October Aces; Dietrich and Brantmeier Roll On; Combs and Chang Advance to Semifinals at Sumter SC W15; Norman OK Pro Circuit Tournaments Move Indoors; Qualifier Filin Reaches Semis at Las Vegas M25

My monthly Tennis Recruiting Network Aces column for October is a bit early, but has been the case for many months now, I've had to leave out more former and current collegians and juniors than I include. Half of the 18 players featured won more than one title this month, and both WT Junior Finals champion Xinran Sun and Columbus Challenger champion Dylan Dietrich are still alive in their current tournaments. Sun defeated Claire Liu 7-5, 7-6(2) to advance to the semifinals of the WTA 250 in Guangzhou China; Dietrich is through to the semifinals of the ATP Challenger 100 in Sioux Falls South Dakota and Brantmeier has reached the semifinals at the W75 in Toronto.

Dietrich defeated JJ Wolf(Ohio State) for the second time in his now eight-match winning streak, with his 6-2, 7-5 victory in today's quarterfinals similar to his 7-6(6), 6-3 win over Wolf in the first round of the Columbus Challenger.  Now up to 239 in the ATP live rankings, Dietrich will face unseeded Aidan Mayo, who beat Mees Rottgering(Wake Forest) of the Netherlands 6-3, 6-4.

Qualifier Sebastian Dominko, a recent Notre Dame graduate, is through to the semifinals in just his second ATP Challenger main draw. The 23-year-old from Slovenia defeated Max Rehberg of Germany 7-6(4), 6-4 and will face the winner of tonight's match between No. 4 seed Liam Draxl of Canada and No. 3 seed Darwin Blanch.

Brantmeier will have an opportunity to avenge her last loss, two weeks ago in the semifinals of the W50 in Quebec, to Kajsa Rinaldo Persson of Sweden.  The seventh-seeded 2025 NCAA singles champion as a senior at North Carolina, Brantmeier defeated No. 4 seed Valentina Ryser of Switzerland 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-2 to extend her winning streak to eight matches. The second-seeded Rinaldo Persson, who beat Brantmeier 7-5, 7-6(4) in Quebec, defeated Lea Ma(Georgia) 6-4, 6-0.

Unseeded Ayana Akli(Maryland, South Carolina) defeated qualifier Carson Tanguilig 6-3, 6-4 to reach the semifinals, where she will play No. 3 seed Katherine Sebov of Canada. Sebov defeated unseeded Madison Sieg(USC) 3-6, 6-1, 6-4.

Fifteen-year-olds Emery Combs and Lani Chang have advanced to the semifinals of the W15 in Sumter South Carolina with routine victories in today's quarterfinals. Combs, who lives in South Carolina, defeated qualifier Alice Soulie(Ole Miss) of France 6-3, 6-1 to reach her second W15 semifinal. She will face No. 5 seed Anita Sahdiieva(Baylor, LSU) of Ukraine, who beat lucky loser Yael Saffar 6-3, 6-3.

Chang also will be playing in her second W15 final after defeating qualifier Amelie Smejkalova(Clemson, NC State) 6-1, 6-1. Chang's opponent in the semifinals will be another qualifier, Malwina Rowinska(Florida, FAU) of Poland, who defeated wild card Scarlett Fagan 6-4, 6-2.

Combs and partner Olivia De Los Reyes have advanced to the doubles final after beating Saffar and Abigail Haile 6-4, 6-1 in the semifinals today. Combs and De Los Reyes have won seven WT junior circuit doubles titles together, including the J300 in Spring Texas earlier this month, but this is their first women's WTT final. They will play the unseeded pair of Daria Koreshkova of Russia and Celine Simunyu of Ireland, who are teammates at Arkansas, in the final.

Rain has been a problem all day at the W100 in New Braunfels Texas, with one second round not yet complete. Top seed Renata Zarazua of Mexico and Xinyu Gao of China were at 5-5 in the first set last night when their second round match was postponed. The other three quarterfinals have been postponed until Saturday morning; they may still be trying to finish that second round singles match and two of the doubles quarterfinals tonight.

Looking at the forecast for Friday and Saturday, the organizers of the M25 and W35 in Norman Oklahoma announced last night that they would be moving indoors, and all matches today were played inside. 

Two Oklahoma teammates and frequent doubles partners Salakthrip Ounmuang of Thailand and Gloriana Nahum of Benin, both qualifiers, played in today's quarterfinals, with Ounmuang taking a 6-1, 6-1 decision. She will play No. 5 seed Alina Shcherbinina(Baylor, Oklahoma) in the semifinals. Ashley Lahey(Pepperdine) is into the semifinals after a 5-7, 6-3, 6-1 win over Florida recruit Rebecca Munk Mortensen of Denmark; she will play No. 2 seed Dana Guzman(Oklahoma) of Peru, who beat Bella Payne(Georgia) 6-4, 6-2.

None of the men's players at Oklahoma have advanced to the semifinals, which will feature two former TCU stars from Great Britain: top seed Alastair Gray and No. 4 seed Lui Maxted. Gray defeated qualifier Luca Pow(Wake Forest) 7-6(4), 6-2 to advance, while Maxted got a walkover from Bruno Kuzuhara(Clemson). 

2024 spring NCAA champion Filip Planinsek(Alabama) of Slovenia defeated Bor Artnak(Arizona State, Texas A&M) 6-3, 6-4 to advance to a semifinal meeting with No. 5 seed Tyler Zink(Georgia, Oklahoma State). Zink beat the last Sooner in the draw, wild card Johan Rodriguez of Colombia, 6-4, 6-2.

Nikita Filin, the Ohio State junior, has advanced to his second M25 semifinal, with his first, this August in East Lansing, also as a qualifier. Today at the M25 in Las Vegas, Filin defeated former teammate William Jansen(UNC, Ohio State, Georgia) of Great Britain 7-5, 6-4 to set up a semifinal contest against unseeded JC Roddick(UCF, Texas A&M). Roddick beat qualifier Preston Stearns, a senior at Ohio State, 2-6, 7-5, 7-6(4) in a three-hour plus quarterfinal match. Recent Ohio State graduate Jack Anthrop, the No. 6 seed, beat Ohio State senior Aidan Kim, the No. 3 seed, 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 to reach his third semifinal in as many weeks. He will face Virginia sophomore Andres Santamarta of Spain, who defeated wild card Tanishk Konduri 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-0.