Liutova Wins Second Consecutive W100 in Sumter SC; Teens Bonding and Crossley Claim SoCal Pro Series Titles; Walton Earns Tyler Challenger Title; Townsend and Siniakova Capture Third Slam at Roland Garros

Although all five Americans competing in USTA Pro Circuit finals today were defeated, Sunday was a great day for teenagers, three of whom hoisted winner's trophies.

The biggest came in Sumter South Carolina, where 16-year-old Kristina Liutova won her second consecutive W100 title with a 6-4, 6-3 win over wild card Reese Brantmeier. The unseeded Liutova, who was born in Russia but has lived in the United States for many years, did not a lose a set this week, with the Indian Harbour Beach W100 champion extending her winning streak at the highest level of the ITF circuit to 10. Her WTA ranking will rise to 229, which will likely give her a spot in the US Open women's qualifying.

Brantmeier, the 2025 NCAA singles champion, had an ideal two-week warmup for the USTA's US Open Collegiate Wild Card Playoff, which begins June 16 in Lake Nona. The recent UNC graduate won the singles and doubles titles last week at the W35 in Wichita and with this final has improved her WTA ranking to 521, less than a month after completing her college career.

Two teenagers who just completed their freshmen seasons in college won the titles in week two of the SoCal Pro Series in Lakewood. 

Nineteen-year-old Mayu Crossley of Japan, seeded No. 2, defeated 16-year-old Kristina Penickova, the No. 8 seed, 6-4, 6-3 for her second USTA Pro Circuit singles title. Crossley, who lost to champion Tatum Evans last week in the Lakewood semifinals, was named the Big Ten freshman of the year at UCLA, playing at line 2 for the Bruins.

Eighteen-year-old Oliver Bonding of Great Britain avenged his 6-1, 6-3 loss last month at No. 4 singles in the NCAA team semifinals to Texas's Oliver Ojakaar, with the TCU Big 12 Freshman of the Year beating the Estonian qualifier 7-5, 7-6(1) in today's final. In another similarity with Crossley, it's also the second Pro Circuit singles title for the unseeded Bonding, who entered via the ITF's Junior Reserved program.

Steve Pratt, press aide for USTA SoCal, provides this recap of the championships matches, with comments from all the finalists.

At the ATP Challenger 75 in Tyler Texas, former Tennessee All-American Adam Walton of Australia won his fifth Challenger title. The top-seeded 27-year-old defeated unseeded Andre Ilagan(Hawaii), playing in his first Challenger final, 7-5, 6-1.

The top seeds also won the doubles title, with Rithvik Bollipalli and Ramkumar Ramanathan of India defeating unseeded Americans Wally Thane(Utah, BYU) and Zachary Fuchs(Gonzaga, BYU) 7-6(2), 7-6(4) in today's final.

No. 2 seed Emilio Nava won the ATP Challenger 100 title in Heilbronn Germany today without taking the court today, with unseeded Luka Mikrut of Croatia unable to play the final. It's the seventh Challenger title for Nava, his first this year.

Three international collegians who competed in the NCAA team championships last month won $15K titles outside the United States today.  Virginia's rising senior and ITA Player of the Year Dylan Dietrich of Switzerland won his first ITF Pro Circuit singles title in Slovenia today; Georgia rising sophomore Deniz Dilek won her first ITF Pro Circuit singles title in her home country of Turkey and 2025 NCAA singles finalist Berta Passola Folch of Spain, a graduating senior at Cal, swept the titles, her first on the ITF Pro Circuit, in Tunisia.

Taylor Townsend claimed the only Roland Garros title for an American in 2026, winning the women's doubles championship with Katerina Siniakova of Czechia. The top seeds defeated No. 2 seeds Anna Danilina(Florida) of Kazakhstan and Aleksandra Krunic of Serbia 6-2, 7-5 in today's final for their third slam title as a team. The 2024 Wimbledon and 2025 Australian Open champions will aim for the career slam in New York this summer. This year alone they have won three WTA 1000s in Indian Wells, Miami and Madrid, with their only two losses in the Australian Open quarterfinals and the Rome 1000 semifinals. 

Jovic Kicks Off Billie Jean King Cup Qualifying vs Belgium Friday; Kennedy vs Hance in Boca Raton M15 Quarterfinals, Alvarez Beats No. 2 Seed Grant; Dostanic and Basavareddy Meet in Sarasota Challenger

Iva Jovic will make her Billie Jean King Cup debut tomorrow in the qualifying tie with Belgium, but the 18-year-old from Southern California is a veteran of ITF team competitions, having helped the USA win the Junior Billie Jean King Cup titles in 2022 and 2023.

Alanis Hamilton, Tyra Grant, Iva Jovic, Captain Tom Gutteridge (photo courtesy ITF)

Jovic was on the 2022 team as its youngest player and she didn't see much action, but she played No. 1 on the 2023 team and won every match in straight sets, with Tyra Grant, now representing Italy, and Alanis Hamilton the other team members.

Tomorrow Jovic, up to a WTA career-high of 16, will face Hanne Vandewinkel, currently 94 in the WTA rankings. McCartney Kessler(Florida) will play the second singles match against Elise Mertens, with Caty McNally and Nicole Melichar-Martinez expected to be the doubles team. 

Tennis Channel will provide coverage beginning at 10 a.m. EDT.

For the USTA's release from today, click here.

The Boca Raton M15 and M35 are still trying to get back on schedule due to all the rain this week, but one of the quarterfinals is set in the men's event, with No. 6 seed Jack Kennedy set to face good friend Keaton Hance. Kennedy and Hance, who won the 2024 Junior Davis Cup title and last year's US Open boys doubles championship, have played twice in the past year, with Kennedy winning 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 in the semifinals of the ITF J300 in Indian Wells last March and 6-0, 6-1 in the second round of the M15 in Orlando last November.

Kennedy had the tougher second round match, beating Jerrid Gaines Jr. 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, while Hance beat qualifier Adam Lynch(Barry) 6-2, 6-4. 

Puerto Rico's Yannik Alvarez, playing in his first Pro Circuit tournament, defeated No. 2 seed Will Grant(Florida) 2-6, 7-6(2), 6-0 to reach the quarterfinals. He will play the winner of tonight's second round match between Benjamin Willwerth and No. 5 seed Dragos Cazacu(Tennessee) of Romania. 

At the women's tournament in Boca Raton, No. 2 seed Mary Stoiana, No. 7 seed Akasha Urhobo and Madison Sieg(USC) have advanced to the quarterfinals, with Sieg facing Urhobo Friday.

The other side of the state has seen less impact from rain, with the quarterfinals set at both the W15 in Bonita Springs and ATP Challenger 75 in Sarasota(Bradenton). 

Seventeen-year-old wild card Carlota Moreno is through to the quarterfinals after beating No. 7 seed Ava Markham(Wisconsin) 7-5, 6-4; the Tennessee recruit will play unseeded Margaux Maquet of Belgium, who beat Georgia recruit Ava Rodriguez 6-1, 6-4.  Eighteen-year-old Bella Payne, who has signed with Georgia, defeated Allegra Korpanec Davies of Great Britain, a Florida signee 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 and will face former North Carolina All-American Carson Tanguilig, who beat No. 4 seed Ana Grubor of Canada 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-4.

No. 3 seed Kylie Collins(Texas, LSU, Oklahoma State) and No. 6 seed Ellie Schoppe(Furman, Florida State) are the other two Americans in the quarterfinals and they will play each other on Friday, with the winner facing either top seed Gergana Topalova of Bulgaria or No. 5 seed Daria Egorova.

Three Americans are through to the quarterfinals at the Sarasota Challenger, with 2025 Kalamazoo 18s champion Darwin Blanch earning his spot today with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Duje Ajdukovic of Croatia. He will face No. 3 seed Hugo Dellien of Bolivia Friday.

The bottom quarterfinal will feature two recent former college stars, with No. 8 seed Nishesh Basavareddy(Stanford) taking on unseeded Stefan Dostanic(USC, Wake Forest), in what I believe is their first meeting. Basavareddy beat Hynek Barton of Czechia 6-1, 7-6(6) Wednesday and Dostanic defeated Alex Rybakov(TCU) 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 Wednesday night. 

