Liutova Advances to WTA Memphis 250 Quarterfinals; Talking Top Collegiate Newcomers on No-Ad No-Problem Podcast; Crossley Beats Top Seed, Nguyen and Penickova Reach Florence W35 Quarterfinals; Baris Overcomes 5-0 Third Set Deficit to Extend M25 Winning Streak

Sixteen-year-old qualifier Kristina Liutova, who won two USTA Pro Circuit W100s in May and June, has continued to reach new heights this week at the WTA 250 in Memphis Tennessee. After outlasting top seed Ekaterina Alexandrova, who retired with a heat-related illness on Tuesday after three hours and trailing 4-5 in the third set of the first round, Liutova won another three-setter in less debilitating conditions today, beating WTA No. 76 Maya Joint of Australian 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.

Liutova, who was born in Moscow but has lived in the United States since 2020, has now reach the WTA Top 200 in the live rankings, and will face No. 6 seed Caty McNally in Friday's quarterfinals. 

Seventeen-year-old qualifier Cruz Hewitt of Australia was not able to equal Liutova's feat today in his second round match against top seed Alex de Minaur. Hewitt, who picked up his first ATP main draw win against Marcos Giron(UCLA) at the ATP 500 Mubadala DC Open Tuesday, lost to de Minaur 6-2, 6-3. De Minaur, the defending champion, will next play Brandon Nakashima(Virginia), who beat No. 7 seed Jakub Mensik of Czechia 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-4 today. Taylor Fritz[3] and Bloomfield Hills Challenger champion Alex Michelsen will play in the other top half quarterfinal Friday.

I joined John Parsons on his No-Ad No-Problem podcast this week to discuss the top newcomers to collegiate tennis, with the fall season less than two months away. We discussed the players aged 20-and-under who are likely have the biggest impact on their teams and where they could fit into the lineups, with additional comments on how recruiting has changed in the new NIL landscape, with the urgency to sign top juniors decreasing for many top programs. Subscribe to John's indispensible podcast for all things college tennis; the newcomer episode is available here.

The three USTA Pro Circuit tournaments this week have survived the worst of the heat, and the quarterfinals are set for Friday.

At the W35 in Florence South Carolina, US teens Annika Penickova and No. 8 seed Alexis Nguyen(spoiler alert: she's featured in the podcast) have advanced to the quarterfinals, with Nguyen set to face UCLA rising sophomore Mayu Crossley of Japan, who took out top seed Antonia Vergara Rivera of Chile 6-3, 6-2.

Rising UNC freshman Nguyen advanced via a second consecutive retirement, with NC State rising senior Gabriella Broadfoot of South Africa retiring trailing 7-6(6), 2-0. 

Penickova defeated No. 5 seed and rising Texas junior Carmen Herea of Romania, who finished the year No. 3 in the ITA rankings, 6-3, 6-1 and will play No. 4 seed Ekaterina Khayrutdinova(FIU, Auburn) next.

A qualifier is guaranteed in the semifinals, with Jo-Yee Chan(Oregon, San Diego State) facing Piper Charney(Michigan). Chan defeated Annika's twin sister Kristina 7-6(6), 6-0, while Charney took out No. 7 seed Yiming Dang of China 6-0, 6-4.

The bottom quarterfinals will feature No. 2 seed Angelina Voloshchuk of Portugal and qualifier Krisha Mahendran(USC) of India. Mahendran, a rising sophomore at USC, defeated Amy Zhu(Michigan) 6-3, 4-6, 6-2; Voloshchuk defeated 16-year-old wild card Jordyn Hazelitt 6-3, 6-2.

Recent Michigan State graduate Ozan Baris needed over three-and-a-half hours and had to save five match points, but the No. 5 seed extended his M25 winning streak to seven matches today in Edwardsville Illinois. The 22-year-old from Michigan, the champion two weeks ago in Louisville, won the last seven games of the match after trailing TCU rising sophomore Oliver Bonding of Great Britain 5-7, 7-6(5), 5-0. Baris will face wild card Max Exsted(USC), who advanced with a second consecutive retirement, with No. 3 seed Samir Banerjee(Stanford) retiring trailing 6-4, 2-2.

Top seed Johannus Monday(Tennessee) of Great Britain defeated 18-year-old Keaton Hance 6-1, 6-4.

The other Americans through to the quarterfinals are Bruno Kuzuhara[7](Clemson) and Jack Anthrop(Ohio State), who play Friday, and recent Yale graduate Vignesh Gogineni, who face No. 2 seed Karim Bennani of Morocco.

Five Americans are through to the quarterfinals at the W75 in Lexington Kentucky, with four of them former collegians.

No. 2 seed Fiona Crawley(UNC), unseeded Kylie Collins(Texas, LSU, Oklahoma State), No. 7 seed Savannah Broadus(Pepperdine) and No. 3 seed Ayana Akli(Maryland, South Carolina), won their matches today, with Akli beating 15-year-old wild card Janae Preston 6-4, 6-2.

