Kozlov Earns Australian Open Wild Card with Semifinal Win Over Wolf; All-US Finals in Austin and Columbus $25Ks; Short and Sec Claim Doubles Title at ITF J1 in Mexico

The Australian Open wild card showdown between JJ Wolf and Stefan Kozlov in the semifinals of the ATP Challenger 80 in Champaign was something of a letdown, with No. 8 seed Kozlov needing only 70 minutes to defeat No. 3 seed JJ Wolf 6-2, 6-3. Wolf got off to a slow start and couldn't find any foothold in the match, and with his serve off--he had just 2 aces and 6 double faults--Kozlov seemed to be on the offensive throughout the match. He put pressure on Wolf's second serve and protected his own; Kozlov was broken just once, serving for the match at 5-2 in the second, but he broke Wolf for the fifth time to get the win. Kozlov has now won three of their four meetings this fall, with this one the most decisive of those victories.  The 23-year-old will make his main draw debut in a slam in Melbourne in January.

Kozlov will play for his second Challenger title in three weeks tomorrow, and it will be a repeat of the Charlottesville Challenger final. Former University of Illinois star Aleks Vukic of Australia will again be the opponent, after No. 4 seed Vukic defeated unseeded Yosuke Watanuki of Japan 7-6(8), 6-4.  Kozlov defeated Vukic 6-2, 6-3 in the Charlottesville Challenger. (Tweets from that title below):

🏆 x 2 in 2021@stefankozlov | @CMPChallenger pic.twitter.com/kjORNnA45u

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) November 8, 2021

In the doubles final today, top seeds Jackson Withrow(Texas A&M) and Nate Lammons(SMU) took the title, defeating No. 2 seeds Treat Huey(Virginia) of the Philippines and Max Schnur(Columbia) 6-4, 3-6, 10-6.

The final at the $25,000 men's USTA Pro Circuit tournament in Columbus will feature two players intimately familiar with the setting, as Ohio State sophomore JJ Tracy and recent graduate John McNally posted victories in today's semifinals. Tracy defeated teammate Cannon Kingsley, the No. 6 seed, 6-3, 6-1, giving him three victories over teammates this week. The 19-year-old is playing in his first USTA Pro Circuit event this week; his only previous professional match came in the Columbus Challenger in September. 

McNally, the No. 7 seed, defeated Wake Forest's Taha Baadi of Canada 6-1, 6-3 to advance to his second career Pro Circuit final. McNally, 23, has not come close to losing a set this week.

In the doubles final, No. 4 seeds Adrien Burdet and Leandro Riedi of Switzerland defeated wild cards Tracy and Robert Cash 7-6(5), 7-6(2).

Both players with ties to Texas lost today in the semifinals of the $25,000 men's USTA Pro Circuit tournament in Austin. Qualifier Colin Markes, a former Longhorn, lost to lucky loser Eduardo Nava, a senior at Wake Forest, 7-6(5), 6-1. No. 7 seed Eliot Spizzirri, a sophomore at Texas, lost to Kalamazoo 18s champion Zachary Svajda, the No. 2 seed, 6-2, 6-4. Svajda, who turns 19 at the end of the month, will be playing for his first Pro Circuit singles title.

In the doubles final, former and current Florida Gators Alfredo Perez and Portugal's Duarte Vale took the title, with the No. 4 seeds defeating wild cards Philip Henning(Georgia) and Joubert Klopper(Vanderbilt) of South Africa 7-6(1), 6-2. It's the first Pro Circuit doubles title for Perez and the second for Vale.

The singles final at the $15,000 men's USTA Pro Circuit tournament in East Lansing will feature top seed Raymond Sarmiento(USC) and Kentucky Wildcat junior Gabriel Diallo of Canada. Sarmiento defeated No. 3 seed Alex Brown(Illinois) 6-1, 5-7, 6-4 and Diallo beat qualifier Alex Knaff(Florida State) of Luxembourg 6-2, 6-7(2), 6-2. 

