Qualifier Gradzki Reaches Pan Am J300 Quarterfinals; Davidov Survives Three-Hour-Plus Battle with Gaines; Top Seeds Alexander and Johnson Need Comebacks to Advance; USTA's Australian Open Wild Card Challenge Begins Next Month

©Colette Lewis 2026--
Spring Texas--

The top seeds struggled in the third round of the World Tennis J300 Pan Am Closed Wednesday, with another steamy day at the Giammalva Racquet Club producing plenty of drama.

Andy Johnson, the top seed and 2025 finalist, couldn't serve out the first set at 5-4 against unseeded William McEwan, and McEwan took advantage of that hiccup by Johnson to take the first set 7-5. But McEwan couldn't continue his success on the serve plus one in the next two sets with Johnson earning a 5-7, 6-2, 6-0 victory.

Avery Alexander's 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 win over 14-year-old Isha Manchala followed a similar pattern, with Manchala taking advantage of Alexander's inability to stay in a long rally in the opening set. But as Alexander began to make more balls, the 16-year-old Canadian started to take control of points and force more errors from Manchala.

Johnson's opponent in Thursday's quarterfinals is 15-year-old qualifier Piotr Gradzki, who defeated No. 6 seed Mason Vaughan 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 to reach the quarterfinals in just his second World Tour junior circuit J300 tournament.

Gradzki had to win three qualifying matches just to reach the main draw, going three sets in his first round match as well, before beating No. 12 seed Felipe Mamede of Brazil 6-3, 6-3 in the second round Tuesday.

"This was like my third three-hour match," said Gradzki, who turns 16 in November. "One of my qualifying matches was a three-hour and 20-minute match and the guy cramped in the (match) tiebreaker. So I'm battling here. I've already had so many long matches, but I'm feeling fine. Go to sleep early, eat a good amount, but I feel fine every day."

Gradzki has confidence in his ground strokes, so he has concentrated on his serving and returning.

"I focus on two things: just making my returns and my first serve percentage," said Gradzki, who trains at the John McEnroe Tennis Academy in New York. "If I can make good returns and play the points after, I can out-rally a lot of people with my ball pace and quality."

Gradzki didn't get discouraged when he dropped the second set, saying reacting with frustration doesn't help him.

"My biggest go-to is being positive," Gradzki said. "Good mentality is always my best friend. Whenever I'm positive, whenever I want to do something, it happens, and I play my best when I'm my best friend."

Gradzki admits that he's didn't anticipate this kind of performance this week. 

"I had no expecatations for this tournament," Gradzki said. "I'm surprised I'm winning, so I don't expect anything. I do whatever feels best for me and if it works, it works."

In addition to a qualifier, the boys quarterfinals also features a wild card, with Achyuth Binu continuing his run with a 6-1, 7-6(4) win over unseeded Gadin Arun.

Binu will next face No. 10 seed Teodore Davidov, who played the longest match of the day, a three-hour and 20-minute, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 win over No. 8 seed Jerrid Gaines Jr.

The heat rule, which mandates a 10-minute break between the second and third sets, had just been announced when Davidov lost the second set, so it was an opportunity for him to regroup.

"I got some electrolytes in, some gels, went to the bathroom to cool down a little," said the 16-year-old from Bradenton Florida, who beat Gaines 6-3, 7-6(0) this summer in the J200 in Mason Ohio. "I got right back to it, but got broken to go down 2-1. He has a really big serve, so it's really important to hold serve, but I broke back, and we had some really intense games."

Davidov, who is famous among tennis nerds for hitting only forehands and serving both left-handed and right-handed, got the key break at 4-3, but then immediately squandered the opportunity to serve out the match, hitting a double fault and two unforced errors to give Gaines an opportunity to get back on serve.

Gaines then took his second medical timeout, complaining of pain in his legs, although he wasn't showing any of the obvous signs of cramping.

"I got a little distracted with all his shenanigans, but I locked it down," said Davidov, who will be representing the United States as a member of the Junior Davis Cup team that is competing in Egypt in November. "The medical timeout was pretty quick, just 45 seconds or a minute, so it was ok. I saw him mentally breaking down, so I wasn't too worried. I know he's not mentally strong, he's known for it, so it was ok."

Davidov broke Gaines to end the match and will have an opportunity to reach his first J300 semifinal with a win over Binu.

"I played him once, two years ago but he's having some great results," Davidov said, referring to his 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 win in the 16s quarterfinals at IMG in 2024. "Even though he's not seeded, I'm definitely not going to underestimate him."

In the rematch of the rematch of the Kalamazoo 16s final in August, Kamil Stolarczyk retook the lead in the recent head to head, beating Daniel Malacek 7-5, 6-1. Stolarczyk won the Kalamazoo final 6-4, 6-2, but in the semifinals at the J200 in Montreal earlier this month Malacek beat Stolarczyk 7-5, 2-6, 6-2.

Stolarczyk will play the only non-American in the quarterfinals, No. 4 seed Joshua Adamson of Canada, who Stolarczyk beat 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 in the Montreal quarterfinals. Adamson defeated No. 16 seed Sebastian Godoy 6-2, 6-3.

No. 2 seed Tanishk Konduri will have a chance to avenge his loss at the J300 in Tucson this past spring when he takes on No. 7 seed Erik Schinnerer Thursday. Konduri beat No. 13 seed Mauricio Schtulmann Gasca of Mexico 6-1, 6-4, while Schinnerer won a prolonged battle with Sulaiman Syed 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-2.

All but one of the girls quarterfinalists is seeded, with Sena Yoon the exception. Yoon, who beat No. 3 seed Adla Lopez 6-1, 6-4 in a result I completely overlooked yesterday, took out unseeded Adelina Iftime today 6-4, 2-6, 6-1. She will play No. 11 seed Ellery Mendell, who defeated Kalista Papadopoulos 6-0, 6-2. 

Alexander's opponent in the quarterfinals is No. 5 seed Armira Kockinis, who defeated No. 9 seed Thara Gowda 6-0, 7-6(3). Kockinis beat Alexander in the semifinals of a J200 in Mexico earlier this summer 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.

In the bottom half, No. 2 seed and 2025 finalist Carrie-Ann Hoo received a walkover from No. 15 Reiley Rhodes due to illness. Hoo will play No. 12 seed Brooke Wallman, who beat No. 8 seed Isabelle DeLuccia 6-4, 6-3. No. 4 seed Emery Combs defeated Daniella Sales 6-4, 6-1 to set up a quarterfinal with No. 10 seed Londyn McCord. McCord defeated No. 6 seed Ireland O'Brien 6-4, 6-2.

The doubles semifinals are scheduled for 1 p.m. Thursday afternoon, after all eight singles quarterfinals are played at 9 a.m.

Top seeds Konduri and Johnson will face No. 3 seeds Adamson and Caden Colburne of Canada and No. 4 seed Stolarczyk and Vaughan will play No. 8 seeds Antoine Clavel and Andy Tchinda Kepche of Canada to decide the boys doubles finalists.

In the girls doubles, No. 2 seeds Hoo and DeLuccia will play No. 8 seeds Anya Arora and Sylvana Jalbert, and No. 5 seeds Gowda and O'Brien will face No. 3 seeds Combs and Olivia De Los Reyes.

The USTA announced its annual competition to decide the reciprocal wild card it receives for the Australian Open. The full release is below:

2027 Australian Open Wild Card Challenge to Begin Week of October 5 for Women, October 19 for Men

 

Orlando, Fla., September 30, 2026 – The Australian Open Wild Card Challenge, which will utilize indoor and outdoor hard-court and carpet professional tournaments to award an American man and woman a main draw wild card into the 2027 Australian Open, will begin with events the week of October 5 for the women and October 19 for the men.

 

The USTA and Tennis Australia have a reciprocal agreement in which main draw singles wild cards for the 2027 Australian Open and US Open will be exchanged.

 

The women's wild card will be awarded to the American with the most ranking points earned at a maximum of three tournaments during a five-week window, beginning with events starting the week of October 5. The women's Challenge window runs through the week of November 2. All indoor and outdoor hard-court and carpet events at the W35 level and above, including WTA Tour events, will be included in the Challenge.

 

The men's wild card will be awarded to the American with the most ranking points earned from a maximum of four events during a five-week window that begins the week of October 19 and runs through the week of November 16. All indoor and outdoor hard-court and carpet events at the M25 level and above, including ATP Tour and Challenger events, will be included in the Challenge.

 

Ranking points earned in the main draw and qualifying will be counted toward each player's Challenge point total. Should the player with the highest number of Challenge points earn direct entry into the Australian Open, the wild card will go to the next eligible American in the Challenge points standings. In the event of a tie for the men or the women, the player with the best singles ranking on the Monday immediately following the conclusion of the Challenge will earn the wild card. Americans who otherwise earn direct entry into the Australian Open are not eligible.

