Liutova Advances to WTA Memphis 250 Quarterfinals; Talking Top Collegiate Newcomers on No-Ad No-Problem Podcast; Crossley Beats Top Seed, Nguyen and Penickova Reach Florence W35 Quarterfinals; Baris Overcomes 5-0 Third Set Deficit to Extend M25 Winning Streak

Sixteen-year-old qualifier Kristina Liutova, who won two USTA Pro Circuit W100s in May and June, has continued to reach new heights this week at the WTA 250 in Memphis Tennessee. After outlasting top seed Ekaterina Alexandrova, who retired with a heat-related illness on Tuesday after three hours and trailing 4-5 in the third set of the first round, Liutova won another three-setter in less debilitating conditions today, beating WTA No. 76 Maya Joint of Australian 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.

Liutova, who was born in Moscow but has lived in the United States since 2020, has now reach the WTA Top 200 in the live rankings, and will face No. 6 seed Caty McNally in Friday's quarterfinals. 

Seventeen-year-old qualifier Cruz Hewitt of Australia was not able to equal Liutova's feat today in his second round match against top seed Alex de Minaur. Hewitt, who picked up his first ATP main draw win against Marcos Giron(UCLA) at the ATP 500 Mubadala DC Open Tuesday, lost to de Minaur 6-2, 6-3. De Minaur, the defending champion, will next play Brandon Nakashima(Virginia), who beat No. 7 seed Jakub Mensik of Czechia 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-4 today. Taylor Fritz[3] and Bloomfield Hills Challenger champion Alex Michelsen will play in the other top half quarterfinal Friday.

I joined John Parsons on his No-Ad No-Problem podcast this week to discuss the top newcomers to collegiate tennis, with the fall season less than two months away. We discussed the players aged 20-and-under who are likely have the biggest impact on their teams and where they could fit into the lineups, with additional comments on how recruiting has changed in the new NIL landscape, with the urgency to sign top juniors decreasing for many top programs. Subscribe to John's indispensible podcast for all things college tennis; the newcomer episode is available here.

The three USTA Pro Circuit tournaments this week have survived the worst of the heat, and the quarterfinals are set for Friday.

At the W35 in Florence South Carolina, US teens Annika Penickova and No. 8 seed Alexis Nguyen(spoiler alert: she's featured in the podcast) have advanced to the quarterfinals, with Nguyen set to face UCLA rising sophomore Mayu Crossley of Japan, who took out top seed Antonia Vergara Rivera of Chile 6-3, 6-2.

Rising UNC freshman Nguyen advanced via a second consecutive retirement, with NC State rising senior Gabriella Broadfoot of South Africa retiring trailing 7-6(6), 2-0. 

Penickova defeated No. 5 seed and rising Texas junior Carmen Herea of Romania, who finished the year No. 3 in the ITA rankings, 6-3, 6-1 and will play No. 4 seed Ekaterina Khayrutdinova(FIU, Auburn) next.

A qualifier is guaranteed in the semifinals, with Jo-Yee Chan(Oregon, San Diego State) facing Piper Charney(Michigan). Chan defeated Annika's twin sister Kristina 7-6(6), 6-0, while Charney took out No. 7 seed Yiming Dang of China 6-0, 6-4.

The bottom quarterfinals will feature No. 2 seed Angelina Voloshchuk of Portugal and qualifier Krisha Manhendran(USC) of India. Mahendran, a rising sophomore at USC, defeated Amy Zhu(Michigan) 6-3, 4-6, 6-2; Voloshchuk defeated 16-year-old wild card Jordyn Hazelitt 6-3, 6-2.

Recent Michigan State graduate Ozan Baris needed over three-and-a-half hours and had to save five match points, but the No. 5 seed extended his M25 winning streak to seven matches today in Edwardsville Illinois. The 22-year-old from Michigan, the champion two weeks ago in Louisville, won the last seven games of the match after trailing TCU rising sophomore Oliver Bonding of Great Britain 5-7, 7-6(5), 5-0. Baris will face wild card Max Exsted(USC), who advanced with a second consecutive retirement, with No. 3 seed Samir Banerjee(Stanford) retiring trailing 6-4, 2-2.

Top seed Johannus Monday(Tennessee) of Geat Britain defeated 18-year-old Keaton Hance 6-1, 6-4.

The other Americans through to the quarterfinals are Bruno Kuzuhara[7](Clemson) and Jack Anthrop(Ohio State), who play Friday, and recent Yale graduate Vignesh Gogineni, who face No. 2 seed Karim Bennani of Morocco.

Five Americans are through to the quarterfinals at the W75 in Lexington Kentucky, with four of them former collegians.

No. 2 seed Fiona Crawley(UNC), unseeded Kylie Collins(Texas, LSU, Oklahoma State), No. 7 seed Savannah Broadus(Pepperdine) and No. 3 seed Ayana Akli(Maryland, South Carolina), won their matches today, with Akli beating 15-year-old wild card Janae Preston 6-4, 6-2.

Akli will play the fifth American in the quarterfinals, No. 6 seed Hanna Chang, who is looking to add to her point total in the USTA US Open wild card race. Chang won the Dallas W35 in Week One and is currently in third place with those 35 points.