In today's doubles final, unseeded Joshua Sheehy(Abilene Christian) and Chad Kissell(Valparaiso) defeated wild cards Ozan Colak and Jackson Winkler(Michigan State) 6-4, 6-2 to win their first Pro Circuit titles. 

Qualifier Alexa Graham lost her semifinal match today at the $25,000 women's USTA Pro Circuit tournament in Naples, with No. 4 seed Sujeong Jang of Korea defeating the recent North Carolina graduate 2-6, 7-5, 6-1. Jang will face Nefisa Berberovic of Bosnia, who beat No. 8 seed Lulu Sun(Texas) 6-3, 6-2. 

Elli Mandlik and Hanna Chang won the doubles titles, with the unseeded pair defeating top seeds Connie Hsu(Penn) of Taiwan and Jessy Rompies(Clemson) of Indonesia 6-4, 1-6, 10-7 in today's final.

Top seed Linda Fruhvirtova defeated younger sister Brenda, the No. 2 seed, 6-4, 7-6(5) in the final of the ITF J1 in Guadalajara Mexico. They had already won the doubles title earlier in the day, with the top seeds defeating No. 3 seeds Liv Hovde and Ava Krug 6-1, 6-3.

No. 4 seed Rodrigo Pacheco Mendez of Mexico won the boys singles title, beating No. 3 seed Ignacio Buse of Chile 7-6(5), 7-5. Pacheco Mendez was denied a sweep however, with the unseeded American pair of Ellis Short and Sebastian Sec defeating Pacheco Mendez and Luis Carlos Alvarez Valdes of Mexico 6-3, 6-1 in the final. 

My Conversation with Catherine Harrison; Wolf and Kozlov Meet Saturday for Australian Open Wild Card; Fruhvirtova Sisters Play Each Other for ITF J1 Mexico Title; Sarr Wins San Diego J5; Pro Circuit Update

When I was in Midland earlier this month for the Dow Tennis Classic, I had an opportunity to sit down with Catherine Harrison, the former UCLA All-American. I have been covering Harrison since she was 14, when, as a wild card at her home club at the 2008 Girls 18s National Clay Courts in Memphis, she lost to Danielle Collins, also 13, in a third-set tiebreaker in a first round match. I wrote about her college search for the Tennis Recruiting Network; when I spoke to her for that article, in 2011, UCLA was not in the picture.

Harrison, now 27, was determined to get her degree and to play pro tennis. She has done both, and after we both lamented the loss of the Racquet Club of Memphis to the wrecking ball, our conversation turned to her slow climb up the WTA rankings, which was obviously hampered by the pandemic hiatus. With her finances always a concern, Harrison considered focusing on doubles, and her success there, particularly this summer, has given her a taste of life on the WTA tour. For more on her training, choices, goal and plans, see today's article at the Tennis Recruiting Network.

Harrison is hoping to play Australian Open qualifying; Stefan Kozlov and JJ Wolf will be playing tomorrow to determine which one of them will receive the main draw wild card that the USTA is awarding in a competition that ends this week. Both did their part today to set up a dramatic winner-take-all semifinal Saturday at the ATP Challenger 80 in Champaign. Wolf, the No. 3 seed, defeated wild card Vasil Kirkov 6-3, 6-2 and Kozlov, the No. 8 seed, beat No. 2 seed Mitchell Krueger 6-4, 6-4. Wolf and Kozlov have already met twice in the four-week stretch that the USTA designated for the wild card challenge, with Wolf beating Kozlov in the final of the Las Vegas Challenger in Week 1, and Kozlov defeating Wolf in the semifinals of the Charlottesville Challenger, which Kozlov went on to win. They also met in the semis of the Columbus Challenger, back in September, before the wild card segment of the Challenger tour, with Kozlov winning both that match and the tournament. The winner of tomorrow's match will have a semifinal, a final(at least) and a title (the three best results in the four weeks count), while the loser will have two semifinals and a title. 