Zheng's NCAA Singles Title Defense Continues; Brantmeier Lone Seed in Women's Semifinals; Urhobo Reaches Boca Raton W35 Singles Semifinals, Doubles Final: Reddy Beats Top Seed Miguel at J300 Zapopan

Rebounds from first set losses were the theme of the singles quarterfinals Friday at the NCAA Division I Championships in Lake Nona Florida, with five of the eight semifinalists taking that route.

Three of the four men's semifinalists posted comebacks, including defending champion Michael Zheng of Columbia, who dropped his first set of the tournament before defeating No. 8 seed Ozan Baris 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. The unseeded Zheng now has a ten-match winning streak in the NCAA tournament, with his forehand just too much for Baris in the third set, after Baris had played controlled and error-free first set to take the lead in the rematch of the 2024 NCAA final. 

Zheng's opponent in the semifinal is the only seeded player remaining in the men's draw: fellow Ivy Leaguer Paul Inchauspe of Princeton. Inchauspe, a junior from France. Inchauspe, who saved match points in his second win over Lucca Iu of UC-Santa Barbara, came from a set down for the third time this week to beat unseeded Luca Pow of Wake Forest 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. 

Zheng and Inchauspe played once in Ivy League conference play in 2024, with their match going unfinished.

The other men's semifinal Saturday will feature two unseeded players, with Trevor Svajda of SMU facing Martin Borisiouk of NC State. Svajda, a junior, has found his form this week after two three-set wins on Tuesday and Wednesday, posting the only straightforward men's victory today with a 6-3, 6-2 decision over Petar Jovanovic of Mississippi State, a 9-16 seed.  Svajda is the first SMU player to reach the semifinals since 1986.

Borisiouk, who had his 9-16 seed removed when Jack Loutit of Kentucky received entry as an alternate, ended the undefeated start to Michigan redshirt freshman Max Dahlin's collegiate career with a 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 victory. 

It will be the first meeting between the 25-year-old Borisiouk and the 19-year-old Svajda.

The women's semifinals will feature three new faces and one seed: Reese Brantmeier of North Carolina.

Brantmeier, a 9-16 seed, won a 74-minute first set over No. 2 seed Carmen Herea of Texas, with her 5-1 lead evaporating. She saved set points in her 5-6 service game and in the tiebreaker, but the 21-year-old senior took control in the second set against an error-prone Herea to post a 7-6(8), 6-0 victory. 

She will play Southern Cal sophomore Jana Hossam Salah, who beat Carolina Gomez Alonzo of Arkansas 3-6, 7-5, 6-0. Hossam, who is just 18 years old, will face her first seed of the week when she plays Brantmeier.

The top half has Cal senior Berta Passola Folch facing Mississippi's Emily Welker in an unexpected semifinal, after Passola Folch beat Kyoka Kubo of Kansas 7-5, 6-2 and Welker upset No. 4 seed Savannah Dada-Mascoll of Appalachian State. 

Welker, a 25-year-old graduate student from Germany, saved a match point on a deuce point serving at 3-5 in third set, and Dada-Mascoll couldn't get to match point serving at 5-4. Welker went up 6-5 by again winning a deciding point and broke Dada-Mascoll to secure her place in the semifinals. Welker is only the third Ole Miss woman to reach the NCAA semifinals, with the last to do it 2018 NCAA champion Arianne Hartono. Passola Folch is the first Cal player to reach the semifinals since Lynn Ch, also unseeded, reached the 2014 final.

With all the chaos in the singles, at least in regards to seeds, one of the women's doubles semifinals will actually feature two teams that were seeded to be there.

No. 4 seeds Sophia Webster and Celia-Belle Mohr of Vanderbilt will face No. 2 seeds Roisin Gilheany and Gloriana Nahum of Oklahoma for a place in the final.

All four men's teams are unseeded, and no players have advanced to both semifinals, with Brantmeier and Dahlin both losing in the doubles quarterfinals today.

Doubles quarterfinal results:

Mans Dahlberg and Dylan Dietrich, Virginia d. Aidan Kim and Bryce Nakashima[5-8], Ohio State 6-7(4), 7-6(5), 10-5

Tanapatt Nirundorn and Henry Jefferson, Florida d. Max Stenzer and Sean Daryabeigi, South Carolina 6-4, 6-2

Aaron Sandler and Manfredi Graziani, Penn d. Andrew Delgado and DK Suresh[2], Wake Forest 6-7(3), 7-5, 10-7

Nikita Filin and Brandon Carpico, Ohio State d. Max Dahlin and Bjorn Swenson[4], Michigan 6-2, 6-1

Daniela Borruel and Lily Fairclough, Southern Cal d. Leena Friedman and Orly Oglivy, Yale 6-1, 6-4

Victoria Osuigwe and Gabriella Broadfoot, NC State d. Oby Kajuru and Susanna Maltby[3], North Carolina 5-7, 6-1, 12-10

Sophia Webster and Celia-Belle Mohr[4], Vanderbilt d. Annabelle Xu and Martina Genis Salas[5-8], Virginia 6-0, 6-4

Roisin Gilheany and Gloriana Nahum[2], Oklahoma d. Reese Brantmeier and Alanis Hamilton, North Carolina 6-3, 4-6, 10-5

All four singles semifinals are scheduled for 10 a.m. and all four doubles semifinals are scheduled for 1 p.m.

Live scoring is here and the ESPN Select streaming links are here. The link to draws is here.

Randy Walker has an article on the NCAA's move to the fall at his World Tennis Magazine website, with comments from Reese Brantmeier.

John Parsons has been posting daily podcasts from the NCAAs at No-Ad, No-Problem. 

And Cracked Racquets has posted their post-match interviews with players on their YouTube Channel.

Eighteen-year-old Floridian Akasha Urhobo has reached her sixth career Pro Circuit semifinal after the No. 5 seed defeated Sofia Cabezas(Iowa State, Tennessee) of Venezuela 6-2, 7-6(5) today at the W35 in Boca Raton. Urhobo will face No. 6 seed Gergana Topalova of Bulgaria, who advanced to the semifinals when Bella Payne retired trailing 6-1, 1-0.

No. 3 seed Francesa Pace of Italy and No. 2 seed Victoria Hu(Princeton) will meet in the bottom half semifinal after Pace defeated No. 8 seed Rasheeda McAdoo(Georgia Tech) 7-5, 6-4 and Hu beat Kylie Collins(Texas, LSU, Oklahoma State) 6-1, 6-2.

Urhobo and McAdoo will play for the second Boca Raton W35 doubles title as a team tomorrow, with the No. 2 seeds facing No. 3 seeds Ema Burgic(Baylor) of Bosnia and Anita Sahdiieva(Baylor, LSU) of Ukraine in the final. Urhobo and McAdoo, who won the April W35 Boca Raton doubles title, beat unseeded Ingrid Neel(Florida) of Estonia and Abigail Rencheli(NC State) 6-1, 7-5, while Burgic and Sahdiieva defeated top seeds Pace and Martha Matoula of Greece 6-1, 6-3.

Top seed Keegan Smith is through to the semifinals of the M15 in Tallahassee, with the former UCLA All-American beating No. 6 seed Victor Lilov, an Ohio State signee, 6-3, 6-4. Smith will play qualifier Noah Zamora(UC-Irvine), who beat qualifier James Connel(Florida State) 7-5, 7-6(4).

In the bottom half semifinal, No. 7 seed Maik Steiner(Western Michigan) of Germany will play No. 4 seed Ryan Fishback(Virginia Tech) after Steiner defeated Mario Martinez Serrano(Mississippi State) of Spain 6-4, 7-6(5) and Fishback beat Stijn Paardekooper(St. Bonaventure, Utah State) of the Netherlands 6-4, 6-3.

Smith and Evan Bynoe won the doubles title, beating Mississippi State teammates Niccolo Baroni of Italy and Martinez Serrano 6-2, 6-2 in the final. Neither team was seeded.

At the M25 in Austin, top seed Garrett Johns(Duke) will play recent TCU graduate Lui Maxted of Great Britain in the semifinals, with Aidan McHugh and qualifier Andreja Petrovic(North Dakota, Florida State, Duke) of Norway meeting in the bottom half.