 

Previous Americans to earn wild cards into the Australian Open (year specified is the year of the tournament):

 

2026: Patrick Kypson (1R); Elizabeth Mandlik (1R)
2025: Nishesh Basavareddy (1R); Iva Jovic (2R)
2024: Patrick Kypson (1R); McCartney Kessler (2R)
2023: Chris Eubanks (2R); Taylor Townsend (2R)
2022: Stefan Kozlov (2R); Robin Anderson (1R)
2020: Marcos Giron (1R); CoCo Vandweghe (1R)
2019: Jack Sock (1R); Whitney Osuigwe (1R)
2018: Tim Smyczek (2R); Kristie Ahn (1R)
2017: Michael Mmoh (1R); Kayla Day (1R)
2016: Noah Rubin (2R); Samantha Crawford (1R)
2015: Denis Kudla (1R); Irina Falconi (2R)
2014: Steve Johnson (1R); Sachia Vickery (1R)
2013: Rhyne Williams (1R); Madison Keys (3R)
2012: Jesse Levine (1R); Madison Keys (1R)
2011: Ryan Harrison (1R); Lauren Davis (1R)
2010: Ryan Harrison (1R); CoCo Vandeweghe (1R)
2009: John Isner (1R); Christina McHale (1R)
2008: Jesse Levine (2R); Madison Brengle (1R)
2007: Madison Brengle (1R); No men’s wild card competition.

###

Binu Topples No. 3 Seed Azam Seconds Before Rain Arrives at Pan American Closed; Top Seeds Alexander and Johnson Advance; Pareja Avenges San Diego Loss to Frodin at Templeton W100

©Colette Lewis 2026--
Spring Texas--

Wild card Achyuth Binu could feel the drops of rain that began when he was leading No. 3 seed Safir Azam 5-1 in the third set of their second round match at the J300 Pan American Closed.

But the 17-year-old from Washington state, who won the match 7-5, 2-6, 6-1, was determined not to force the issue, continuing to stay in the long rallies until he found an opening or forced an error from Azam.

"If I was thinking I've got to finish, I'd probably just rush the points, so I was just focusing on every point," said Binu, who got an error from Azam on match point less than 30 seconds before play was halted on the other courts at the Giammalva Racquet Club. "I think he got a little tired, maybe mentally and physically, and I was just playing solid, fighting for every point."

Binu, who reached the semifinals of the J200 in Corpus Christi last week, where the weather was even more uncomfortable than here in the Houston area, where the heat index was over 100 early this afternoon before the clouds and rain arrived.

Although unsure why he received a wild card from the USTA for this event, Binu said he was relieved to have already posted two wins, acknowledging that his game has taken a big jump since he began training at the HITT Academy in Tamarac Florida.

"It's a small academy near Boca," said Binu, who has been in Florida training for the past four years. "I've been there for the last five months. I've been working really hard and I'm happy the results are showing. I had a tough loss in (the J100) in San Antonio, but I just trusted my training and it's working pretty well now."

Binu will face unseeded Gadin Arun next, after Arun defeated No. 14 seed Caden Colburne of Canada 6-4, 6-1.

That's the only round of 16 match Wednesday featuring two unseeded players, but in addition to Azam and Colburne, three other unseeded players have advanced. The only qualifier in either draw to reach the round of 16 is Piotr Gradzki, who defeated No. 12 seed Felipe Mamede of Brazil 6-3, 6-3. Sulaiman Syed beat No. 11 seed Kayden Colombo 6-3, 7-6(7) and William McEwan defeated No. 15 seed Antoine Clavel of  Canada 7-5, 6-4.

McEwan will play top seed Andy Johnson, who defeated Anay Kulkari 6-2, 6-1 in a match much tougher than the score would indicate.

"He trains in Orlando, so I play with him a lot," Johnson said of the 2026 Easter Bowl 16s champion. "He knows my game, I know his game. Obviously in a first match, it's finding a rhythm, he's already played a match so is going in with some rhythm already. I thought I played better and better throughout the match, maybe had a few more unforced errors than normal."

Johnson, who was playing on the same court where he lost in the final to Michael Antonius last year, says he knows he's in a different position now than he was then.

"I know all these boys here, everyone's good, everyone's out for me," said Johnson, who turned 17 last month. "I'm the one who technically should win the tournament, but anything can happen."

Playing next to Johnson for a brief time was the girls 2025 finalist Carrie-Ann Hoo, who was not coming from Southern California, like Johnson, but from Tokyo, where she made the final of a J200 and the third round at the J500 in Osaka. Hoo, who also was playing on the court where she lost in the final to Melije Clarke, said she only began to shake the jet leg today, but had enjoyed her trip to Japan so much last year that she wanted to return again this year despite the lack of time between that tournament and this one.

After her 6-2, 6-3 win over qualifier Vibha Gogineni, Hoo will face No. 15 seed Reiley Rhodes, who beat Teaghan Jou An Keys 6-3, 6-3.

Top seed Avery Alexander of Canada had to fight off a valiant effort from 15-year-old Kathryn Cragg, but she was able to get off the court in just under two hours, avoiding the worst of the day's heat, with a 6-4, 7-5 victory.

Alexander is making her debut at the Pan Am games, with the 16-year-old's ranking a year ago in the 350 range.

"I don't think I was getting in last year," said Alexander, currently 57 in the WT junior rankings. "It's been a good year so far, I've had a really fun summer, good tournaments, good experience. I'm really excited to play here, I love these courts, and I'm playing solid."

Alexander hadn't faced Cragg before, but she had friends who had, and knew Cragg was dangerous.

"I knew a little bit about her and I knew it was going to be a very tough match," Alexander said. "She's obviously a very good player and younger too, and it's always tough to play someone younger than you. I knew she has a really good serve and it was really who could break serve first. In the second set, at 5-all I got the only break. I hit two aces in the last game, and that helps a lot to close out a match."

Alexander will play an even younger opponent in Wednesday's third round, after 14-year-old Isha Manchala defeated No. 13 seed Camille Allegre 6-4, 6-3.

In addition to Allegre, four other seeds lost in their first matches today. Sena Yoon took out No. 3 seed Adla Lopez 61, 6-4; Kalista Papadopoulos defeated No. 7 seed Olivia De Los Reyes 6-4, 3-6, 6-3; Daniella Sales beat No. 14 seed Andrea Cabio of Canada 6-3, 6-1 and Adelina Iftime outlasted No. 16 seed Anya Arora 6-2, 0-6, 6-2.

The girls doubles second round was underway when the last singles match between Azam and Binu finished, and there was a delay, but all the doubles matches were completed by Tuesday evening.

Girls top seeds Alexander and Cabio lost to Manchala and Sales 6-3, 6-2 and boys No. 2 seeds Azam and Teodor Davidov were beaten by Mamede and Vincent Weaver 7-5, 7-6(5). 

Top boys seeds Johnson and Tanishk Konduri advanced, as did No. 2 girls seeds Hoo and Isabelle DeLuccia, who also competed in the Osaka J500 last week, reaching the doubles quarterfinals with Hoo.

Play begins at 9 a.m. Wednesday with all eight boys third round matches, with the girls third round matches to follow. There is a chance of rain in the forecast again on Wednesday.

A rematch of the USTA Girls 18s Nationals semifinals took place today in the first round of the USTA Pro Circuit W100 in Templeton California, with Julieta Pareja getting her revenge over Thea Frodin, who received a wild card into the tournament. Frodin had beaten Pareja 7-6(2), 7-6(4) in San Diego and today's match was also close, but this time Pareja prevailed 5-7, 6-4, 6-1.

Temperatures Soar for Pan Am Closed J300 First Round; Drenser-Hagmann Sweeps at J200 in Uruguay; Stratton and Bosso Claim Singles at J100 in Canada

©Colette Lewis 2026--

Spring Texas--

The Giammalva Racquet Club has plentiful shade and an air-conditioned clubhouse with Tennis Channel playing on mjltiple monitors, which was certainly a relief on Monday, when temperatures reached the low 90s for the first round of the World Tennis J300 Pan American Regional Closed.

With 48-player draws, no seeds play until Tuesday, but there were plenty of competitive matches, as well as the first round of doubles.

Those players who qualified with wins on Sunday were back on court today, and of 12 qualifiers, two boys and two girls earned their places in the second round. All played fellow qualifiers in the first round, with Piotr Gradzki, Antanas Daugis, Molly Widlansky and Vibha Gogineni set to play seeds in their second round matches Tuesday.

Three of the 12 wild cards also are through to the second round: Elijah Mireles, Achyuth Binu and 14-year-old Nadia Poznick.

The seeds (USA unless noted):

Boys:
1. Andy Johnson
2. Tanishk Konduri
3. Safir Azam
4. Joshua Adamson, Canada
5. Daniel Malacek
6. Mason Vaughan
7. Erik Schinnerer
8. Jerrid Gaines Jr
9. Kamil Stolarczyk
10. Teodor Davidov
11. Kayden Colombo
12. Felipe Mamede, Brazil
13. Mauricio Schtulmann Gasca, Mexico
14. Caden Colburne, Canada
15. Antoine Clavel, Canada
16. Sebastian Inaki Godoy

Girls:

1. Avery Alexander, Canada

2. Carrie-Anne Hoo

3. Adla Lopez

4. Emery Combs

5. Armira Kockinis

6. Ireland O'Brien

7. Olivia De Los Reyes

8. Isabelle DeLuccia

9. Thara Gowda

10. Londyn McCord

11. Ellery Mendell

12. Brooke Wallman

13. Camille Allegre

14. Andrea Cabio, Canada

15. Reiley Rhodes

16. Anya Arora

Play begins on Tuesday at 8 a.m. with girls top seeds Avery Alexander facing Kathryn Cragg.