After the doubles final at noon Eastern and the other semifinal between No. 4 seed and former Illini Aleks Vukic of Australia and unseeded Yosuke Watanuki of Japan, Kozlov and Wolf will take the court, with Mike Cation providing the commentary on the ATP's free live stream.

Sisters Linda and Brenda Fruhvirtova of the Czech Republic will meet for the first time on the ITF Junior Circuit Saturday in the final of the J1 in Guadalajara Mexico. Top seed Linda, 16, defeated No. 10 seed Lucciana Perez Alarcon of Peru 6-0, 6-2 and No. 2 seed Brenda, 14, beat No. 3 seed Marina Stakusic of Canada 6-1, 6-2.

The boys final will feature No. 4 seed Rodrigo Pacheco Mendez of Mexico and No. 3 seed Ignacio Buse of Peru.

Two American teams have advanced to the doubles finals. No. 3 seeds Ava Krug and Liv Hovde will play the top-seeded Fruhvirtova sisters for the title. Sebastian Sec and Elias Short, who are unseeded, will face the winner of tonight's semifinal between Pacheco Mendez and Luis Alvarez Valdes of Mexico, the No. 3 seeds, and No. 2 seeds Leo Borg and Michael Minasyan of Sweden.

At the J5 in San Diego, top seed Jelani Sarr won his second J5 title in the past two months, beating unseeded Lucas Andrade Da Silva 6-2, 6-0. No. 6 seed Mayu Crossley of Japan won the girls title, defeating No. 2 seed Iva Jovic 7-5, 6-2. 

The boys doubles title went to wild cards ZhengQing Ji of China and Zachary Peelouchoud, who defeated Eric Kats and Russell Soohoo 6-4, 4-6, 10-7 in a battle of unseeded teams.

Three Buckeyes are through to the semifinals at the $25,000 men's USTA Pro Circuit tournament in Columbus, with wild card JJ Tracy and No. 6 seed Cannon Kingsley meeting in the top half semifinal, while No. 7 seed John McNally, who beat No. 2 seed Toby Kodat 6-3, 6-2, will take on Taha Baadi(Wake Forest) of Canada in the bottom half. 

At the $25,000 men's USTA Pro Circuit tournament in Austin, two Longhorns are through to the semifinals. Texas sophomore Eliot Spizzirri, the No. 7 seed, will take on fellow teenager Zachary Svajda, the No. 2 seed, in the bottom half. Former Longhorn Colin Markes, a qualifier, will face lucky loser Eduardo Nava(Wake Forest) in the top half. 

At the $15,000 men's USTA Pro Circuit tournament in East Lansing, two current collegians are still in the running for the singles title. No. 3 seed Alex Brown, a fifth-year grad student at Illinois, will take on top seed Raymond Sarmiento(USC).

Kentucky junior Gabriel Diallo of Canada will face qualifier Alex Knaff(Florida State) of Luxembourg in the other semifinal. 

And at the $25,000 women's USTA Pro Circuit tournament in Naples, qualifier Alexa Graham(North Carolina) is the sole American remaining. Graham will play No. 4 seed Sujeong Jang of Korea in the top half semifinal. The bottom half semifinal will feature No. 8 seed Lulu Sun(Texas) of Switzerland and unseeded Nefisa Berberovic of Bosnia. 

Shelton Through to Champaign Challenger Quarterfinals; Buckeyes Abound in Columbus $25K Quarterfinals; Kalieva Reaches Last Eight at Naples $25K; Finals Set for ITF J5 in San Diego

Ben Shelton had played only one Challenger prior to this week, losing in the final round of qualifying to top seed Aleks Kovacevic(Illinois) this summer in Cary NC.

But the 19-year-old's success in on the USTA Pro Circuit and the US Open qualifying allowed him to get into this week's ATP Challenger 80 in Champaign Illinois without a wild card, and, two days after his first main draw Challenger victory, he now has a second win, and a spot in the quarterfinals.