Johns defeated No. 7 seed Micah Braswell(Texas) 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(2), while the fifth-seeded Maxted beat Arizona State senior Mathis Bondaz of France 6-1, 6-3.

Maxted, last fall's NCAA doubles champion, will play in the doubles final Saturday, with Pranav Kumar(Texas A&M, SMU). The top seeds will face No. 2 seeds Abraham Asaba(Monmouth, Virginia Tech) of Ghana and Alex Martinez(Oklahoma) of Spain.

Fifteen-year-old Reddy defeated top seed and US Open boys semifinalist Luis Guto Miguel of Brazil today to advance to the final of the ITF J300 in Zapopan Mexico. The unseeded Reddy, who reached his first ITF J300 quarterfinal this week, took out the ITF Junior No. 14 6-0, 6-7(5), 7-5. Next up for Reddy is No. 2 seed Stefan Haita of Romania, who beat unseeded Amaury Abbas of France 7-5, 7-5.

The girls singles final will feature No 8 seed Maia Burcescu of Romania and No. 2 seed Jana Kovackova of the Czech Republic. 

Reddy and partner Navneet Raghuram lost in the doubles semifinals today to No. 7 seeds Jakub Kusy of the Czech Republic and Mustafa Ege Sik of Turkey 6-3, 6-4.

Johnston, Pareja Advance to ITF J300 Roehampton Quarterfinals; 12 Americans Advance at Wimbledon, but Gauff and Pegula Upset; Pinnington Jones and Holmgren Reach Wimbledon Round 2; USTA Pro Circuit in Cary NC and Los Angeles This Week

Two Americans remain in contention for a singles title at the ITF J300 in Roehampton: No. 3 seed Julieta Pareja and unseeded Noah Johnston.

Pareja defeated Deniz Dilek of Turkey 5-7, 6-0, 6-2 and will face unseeded Tahlia Kokkinis of Australia in the quarterfinals, their first meeting. Johnston came back for a 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 victory over No. 8 seed Oskari Paldanius of Finland and will play No. 4 seed Ivan Ivanov of Bulgaria in the quarterfinals. Ivanov defeated qualifier Matisse Farzam 6-4, 6-1 in today's third round. Johnston has two wins on clay over Ivanov earlier this year.

No. 2 seed Kristina Penickova lost to unseeded Eva Bennemann of Germany 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 and No. 15 seed Thea Frodin was beaten by unseeded Ksenia Efremova of France. 

Unseeded Ronit Karki lost to No. 10 seed Max Schoenhaus of Germany 6-2, 6-4.

Unseeded Keaton Hance and Jack Secord and No. 8 seeds Maxwell Exsted, with Czech partner Jan Kumstat, are in the boys doubles quarterfinals. Frodin and Pareja, the No. 2 seeds, are through to the girls doubles quarterfinals, as is Penickova, who is playing with Vendula Valdmannova of the Czech Republic.

Twelve Americans won their first round matches today at Wimbledon, with another suspended, but the top two American women's seeds, No. 2 seed Coco Gauff and No. 3 seed Jessica Pegula, both lost in straight sets.

Tuesday's first round results of Americans: 

Hailey Baptiste d. Sorana Cirstea(ROU) 6-7(0), 6-1, 6-2
Caroline Dolehide d. Arantxa Rus(NED) 6-2, 6-2
Emma Navarro[10] d. Petra Kvitova[WC](CZE) 6-3, 6-1
Suzan Lamens(NED) d. Iva Jovic[Q] 6-1, 6-1
Belinda Bencic(SUI) d. Alycia Parks 6-0, 6-3
Katie Volynets d. Tatjana Maria(GER) 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-1
Elisabetta Cocciaretto(ITA) d. Jessica Pegula[3] 6-2, 6-3
Caty McNally d. Jodie Burrage[WC](GBR) 6-3, 6-1
Danielle Collins d. Camila Osorio(COL) 6-3, 6-2
Sofia Kenin[28] d. Taylor Townsend[Q] 7-6(5), 6-2
Dayana Yastremska(UKR) d. Coco Gauff[2] 7-6(3), 6-1

Taylor Fritz[5] d. Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard(FRA) 6-7(6), 6-7(8), 6-4, 7-6(6), 6-4
Tommy Paul[13] d. Johannus Monday[WC](GBR) 6-4, 6-4, 6-2
Ben Shelton[10] d. Alex Bolt(AUS) 6-4, 7-6(1), 7-6(4)
Marton Fucsovics[LL](HUN) d. Aleksandar Kovacevic 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-1, 5-7, 6-4
Brandon Nakashima[29] v Yunchaokete Bu(CHN) 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(1), suspended
Reilly Opelka d. Alexander Shevchenko(KAZ) 6-3, 7-5, 7-6(4)
Marcos Giron d. Camilo Ugo Carabelli(ARG) 7-6(6), 7-6(4), 6-3
Miomir Kecmanovic(SRB) d. Alex Michelsen[30] 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(5)
Jesper De Jong(NED) d. Christopher Eubanks 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-7(7), 7-6, 7-6(2)

Wednesday's second round matches featuring Americans:

Frances Tiafoe[12] v Cameron Norrie(GBR)

Taylor Fritz[5] v Gabriel Diallo(CAN)

Jenson Brooksby v Joao Fonseca(BRA)

Ethan Quinn v Kamil Majchrzak(POL)

Learner Tien v Nicolas Jarry(CHI)

Madison Keys[6] v Olga Danilovic(SRB)

Amanda Anisimova[13] v Renata Zarazua(MEX)

Ashlyn Krueger[31]v Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova

Ann Li v Elise Mertens[24](BEL)

First round:

Brandon Nakashima[29] v Yunchaokete Bu(CHN) 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(1), suspended

It was another good day at Wimbledon for collegians, with TCU's Jack Pinnington Jones, a wild card, and University of San Diego's August Holmgren, a qualifier, both picking up their first major victories today.  The update is courtesy of the ITA's Zach Pohlmann.

Tuesday, July 1, 2025

Intercollegiate Tennis Association ("ITA")

Contact: Zach Pohlmann (zpohlmann@itatennis.com)

College Tennis at The Wimbledon Championships: Day Two Notes

Tuesday, July 1, 2025

Gentlemen’s Singles Results

• Arthur Rinderknech (FRA) def No. 3 Alexander Zverev (GER): 7-6 (3), 6-7 (8), 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-4

• No. 10 Ben Shelton (USA) def Alex Bolt (AUS): 6-4, 7-6 (1), 7-6 (4)

• Aleksander Vukic (AUS) def Chun-Hsin Tseng (TPE): 6-4, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (4)

• Rinky Hijikata (AUS) def David Goffin (BEL): 6-3, 6-1, 6-1

• Jack Pinnington Jones (GBR) def Tomas Martin Etcheverry (ARG): 7-6 (4), 6-3, 7-5

• August Holmgren (DEN) def Quentin Halys (FRA): 7-6 (4), 6-3, 6-4

• Marcos Giron (USA) def Camilo Ugo Carabelli (ARG): 7-6 (6), 7-6 (4), 6-3

• No. 13 Tommy Paul (USA) def  Johannus Monday (GBR): 6-4, 6-4, 6-2

• Arthur Cazaux (FRA) def  Adam Walton (AUS): 6-3, 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-7 (5), 6-1

• Jesper de Jong (NED) def  Christopher Eubanks (USA): 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-7 (7), 6-3, 7-6 (3)

• Marton Fucsovics (HUN) def Aleksander Kovacevic (USA): 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-1, 5-7, 6-4

Gentlemen’s Singles Suspended Matches

• No. 29 Brandon Nakashima (USA) vs Yunchaokete Bu (CHN): 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (1)

*Bolded name indicates a player with college tennis ties

Ladies’ Singles Results

• No. 10 Emma Navarro (USA) def Petra Kvitova (CZE): 6-3, 6-1

• Danielle Collins (USA) def Camila Osorio (COL): 6-3, 6-2 

• Yuliia Starodubtseva (UKR) def Francesca Jones (GBR): 1-6, 6-3, 6-1 

• No. 7 Mirra Andreeva def  Mayar Sherif (EGY): 6-3, 6-3

*Bolded name indicates a player with college tennis ties

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 College Players In Action Wednesday

• Oliver Tarvet (GBR) vs No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz (ESP) - Centre Court

• Cameron Norrie (GBR) vs No. 12 Francis Tiafoe (USA) - No. 1 Court

• Gabriel Diallo (CAN) vs No. 5 Taylor Fritz (USA) - No. 1 Court

• Nuno Borges (POR) vs Billy Harris (GBR) - No. 2 Court

• Arthur Fery (GBR) vs Luciano Darderi (ITA) - No. 2 Court

• No. 12 Diana Shnaider vs Diane Parry (FRA) - Court 18

• Ethan Quinn (USA) vs Kamil Majchrzak (POL) - Court 14

• Learner Tien (USA) vs Nicolas Jarry (CHI) - Court 15

• Arthur Rinderknech (FRA) vs Cristian Garin (CHI) - Court 17

The USTA Pro Circuit features a W100 and an ATP Challenger 75 in Cary North Carolina, as well as the sixth week of the SoCal Pro Series, withe men's and women's 15Ks this week in Los Angeles.