Two of the Americans in action today at the Pan American J300 won J100 titles in Quebec City. Tristan Stratton, the top seed in Canada, defeated Loic Massotte, the No. 2 seed, 6-2, 6-4 in Saturday's final. Today Stratton beat qualifier Joshua Dolinsky 6-1, 6-1 and will play another Joshua Tuesday--No. 4 seed Joshua Adamson of Canada. Fourteen-year-old Isabella Bosso, the No. 2 seed in Canada, defeating top seed Eve Thibault 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 for her second WT junior circuit singles title. Today Bosso lost to Elicia Lin of Canada 6-4, 7-6(5).

Kennedy Drenser-Hagmann has opted for the clay of South America instead of this hard court Texas swing, with the 17-year-old from Michigan capturing both the singles and doubles titles at the J200 in Uruguay. The top seed in singles, Drenser-Hagmann didn't drop a set all week, beating No. 4 seed Maria Eduarda Carbone dos Santos of Brazil 6-3, 6-2 in the final. Seeded No. 2 in doubles, Drenser-Hagmann and Alexandra Korneeva of Armenia defeated top seeds Carbone dos Santos and Nathalia Pontes Tourinho of Brazil 6-1, 6-3 in the final.

Sixteen-year-old David Beckles won his second straight J60 in Ghana last week, defeating Antoine Baudot of France 6-3, 1-6, 6-3. 

At the J30 in Nicaragua, 17-year-old Daven Aga won his first two titles on the WT junior circuit. Aga, unseeded, defeated Ricardo Dorantes Ramos of Mexico 6-1, 6-2 in the singles final. In the doubles final, he and Tyler Stout won when No. 4 seeds Francisco Correa Iguiniz of Argentina and Aziel Elie of Peru retired.

Sofia Mills reached the singles final, and won the doubles title in Managua with Clarice Ouvarova of Great Britain. The top seeds defeated the unseeded team of Seemontini Pal of Canada and Emelie Barbara Valdes 6-1, 6-0 in the final.

Hazelitt Sweeps Titles at J500 Osaka; TCU's Pascual, Ohio State's Perry Claim ITA All-American Titles; Bonding Wins M15 Columbia SC; Basavareddy Takes San Diego Challenger Title; PanAm J300 Seeds; Kalamazoo Photo Gallery

Jordyn Hazelitt became the first American girl to capture the World Tennis J500 Osaka Mayor's Cup singles title, breaking a drought that extended back to the tournament's start in 1987. 

The 16-year-old from Nevada, seeded No. 2, defeated unseeded Miyu Nishiwaki of Japan 6-3, 6-2 in Sunday's final to add a J500 title to the J300 title she won in March in San Diego. 

In the girls doubles final, Hazelitt and Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi, the top seeds, defeated the unseeded Japanese pair of Rei Sato and Nagisa Shiomi 6-2, 6-2.

With the two titles, Hazelitt will move to No. 11 in the WT junior rankings; her previous career-high was 18. She will now be behind only Janae Preston, who is the top-ranked American girl at No. 6.

The boys title went to Japan's Koki Nara, with the No. 8 seed beating No. 6 seed Ntungamili Raguin of Botswana 6-4, 6-1 in the final. The 16-year-old Nara's previous biggest title was at the J200 level.

The No. 2 seeded team of Hyu Kawanishi and Kanta Watanabe beat unseeded Sota Kagawa and Shintaro Ogaki 6-2, 7-5 in the all-Japan boys doubles final.

The finals of both the men's and the women's ITA All-American Championships didn't contain much drama, with three straight-sets victories and a retirement.

No. 2 seed Luciana Perry of Ohio State became just the second Buckeye woman to win the singles title, with Francesca Di Lorenzo, now the women's assistant coach at UCF, the first Ohio State All-American champion in 2016.

Perry defeated Duke freshman Mimi Xu, a wild card, 6-2, 6-1, in the women's final at the Cary Tennis Park in Cary North Carolina.

In the women's doubles final, North Carolina's Maddy Zampardo won her second All-American doubles title, with a different team and different partner from her title two years ago. Zampardo and Susanna Maltby, the No. 6 seeds, defeated No. 3 seeds Perry and her partner Flora Johnson 6-0, 6-1 in today's final. Zampardo and Gabby Broadfoot won the title in 2024 when Zampardo played for NC State.

The NCAA qualifiers decided today were singles consolation finalists Sophia Cisse-Ignatiev of Ohio State and Mia Slama[5] of NC State, and doubles consolation champions Katie Rolls and Martina Genis Salas of Virginia.

While the No. 2 seed held off the unseeded player in the women's final, the opposite occurred in the men's final in Tulsa Oklahoma, with Roger Pascual of TCU defeating Keegan Rice of Virginia 6-3, 6-1. Pascual is the first Horned Frog to win the ITA All-American singles title. 

The all-Ohio State battle in the men's doubles final ended after one set, with top seeds Nikita Filin and Brandon Carpico winning it 6-2 before teammates Aidan Kim and Bryce Nakashima retired. 

The men's NCAA qualifiers are consolation finalists Aidan Kim of Ohio State and Connor Van Schalkwyk of Baylor, along with doubles consolation champions Matisse Farzam and Tiago Pires of Clemson.

Chris Halioris of College Tennis Ranks has posted a google doc tracking all the qualifiers for this November's NCAA individual championships in Athens, with the first 10 entries decided this week. The men's document is here; the women's document is here.

Pascual wasn't the only Horned Frog to claim a title today, with sophomore Oliver Bonding winning his third M15 title in Columbia South Carolina. The 19-year-old from Great Britain defeated University of South Carolina senior Sean Daryabeigi, a wild card, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 in the final.

Dakotah Bobo(LSU, Southern Miss) and Nathan Cox(Vanderbilt) won the doubles title, with the No. 4 seeds beating Florida State's Seydina Andre of Senegal and Luis Felipe Miguel, the older brother of Guto Miguel, seeded No. 3, 6-3, 6-1.

Nishesh Basavareddy(Stanford) won his fourth ATP Challenger title today at the San Diego 75 at Barnes Tennis Center. The 21-year-old from Indiana, who won a Challenger in April but was out for three months this summer with an injury, defeated unseeded Igor Marcondes of Brazil 7-5, 6-4 in the final. Basavareddy, the top seed, defeated ITA preseason No. 1 Dylan Dietrich of Virginia 6-7(10), 6-4, 5-1 retired in the semifinals last night. 

Local favorites Christopher Papa(San Diego Christian, Pepperdine) and Stian Klaassen(San Diego) of the Netherlands won the doubles title, with the unseeded pair defeating wild cards Vignesh Gogineni(Yale) and Noah Zamora(UC-Irvine) 7-6(6), 5-7, 10-3 in the final.

Sixteen-year-old qualifier Janae Preston fell in the final of the W50 in Berkeley California today, with top seed Kayla Day completing her impressive straight-sets run to the title with a 7-5, 6-4 victory. 

Sofia Cabezas(Iowa State, Tennessee) and Katherine Hui(Stanford) won the doubles title, beating Oklahoma teammates Reina Goto of Japan and Evialina Laskevich of  Ruissa 3-6, 6-4, 10-7 in today's final.

The draws are up for the J300 Pan American Closed in Spring Texas, with the first round set for Monday. The qualifiers are listed below, the seeds listed won't play until Tuesday in the 48-player draws. Countries given only when not USA.

Girls qualifiers:
Molly Widlansky
Vibha Gogineni
Ava Quincy Brewer
Charlotte Ballarin
Emily Golovanov
Sadira Ouyang

Boys qualifiers:
Antanas Daugis
Marko Mikic
Piotr Gradzki
Mateo Rizo-Patron
Justin Zhang
Joshua Dolinsky

Boys seeds:

1. Andy Johnson

2. Tanishk Konduri

3. Safir Azam

4. Joshua Adamson, Canada

5. Daniel Malacek

6. Mason Vaughan

7. Erik Schinnerer

8. Jerrid Gaines Jr

9. Kamil Stolarczyk

10. Teodor Davidov

11. Kayden Colombo

12. Felipe Mamede, Brazil

13. Mauricio Schtulmann Gasca, Mexico

14. Caden Colburne, Canada

15. Antoine Clavel, Canada

16. Sebastian Inaki Godoy

Girls seeds:

1. Avery Alexander, Canada

2. Carrie-Anne Hoo

3. Adla Lopez

4. Emery Combs

5. Armira Kockinis

6. Ireland O'Brien

7. Olivia De Los Reyes

8. Isabelle DeLuccia

9. Thara Gowda

10. Londyn McCord

11. Ellery Mendell

12. Brooke Wallman

13. Camille Allegre

14. Andrea Cabio, Canada

15. Reiley Rhodes

16. Anya Arora

The USTA Boys Nationals gallery is up now at the Tennis Recruiting Network, featuring all the boys in both divisions in the round of 16 and in the quarterfinal qualifying round of the consolation draws.

The US Open Juniors gallery should be up soon as well.

Xu vs Perry, Rice vs Pascual for ITA All-American Titles; Hazelitt Reaches Osaka J500 Final; Preston Advances to Final at Berkeley W50; Brantmeier Plays for WTA 125 Title Sunday; Davletshina Claims Corpus Christi J200 Title

The finals are set for the ITA All-American Championships, with the No. 2 seeds in both the men's and women's draws facing surprising opponents for the title.