Shelton defeated unseeded Pedja Krstin of Serbia 4-6, 6-0, 6-1, overcoming a slow start to dominate the ATP No. 317. Shelton had 11 aces and saved two of the three break points he faced in the match. He will now face Yosuke Watanuki of Japan, who upset top seed and Knoxville finalist Daniel Altmaier of Germany 6-2, 6-1. 

The other top half quarterfinal will feature No. 4 seed and former Illinois star Aleks Vukic of Australia against unseeded Go Soeda of Japan. Vukic beat qualifier Gijs Brouwer of the Netherlands 6-4, 6-4 while Soeda took out No. 5 seed Jason Jung(Michigan) of Taiwan 6-4, 5-7, 6-4.

All four quarterfinals are scheduled for Friday, with live streaming, including commentary from Mike Cation, available here. Shelton starts off the day against Watanuki, followed by No. 3 seed JJ Wolf(Ohio State) against wild card Vasil Kirkov. Vukic and Soeda are third on, with Stefan Kozlov and No. 2 seed Mitchell Krueger wrapping up the singles action Friday. If Kozlov and Wolf were both to advance, their semifinal would decide the USTA's Australian Open wild card. Maxime Cressy(UCLA) won again today in France, but if Kozlov wins tomorrow, Cressy is eliminated from consideration.

The top half of the draw at the $25,000 men's USTA Pro Circuit tournament in Columbus features four current Ohio State Buckeyes. James Trotter of Japan defeated top seed Martin Damm 6-4, 6-4 in today's second round and will play teammate JJ Tracy, a wild card, in the quarterfinals Friday. Another wild card, Robert Cash, will face teammate Cannon Kingsley, the No. 6 seed, for a spot in the semifinals.

In the bottom half of the draw, No. 7 seed John McNally is the only player with Ohio State ties, but two of the other quarterfinalists are also current collegians: Alafia Ayeni of Cornell and Canadian Taha Baadi of Wake Forest, who will play in the quarterfinals. McNally will play No. 2 seed Toby Kodat.

At the $25,000 men's USTA Pro Circuit tournament in Austin, four current collegians are through to the quarterfinals: lucky loser Eduardo Nava(Wake Forest), wild card Phillip Henning(Georgia) of South Africa, No. 7 seed Eliot Spizzirri of Texas and qualifier Chris Rodesch(Virginia) of Luxembourg. Spizzirri and No. 2 seed Zachary Svajda, the two-time Kalamazoo 18s champion, are the only seeds remaining. 

Three current collegians are through to the quarterfinals of the $15,000 men's USTA Pro Circuit tournament in East Lansing: No. 3 seed Alex Brown(Illinois), qualifier Nino Ehrenschneider (Michigan)of Germany and Gabriel Diallo(Kentucky) of Canada. Brown and Ehrenschneider, who could come up against one another in a Big Ten dual match, play in the quarterfinals.  

At the $25,000 women's USTA Pro Circuit tournament in Naples, 18-year-old Elvina Kalieva advanced to the quarterfinals, beating fellow junior Sonya Macavei, a wild card, 6-4, 6-2.  Former Kentucky star Aldila Sutjiadi of Indonesia defeated top seed and last week's Daytona Beach $25K champion Irina Fetecau of Romani 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals, where she'll play qualifier Alexa Graham(North Carolina). The third American quarterfinalist, qualifier Kennedy Shaffer(Georgia), will play Lulu Sun(Texas) for a place in the semifinals.

All four of the American juniors in the ITF J1 Mexico quarterfinals lost today, with No. 5 seed Qavia Lopez falling to top seed Linda Fruhvirtova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-0 and No. 6 seed Liv Hovde losing to No. 2 seed Brenda Fruhvirtova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 7-6(10).  Kurt Miller lost to No. 5 seed Gerard Campana Lee of Korea 7-6(5), 6-3 and No. 3 seed Ignacio Buse of Peru avenged his 2020 Orange Bowl 16s finals loss to Jonah Braswell 7-5, 6-0. 