Because I will be at Wimbledon, with the Wimbledon Junior Championships beginning Saturday, I will not have be able to cover those events as I do when I'm in the United States.

But links to the draws are below:

ATP Challenger 75 Cary NC

USTA Pro Circuit W100 Cary NC

SoCal Pro Series W15 Los Angeles

SoCal Pro Series M15 Los Angeles

Kennedy and Pareja Advance at ITF J500 in Milan; Quinn Qualifies for Roland Garros; Payne and Ekstrand Reach W35 Orlando Quarterfinals; SoCal Pro Series, JMTA College Combine Begin Soon

The quarterfinals are set for Friday at the ITF J500 Trofeo Bonfiglio in Milan, with two Americans still in contention in singles.

No. 11 seed Julieta Pareja, playing in just her second tournament since reaching the semifinals of the WTA 250 in Bogota in early April, defeated Nauhany Leme Da Silva of Brazil 6-1, 6-3 to advance to a quarterfinal meeting with Lilli Tagger of Austria. Although unseeded, the 17-year-old Tagger won a W35 in March and is up to 506 in the WTA rankings. Pareja, 16, is at 317, a career high.

The other seeded American, No. 8 Thea Frodin, lost to No. 9 seed Lunca Vujovic of Serbia 6-2, 7-6(1) in today's third round. Unseeded Rositsa Dencheva of Bulgaria, who has been playing mostly on the ITF women's World Tennis Tour, beat top seed and Orange Bowl champion Tereza Krejcova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-2 in the second round and No. 14 seed Beatrise Zeltina of Latvia 6-3, 6-4 today. Five US boys were seeded this week, but only No. 7 seed Jack Kennedy has managed to make it to the quarterfinals, although five American boys did advance to today's round of 16.

For the second week in a row, Kennedy played Jack Satterfield, beating him in three sets in the semifinals of the J300 in Santa Croce Italy and in today's third round 7-5, 7-5. Kennedy will play top seed Oskari Paldanius of Finland, who squeezed past No. 16 seed Noah Johnston 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-4. Paldanius and Kennedy played in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open in January, with Paldanius winning 7-6(6), 7-5.

Unseeded Ronit Karki lost to No. 8 seed Timofei Derepasko of Russia 6-3, 6-2 and No. 2 seed Jagger Leach was beaten by Pierluigi Basile of Italy 6-2, 7-6(2).  

Kennedy and Hance, the No. 5 seeds in doubles and last week's champions in Santa Croce, have reached the semifinals, as has Frodin, who is playing this week with Yoana Konstantinova of Bulgaria. 

Live scoring is available at the tournament website.

Due to rain earlier in the week, the final round of qualifying at Roland Garros will extend through Friday, but the main draws were published today. Fifteen US men are in the draw, including Ethan Quinn(Georgia), who qualified today with a 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(5) win over Thiago Tirante of Argentina, the 2019 ITF World Junior Champion. Quinn, who competed in the US Open main draw as the 2023 NCAA singles champion, has qualified for a slam for the first time with his win today.

The other two American men left in the qualifying lost today in the second round, with Eliot Spizzirri(Texas) losing to Giulio Zeppieri of Italy 6-2, 6-3 and Nicolas Moreno de Alboran(UC-Santa Barbara) falling to Lukas Klein of Slovakia 6-3, 6-7(3), 6-4.

There will be either 18 or 19 US women in the main draw, depending on the outcome of the final round qualifying match Friday between Taylor Townsend and Daria Saville of Australia. Townsend defeated Hanna Chang, in a match resumed late in the third set, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(5). Varvara Lepchenko lost her final round qualifying match to Nina Stojanovic of Serbia 4-6, 6-1, 7-5.

Below are the matchups for Americans this weekend; it's surprising that with so many US players in the draw, none have to play a fellow American. Click on the headings for the draws.

MEN:

Top Half (Monday/Tues)

Learner Tien v Alexander Zverev[3](GER)

Marcos Giron v Tallon Griekspoor(NED)

Aleks Kovacevic v Emil Ruusuvuori(FIN)

Mackenzie McDonald v Novak Djokovic[6](SRB)

Bottom Half(Sunday/Monday)

Reilly Opelka v Rinky Hijikata(AUS)

Brandon Nakashima[28] v Mariano Navone(ARG)

Emilio Nava[WC] v Botic van de Zandschulp(NED)

Frances Tiafoe[15] v Roman Safiullin(RUS)

Jenson Brooksby v Jaime Faria(POR)

Sebastian Korda[23] v Luciano Darderi(ITA)

Alex Michelsen[32] v qualifier

Taylor Fritz[4] v Daniel Altmaier(GER)

Tommy Paul[12] v qualifier

Ben Shelton[13] v Lorenzo Sonego(ITA)

WOMEN:

Top Half(Sunday/Monday)

Danielle Collins v Jodie Burrage(GBR)

Amanda Anisimova[16] v qualifier

Peyton Stearns[28] v Eva Lys(GER)

Bernarda Pera v Caroline Garcia(FRA)

Iva Jovic[WC] v Renata Zarazua(MEX)

Caroline Dolehide v Greet Minnen(BEL)

Bottom Half(Monday/Tuesday)

Ashlyn Krueger v Suzan Lamens(NED)

Katie Volynets v qualifier

McCartney Kessler v Elena-Gabriela Ruse(ROU)

Alycia Parks v Karolina Muchova[14](CZE)

Ann Li v qualifier

Jessica Pegula[3] v Anca Todoni(ROU)

Madison Keys[7] v qualifier

Sofia Kenin[31] v Varvara Gracheva(FRA)

Hailey Baptiste v Beatriz Haddad Maia[23](BRA)

Robin Montgomery v Diane Parry[WC](FRA)

Emma Navarro[9] v Jessica Bouzas Maneiro(ESP)

Coco Gauff[2] v Olivia Gadecki(AUS)

The quarterfinals at the W35 in Orlando will feature two American teenagers who have been on quite a roll the past several months. 

Seventeen-year-old wild card Bella Payne, the Easter Bowl 18s champion, defeated No. 4 seed Makenna Jones 6-2, 6-1 in the second round today. Payne, who won ITF J100 and J200 tournaments earlier this month, played her first Pro Circuit tournament a month ago. She will face qualifier Jamilah Snells(Louisville) in the quarterfinals. 

Eighteen-year-old Monika Ekstrand, the No. 6 seed this week, has played seven of the last eight weeks and has won two W35 titles in that span. The Stanford recruit will take on No. 2 seed Katrina Scott in the quarterfinals, with Ekstrand having beaten Scott 6-4, 6-4 in the first round en route to the Boca Raton W35 title two weeks ago. Ekstrand beat 17-year-old Alexis Nguyen 6-1, 4-6, 6-1 in today's second round. 

I would like to take this opportunity to make sure that you're aware of a couple of my sponsors' upcoming events.

The John McEnroe Tennis Academy's ninth annual College Combine is scheduled for June 28th and June 29th at Sportime/JMTA in Port Washington New York. The deadline to apply in Saturday May 31st.  For more information, click on the ad to the left, or check out this press release.