No. 2 seed Luciana Perry of Ohio State, a semifinalist last year, will face wild card Mimi Xu of Duke for the title at 10 a.m. Sunday at the Cary Tennis Park. Perry, a senior, defeated No. 16 seed Rose Marie Nijkamp of Texas 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 to earn her spot in the final, while Xu, a freshman, prevented an all-Buckeye final with a 6-1, 7-5 win over Ohio State junior. Nao Nishino.

Perry will also compete in the doubles final, with Flora Johnson, after the No. 3 seeds defeated Oklahoma's Salakthip Ounmang and Zoie Epps 6-4, 4-6, 10-5. Their opponents are North Carolina's Maddy Zampardo and Susanna Maltby, whose partnership goes back to the juniors, with the No. 6 seed defeating Nijkamp and Carmen Herea of Texas 6-1, 6-2.

No. 2 seed Keegan Rice of Virginia continued his impressive march through the draw, defeating Wake Forest qualifier Dominick Mosejczuk 6-3, 6-4, to advance to the final. Rice will face TCU junior Roger Pascual, who defeated Nicolas Arseneault of Kentucky 6-4, 7-5. Pascual, who played at No. 6 for the Horned Frogs last year, had an outstanding summer on the Pro Circuit and has carried that form into the fall season. 

Top seeds Brandon Carpico and Nikita Filin of Ohio State have also picked up where they left off earlier this month. As the first NCAA wild cards to reach the third round of the US Open, Carpico and Filin were heavy favorites for this title, and they have reached the final with a 7-6(2), 6-0 win over the unseeded Ole Miss team of Mortiz Kudernatsch and Pietro Pampanin. It will be an all-Ohio State final in doubles with Bryce Nakashima and Aidan Kim defeating Noa Vukadin and Viktor Markov of Clemson 3-6, 6-3, 13-11 in a late match that was moved indoors due to rain.

Jordyn Hazelitt has advanced to the singles and doubles final at the World Tennis J500 in Osaka Japan. The No. 2 seed, Hazelitt defeated No. 3 seed Renee Alame of Australia 6-3, 6-1 and will face unseeded Miyu Nishiwaki of Japan for the title. Nishiwaki defeated top seed Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi of India 7-5, 6-4 in the semifinals.

Hazelitt and Rajeshwaran Revathi, the top seeds, have advanced to the doubles final, where they will play the unseeded Japanese team of Rei Sato and Nagisa Shiomi. Sato and Shiomi defeated No. 6 seeds Scarlett Fagan and Maggie Sohns 6-3, 6-2 in the semifinals.

The boys singles final in Osaka will feature No. 6 seed Ntungamili Raguin of Botswana and No. 8 seed Koki Nara of Japan.

The boys doubles final will be an all-Japanese contest, with No. 2 seeds Hyu Kawanishi and Kanta Watanabe facing unseeded Sota Kagawa and Shintaro Ogaki.

Kawanishi and Watanabe defeated No. 3 seeds Naveet Raghuram and Raguin 6-4, 6-2 in the semifinals.

Hazelitt isn't the only Henderson Nevada resident having a good week, with fellow 16-year-old Janae Preston advancing to the final of the W50 in Berkeley California as a qualifier.

Preston defeated ITA preseason No. 1 Lucciana Perez, a senior at Texas A&M, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4. Preston will face top seed Kayla Day in an all-American final, with Day beating LSU junior Ella McDonald of Great Britain 7-6(7), 6-3. 

At the M15 in Columbia South Carolina, Gamecock senior Sean Daryabeigi will face TCU sophomore Oliver Bonding, giving the Horned Frogs two players in finals Sunday. Daryabeigi, a wild card, advanced to the final when Will Jansen(UNC, Ohio State, Georgia) retired after losing the first set 7-6(4). Bonding defeated South Carolina junior wild card Gabe Avram 7-5, 6-1 and will play for his third M15 title, while Daryabeigi aims for his first.

2025 NCAA champion Reese Brantmeier(North Carolina) has reached the final of the WTA 125 in Portugal as a qualifier. The 21-year-old from Wisconsin, who has not dropped a set this week, will face top seed Maria Timofeeva of Uzebekistan in the final. Brantmeier picked up her first WTA Top 100 win today, beating No. 95 and No. 2 seed Sinja Kraus of Austria 6-3, 6-0. Regardless of the outcome of Sunday's final, Brantmeier will move into the WTA Top 300 for the first time.

At the J200 in Corpus Christi, 13-year-old Nikol Davletshina won her second title in two weeks, after winning the J100 in San Antonio last week. The Florida resident defeated No. 8 seed Ellery Mendell 6-4, 6-3 in today's final to run her winning streak in WT Junior Circuit tournaments to 17 matches. She will approach the Top 200 in the junior rankings with this title.

The boys title went to Turkey's Samim Filiz, with the No. 4 seed defeating top seed Joshua Adamson of Canada 2-6, 6-4, 6-4. 

No. 3 seeds Adamson and Caden Colburne won the boys doubles title, beating Antoine Clavel and Andy Tchinda Kepche 6-0, 6-2 in the all-Canadian final.

No. 6 seeds Ciara Harding and Reiley Rhodes won the girls doubles title, defeating the unseeded team of London Evans and Puerto Rico's Aurora Lugo Torres 7-6(2), 6-2 in the final. 

My Article on Recent Success of US Junior Boys; Preston Reaches Semifinals at Berkeley W50; South Carolina Wild Cards Advance at M15 Columbia; First NCAA Qualifiers Decided Friday at ITA All-American Championships

The US juniors boys have been posting impressive results all year on the USTA Pro Circuit and the World Tennis Junior Circuit, yet the three first round US Open men's qualifying wins by Michael Antonius, Jordan Lee and Andy Johnson really had the tennis world taking notice. I asked many of the American boys I interviewed at the US Open Juniors what those wins meant to them, with this article for Tennis Recruiting Network the result. 

The US junior girls have also had a good year, and one of the breakout stars of the first six months of 2026, Janae Preston, has continued to post impressive results. After reaching the Wimbledon girls semifinals and the final of the USTA National 18s in San Diego, Preston made the quarterfinals of the US Open Junior Championships, and is now into the semifinals of the W50 in Berkeley California as a qualifier. 

Preston, who just turned 16 in August, defeated No. 5 seed Hanna Chang 6-2, 6-4 in today's quarterfinals and will play ITA preseason No. 1 Lucciana Perez of Peru for a spot in the final. The 21-year-old Perez, a senior at Texas A&M who finished her junior year 28-0, defeated Auburn transfer Emma Kamper of Denmark, a qualifier, 6-4, 6-1. Perez isn't the only current collegian in the Berkeley semifinals, with unseeded LSU junior Ella McDonald of Great Britain beating No. 3 seed Madison Brengle 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. McDonald will play top seed Kayla Day, who beat No. 7 seed Anna Rogers(NC State) 6-1, 6-0 today.

At the M15 in Columbia South Carolina, two wild cards from the University of South Carolina's team have advanced to the semifinals. Junior Gabe Avram advanced when teammate Antonin Witz of France, a qualifier, retired trailing 6-0. Senior Sean Daryabeigi defeated Oklahoma freshman Tito Chavez of Spain 6-4, 7-6(3) to set up a meeting with unseeded Will Jansen(UNC, Ohio State, Georgia) of  Great Britain. Jansen defeated No. 6 seed Evan Bynoe(Cornell) 6-3, 6-3.  Avram's opponent in the semifinals is TCU sophomore Oliver Bonding of Great Britain. The eighth-seeded Bonding beat a third Gamecock wild card, sophomore Charlie Swaine of Great Britain, 6-4, 6-0 today. Swaine had defeated top seed John Hallquist Lithen(Ole Miss) of Sweden in the second round.

Daryabeigi is also in the doubles semifinals, with teammate Max Stenzer of Germany. Ryan Cozad and Gavin Goode are also through to the doubles semifinals.

The first eight collegians have earned their spots in the NCAA singles championships this November in Athens Georgia after the round of 16 determined those qualifiers today at the women's and men's ITA All-American Championships.

In Cary North Carolina, Duke earned three spots with victories in the round of 16, with freshman Mimi Xu justifying her wild card and then some with two more big wins today. Xu took out qualifier Nicole Khirin, the UNC transfer who was an All-American at Texas A&M, 6-4, 5-7, 7-5 in the round of 16. And while teammates Irina Balus and Aspen Schuman retired from their quarterfinal matches, Xu played hers, defeating No. 7 seed Amelie Van Impe of SMU 7-6(3), 6-2 to advance to Saturday's semifinal against Nao Nishino of Ohio State.

Women's A-A round of 16 results:

Mimi Xu[WC], Duke d. Nicole Khirin[Q], North Carolina 6-4, 5-7, 7-5
Amelie Van Impe[7], SMU d. Stephanie Yakoff, Harvard 6-1, 6-0
Irina Balus[4], Duke, d. Kaitlyn Carnicella, South Carolina 6-4, 1-6, 7-6(5)
Nao Nishino, Ohio State d. Mia Slama[5], NC State 7-5, 6-4
Aspen Schuman, Duke d. Sophia Cisse-Ignatiev, Ohio State 6-4, 6-4
Rose Marie Nijkamp[16], Texas d. Zuzanna Kubacha, Baylor 7-5, 6-2
Ekaterina Ivanova, Wisconsin d. Rinon Okuwaki, Tennessee 7-5, 6-1
Luciana Perry[2], Ohio State d. Emma Dong[WC], Georgia 6-3, 6-1

Women's A-A quarterfinal results:

Mimi Xu[WC], Duke d. Amelia Van Impe[7], SMU 7-6(3), 6-2
Nao Nishino, Ohio State d. Irinia Balus[4], Duke 2-0, ret.
Rose Marie Nijkamp[16], Texas d. Aspen Schuman, Duke 3-0 ret.
Luciana Perry[2], Ohio State d. Ekaterina Ivanova, Wisconsin 7-5, 6-2

Perry and Nijkamp are also through to the doubles semifinals, meaning they have qualified for both draws at the NCAAs.