The finals are set for Friday at the J5 in San Diego with two Americans facing international players for the singles championships.  No. 2 seed Iva Jovic, who reached the final of the J4 in Atlanta last month, will face No. 6 seed Mayu Crossley for the girls title. Neither the 13-year-old Southern Californian nor the 15-year-old from Japan have lost a set so far this week. 

Top seed Jelani Sarr will take on unseeded Lucas Andrade Da Silva of Brazil for the boys title. 

The girls doubles title was decided today, with top seeds Sofia Daryaie and Annette Robertson getting a walkover in the final from unseeded Zehra Suko and Lamija Avdic. 

Lopez, Hovde, Miller and Braswell Reach Quarterfinals at Mexico J1; Round Three of NLI Signings; Wolf and Kozlov Reach Champaign Challenger Quarterfinals

A day after beating top seed Leo Borg of Sweden, Kurt Miller backed it up with another straight-sets win over a seed, beating fellow American Sebastian Sec[15] 6-1, 6-3 in the third round of the J1 in Guadalajara Mexico. The 17-year-old is playing in just his second J1; he lost in the first round in the other this August in College Park Maryland.

Miller will face No. 5 seed Gerard Campana Lee of Korea in Thursday's quarterfinals. 

The other US boy to advance to the quarterfinals is also unseeded: Jonah Braswell, who recently signed with the University of Florida for 2022. Braswell defeated No. 8 seed Dinko Dinev of Bulgaria 6-3, 6-3 in the second round and today took out No. 10 seed Juan Manuel La Serna of Argentina 6-7(6), 6-2, 7-5. He will play No. 3 seed Ignacio Buse of Peru next in a rematch of last year's Orange Bowl 16s final, which Braswell won 6-0, 6-1.

No. 5 seed Qavia Lopez and No. 6 seed Liv Hovde are the two US girls in the quarterfinals. Lopez defeated 14-year-old Les Petits As champion Mathilde Ngijol Carre of France 6-4, 6-3 in today's third round, setting up a meeting with top seed Linda Fruhvirtova of the Czech Republic. Hovde, who beat No. 12 seed Mao Mushika of Japan 6-1, 6-2, will play No. 2 seed Brenda Fruhvirtova, Linda's younger sister, in Thursday's quarterfinals. Brenda has lost three games in three matches so far.

It's been a week since National Signing Day, and schools continue to post announcements, as they will undoubtedly do for the next several weeks. Here's the latest, since last Friday. My previous two updates can be found here and here.

MEN:

Arizona has signed Jay Friend of Japan.

Duke has signed Teddy Truwit.

Indiana has signed Luc Boulier of Chile, Ekansh Kumar, Sam Landau and Andrew Meier.

LSU has signed Kent Hunter, a transfer from Cal, who will start in January.

Middle Tennessee has signed Ondrej Horak of the Czech Republic.

Ohio State has signed Jack Anthrop and Preston Stearns. Anthrop will start in January.

Vanderbilt has signed Nathan Cox.

Washington has signed Tristan Messerli.

WOMEN:

Cal has signed Katja Wiersholm, who will start in January.

Colorado has signed Carrington Hayes.

Florida has signed Rachel Gailis, Anastasia Sysoeva and Sophie Williams. Sysoeva, who represents Russia, played frequently in the United States as a junior in 2018. 

Kansas State has signed Vanesa Suarez of Venezuela and Kristina Paskauskas of Great Britain.

Memphis has signed Micah Pierce.

Mississippi State has signed Dharani Niroshan of Canada.

Purdue has signed Kennedy Gibbs, as well as Antonia Pareja and NC State graduate transfer Elizabeth Norman.

Rutgers has signed Arina Valitova, who plays on the ITF Junior Circuit representing St. Kitts and Nevis. 

Texas A&M has signed Daria Smetannikov and Mia Kupres of Canada

TCU has signed Jade Otway of New Zealand and Yu-Chin Tsai of Taiwan.

Utah has signed Marcela Lopez. 

Western Michigan has signed Audrey Smitek.