The SoCal Pro Series is now set to begin its fourth year, with seven consecutive weeks of men's and women's $15,000 tournaments in Southern California beginning next Monday. I have an article in the works about this Circuit, which will be serving as a template for increasing ITF-level events in the United States in the next two years. 

Registration for pre-qualifying for the last three events is still open; click on the ad to the left for more information.

Boys Seeding Near Perfect, Girls Draw Wide Open for Friday's Quarterfinals at the FILA International Championships; Keys Reaches Semifinals at BNP Paribas Open

©Colette Lewis 2025--

Indian Wells CA--

The weather forecast for Thursday in the Coachella Valley was a dire one, but no one at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden was complaining when the predicted rain failed to materialize. Although temperatures were 20 degrees below normal and the wind, particularly in the afternoon, made it feel much colder, the ITF J300 FILA International Championships are on schedule, with the singles and doubles quarterfinals set for Friday.

The boys draw has proceeded as predicted, with the only top eight seed failing to make the quarterfinals No. 8 Jack Secord, who lost to No. 10 seed Ronit Karki 7-6(10), 6-2.  Karki will play top seed Jagger Leach, who defeated No. 15 seed Matisse Farzam 6-4, 7-6(5).

No. 2 seed Jack Kennedy, the 2024 finalist, ended the run of wild card Donald Nikolas Stoot 6-3, 6-3 and will face No. 5 seed Ryan Cozad, who beat unseeded Jacob Olar 7-6(5), 6-4.  No. 7 seed Jack Satterfield, who downed No. 12 seed Calvin Baierl 7-6(8), 6-1, will play No. 3 seed Keaton Hance, who edged unseeded Sebastian Eie of Norway 6-3, 7-6(5).  The two quarterfinalists who had the toughest third round victories, No. 6 seed Maximus Dussault and No. 4 seed Noah Johnston, will face off in the fourth quarterfinal. Dussault came back to defeat fellow left-hander Aaron Gabet of France 1-6, 7-5, 6-3, while Johnston won the final five games of the match against fellow left-hander Gavin Goode, the No. 13 seed, to earn a 6-4, 6-7(2), 6-3 victory that spanned three hours and 17 minutes.

While the all-USA boys quarterfinals were expected, the girls draw has only three seeds left: No. 5 seed Julieta Pareja, No. 13 seed Nancy Lee and No. 14 seed Alyssa James of Jamaica. 

Pareja and Lee will play Friday after each picked up routine wins today, with Lee defeating unseeded Maria Aytoyan 6-2, 6-4 and Pareja beating unseeded Ireland O'Brien 6-3, 6-0.

James, who is in the opposite half, defeated Karlin Schock 6-4, 6-0 and will face qualifier Alexis Nguyen, who beat Shannon Lam 6-2, 6-2. 

Wild card Maggie Sohns took out one of the pre-tournament favorites in No. 3 seed Thea Frodin, the recent Banana Bowl J500 champion, with the 15-year-old from upstate New York crediting the coach from her mom for getting her through some of the day's worst conditions to post a 6-3, 6-2 victory.

"I think it was tricky for both of us," Sohns said. "Obviously the conditions were pretty difficult, but if it wasn't for my mom, I don't think I would have been able to make it through the match, because I was getting really frustrated with the wind. She helped me a lot, with the coaching throughout the match. She knows a lot about tennis and I really appreciate her help."

Sohns also has had the support of a young local fan who connected with her at last year's tournament.

"Last year she actually watched me play in the doubles quarterfinals, and I guess they've been following me every since," said Sohns, who didn't return to the hotel after her first round doubles loss Wednesday night until 11:30 p.m. "I really appreciate the support, I don't get a lot of it, and I feel like that's really cool."

Sohns is happy with her win, but is trying not to look beyond her next opponent, unseeded Adla Lopez, who beat Chukwumelije Clarke 7-5, 6-2.

"I've played her twice, actually," said Sohns, who lost to Lopez in 2022 and beat her in the first round of J300 in Houston last October. "I'm expecting her to come out really strong, and hopefully I can play my best."

Lopez, who, like Sohns, will be playing in her first J300 quarterfinal, was not expecting a run like she is enjoying this week.

"Honestly, I just wanted to play good and do what my coaches were saying," said Lopez, who trains at Axis Tennis in Delray Beach Florida. "Working on my serve and not focusing on the results, but focusing on my patterns. I'm surprised but obviously very happy it's coming together."

Lopez, the younger sister of Qavia Lopez, who is currently injured and unable to compete for the University of Florida, figured out early how she wanted to play against Clarke. "In the beginning, I knew her backhand angle was really good, so whenever I hit to her backhand, I tried to make it a little bit higher, to try to make it harder to get that angle," said the 16-year-old left-hander. "That I noticed in the beginning. And she hit a really hard ball, so I tried to mix up the pace and mix up the height on the ball and it really worked."

The winners of the day's only three-set girls matches, qualifier Tianmei Wang and Kristina Liutova of Russia, will meet in the quarterfinals Friday.

It's the second straight quarterfinal at the FILA Internationals for the 15-year-old Liutova and she was overjoyed with her 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over No. 4 seed Maya Iyengar.

"After I was in the quarterfinals last year, I was inspired to return this year," said Liutova, who has played just one W15 and this tournament so far this year. "Plus the opponent was very tough, she took me with her aggression, but I kept believing, kept responsibility for myself and got the win."

Although the match was exactly three hours in duration, Liutova said she didn't feel any fatigue.

"Honestly, this is one of the first times, when it's such a long match, such a tough match, that I didn't feel tired," Luitova said. "I just felt happy to be on court, and I wanted to keep going and of course, the win is everything for me. I gave it all out there."

With the wind swirling and gusting, frustration would have been the more expected mental state, but Liutova took it in stride.

"In the second set, or maybe it was third, I don't remember, but there was like a 20-mile-per-hour wind pushing the ball, it was landing before the service box," Liutova said. "But the most important thing was just to keep the ball in the court."

Wang is the marathon girl of the tournament, having beaten No. 6 seed Leena Friedman in four hours and 21 minutes Wednesday night, then winning her doubles match, which ended after 10 p.m.

Thursday, she defeated No. 10 seed Ava Rodriguez 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, in a relatively quick two hours and 42 minutes, but again was playing late into the night Thursday in doubles. Wang and partner Addison Yang Comiskey defeated No. 4 seed Ishika Ashar and France's Dune Vaissaud 6-4, 5-7, 10-4 in a match that finished at 9:20 p.m.

The seeds in doubles finally began play Thursday, and in addition to Ashar and Vaissaud, two other top four teams were eliminated. No. 1 seeds Iyengar and Pareja lost to Aytoyan and Sabrina Lin 6-3, 6-7(1), 10-4 and Clarke and O'Brien defeated No. 3 seeds James and Capucine Jauffret 6-3, 7-6(5).

As in the singles, the boys doubles went as expected, with the top eight seeds reaching Friday's quarterfinals.

Play begins on Friday at 11 a.m. PDT, with a continuation of the unseasonably cold temperatures, no rain is expected and winds should diminish.

The only American left in contention for a BNP Paribas Open singles title is No. 5 seed Madison Keys, who reached the semifinals with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over wild card Belinda Bencic of Switzerland. Keys will play top seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in Friday's semifinal in a rematch of the Australian Open final. Sabalenka defeated No. 24 seed Luidmila Samsonova of Russia 6-2, 6-3 in the quarterfinals. 

Ben Shelton(Florida)[11] lost to Jack Draper[13] of Great Britain 6-4, 7-5 in the men's quarterfinals.

 

July Aces; Clervie Ngounoue and Bella Payne Top Seeds in San Diego; US Open Junior Acceptances; All US Women Out at Paris Olympics, Paul Reaches Singles and Doubles Quarterfinals

My monthly Aces column at Tennis Recruiting Network is up a bit early, with July's edition coming out today, which is probably a good thing, with August such a busy time for me. I didn't intend for the column to be mostly about former college players, but there were so many milestones for them on the Pro Tours that they dominated the narrative. My apologies to those juniors and current and recent collegians who won a $15K or a $25K title this month, as there simply wasn't room to feature them, but I hope that's just a temporary situation.