Women's A-A doubles semifinals:

Maddy Zampardo and Susanna Maltby[6], North Carolina v Rose Marie Nijkamp and Carmen Herea, Texas

Salakthip Ounmang and Zoie Epps, Oklahoma v Luciana Perry and Flora Johnson[3], Ohio State

The men's semifinals are night matches, but all the quarterfinalists have booked their spots in the singles draw in Athens. Max Exsted, a sophomore at USC, took out 2025 finalist Aidan Kim of Ohio State 6-4, 6-4.

Men's A-A round of 16 results:

Viktor Markov[16], Clemson d. Sam Landau, Indiana 6-4, 7-6(1)

Nicolas Arseneault, Kentucky d. Rodrigo Fernandes[11], Cornell 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-4

Theo Papamalamis[4], Texas A&M d. Tomasz Berkieta[Q], Texas 4-6, 6-2, 6-2

Roger Pascual, TCU d. Sasha Rozin, Arizona 6-2, 6-2

Dominick Mosejczuk[Q], Wake Forest d. Nikita Volonski[Q], Tulsa 7-6(4), 6-1 

Maxwell Exsted, USC d. Aidan Kim[3], Ohio State 6-4, 6-4

Nikita Filin, Ohio State d. Amirkhamza Nasridinov[10], Texas A&M 6-3, 6-4 

Keegan Rice[2], Virginia d. Bryan Hernandez Cortes, Mississippi State 6-0, 6-1

Men's A-A singles quarterfinals:

Nicolas Arseneault, Kentucky d. Viktor Markov[16], Clemson 6-4, 6-7(7), 6-3

Roger Pascual, TCU d, Theo Papamalamis[4], Texas A&M 6-3, 6-1

Dominick Mosejczuk[Q], Wake Forest d. Maxwell Exsted, USC 3-6, 6-3, 6-4

Keegan Rice[2], Virginia d. Nikita Filin, Ohio State 6-3, 6-0 

Men's A-A doubles semifinals:

Nikita Filin and Brandon Carpico[1], Ohio State v Mortiz Kudernatsch and Pietro Pampanin, Ole Miss

Aidan Kim and Bryce Nakashima, Ohio State v Noa Vukadin and Viktor Markov, Clemson

Qualifying begins Saturday at the J300 Pan Am Closed in Spring Texas. There are 29 girls and 36 boys in the 48-player draws. Chase Bowden and Aleksandra Jerkunica are the top qualifying seeds. I'll be on site covering the event beginning Monday.

Sohns and Hazelitt Advance to Osaka J500 Quarterfinals; Preston Reaches Quarterfinals at W50 Berkeley; Top Seed Herea Ousted by Duke Newcomer Xu at All-American Championships; Mosejczuk Saves Four Match Points in Upset of Debru

The quarterfinals are set for Friday at the J500 in Osaka, with two American girls competing for a chance to play in each other in the semifinals.

No. 10 seed Maggie Sohns defeated No. 7 seed Fleur De Bresser of the Netherlands 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 putting the 16-year-old in her first J500 quarterfinal. She will play No. 3 seed Renee Alame of Australia, who defeated No. 15 seed Sakino Miyazawa of Japan 6-4, 6-0. 

No. 2 seed Jordyn Hazelitt, who hadn't won a match at a J500 until this week, came back to defeat No. 16 seed Elizaveta Anikina of Estonia 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 to advance. The 16-year-old from Nevada will play unseeded Fangyu Shang of China, who beat No. 5 seed Ui Su Jeong of Korea 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-2.

Hazelitt and Sohns have also advanced to the semifinals in doubles. Sohns is playing with Scarlett Fagan and the No. 6 seeds will face the unseeded Japanese team of Rei Sato and Nagisa Shiomi. Hazelitt and Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi of India are the top seeds, and they will play No. 8 seeds Kokona Ishii and Miku Kitaoka of Japan.

Navneet Raghuram has reached the semifinals in boys doubles, with partner Ntungamili Raguin of Botswana. The No. 3 seeds will face No. 2 seeds Hyu Kawanishi and Kanta Watanabe of Japan.

Live scoring and live streaming can be found here.

Janae Preston ended the run of Connie Ma today at the W50 in Berkeley California. The 16-year-old qualifier from Nevada defeated the former Stanford All-American 6-3, 6-3 to reach her first quarterfinal above the W15 level. She'll face No. 5 seed Hanna Chang next.

Peru's Lucciana Perez, a senior at Texas A&M, is playing Berkeley rather than the All-American Championships this week, which is the case for quite a few of the top program's top players. Perez is through to the quarterfinals with a 6-0, 6-2 win over Oklahoma's No. 4 preseason newcomer Reina Goto of Japan. Denmark's Emma Kamper, an Auburn transfer, also has reached the quarterfinals as a qualifier. LSU's Ella McDonald of Great Britain defeated No. 6 seed Savannah Broadus(Pepperdine) 6-3, 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals.

The second round of the ITA All-American Championships has concluded, with another big upset, this time in the women's draw. Duke freshman Mimi Xu, who was in the main draw as an ITA wild card, defeated top seed and 2025 finalist Carmen Herea of Texas 6-3, 3-6, 6-1. Only five seeds have advanced to the women's round of 16; Duke and Ohio State lead with three players each in the final 16. Below are the round of 16 matchups; the winners of those matches will qualify for the NCAAs in November.

Women's ITA All-American Championships Round of 16:

Mimi Xu[WC], Duke v Nicole Khirin[Q], North Carolina
Amelie Van Impe[7], SMU v Stephanie Yakoff, Harvard
Irina Balus[4], Duke, v Kaitlyn Carnicella, South Carolina
Mia Slama[5, NC State v Nao Nishino, Ohio State
Sophia Cisse-Ignatiev, Ohio State v Aspen Schuman, Duke
Rose Marie Nijkamp[16], Texas v Zuzanna Kubacha, Baylor
Rinon Okuwaki, Tennessee v Ekaterina Ivanova, Wisconsin
Emma Dong[WC], Georgia v Luciana Perry[2], Ohio State

The men have six seeds in the round of 16, with highest seed to lose today No. 5 Gabriel Debru of Texas, who fell to qualifier Dominick Mosejczuk of Wake Forest 6-3, 1-6, 7-6(3). Mosejczuk was down 0-40 serving at 5-6 in the third set, but saved the first three matches points, then won an epic deciding point to force the tiebreaker (Wake Forest posted the entire game on X: https://x.com/WakeMTennis/status/2103200275318124931?s=20 ) Texas A&M and Ohio State are the only teams with more than one player in the last 16.

Men's ITA All-American Championships Round of 16:

Sam Landau, Indiana v Viktor Markov[16], Clemson

Nicolas Arseneault, Kentucky v Rodrigo Fernandes[11], Cornell

Theo Papamalamis[4], Texas A&M v Tomasz Berkieta[Q], Texas

Sasha Rozin, Arizona v Roger Pascual, TCU

Nikita Volonski[Q], Tulsa v Dominick Mosejczuk[Q], Wake Forest

Maxwell Exsted, USC v Aidan Kim[3], Ohio State

Amirkhamza Nasridinov[10], Texas A&M v Nikita Filin, Ohio State

Bryan Hernandez Cortes, Mississippi State v Keegan Rice[2], Virginia

Preston Beats Pushkareva, Connie Ma Reappears to Post Win Over No. 2 Seed Urhobo in Berkeley W50; Hance Earns First Challenger Victory in San Diego; Top Seed Badenhorst Falls in First Round of ITA All-American Championships; Ojai to Host WCC Championships

The women's USTA Pro Circuit is back this week after a six-week hiatus with a W50 in Berkeley California, and just four days in, it's already been an eventful tournament.

2022 NCAA singles finalist Connie Ma, who graduated from Stanford in 2025, never expressed any interest in pro tennis as a career, with medical school her next step after completing her eligibility. Ma played very little tennis, even back in her junior days, with academics always her main focus, and she didn't spend her college summers on the Pro Circuit either. So it was surprising to see her as a wild card in the qualifying draw in Berkeley, where she picked up two wins over current collegians, beating Auburn junior Merna Refaat, the No. 6 seed,  6-1, 5-7, 6-0 in the first round and No. 12 seed Duru Soke, a junior at Pepperdine, 6-2, 6-4 in the second and final round of qualifying.

Today Ma defeated No. 2 seed and WTA No. 174 Akasha Urhobo 6-1, 7-5 in the first round of the main draw, a result that certainly suggests the 23-year-old doesn't need much match play to locate her best tennis. It's unlikely this run will change Ma's ambitions, but it is, in the moment, a remarkable achievement.

In Thursday's second round, Ma will face 16-year-old Janae Preston, who also earned entry through qualifying. Preston, who retired from her US Open girls quarterfinal match due to illness, defeated 23-year-old Texas newcomer Arianna Zuchini of Italy 7-6(4), 6-7(5), 6-3 in the final round of qualifying Tuesday.