The USTA's men's Australian Open wild card challenge will extend through Friday matches at the Champaign Challenger now, with both JJ Wolf(Ohio State) and Stefan Kozlov winning their second round matches today in straight sets. Wolf defeated Kaichi Uchida of Japan 6-3, 6-4 and Kozlov downed qualifier Keegan Smith(UCLA) 6-3, 6-1. Wolf faces 2016 Kalamazoo 18s finalist Vasil Kirkov, a wild card, in the quarterfinals; Kozlov will play No. 2 seed Mitchell Krueger. Should they advance to the semifinals, they would play each other, with the winner getting the wild card. Maxime Cressy(UCLA), who still has an outside chance to win the wild card, won his first round match in France today.

Miller Ousts Top Seed Borg at Mexico J1; Shelton Earns First Challenger Victory; Collegians, Juniors Plentiful at Last Four USTA Pro Circuit Tournaments of 2021

Kurt Miller won the doubles title last week at the J2 in Bolivia, but in his 21 tournaments this year on the ITF Junior Circuit, the 17-year-old Californian hasn't had a victory like the one he earned today, beating top seed Leo Borg of Sweden 7-5, 6-4 in the second round of the J1 in Guadalajara Mexico. Miller, who has claimed one J4 singles title, is ranked a career-high 196 now, while Borg is 16 in the ITF World Junior Rankings.

He will play No. 15 seed Sebastian Sec in an all-US third round match. Other US boys advancing to the round of 16 are: Joseph Phillips, Azuma Visaya[9], Jonah Braswell and Cooper Williams[14].

The girls top seeds, Linda and Brenda Fruhvirtova of the Czech Republic, are through to the round of 16, with the loss of just one game between them in today's second round contests. US girls advancing to the round of 16 are: Qavia Lopez[5], Liv Hovde[6], Krystal Blanch[7] and Ava Krug[14].

University of Florida sophomore Ben Shelton, who qualified for the ATP Challenger 80 in Champaign yesterday, won his first main draw match at that level today, beating No. 7 seed Blaz Rola(Ohio State) of Slovenia 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. Shelton broke Rola serving at 4-5 in second set; in the third set, the 19-year-old from Florida saved break points at 3-3 and 4-4 before again breaking Rola serving at 4-5 for the win. Shelton will face Pedja Krstin of Serbia for a spot in the quarterfinals. Champaign has been good to Shelton, as the outdoor courts on the University of Illinois campus were the site of his first title on the USTA Pro Circuit this summer.

Another qualifier, Keegan Smith(UCLA), also advanced to the second round. Smith, who reached the quarterfinals of the Champaign Challenger in 2019, moved on when Michael Mmoh retired trailing 5-3 in the first set. Mmoh is now out of the Australian Open wild card challenge; Smith will take on Stefan Kozlov Wednesday. No. 3 seed JJ Wolf, who plays Kaichi Uchida of Japan Wednesday, and Kozlov are the two Champaign competitors still in the running for that wild card.

This is the last week of the USTA Pro Circuit, with four tournaments on the schedule, not including the Champaign Challenger. Qualifying concluded today, and some first round matches were played as well.

There are three men's events: a $25,000 tournament in Austin Texas, a $25,000 tournament in Columbus Ohio and a $15,000 tournament in East Lansing Michigan. 

The women are competing at a $25,000 event in Naples Florida.

In Austin, the Americans who qualified are Gabriel Evans(Incarnate Word) and Colin Markes(Texas). I believe Paul Jubb(South Carolina) of Great Britain, last week's champion in Harlingen, was supposed to be the No. 1 seed, but there is now a lucky loser (Eduardo Nava) at the top of the draw. Kalamazoo 18s champion Zachary Svajda is the No. 2 seed. Wild cards were given to Philip Henning(Georgia) of South Africa, Joubert Klopper(Vanderbilt) of South Africa and Texas sophomore Micah Braswell. 

In Columbus, the American qualifiers were Drew Van Orderlain, Matthew Terry(Cleveland State/Kennesaw State) and Ohio State freshman Reece Yakubov.