One of the few juniors who did make the grade last month was Clervie Ngounoue, who won the W50 in Dallas last week. Ngounoue was announced today as the top seed at the USTA 18s National Championships in San Diego, which is the expected position for the defending champion.

The top 16 seeds in G18s:

1. Clervie Ngounoue
2. Akasha Urhobo
3. Iva Jovic
4. Tyra Grant
5. Valerie Glozman
6. Aspen Schuman
7. Ashton Bowers
8. Claire Hill
9. Alanis Hamilton
10. Victoria Osuigwe
11. Julieta Pareja
12. Anita Tu
13. Addison Lanton
14. Avery Nguyen
15. Alexis Nguyen
16. Kristina Penickova

It's a little surprising to see Kristinia Penickova, who is No. 12 in the ITF world junior rankings No. 16 here. Like Kalamazoo, there are a few top players not competing: ITF No. 19 Katie Rolls and Elizabeth Ionescu, who withdrew. The draw has not yet been posted for the 18s, but what quarter No. 5 seed Valerie Glozman falls in will be something to monitor. The complete list of seeds can be found here.

The girls 16s draw has been posted, and can be found here. The complete list of seeds is here.

The top 16 seeds in G16s:

1. Bella Payne

2. Thara Gowda

3. Isabelle DeLuccia

4. Olivia Traynor,

5. Sobee Oak

6. Karlin Schock

7. Reagan Levine

8. Carrie-Anne Hoo

9. Nicole Weng

10. Kennedy Drenser-Hagmann

11. Carlota Moreno

12. Lani Chang

13. Emerey Gross

14. Lyla Middleton

15. Ellery Mendell

16. Nancy Lee

The acceptances for the US Open Junior Championships were posted today, with all three of the boys slam champions entered: No. 1 Nicolai Budkov Kjaer of Norway(Wimbledon), No. 2 Kaylan Bigun of USA(Roland Garros) and No. 3 Rei Sakamoto of Japan(Australia).  The eight US boys who received direct entry are Bigun, Jagger Leach, Cooper Woestendick, Alexander Razeghi, Max Exsted, Ian Mayew, Jack Kennedy and Trevor Svajda. As at Wimbledon, Svajda received entry based on his ATP ranking of 641; Rudy Quan, who hopes to be recovered from the ankle sprain that is keeping him out of Kalamazoo, received entry into the qualifying based on his ATP ranking. The other boy receiving main draw entry via his ATP ranking is Justin Engel of Germany, who has won two $15Ks recently and is ranked 679.

The boys cutoff is 48, with Noah Johnston four out of main draw and Kase Schinnerer nine out. 72 is the current boys qualifying cutoff.

There are a couple of surprises among the girls acceptances, with Renata Jamrichova of Slovakia entered after the two-time junior slam singles champion was adamant that Wimbledon was her last junior event. Laura Samson of the Czech Republic is not entered, nor is Iva Jovic. Only six US girls are entered: Tyra Grant, Kristina Penickova, Katie Rolls, Aspen Schuman, Thea Frodin and Akasha Urhobo. Urhobo received main draw entry based on her WTA ranking of 319. The main draw cutoff for girls is 51.

Christasha McNeil and Maya Iyengar are 6 and 7 spots out of the main draw. The qualifying cutoff is currently 81.

The acceptances for the ITF J300 in College Park Maryland were also released today, which is two weeks prior to the US Open Junior Championships. All the American boys in the US Open main draw, save for Bigun, are entered, with Johnston making the main draw cutoff, which is 53.

Grant, Jovic and Schuman, a finalist last year, are not entered in College Park; Penickova, Rolls, Frodin, McNeil, Iyengar, Shannon Lam and Claire An are in the main draw, with that cutoff 67.

All the women from the United States were eliminated from medal contention today at the Paris Olympics, with only Tommy Paul left in men's singles and Paul and Taylor Fritz also advancing to the double quarterfinals. Rajeev Ram(Illinois) and Austin Krajicek(Texas A&M) are through to the medal round in men's doubles after their win today over Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal. They will face unseeded Tomas Machac and Adam Pavlasek of the Czech Republic in the semifinals. 

Today's results and tomorrow's schedule, from the USTA:

RESULTS - (WEDNESDAY, JULY 31, 2024)

 

(4) Austin Krajicek/Rajeev Ram (USA) def. Rafael Nadal/Carlos Alcaraz (ESP) 62 64

 

(9) Tommy Paul (USA) def. Corentin Moutet (FRA) 76(6) 63

 

(1) Iga Swiatek (POL) def. (9) Danielle Collins (USA) 61 26 41 (ret.)

 

Lyudmyla Kichenok/Nadiia Kichenok (UKR) def. (4) Danielle Collins/Desirae Krawczyk (USA) 36 64 (10 7)

 

Gabriela Dabrowski/Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN) def. (3) Coco Gauff/Taylor Fritz (USA)76(2) 36 (10 8)

 

(11) Lorenzo Musetti (ITA) def. (7) Taylor Fritz (USA) – 64 75

 

Muchova/Linda Noskova (CZE) def. (1) Coco Gauff/Jessica Pegula (USA) 26 64 (10 5)

 

(3) Taylor Fritz/Tommy Paul (USA) def. Robin Haase/Jean-Julien Rojer (NED) 63 64

 

TOMORROW’S ORDER OF PLAY (THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 2024)

 

(9) Tommy Paul (USA) vs (1) Carlos Alcaraz (ESP) – Court Philippe-Chatrier – nb 14:00

 

(3) Taylor Fritz/Tommy Paul (USA) vs Daniel Evans/Andy Murray (GBR) - Court Suzanne-Lenglen 4th match

 

(4) Austin Krajicek/Rajeev Ram (USA) vs Tomas Machac/Adam Pavlasek (CZE) - Court Simonne-Mathieu – nb 15:00

Noel Wins $15K Title; Sandgren and Kenin Reach Australian Open Quarterfinals; Five US Juniors Advance at AO; ITA Kick-off Weekend Final Results

Alexa Noel, playing in her first event since the beginning of November, won her first ITF World Tennis Tour title today at the $15,000 tournament in Cancun Mexico. The 17-year-old 2019 Wimbledon girls finalist was unseeded this week, but took out top seed and 2018 NCAA champion Arienne Hartono(Ole Miss) of the Netherlands in the quarterfinals and beat No. 5 seed Nika Kukharchuk(Ole Miss) of Russia 6-3, 6-2 in today's final. Noel didn't lose a set all week.

For the second straight week, no Americans made the quarterfinals at a $25,000 USTA Pro Circuit event in Florida. This week's tournament in Vero Beach was disrupted by rain, with two matches a day for several players on both Friday and Saturday. No. 6 seed Daniela Seguel of Chile won the title today, defeating No. 7 seed Tereza Mrdeza of Croatia 7-5, 6-4.  Two unseeded teams met in the doubles final, with Connie Hsu(Penn) of Taiwan and Panna Uvardy of Hungary taking the title with a 7-5, 4-6, 10-7 win over the Spanish team of Irene Burillo and Andrea Lazaro(Florida International).

Former University of Tennessee star Tennys Sandgren has reached a second Australian Open quarterfinal, with his first coming two years ago. Sandgren, currently 100 in the ATP rankings, defeated No. 12 seed Fabio Fognini of Italy 7-6(5), 7-5, 6-7(2), 6-4 to set up his first meeting with Roger Federer of Tuesday. For more on Sandgren's fourth round victory, see this article from the ATP.  Sofia Kenin is the other American still competing for a singles title in Melbourne, after the No. 14 seed came back to defeat Coco Gauff 6-7(5) 6-3, 6-0. Kenin's quarterfinal opponent Tuesday will be unseeded Ons Jabeur of Tunisia.
Sunday’s fourth round singles matches featuring Americans:

Ashleigh Barty[1](AUS) d. Alison Riske[18] 6-3, 1-6, 6-4
Sofia Kenin[14] d. Coco Gauff 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-0
Tennys Sandgren d. Fabio Fognini[12](ITA) 7-6(5), 7-5, 6-7(2), 6-4

After going winless on Saturday's first day of junior competition in Australia, US competitors went 5-1 on Sunday. Kalamazoo 16s champion Alex Bernard, who went through qualifying, had a particularly impressive victory, beating No. 13 seed Nicholas David Ionel of Romania 6-1, 5-7, 6-3. Ionel won four straight ITF $15,000 tournaments last fall. In addition to Ionel, three other seeds boys went out in the first round: No. 15 Bu Yunchaokete of China, No. 11 Eliakim Coulibaly of Ivory Coast and No. 4 Jeffrey Von Der Schulenberg of Switzerland.  Four seeded girls also lost in the first round: No. 14 Selena Janicijevic of France, No. 7 Oksana Selekhmeteva of Russia, No. 5 Linda Fruhvirtova of the Czech Republic and and No. 3 Kamilla Bartone of Latvia.