Today Preston defeated Wimbledon girls champion and US Open finalist Anna Pushkareva of Russia, also a qualifier, 6-3, 1-6, 6-1 in the first round; Preston is No. 6 is the current WT junior rankings, Pushkareva No. 3, and they could meet again soon in the Junior Finals in Chengdu next month.

Kayla Day, the top seed, is through to the second round with a 6-0, 6-1 win over qualifier Arina Bulatova of Russia, a Texas A&M newcomer.

The men's Pro Circuit event this week is an M15 in Columbia South Carolina, with four members of the University of South Carolina men's team advancing to the second round.

Wild cards Charlie Swaine of Great Britain, a sophomore, Gabe Avram, a junior,  and Sean Daryabeigi, a senior, posted victories, with Avram defeating No. 3 seed Dragos Cazacu(Tennessee, Oklahoma) of Romania 6-1, 6-4 today. The fourth Gamecock through to the second round is qualifier Antonin Witz of France, a freshman.

Gavin Goode, one of the three junior reserved entrants, defeated Micah Braswell(Texas) 6-2, 6-2 and will play Avram on Thursday.

Tito Chavez(Oklahoma) of Spain won today's first round battle of the Junior Reserves, beating Ryan Cozad 6-2, 3-6, 6-1.

Sweden's John Hallquist Lithen(Ole Miss), the top seed, beat qualifier Alex Bernard(Ohio State) 6-3, 6-2 and will play Swaine in the second round Thursday.

Late last night in San Diego, 18-year-old wild card Keaton Hance picked up his first win at the ATP Challenger level, defeating ATP No. 322 Andres Martin(Georgia Tech) 6-4, 7-5. Hance will face top seed Nishesh Basavareddy(Stanford) in the second round Thursday; Basavareddy beat Wake Forest sophomore Mees Rottgering of the Netherlands 6-3, 6-3 yesterday.

It didn't take long for the first upset of the men's ITA All-American Championships in Tulsa Oklahoma, with top seed Devin Badenhorst of Baylor losing to 23-year-old NC State newcomer Toby Kodat 6-3, 6-1. 

Six other seeds lost today in the men's draw: No. 6 Matthew Forbes(Ohio State), No. 7 Jakub Vrba(Arkansas), No. 9 Eli Stephenson(Kentucky, No. 12 Luca Pow(Wake Forest), No. 13 Cooper Woestendick(TCU) and No. 15 Alex Razeghi(Stanford).

The first round of doubles is going on now, with the seeds below:

Men's ITA All-American doubles seeds:

1. Brandon Carpico and Nikita Filin, Ohio State
2. Oliver Ojakaar and Tomasz Berkieta, Texas
3. Cooper Woestendick and Albert Pedrico, TCU
4. Bruno Kuzuhara and Romain Gales, Clemson
5. Luca Pow and Aryan Shah, Wake Forest
6. Nicolas Arseneault and Mikael Arseneault
7. Lucas Marionneau and Gabriel Debru, Texas
8. Charlie Robertson and Paul Barbier Bazeu, South Carolina

Men's draws are here.

The women's ITA All-American Championships in Cary North Carolina lost four singles seeds today, three of them in the top eight, with most of the first round action taking place indoors due to rain.

Zuzanna Kubacha, a senior at Baylor, defeated No. 3 seed Piper Charney of Michigan 6-2, 6-2; No. 6 seed Janna Hossam Salah of Florida lost to Mississippi State qualifier Gianna Oboniye 6-2, 6-4 and Aspen Schuman of Duke beat No. 8 seed Valeria Ray of Vanderbilt 6-1, 6-2. No. 12 seed Ziva Falkner of Pepperdine lost to Sophia Cisse-Ignatiev of Ohio State 7-6(4), 7-5. 

Women's ITA All-American doubles seeds:

1. none

2. Roisin Gilheany and Victoria Osuigwe, NC State

3. Luciana Perry and Flora Johnson, Ohio State

4. Alexia Jacobs and Anna-Marie Weissheim, Washington

5. Ava Esposito and Ashton Bowers, Auburn

6. Maddy Zampardo and Susanna Maltby, North Carolina

7. Caroline McGinley and Amelie Van Impe, SMU

8. Anna Frey and Alanis Hamilton, North Carolina

Women's draws are here.

The Ojai will not be hosting the Big Ten conference championships after doing so for the women in 2025 and the men in 2026, but there will be Division I conference play there next April, with the announcement that the West Coast Conference has agreed to play there in 2027. San Diego and Pepperdine are the most prominent tennis programs in the conference, with UC-Santa Barbara joining the conference in the 2027-28 academic year.

For details on the WCC conference championship's agreement with the Ojai, see this press release.

Top Seeds Badenhorst and Herea Begin Title Quests at ITA All-American Championships Wednesday; Both No. 2 Seeds Fall at Corpus Christi J200; Pro Circuit Pillar Dow Tennis Classic Folds

The ITA All-American Championships have spent the past four days deciding the 16 qualifiers who will join the 48 other Division I collegians competing for the prestigious fall title and for spots in November's NCAA championships.

At the women's tournament in Cary North Carolina, Florida, Georgia and North Carolina each placed three players in the main draw, three of whom--Bella Payne and Patricija Paukstyte of Georgia and Anna Frey of UNC--have now won five matches, as they came through pre-qualifying. Florida freshman Capucine Jauffret also started in pre-qualifying, lost in the final round of qualifying, got into qualifying as a lucky loser and won both of her qualifying matches to reach the main draw.

Women's ITA All-American qualifiers:
Allegra Korpanec Davies[17], Florida
Patricija Paukstyte[PQ], Georgia
Capucine Jauffret[LL], Florida
Salakthip Ounmang[17], Oklahoma
Audrey Spencer[17], Ohio State
Gianna Oboniye, Mississippi State
Olivia Traynor[17], Michigan
Tianmei Wang, Stanford
Jantje Tilbuerger[10], UCF
Nicole Khirin[17], North Carolina
Linea Bajraliu[12], Georgia
Brooke Black[13], Florida
Alexis Nguyen[14], North Carolina
Anna Frey[PQ], North Carolina
Bella Payne[PQ], Georgia

Carmen Herea is the top seed in Cary, a year after the Texas junior reached the final, falling to Stanford's Valerie Glozman. 2025 semifinalist Luciana Perry of Ohio State is the No. 2 seed.

Women's ITA All-American seeds:

1. Carmen Herea, Texas

2. Luciana Perry, Ohio State

3. Piper Charney, Michigan

4. Irina Balus, Duke

5. Mia Slama, NC State

6. Jana Hossam Salah, Florida

7. Amelie Van Impe, SMU

8. Valeria Ray, Vanderbilt

9. Emilija Tverijonaite, Arizona State

10. Anastasiia Grechkina, Pepperdine

11. Monika Ekstrand, Stanford

12. Ziva Falkner, Pepperdine

13. Tatum Evans, North Carolina

14. none

15. Helena Buchwald, South Carolina

16. Rose Marie Nijkamp, Texas

At the men's tournament in Tulsa Oklahoma, Wake Forest, Texas and NC State have two qualifiers each, with ten other schools getting one player through to the main draw. Three pre-qualifiers have cleared the second hurdle of qualifying: UCLA's Andy Nguyen, Dayton's Kyle McNally and Illinois' Jeremy Zhang.

Qualifiers:

Nour Fathalla[1], Purdue

Asahi Harazaki, Oklahoma

Jules Leroux[3], NC State

Nikita Volonski, Tulsa

Andy Nguyen[PQ], UCLA

Abel Forger[6], Texas

Aryan Shah[7], Wake Forest

Noa Vukadin[17], Clemson

Jeremy Zhang[PQ], Illinois

Kyle McNally[PQ], Dayton

Erik Schiessl[17], Baylor

Denis Petak[17], Ohio State

Luca Preda[13], Virginia

Toby Kodat[14], NC State

Dominick Mosejczuk[17], Wake Forest

Tomasz Berkieta[16], Texas

Baylor's Devin Badenhorst is the top seed, and is coming off a semifinal showing last year; Keegan Rice of Virginia, who was on Canada's Davis Cup team that advanced to the quarterfinals with a win over France at home last weekend (he did not see action), is the No. 2 seed. Aidan Kim of Ohio State, the 2025 finalist, is the No. 3 seed. Ohio State has a total of seven players in the main draw.

Men's ITA All-American singles seeds:

1. Devin Badenhorst, Baylor

2. Keegan Rice, Virginia

3. Aidan Kim, Ohio State

4. Theo Papamalamis, Texas A&M

5. Gabriel Debru, Texas

6. Matthew Forbes, Ohio State

7. Jakub Vrba, Arkansas

8. Preston Stearns, Ohio State

9. Eli Stephenson, Kentucky

10. Amirkhamza Nasridinov, Texas A&M

11. Rodrigo Fernandes, Cornell

12. Luca Pow, Wake Forest

13. Cooper Woestendick, TCU

14. Emon van Loben Sels, UCLA

15. Alex Razeghi, Stanford

16. Viktor Markov, Clemson

Doubles draws have not yet been posted. The men's draw page is here; the women's draw page is here.

There will be no Cracked Racquets coverage of the tournament this year; streaming links are available at the tournament pages. 

The seeds were in action for the first time today at the J200 in Corpus Christi Texas, and both No. 2 seeds were ousted. 

