Penickova Falls in Semifinals of W35 Las Vegas; Sharma and Carnicella Reach Final of W50 in South Carolina; UTR Pro Tennis Tour Update

Seventeen-year-old Annika Penickova came up just short today in her attempt to reach her third W35 final in the past three months, with the unseeded left-hander falling to No. 2 seed Francesca Pace of Italy 6-7(2), 6-4, 7-5 in Las Vegas. 

Pace will face Auburn senior Emma Kamper of Denmark, who has already won six matches after coming through qualifying. The 22-year-old Kamper, who spend her first three years of collegiate eligibility at Utah, defeated Oklahoma sophomore Edda Mamedova of Russia 6-7(6), 6-3, 6-3 to reach her first final on the women's World Tennis Tour.

Pace already has secured the doubles title, with partner and compatriot Diletta Cerubini. The unseeded pair defeated unseeded Abigail Rencheli(NC State) and Maria Sholokhova(Wisconsin) of Russia 7-6(5), 7-5 in the final. 

At the W50 in Lexington South Carolina, the semifinals were played tonight, indoors, due to rain.  

Qualifier Astra Sharma will play for the 12th straight day Sunday after beating top seed Madison Brengle 6-3, 6-2. Sharma, the former Vanderbilt All-American who reached 84 in the ATP rankings in 2022, won the M15 in Vanderbilt last Sunday, then had to play a first round qualifying match Monday in South Carolina. 

Sharma will face wild card Kaitlyn Carnicella, a senior at South Carolina, who saved a match point in her 6-2, 3-6, 7-5 win over No. 7 seed Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands. Rus served for the match at 5-4, 40-30, but Carnicella won the next three games to reach her first USTA Pro Circuit final above the W15 level.

t's been almost two months since I've updated the UTR Pro Tennis Tour results from the United States, and you will notice plenty of current collegians in among the winners and finalists during this stretch. Many take advantage of the events held on their campuses in the fall, and the prize money they earn at these events ($2200-$3600 depending on draw size) can offset the expenses they may have incurred playing pro events over the summer. 

MEN:

August 17 East Lansing MI

Colson Wells d. Max Sheldon 3-6, 6-2, 6-4

August 17 Nashville TN

Matthias Uwe Kask d. Elijah Poritzky 6-4, 6-1

August 24 Clemson SC

Henrik Bladelius d. Joaquin Benoit 6-2, 6-2

August 24 Boise ID

Filip Soderqvist d. Arsene Pougault 6-1, 2-6, 6-3

August 24 Newport Beach CA

Constantinos Djakouris d. Charlie Underwood 6-1, 6-3

August 31 Miami FL

Alex Bernard d. Jakub Kroslak 6-2, 6-4

August 31 Waco TX

Erik Schiessl d. Louis Bowden 6-7(7), 6-4, 7-5

September 7 Knoxville TN

Jose Garcia d. Pepijn Bastiaansen 6-3, 6-4

September 7 Tallahassee FL

Youcef Rihane d. Azariah Rusher 6-2, 6-3

September 7 Newport Beach CA

Rishvanth Krishna d. Cesar Cruz 6-0, 6-3

September 14 Chicago IL*

Douglas Yaffa d. Oliver Okonkwo 6-3, 7-5

September 14 Newport Beach CA

Constantinos Djakouris d. Pavel Bushuev 6-2, 6-2

September 21 College Station TX

Tomas Pinho d. Arin Pallegar 6-3, 7-6(8)

September 21 Norfolk VA(+H)

Christopher Thies d. Jean Olivier De Sardan 6-4, 6-3

September 28 Lincoln NE*

Aniss Rafiq d. Henry Lamchinniah 6-2, 6-4

September 28 Ithaca NY

Eric Verdes d. Rodrigo Fernandes 6-4, 6-4

September 28 Newport Beach CA

Constantinos Djakouris d. Gianluca Brunkow w/o

*$12.5K prize money, $20K for all others

WOMEN:

August 17 East Lansing MI

Nao Nishino d. Mayu Crossley 7-6(0), 3-6, 6-2

August 24 Clemson SC

Emma Ghirardato d. Sophia Cisse-Ignatiev 6-4, 6-3

August 24 Boise ID

Alina Shcherbinina d. Lexie Weir 6-4, 6-1

August 24 Newport Beach CA

Kailey Evans d. Veronkia Miroshnichehnko 4-6, 6-4, 6-0

August 31 Miami FL 

Mayu Crossley d. Raquel Gonzalez Vilar 6-2, 6-0

August 31 Waco TX

Marta Makarova d. Zuzanna Kubacha 6-3, 6-3

September 7 Knoxville TN

Luciana Perry d. Carlota Moreno 6-4, 6-3

September 7 Tallahassee FL

Mary Boyce Deatherage d. Amina Salibayeva 6-4, 5-7, 6-2

September 7 Newport Beach CA

Kate Fakih d. Veronkia Miroshnichehnko 6-4, 1-6, 7-5

September 14 Chicago IL*

Mariana Manyoma d. Autumn Rabjohns 7-6(5), 7-5

September 14 Newport Beach CA

Katja Wiersholm d. Kailey Evans 6-2, 6-4

September 21 College Station TX

Emily Welker d. Eva Maria Ionescu 6-1, 6-1

September 28 Lincoln NE*

Katie Spencer d. Emma Rizzetto 6-4, 4-6, 7-5

September 28 Ithaca NY

Michelle Ryndin d. Sage Loudon 6-3, 6-2

September 28 Newport Beach CA

Shakhnoza Khatamova d. Adriana Reami 7-5, 6-4

*$12.5K prize money, $20K for all others

The results from June and July can be found here.