The ITF website spoke with No. 2 seed Martin Damm after his win on Sunday for this article. None of the five American juniors remaining are on Monday's schedule for singles.

Sunday’s first round junior singles matches featuring Americans: 5-1

Alex Bernard[Q] d. Nicholas David Ionel[13](ROU) 6-1, 5-7, 6-3
Aidan Mayo d. Viacheslav Bielinskyi[Q](UKR) 3-6, 7-6(3), 6-1
Robin Montgomery[2] d. Sofia Costoulas(BEL) 6-1, 6-0
Martin Damm[2] d. Lorenzo Claverie(VEN) 6-4, 6-1
Ellie Coleman d. Charlotte Kempenaers-Pocz[WC](AUS) 6-4, 7-5
Ya Yi Yang(TPE) d. India Houghton[Q] 1-6, 6-3, 6-3

The ITA Division I Kick-off Weekend is winding down, with some blowouts, some close matches and a few surprises. Below are the results as of 6 p.m.; I will update the late Stanford - Cal and UCLA - Central Florida men's matches and the Princeton - USC women's match later tonight. The winners move on to the ITA National Team Indoor Championships, which for the women is February 7-10 in Chicago, and for the men is February 14-17 in Madison.

All results are below. I've used bold type for the No. 1 seeds, who were hosting, who lost this weekend.

Women:(Friday/Saturday)

North Carolina[1] d. Auburn[4] 4-0

Old Dominion[2] d. Columbia[3] 4-1

FINAL: North Carolina[1] d. Old Dominion[2] 4-1

UCLA[1] d. Minnesota 4-0

Loyola Marymount[3] d. Gonzaga[2] 4-0

FINAL: UCLA[1] d. Loyola Marymount[3] 4-0

Vanderbilt[1] d. Penn[4] 4-0

Arizona State[3] d. Northwestern[2] 4-2

FINAL: Arizona State[3] d. Vanderbilt[1] 4-3

Texas[1] d. Iowa[4] 4-0

LSU[2] d. Texas Tech[3] 4-1

FINAL: Texas[1] d. LSU[2] 4-0

Tennessee[4] d. Kansas[1] 4-2

Virginia[3] d. Cal[2] 4-1

FINAL: Virginia[3] d. Tennessee[4] 4-3

Saturday/Sunday:

South Carolina[1] d. Purdue[4] 4-0

Georgia Tech[2] d. Wisconsin[3] 4-0

FINAL: Georgia Tech[2] d. South Carolina[1] 4-1

Duke[1] d. Kansas State[4] 4-0

Tulsa[3] d. Mississippi State[2] 4-3

FINAL: Duke[1] d. Tulsa[2] 4-0

Stanford[1] d. South Florida[4] 4-0

Washington State[2] d. Denver[3] 4-0

FINAL: Stanford[1] d. Washington State[2] 4-0

Oklahoma State[1] d. San Diego[4] 4-0

Ohio State[3] d. Wake Forest[2] 4-2

FINAL: Ohio State[3] d. Oklahoma State[1] 4-3

Florida State[1] d. UC-Santa Barbara[4] 4-1

Texas A&M[2] d. Miami[3] 4-2

FINAL: Florida State[1] d. Texas A&M[2] 4-0

Georgia[1] d. Michigan State[4] 7-0

Notre Dame[2] d. Furman[3] 4-2

FINAL: Georgia[1] d. Notre Dame[2] 5-2

Michigan[1] d. Ole Miss[4] 4-2

Central Florida[2] d. Utah[3] 4-3

FINAL: Michigan[1] d. Central Florida[2] 4-2

NC State[1] d. Rice[4] 4-2

Florida[2] d. Oklahoma[3] 4-3

FINAL: NC State[1] d. Florida[2] 4-0

Pepperdine[1] d. UNLV[4] 4-0

Arkansas[2] d. Arizona[3] 4-2

FINAL: Pepperdine[1] d. Arkansas[2] 4-1

USC[2] d. Kentucky[3] 4-3

Princeton[4] d. Washington[1] 4-3

FINAL: Princeton[4] d. USC[2] 4-3

Men:(Friday/Saturday)

Ole Miss[4] d. Illinois[1] 4-3

Michigan[2] d. Texas Tech[3] 4-3

FINAL: Michigan[2] d. Ole Miss[4] 4-3

Wake Forest[1] d. E Tenn State[4] 4-2

Kentucky[3] d. Penn State[2] 4-1

FINAL: Wake Forest[1] d. Kentucky[3] 4-2

Saturday/Sunday:

South Carolina[3] d. Oklahoma[2] 4-0

Georgia[4] d. Mississippi St[1] 4-1

FINAL: South Carolina[3] d. Georgia[4] 4-3

Tennessee[1] d. Arizona State[4] 4-0

Columbia[2] d. Oklahoma State[3] 4-0

FINAL: Columbia[2] d. Tennessee[1] 4-2

USC[1] d. UNC-Wilmington[4] 4-0

Santa Clara[3] d. UC-Santa Barbara[2] 4-3

FINAL: USC[1] d. Santa Clara[3] 4-0

Texas[1] d. Indiana[4] 4-0

Florida State[2] d. Vanderbilt[3] 4-2

FINAL: Texas[1]d. Florida State[2] 4-0

Baylor[1] d. Gonzaga[4] 4-0

Louisville[2] d. New Mexico[3] 4-1

FINAL: Baylor[1] d. Louisville[2] 4-1

TCU[1] d. Florida Atlantic[4] 4-0

Arizona[3] d. Notre Dame[2] 4-2

FINAL: TCU[1] d. Arizona[3] 4-0

Ohio State[1] d. Purdue[4] 4-0

Tulsa[3] d. Utah[2] 4-2

FINAL: Ohio State[1] d. Tulsa[3] 4-0

Virginia[1] d. Memphis[4] 4-0

NC State[2] d. Utah State[3]4-0

FINAL: NC State[2] d. Virginia[1] 4-1

North Carolina[1] d. Elon[4] 4-0

Georgia State[2] d. Old Dominion 4-2

FINAL: North Carolina[1] d. Georgia State[2] 4-0

Florida[1] d. Temple[4] 4-0

South Florida[2] d. Fresno State[3] 4-2

FINAL: Florida[1] d. South Florida[2] 4-0

Texas A&M[1] d. South Alabama[4] 4-0

Georgia Tech[2] d. Oregon[3] 4-3

FINAL: Texas A&M[1] d. Georgia Tech[2] 4-0

UCLA[1] d. San Diego State[4] 4-1

Central Florida[3] d. San Diego[2] 4-3

FINAL: UCLA[1] d. Central Florida[3] 4-3

Stanford[1] d. Tulane[4] 4-1

Cal[2] d. Miami[3] 4-0

FINAL: Stanford[1] d. Cal[2] 4-0

Unseeded Braswell and Ozolins Reach ITF College Park G1 Boys Final; Bartone and Nirundorn Vie for Girls Title Saturday; Brooksby, Dolehide and Townsend Qualify for US Open

©Colette Lewis 2019--
College Park, MD--

Rain disrupted semifinal action this morning in the ITF Grade 1 Prince George County's Championships, but the outstanding play by unseeded Karlis Ozolins of Latvia and Micah Braswell continued as matches moved indoors at the Junior Tennis Champions Center.