Filip Malis of Canada defeated Mason Vaughan 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 and Aleksandra Jerkunica beat Avery Alexander of Canada 7-5, 6-4.

They were not the only top 4 seeds to exit, with No. 4 Emery Combs losing to San Antonioa J100 champion Nikol Davletshina 6-1, 6-1 and No. 3 seed Jerrid Gaines Jr. retiring trailing Achyuth Binu 6-4, 5-2.

There was sad and shocking news today from the USTA Pro Circuit with the announcement that the Dow Tennis Classic in Midland Michigan will be discontinued. Started in 1989, the tournament was a part of the ITF Women's Circuit, moving up to a 100 level event before converting to a WTA 125 in 2021. 

I often attended the event, when it was in early February for many years, and then in the fall, where it landed after the pandemic, and I'll miss the opportunity to see local players compete there and to check in with former juniors and collegians who are making their way up the professional ladder. 

The community involvement, the exposure to pro tennis it offered to a vibrant grass roots tennis scene and its legendary hospitality made it one of the most highly regarded events on the USTA Pro Circuit calendar. Dow's decision not to renew the their decades-long sponsorship and the inability to find a replacement doomed the event, and it is blow not only to the WTA but to women's sports in general to see this event unable to garner the support necessary to survive.

For more on the decision to end the event, see this article.

Four Americans Qualify for San Diego Challenger 75; Qualifying Seeds Struggle at ITA All-American Championships; Bogomolov Sweeps J30 Titles on World Tennis Junior Circuit

After the Tiburon 125 last week, ATP Challenger competition in the United States moves south for the 75 tournament at the Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego.

Qualifying wrapped up today, with one current and two recent collegians from the United States moving into the main draw. Tiburon quarterfinalist Sebastian Gorzny(TCU, Texas) defeated top qualifying seed Aidan Mayo 6-3, 6-4 to reach the main draw, where he'll play Mitchell Krueger. 

Gorzny defeated wild card Andy Johnson 7-5, 6-0 and Mayo beat wild card Jordan Lee, the Wimbledon boys champion, 6-2, 6-2 in the first round of qualifying Sunday.

Ozan Baris(Michigan State), defeated Alex Rybakov 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 and will play Igor Marcondes of Brazil in the main draw; UCLA senior Spencer Johnson beat Arkansas junior Jakub Vrba of Czechia, who is expected to compete in the ITA All-American Championships in Tulsa on Wednesday, 6-2, 6-4. Johnson will play No. 8 seed Tristan Boyer(Stanford) in the main draw.

Evan Zhu is the fourth American to qualify, with the former UCLA star defeating Alafia Ayeni(Cornell, Kentucky) 6-2, 6-4 to reach the main draw. Zhu, who is 0-11 in first round main draw matches at the Challenger level, plays Henry Searle of Great Britain in the first round.

Main draw wild cards were given to Keaton Hance, Jack Kennedy and Dinko Dinev of Bulgaria, who is on the San Diego State roster. Dinev lost to University of Virginia senior Dylan Dietrich of Switzerland 6-3, 6-1 in first round action today. Hance plays Andres Martin(Georgia Tech) and Kennedy faces No. 6 seed Liam Draxl(Kentucky) of Canada.

Nishesh Basavareddy(Stanford) is the top seed. Tiburon champion Darwin Blanch is scheduled to face Tiburon semifinalist JJ Wolf in the opening round. Like Dietrich, Trevor Svajda(SMU) received entry via the ATP College Accelerator program.

After the weekend's pre-qualifying, the qualifying began today for the ITA All-American Championships, which begin on Wednesday for the women in Cary North Carolina and for the men in Tulsa Oklahoma. It was a rough day for qualifying seeds, with seven of the top 10 women's seeds losing today; the men's qualifying also lost seven seeds, including six of the top 10. A quartet of the top men's newcomers, at the bottom of the Top 16 seeds, did advance to the second and final round of qualifying.

University of Georgia sophomore Patricija Paukstyte, a pre-qualifier, defeated No. 2 seed Addison Lanton of LSU 7-6(6), 6-4 to advance against fellow pre-qualifier Lucie Urbanova of Wisconsin.

Paukstyte is one of four Georgia women to reach the final round of qualifying, with freshmen Bella Payne, Nadia Lagaev and Linea Bajraliu the other three.

Lucky loser Capucine Jauffret, a freshman at Florida, defeated No. 3 seed Emily Sartz-Lunde of Michigan 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.

ITA All American Men's Qualifying 16 top seeds:

1. Nour Fathalla, Purdue
2. Hoyoung Roh, Vanderbilt (out rd 1)
3. Jules Leroux, NC State
4. Zoran Ludoski, Arizona (out rd 1)
5. Lasse Poertner, Pepperdine (out rd 1)
6. Abel Forger, Texas
7. Aryan Shah, Wake Forest
8. Aleksa Pisaric, Pepperdine (out rd 1)
9. Joaquin Guilleme, Wake Forest (out rd 1)
10. Zaid Mashni, Penn (out rd 1)
11. Azariah Rusher, Florida State
12. Will Manning, NC State (out rd 1)
13. Luca Preda, Virginia
14. Toby Kodat, NC State
15. Bruno Kuzuhara, Clemson
16. Tomasz Berkieta, Texas

ITA All American Women's Qualifying 16 top seeds:

1. Lexington Reed, Texas A&M

2. Addison Lanton, LSU (out rd 1)

3. Emily Sartz-Lunde, Michigan (out rd 1)

4. Maria de la Paz Alberto, Iowa State (out rd 1)

5. Chantal Sauvant, Pepperdine (out rd 1)

6. Oliwia Orlinska, Maryland

7. Alice Ferlito, Princeton (out rd 1)

8. Hannah Read, San Diego (out rd 1)

9. Olivia Benton, Boston College (out rd 1)

10. Jantje Tilbuerger, UCF

11. Nina Vargova, Duke

12. Linea Bajraliu, Georgia

13. Brooke Black, Florida

14. Alexis Nguyen, North Carolina

15. Chloe Noel, Oklahoma

16. Joanna Kennedy, Floria State

Women's draws are here; men's draws are here.

In addition to the titles for Americans at the J200 in Montreal and J100 in San Antonio, other US juniors captured titles at lower level events on the WT Junior Circuit last week. 

At the J30 in Nicaragua, Maddox Bogomolov, son of former Top 40 ATP pro Alex Bogomolov Jr., won his first two titles, taking both the singles and doubles championships. Bogomolov, the top seed, defeated unseeded Francisco Correa Iguiniz of Argentina 6-3, 7-5 in the singles final. With Mexican partner Ricardo Dorantes Ramos, Bogomolov won the doubles title, with the top seeds beating No. 4 seeds Dimitri and Zane Kirton of Barbados 6-3, 6-4 in the final. 

Sofia Mills, who reached the girls singles final losing to Clarice Ouvarova of Great Britain, won the doubles title with Ouvarova, with the top seeds beating Alice Luiza Semenova and Canada's Renata Reut 6-1, 6-3.

After winning her first doubles title two weeks ago at the J60 in Quito, 15-year-old Sarah Katherine Goodwin won her first World Tennis Junior Circuit singles title this week at the J30 in Quito. Goodwin defeated Monserrat Montano of Mexico 6-3, 6-4 in the final.

At the J60 in Ghana, 16-year-old David Beckles won his third and biggest WT junior singles title, defeating Raphael Nii Nortei Dowuona of Ghana 6-4, 7-6(4) in the final. 

At the J200 in Miki Japan, top seed Carrie-Anne Hoo reached the singles final, losing to No. 5 seed Minami Suzuki of Japan 6-4, 6-3.

Fourteen-year-old Camelot Carnello won the doubles title at the J30 in Mauritius, with South African partner Tristan Summers. The top seeds beat No. 2 seed Jinxuan Cheng of China and Daniel Subert of Czechia 2-6, 7-6(5), 10-4 in the final. 

At the J30 in Colombia, 16-year-old Luciana Chica won the doubles title with Sara Sofia Lopez Gutierrez of Colombia. The No. 2 seeds defeated No. 4 seeds Odritza Anyelina Sequera Freitez of Venezuela and Camila Soto Salamanca of Colombia 3-6, 6-2, 10-8 in the final. It's the third doubles title of 2026 for the pair.

Ten Americans Competing in WT J500 Osaka; Behrmann and Virc Claim European Championships; Blanch Earns First Challenger Title; Qualifying Begins Monday at ITA All-American Championships

The World Tennis Osaka Mayors Cup J500 begins Monday, with ten Americans making the trip to Japan for the only one of the seven J500s played on hard courts.

The three US boys competing are Navneet Raghuram[11], Izyan Ahmad[15] and Tyler Lee.

The seven US girls in the 48-player draw are Jordyn Hazelitt[2], Lani Chang[4], Maggie Sohns[10], Carrie-Anne Hoo[12], Isabelle DeLuccia[14], Scarlett Fagan and Camille Allegre.

Kai Thompson of Hong Kong is the top boys seed, with Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi of India the No. 1 seed in the girls draw.

Only unseeded players will be in action Monday(tonight in the US). Live scoring can be found here.

The WT European Regional Championships J300 concluded today in Austria, with the host country's Thilo Behrmann sweeping the boys titles and Lana Virc of Serbia winning her first J300 title.