Akli will play the fifth American in the quarterfinals, No. 6 seed Hanna Chang, who is looking to add to her point total in the USTA US Open wild card race. Chang won the Dallas W35 in Week One and is currently in third place with those 35 points.

US Open Junior Boys Acceptance List Features All Three 2026 Slam Champions Plus Every Top 30 Boy; WT Junior No. 1, Australian Open and Wimbledon Champions Highlight Girls Field

The acceptances lists for the US Open Junior Championships, which run from September 6th to September 12th this year, were published today, with a boys field that includes the entire top 33 in the World Tennis junior rankings. The only boy in the Top 50 who did not enter is No. 34 Thijs Boogaard of the Netherlands. With eight wild cards, eight qualifiers and two special exempt spots, the cutoff is 47; last year it was 49.

All three reigning junior slam champions have entered: Australian Open boys champion Ziga Sesko of Slovenia, Roland Garros Champion Luis Guto Miguel of Brazil and Jordan Lee of the United States.

Ten US boys have been accepted into the main draw: Roland Garros finalist Michael Antonius, Australian Open finalist Keaton Hance, Lee, Andy Johnson, Jack Kennedy, Jack Secord, Ryan Cozad, Tanishk Konduri, Vihaan Reddy and Gavin Goode.

Two US boys are in qualifying: Safir Azam, who is nine out of the main draw, and Marcel Latak. The initial qualifying cutoff is 77.

The girls acceptance list features a more typical number of absences, with two of the Top 10 missing (No. 8 Anastasiia Cetkovic of Serbia and No. 10 Alena Kovackova of Czechia) and seven other Top 50 players. Among those is No. 17 Kristina Penickova, who has said that San Diego will be her only junior event this summer.

Australian Open champion Ksenia Efremova of France and Wimbledon champion Anna Pushkareva will be in search of a rare second junior slam singles title, while World Tennis junior No. 1 Xinran Sun of China, the Roland Garros and Wimbledon finalist, hopes the third time will be the charm in her quest for a junior slam title. 

Kristina Liutova, who will be accepted into the women's singles qualifying field, has received entry based on her WTA ranking of 229. 

As was the case last year, just five US girls have been accepted into the main draw: Janae Preston, Jordyn Hazelitt, Welles Newman, Thea Frodin and Melije Clarke. The main draw cutoff this year is 54; it was 50 last year.

Unlike the boys, there are a host of US girls in qualifying, including Anita Tu, who is next in, Lani Chang, three out, and Olivia Traynor, eight out. The other US girls in qualifying are Hannah Ayrault, Maggie Sohns, Sarah Ye, Kennedy Drenser- Hagmann and Nancy Lee. The initial girls qualifying cutoff is 87.

The only special regional place awarded in either draw was in the girls qualifying, where No. 112 Jahnie Van Zyl of South Africa received entry after satisfying the criteria of being Top 150, with her region not otherwise represented in the acceptances.

Wild Cards for USTA 16s and 18s Nationals Include Pareja; Liutova and Hewitt Claim First WTA/ATP Wins; Zheng and Dolehide Top USTA US Open Wild Card Race; Qualifying Complete at USTA Pro Circuit W75 Lexington and W35 Florence

Seventeen-year-old Julieta Pareja lost her first round match at the WTA 500 Mubadala DC Open today after advancing to main draw via qualifying, falling to WTA No. 42 Xinyu Wang of China 7-6(3), 6-3. Pareja couldn't convert three set points with Wang serving at 5-6 in the first set, and Wang's advantage on serve, which included eight aces that helped her save nine of the 12 break points she faced, ultimately proving to be the difference in the match.

Pareja will be playing the USTA Billie Jean King Girls 18s Nationals in San Diego however, as she was added as a an entrant today as a wild card. The other five wild cards in the 18s are Alexis Nguyen, Annika Penickova, Bella Payne, Kori Montoya and Maria Aytoyan. Aytoyan's wild card is something of a mystery, as she was on the initial acceptance list, but is now listed in the group of wild cards. Shannon Lam, who has a live WTA ranking of 651, did not receive a wild card, nor did Texas rising sophomore Elizabeth Ionescu. 

The Girls 16s wild cards are Aleksandra Jerkunica, Kyndall Noel, Angela Li, Elsa Sahandi and Ariana Morris. 

The full list of competitors is here.

The Kalamazoo 18s wild cards are Zavier Augustin, Nikolas Stoot, Matteo Huarte, Arin Pallegar, Graeme Angus and Izyan Ahmad. The Kalamazoo 16s wild cards are Tomas Laukys, Sulaiman Syed, Johnny Wolf and Carter Jauffret.

The full list of competitors is here.

Seventeen-year-old Cruz Hewitt of Australia and 16-year-old Kristina Liutova won their first ATP and WTA matches in their debuts today in Washington DC and Memphis.

At the ATP 500 Mubadala DC Open, Hewitt, the Wimbledon boys finalist, defeated fellow qualifier Marcos Giron(UCLA) 6-3, 6-4 to advance to the second round. Hewitt will next face the winner of the match between top seed Alex de Minaur of Australia and wild card Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece. Hewitt had posted a main draw Challenger win last fall, but this is his first main draw win on the ATP Tour.