The top seeds are teenagers Martin Damm and Toby Kodat. Wild cards recipients are Notre Dame senior Axel Nefve and three Ohio State Buckeyes: junior Robert Cash, junior Andrew Lutschaunig, and sophomore JJ Tracy. 

In East Lansing, four Americans qualified: Matt Kuhar(Bryant), Ronald Hohmann(LSU), Niroop Vallabhaneni(Duke) and Nico Mostardi(Cleveland State). 

Raymond Sarmiento(USC) is the top seed, with Jean Thirouin(Harvard) of France the No. 2 seed. Wild cards were given to Carson Gates, a senior at Michigan State, Max Sheldon, a freshman at Michigan State, Alex Rotsaert(Stanford) and Matthew Che(Notre Dame). 

In a match tonight between two of the top juniors in the country, both of whom received entry based on the ITF Top 100 junior rankings, local favorite Ozan Colak defeated Jack Anthrop(Ohio State) 6-2, 6-3.

Six of the eight qualifiers in Naples are from the US: Alexa Graham(North Carolina), Kylie Collins(Texas), Alexis Blokhina, Jessica Livianu(St. Johns), Tori Kinard and Kennedy Shaffer(Georgia).

The top seed is last week's champion in Daytona Beach, Irina Fetecau of Romania, with Hanna Chang the No. 2 seed. Wild card recipients were Haley Giavara(Cal), Ellie Douglas(TCU), Victoria Sanchez Bronzetti(Bradley) and Sonya Macavei. Macavei, who just signed with Vanderbilt for next fall, got her first main draw win on the pro circuit today, beating WTA 392 Sophie Chang 6-4, 6-0. Macavei (who I profiled for the Tennis Recruiting Network last month) will face 18-year-old Elvina Kalieva, who today beat No. 3 seed Na-Lae Han of Korea 6-3, 6-2, in Thursday's second round action.

Eleven US Juniors Claim Titles on ITF Junior Circuit; J5 in San Diego, J1 in Mexico Underway; Qualifying Complete at Champaign Challenger

There were 18 tournaments on the ITF Junior Circuit last week, none of them in the United States, and Americans won titles at nine of them.

Americans took two titles at the J5 in El Salvador. Unseeded 14-year-old Katie Rolls earned her first ITF junior title in singles, defeating top seed Deborah Dominguez Collado of Guatemala 6-1, 7-5 in the final. Kaylan Bigun lost in the boys singles final. No. 3 seeds Diego Jarry Fillol and Chile's Matias Rojas won the boys doubles title beating the unseeded El Salvador team of Cesar Cruz and Enrique Laennec Molins 6-4, 3-6, 15-13.

Thirteen-year-old Joseph Oyebog played his first ITF Junior Circuit tournament two weeks ago in Cameroon, making the final. It didn't take him long to win his first title, claiming the singles championship at the J5 in Cameroon this past week. Oyebog defeated the top seed in the second round and in the final beat No. 6 seed Michal Wlodarczyk of Poland 6-4, 3-6, 6-2. 

At the J4 in Kenya, 16-year-old Stefan Regalia won his first ITF Junior Circuit singles title without dropping a set. The No. 11 seed defeated No. 9 seed Leo Matthysen of South Africa 6-1, 6-2 in the final. 

Americans took three of the four titles at the J5 in Pakistan, with 15-year-old Taylor Goetz winning both girls titles. Seeded No. 2 in singles, Goetz, the younger sister of the University of Virginia's Ryan Goetz, defeated unseeded Daria Stefania Malaescu of Romania 6-3, 6-2 for her third ITF Junior Circuit singles title. In doubles, Goetz partnered with Abhilasha Bista of Nepal for the title. The No. 1 seeds defeated the unseeded team of Malaescu and Sharvani Shrestha of Nepal 6-1, 6-2 in the final. Fourteen-year-old Abhishek Thorat won his first ITF Junior Circuit title as a qualifier, taking the boys singles with a 6-2, 6-0 win over wild card Abdullah Adnan of Pakistan.