Braswell had a slight hiccup before reasserting himself in a dramatic 6-3, 0-6, 6-4 win over No. 12 seed Harry Wendelken of Great Britain, while Ozolins defeated No. 15 seed Ryuhei Azuma of Japan 7-6(6), 7-6(2).

Braswell had just won the first set by breaking Wendelken when what turned out to be an all-day rainstorm began. After an hour and 15-minute delay, the match resumed indoors, and Braswell couldn't get on track.

"I wasn't used to the conditions at all," said the 17-year-old from Florida. "I felt like I could not hit a forehand and in the first game of the third set, I wasn't feeling great. But I tried to get pumped up after I won a few points, and after I got pumped, he made a few more errors. I think he realized I wasn't going to go away in the match and I told myself I had to show him I was still going to fight in the match."

Braswell went up 3-0 in the third set, and when he broke Wendelken a second time to take a 5-1 lead, appeared to have the match under control. After coming back from 15-40, Braswell earned his first match point, but Wendelken came up with a volley winner. Wendelken again brought his best on match point No. 2, hitting a forehand winner and went on to claim the game.

"I didn't give him any errors, so I wasn't mad at myself for losing that game," Braswell said. "He went for it and hit some really good shots."

After Wendelken held for 5-3, Braswell had another chance to serve for the match, and a confident overhead at 30-all gave him his third match point, but a good return by Wendelken resulted in a netted forehand. Two forehand errors later, Wendelken was back on serve, an uncomfortable position for Braswell.

"I had a few bad errors," Braswell said of his performance that ninth game. "I was a little upset at myself, but luckily I was able to break him at 5-4, it got really tight."

The semifinals are the first matches with chair umpires at this tournament, who in ITF events, call all the lines.  The usual disagreements surfaced throughout the match, but with Wendelken serving at 4-5, the referee was called to court after a dispute about the score. The acoustics indoors contributed to the misunderstanding with Wendelken believing he had won the first point, but when the score was announced as 0-30, a conversation ensued between the chair, the referee and Wendelken. The 0-30 score stood, and while Braswell was still getting in position, Wendelken hit a quick underhand serve that caught Braswell unaware.

"I was not ready at all," Braswell said. "That was a bad call, a very bad call. I was walking up, not even looking at him, and I look up and see the ball bounce and I thought it was a joke. I was like, you're kidding. But there is nothing I could do about it, so I was trying to stay calm and I knew if I didn't pull that game out, it was going to be harder for me to win, so I just tried to play my best tennis in that last game."

Both players came up with some impressive tennis in the final few points of the match. Braswell earned his fourth match point, but Wendelken saved it with a backhand winner. After a Wendelken backhand went long, Braswell had his fifth match point, only to see Wendelken save it was a forehand winner. But a netted forehand gave Braswell his sixth match point, and it was his turn to hit a winner, with a forehand releasing the building tension.

"We had some good points," Braswell said. "I think we were both feeling pressure, kept getting in backhand rallies, not really going for it. He just made the error first a couple of times in that last game, and I was a little more solid, and I think that helped me."

Unlike Braswell, Ozolins had not secured the first set when the rain arrived, and he failed to convert several points with Azuma serving at 4-5 and 5-6. Up 6-3 in the first set tiebreaker, Ozolins lost all three of those set points as well, but he finally got the set when Azuma sent a forehand wide.

Ozolins got the first break of the match to go up 3-2 in the second set, but the 17-year-old gave it right back.

"I played good that game, and also had 30-0 on my serve in the next game, but I kind of lost a little bit of focus I guess," Ozolins said. "Then it was just holding serve. It was a tough match, he was a very good player and played big on big points, but I managed to play better in the tiebreaks and win."

Ozolins was happy to take his powerful serve and groundstrokes indoors, especially given his level of play this week.

"I always like indoors more than outdoors," Ozolins said. "But anyway, I feel like I'm playing very well this whole week and I'm getting more confidence with every match. My summer, on clay, was not so good; I didn't have any great tournaments or matches, but now back on hard court, I feel great."

Neither Braswell or Ozolins had ever gone past the third round of a Grade 1 before this week, so experience should not be a factor.

"I saw him a little bit yesterday," Ozolins said. "I feel like he's playing a bit like me--good serving, playing aggressive. It's going to be a good match, I feel."

The girls final will also feature a Latvian, but one with much more experience, with No. 2 seed Kamilla Bartone facing No. 15 seed Mai Nirundorn of Thailand.

Bartone led No. 3 seed Priska Nugroho of Indonesia 6-0, 1-0 when the rain began, and Nugroho, who had taken a medical timeout down 5-0, retired before the match resumed.

"We're teammates, we're both coming from ITF Development Team, so it was pretty tough mentally for us to play against each other because we're also really good friends," said the 17-year-old Bartone. "But I was really consistent and concentrated on the court, and I took advantage, but she was also having some problems with the back, so she couldn't continue to play."

Nirundorn defeated No. 4 seed Abigail Forbes 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, finding her rhythm after losing four of the first five games after play resumed indoors. Down 2-1 in the second set after double faulting three times to lose serve, Nirundorn broke back, winning the final five games of the set. Nirundorn ended up winning ten straight games before Forbes finally held for 5-1, then broke and held again before Nirundorn finally closed out the match on her second attempt.

"She started playing really well," said the 17-year-old, who was born in the United States and lived here until she was 13. "I had a little bit of a heart attack, but I'm happy I got to pull through the match."

Nirundorn knew that she had to play well to finish points.

"She was running everything down and getting everything really deep, so it was really tough for me to keep staying aggressive," Nirundorn said. "But I kept pushing myself to stay inside the baseline and run her. I just kept staying steady and kept trying to be aggressive, and I knew she would tire out if I moved her from side to side."

Nirundorn's two-handed forehand adds to the difficulty of anticipating her shots.

"Before I had a one-handed forehand, but with two I get more power," said Nirundorn, who will be playing in her first Grade 1 final on Saturday. "I switched when I was about 11."

Bartone, who won her only previous Grade 1 last November in Mexico, also on a hard court, said her mental game has been strong throughout the week.

"Two of my matches were against my ITF teammates from ITF team, and to play against Robin (Montgomery), my doubles partner, is also pretty tough," Bartone said. "I think my head is strong, and I'm pretty excited for the final."

Bartone will also be playing in Saturday's doubles final, against the team that beat her in the Wimbledon girls doubles final last month. Bartone and Montgomery, the No. 3 seeds, will face No. 2 seeds Savannah Broadus and Forbes, who beat Bartone and Oksana Selekhmeteva of Russia 7-5, 5-7, 6-2 at Wimbledon.  Bartone and Montgomery defeated unseeded Elaine Chervinsky and Madison Sieg 6-0, 6-4 and Broadus and Forbes defeated No. 4 seeds Zhuoxuan Bai of China and Liubov Kostenko of Ukraine 6-2, 6-2. Neither team has come close to losing a set this week.

The boys doubles final will feature unseeded Americans Cash Hanzlik and Benjamin Kittay against No. 2 seeds Peter Makk of Hungary and Arthur Fery of Great Britain. Hanzlik and Kittay defeated No. 8 seeds Wendelken and Oscar Weightman 7-5, 6-3; Makk and Fery downed No. 3 seeds Alejo Lingua Lavallen and Juan Torres of Argentina 6-3, 6-2.

Saturday's schedule and draws are available at the tournament website.

Qualifying is complete at the US Open, with three Americans reaching the main draw with wins today.  Taylor Townsend came back to beat Nina Stojanovic of Serbia 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-1; Caroline Dolehide, a wild card into qualifying, defeated Anna-Lena Friedsam of Germany 6-4, 6-3 and 2018 Kalamazoo champion Jenson Brooksby, a wild card, defeated Pedro Martinez of Spain 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-3. Brooksby will play Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic in the first round. Townsend will play Kateryna Kozlova of Ukraine and Dolehide faces No. 18 seed Wang Qiang of China.

Due to four withdrawals in the women's draw, those places will be taken by lucky losers, with Nicole Gibbs and Varvara Lepchenko getting two of those spots. Gibbs will play No. 4 seed Simona Halep and Lepchenko will play China's Peng Shuai, who beat Gibbs today in the final round of qualifying.