The top-seeded Behrmann, who lost in the US Open junior boys semifinals in New York on Friday and played his first match Tuesday, didn't breeze through the draw, needing three sets in half of his six wins, including in today's final. The 18-year-old, now No. 3 in the World Tennis rankings, defeated unseeded compatriot and doubles partner Florian Zimmer 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 to earn his second J300 title. Behrmann and Zimmer, the No. 1 seeds, defeated No. 2 seeds Oliver Majdandzic and Eric Dylan Mueller of Germany 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 for the boys doubles title.

No. 14 seed Virc also had three three-setters, including in the final, with the 18-year-old defeating unseeded Kali Supova of Slovakia 4-6, 7-6(7), 6-2 for her first J300 title. 

Top seeds Adelina Lacinova and Marjia Lauva of Latvia won the girls doubles title, beating No. 6 seeds Supova and Nikola Farkasova of Slovakia 5-7, 6-4, 12-10.

The European 16s championships are this coming week in Parma Italy. Draws for that event can be found here.

Unseeded Darwin Blanch won his first ATP Challenger title today at the 125 in Tiburon California. The 2025 Kalamazoo 18s champion, who turns 19 in a few days, defeated No. 4 seed Michael Mmoh 3-6, 6-4, 6-2. Blanch, who saved match points in the first round, and beat the No. 3, No. 1 and No. 4 seeds, is now at a career-high ATP 166 in the live rankings. 

In the doubles final today, unseeded JJ Tracy(Ohio State) and Hans Hach Verdugo(Abilene Christian) of Mexico defeated unseeded Jackson Withrow(Texas A&M) and Nate Lammons(SMU) 7-6(7), 6-4 for their first title as a team.

The women's ITA All-American Championships pre-qualifying is complete and the qualifying draws have been posted. The top 16 seeds in qualifying are below, as well as the those who made the qualifying draw with two more wins today.

IT All American Championships Women's Qualifying 16 top seeds:

1. Lexington Reed, Texas A&M
2. Addison Lanton, LSU
3. Emily Sartz-Lunde, Michigan
4. Maria de la Paz Alberto, Iowa State
5. Chantal Sauvant, Pepperdine
6. Oliwia Orlinska, Maryland
7. Alice Ferlito, Princeton
8. Hannah Read, San Diego
9. Olivia Benton, Boston College
10. Jantje Tilbuerger, UCF
11. Nina Vargova, Duke
12. Linea Bajraliu, Georgia
13. Brooke Black, Florida
14. Alexis Nguyen, North Carolina
15. Chloe Noel, Oklahoma
16. Joanna Kennedy, Florida State

Pre-qualifiers:
Arina Malygina[1], Oklahoma State
Marianne Angel, UC Santa Barbara
Lucie Urbanova, Wisconsin
Anna Frey[4], North Carolina
Bella Payne[5], Georgia
Ava Krug, Duke
Emma Tutoveanu, UC Santa Barbara
Sophia Webster, Vanderbilt
Laura Brunkel, Oklahoma
Theadora Rabman[21], North Carolina
Kenzie Nguyen[21], Columbia
Patriciaj Paukstyte, Georgia
Nika Hurkacz[21], Cal
Jasmine Conway[21], NC State
Maddy Zampardo[21], North Carolina
Nadia Lagaev, Georgia
Amina Salibayeva[17], Alabama
Ahmani Guichard, UCLA
Anna Bergqvist Larsson[19], South Carolina
Marta Makarova, UCF

Lucky loser: Capucine Jauffret, Florida

The men's ITA All-American Championships pre-qualifying isn't complete as of 9 p.m. and the qualifying draw hasn't been posted, but I will update and add the above information for the men tomorrow morning.

All American Men's Qualifying 16 top seeds:
1. Nour Fathalla, Purdue
2. Hoyoung Roh, Vanderbilt
3. Jules Leroux, NC State
4. Zoran Ludoski, Arizona
5. Lasse Poertner, Pepperdine
6. Abel Forger, Texas
7. Aryan Shah, Wake Forest
8. Aleksa Pisaric, Pepperdine
9. Joaquin Guilleme, Wake Forest
10. Zaid Mashni, Penn
11. Azariah Rusher, Florida State
12. Will Manning, NC State
13. Luca Preda, Virginia
14. Toby Kodat, NC State
15. Bruno Kuzuhara, Clemson
16. Tomasz Berkieta, Texas

ITA All-American men's pre-qualifiers:
Kyran Magimay, Notre Dame
Niels Villard, Arizona State
Marko Maksimovic[3], UNLV
Shaurya Bharadwaj, Penn
Kyle McNally, Dayton
Matthieu Chambonniere[6], TCU
Glib Sekachov[7], Arizona
Hugo Coquelin[21], Vanderbilt
Andrew Delgado, Georgia
Landon Ardila[21], Princeton
Danial Rakhmatullayev[21], Michigan State
Filip Soderqvist, Boise State
Paris Pouatcha, Cal
Jelani Sarr[21], Arizona State
Andy Nguyen, UCLA
Aniss Rafiq, Nebraska
Emanuel Ivanisevic[17], Wake Forest
Mariano Dedura-Palomero[18], Texas
Mitchell Sheldon[21], Michigan State
Jeremy Zhang, Illinois

Lucky loser: Niels Ratiu, North Carolina

Blanch Beats Zheng to Reach Second Challenger Final; Reyniak Wins First Pro Title in Doubles; First Round of All-American Pre-Qualifying Complete; US Davis Cup Team Falls to Czechia; Jovic Defends WTA 500 Title

Darwin Blanch was on a six-match losing streak prior to this week's ATP Challenger 125 in Tiburon California, but the 2025 Kalamazoo 18 champion has now won four straight matches, including this evening's 7-6(5), 7-6(9) win over top seed and defending champion Michael Zheng(Columbia).

The unseeded Blanch, who saved five match points in his 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(10) first round win over Stefan Kozlov, hasn't dropped a set since, although Zheng had seven set points in the second set tonight. Blanch, who will turn 19 later this month, reached his first Challenger final last November, falling to Mitchell Krueger; this is his second career final. He will play the winner of tonight's match between No. 4 seed Michael Mmoh and wild card JJ Wolf(Ohio State).

Seventeen-year-old New Yorker Matias Reyniak, who has played only four tournaments in the United States, including the US Open Juniors as a wild card, is back to competing in his training base of Spain. Today he won his first WT men's title, with 22-year-old Carles Rojas of Spain, at the M15 in Melilla. The unseeded pair defeated No. 2 seeds Victor Paganetti of France and Leonid Sheyngezikht of Bulgaria 6-1, 6-1 in the final. They did not come close to losing a set in their run to the title.

The ITA All-American Championships began today, with pre-qualifying for the women in Cary North Carolina and the men in Tulsa Oklahoma.

One round of pre-qualifying was played, with two rounds scheduled for Sunday, with 20 players advancing to Monday's first round of qualifying with two victories tomorrow.

The men's top eight seeds, with the exception of the No. 2 seed, who apparently withdrew, have reached the second round: Niels Ratiu of North Carolina[1], Marko Maksimovic of UNLV[3], Vlado Jankanj of Ole Miss[4], Ian Mayew of North Carolina[5], Mattieu Chambonniere of TCU[6], Glib Sekachov of Arizona[7] and Kriish Tyagi[8] of Texas A&M.

The men's pre-qualifying draw and results can be found here.

In contrast, half of the top eight seeds in the women's pre-qualifying draw lost today: No. 2 Eleana Yu of Duke, to Marianne Angel of UC-Santa Barbara; No. 6 seed Sara Suchankova of Clemson to Sophie Holod of Notre Dame; No. 7 seed Sarah Mildren of Tennessee to Georgia Cranford of NC State; and Francesca Maguina Bunikowska of Rice to Sophia Webster of Vanderbilt.

The top eight seeds advancing are No. 1 Arina Malygina of Oklahoma State, Capucine Jauffret[3] of Florida, Anna Frey[4] of North Carolina and Bella Payne[5] of Georgia.

The women's pre-qualifying draw and results can be viewed here.

There is a new live scoring system for ITA events, and it is apparently functioning now in Cary; the men's link on the tournament page indicates their live scoring will begin with Monday's qualifying. 

For the second year in a row, the USA Davis Cup team fell to Czechia, this time in Prague, after holding a 2-1 lead. Thanks to the heroics of Austin Krajicek and Christian Harrison, who saved four match points in their nearly three-hour 5-7, 6-3, 7-6(8) doubles victory over Patrik Rikl and Adam Pavlasek in doubles, the US team had two chances to get the third point in singles. But Ben Shelton lost to Jakub Mensik 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 and Learner Tien fell to Jiri Lehecka 6-3, 7-5 to send the home team through to the final eight in November.

Seventeen-year-old Kayden Colombo, who is scheduled to compete in the Pan Am Closed J300 in Houston at the end of the month, was the hitting partner for the team, with the Georgia resident seen cheering from the bench throughout the five matches.

For more on today's loss, see this article from the USTA's Inside American Tennis Substack.

There was an all-American final tonight at the WTA 500 in Guadalajara Mexico, with 18-year-old Iva Jovic defending her title with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Peyton Stearns(Texas). Jovic, the No. 2 seed, didn't drop a set during her title defense, and will move to a new career-high WTA ranking of 13 with the title. Stearns, the 2022 NCAA singles champion, will move back into the WTA Top 40 with her first 500-level final.