches are being streamed on ESPN+(subscription required). Cracked Racquets will be providing the commentary for the men's and women's quarterfinals.

The weather forecast is excellent, with no rain  in the forecast and temperatures in the upper 70s and low 80s for the first two days, with warmer temperatures predicted for the semifinals and finals.

Follow me on Bluesky @zootennis.bsky.social for updates during the matches; John Parsons of No-Ad, No-Problem (https://x.com/JTweetsTennis) and Nate Walroth of Not Your Country Club (https://x.com/showfortennis) are here as well, so look for their content throughout the next four days.

The next three days are going to stretch from 10 a.m. to midnight for me, with four matches every day, so there won't be coverage of other events during these NCAAs and the post may not go up until very late each night.

One American has advanced to the quarterfinals of this week's ITF J300 in Santa Croce Italy, with 15-year-old Hannah Ayrault defeated No. 6 seed Hollie Smart of Great Britain 7-6(2), 3-6, 7-6(6) today and will play fellow qualifier Daphnee Mpetshi Perricard of France in the quarterfinals.  Carrie-Anne Hoo lost her second round match to No. 8 seed Tereza Hermanova of Czechia 6-3, 6-4.

Doubles partners Jack Secord and Puerto Rico's Yannik Alvarez played in the second round of the singles draw today, with the second-seeded Alvarez coming back for 5-7, 6-1, 7-6(8) victory.