Kurt Miller won the doubles title at the J2 in Bolivia with partner Martin Antonio Vergara del Puerto of Paraguay. The No. 3 seeds defeated Ekansh Kumar and Colombia's Nicolas Nino Mendoza 6-4, 6-3 in the final.  Leanid Boika, the No. 8 seed, lost in the singles final, retiring against No. 1 seed Juan Carlos Prado Angelo of Bolivia trailing 6-4, 2-0.

Fifteen-year-old Pearlie Zhang won her first ITF Junior Circuit title at the J5 in Mexico. Unseeded, Zhang defeated No. 8 seed Valentina Mozas Pavon of Mexico 6-1, 7-5 in the final.

At the J3 in Canada, Nicholas Godsick won the boys doubles title with Canadian partner Jaden Weekes. The top seeds defeated No. 4 seeds Henry Ren and Sasha Rozin of Canada 6-7(6), 6-4, 10-3 in the final. It's the fifth ITF Junior Circuit doubles title of the year for the 17-year-old Godsick, all with different partners. Michigan recruit Elisabeth Jones reached the girls singles final, falling to Alexia Jacobs of Canada 6-2, 0-6, 6-1. 

At the J5 in Germany Maya Joint won the girls doubles title. Joint and her partner Eszter Berenyi of Hungary, who were unseeded, defeated the unseeded Swiss team of Salome Fluri and Kenisha Moning 6-3, 5-7, 10-8 in the final. Joint, 15, has won three ITF junior titles in Europe this fall, two in doubles and one in singles.

Seventeen-year-old Kate Mansfield won her first ITF Junior Circuit title yesterday at the J5 in England. Mansfield, the No. 6 seed, defeated unseeded Clemence Thouard of France 6-2, 6-1 in the championship match. 

This week the ITF Junior Circuit returns to the US, with a J5 in San Diego. The top seed in the boys draw, Jelani Sarr, is through to the second round, but the girls No. 1 seed, Jayna Clemens, lost today to Michaela Moore 6-1, 6-4. 

Guadalajara Mexico is hosting the conclusion of the WTA Finals this week, and also welcoming juniors for a J1 tournament.

American boys in the 64-player main draw are Kurt Miller, Sebastian Sec[15], Joseph Phillips, Quang Dong, Lucas Brown, Learner Tien, Jonathan Irwanto Timothy Phung, Azuma Visaya[9], Alexander Frusina, Evan Lee, Jonah Braswell, Ekansh Kumar, Preston Stearns, Cooper Williams, Ellis Short, Leanid Boika, Yannik Rahman[7], Alexander Aney, Nicholas Steiglehner, Luca Hotze and Sam Scherer.

Leo Borg of Sweden and Mili Poljicak of Croatia are the top two seeds.

American girls in the main draw are Daniella Ben-Abraham, Carlo Pacot, Elizabeth Indera, Kennedy Gibbs, Qavia Lopez[5], Sophia Sappa, Madeleine Jessup[16], Ashton Bowers, Krystal Blanch[7], Katherine Hui, Mia Slam[9], Ava Krug[14], Kaitlin Quevedo, Liv Hovde[6], Martina Marica, Adla Lopez, Elizabeth Tkachenko and Esther Vyrlan.

Linda and Brenda Fruhvirtova of the Czech Republic are the top two seeds. 

Florida sophomore Ben Shelton qualified for his first Challenger today in Champaign, defeating Illinois sophomore Hunter Heck 6-3, 6-3. Keegan Smith(UCLA) also qualified, defeating Stanford sophomore Tristan Boyer 7-6(4), 6-3.  Shelton will face No. 7 seed and 2013 NCAA champion Blaz Rola(Ohio State) of Slovenia on Tuesday, while Smith will play Michael Mmoh. JJ Wolf(Ohio State) won his first round match in three sets, as did Stefan Kozlov, so Mmoh, Wolf and Kozlov are still in contention for the USTA's Australian Open wild card, as is Maxime Cressy(UCLA), who would have to win the Challenger 100 this week in France to have any chance.