Sixteen-year-old Liutova, who has won two USTA Pro Circuit W100s this spring, qualified for the new WTA 250 in Memphis yesterday and today took on top seed and WTA No. 19 Ekaterina Alexandrov. The match, which was over three hours in duration, came down to the final games, after Liutova had come back from 4-2 down to even the third set by breaking Alexandrova in an eight-deuce game. Liutova held quickly for a 5-4 lead, and Alexandrova began to struggle physically in the next game. At 4-5, 15-30, she went down to the court on the baseline, with the doctor and trainer immediately assisting her. After a few minutes of evaluation, she received a medical timeout, but although she got to her feet, she was unable to continue and the chair announced her retirement. This was one of three first round matches played in the morning, beginning at 10 a.m. due to the heat; the other five matches today didn't begin until this evening.

Liutova will face Maya Joint of Australia in the second round.

Week Two of the USTA's US Open Wild Card Challenge has concluded with Caroline Dolehide and Michael Zheng(Columbia) moving into the top spots. Today's release from the USTA:

US Open Wild Card Challenge Standings Update

 

Caroline Dolehide, Michael Zheng Lead After Week 2 

 

ORLANDO, Fla., July 28, 2026 – Twenty-seven-year old Caroline Dolehide and 22-year old Michael Zheng are the leaders of the USTA's US Open Wild Card Challenge after its second of four weeks for the women and five weeks for the men.

Dolehide, who won her first World Tennis Tour title since 2023 and ninth overall, leads the women’s standings after winning the USTA Pro Circuit W100 in Evansville, Ind., on Sunday. The victory is Dolehide’s biggest title to date having won four W60s, three W25s and one W10. Second-place Malaika Rapolu won the USTA Pro Circuit W35 in Santa Fe, N.M., over the weekend.

 

Zheng, who is a two-time NCAA men’s singles champion, reached the semifinal of the USTA Pro Circuit ATP Challenger 125 in Bloomfield Hills, Mich. He is just seven points ahead of Evan Bynoe, who won the USTA Pro Circuit M25 in Champaign, Ill.

The top of the standings after Week 2:

 

 

Women's Standings

(Player's current ranking in parentheses)

 

1. Caroline Dolehide (252) -- 100

2. Malaika Rapolu (387) -- 43
3. Hanna Chang (303) -- 35

 

 

Men's Standings

(Player's current ranking in parentheses)

 

1. Michael Zheng (118) -- 35
2. Evan Bynoe (939) -- 28
3. Ozan Baris (486) -- 25

 

 

The men's wild card will go to the American with the highest cumulative total of ATP singles ranking points earned from their best four results over five weeks. The Men's Challenge counts outdoor and indoor hard-court events at the M25-level and above around the world.

 

The women's wild card will go to the American with the highest cumulative total of WTA singles ranking points earned from their best three results over four weeks. The Women's Challenge counts outdoor and indoor hard-court events at the W35-level and above around the world.

 

Both main draw and qualifying points earned from eligible tournaments count toward each player’s Challenge total. Results from the Cincinnati Open will not count for either the men or the women.

Americans who otherwise earn direct entry into the US Open are not eligible, including those who can enter with a protected ranking. Should the player with the highest number of Challenge points earn direct entry into the US Open, the wild card will go to the next eligible American in the Challenge points standings. In the event of a tie, the player with the best ATP or best WTA singles ranking on the Monday following the end of the Challenge will earn the wild card. Challenge ends August 9 for the Women and August 16 for the Men.

The qualifying is complete for the two women's Pro Circuit tournaments this week, and first round matches were also played today at both the W35 in Florence South Carolina and the W75 in Lexington Kentucky. 

In Florence, six Americans advanced to the main draw: Liv Hovde(Duke), 17-year-old Carlota Moreno, Ava Catanzarite(UCLA, Oklahoma), Piper Charney(Michigan), Claire Hill(UNC, Wake Forest) and Jo-Yee Chan(Oregon, San Diego State).

Wild cards were awarded to Trinetra Vijayakumar(Vanderbilt), Kate Fakih(UCLA) and 16-year-old Jordyn Hazelitt.

Vijayakumar lost to top seed Antonia Vergara Rivera of Chile 7-5, 6-4, Fakih plays No. 8 seed Alexis Nguyen(UNC), and Hazelitt defeated doubles partner Welles Newman 6-2, 6-2 in first round action today.

In Lexington, Lexington Reed(Texas A&M), McKenna Schaefbauer(llinois) and 18-year-old Rachael Smith are the Americans who qualified for the main draw.

Wild cards were given to Luciana Perry(Ohio State), who lost to top seed Sara Saito of Japan 6-3, 7-6(7) in first round action today; Mia Slama(NC State), Julia Zhu(Kentucky) of Germany and 15-year-old Janae Preston.  Preston advanced to the second round with a 6-1, 6-2 win over BoYoung Jeong of Korea, and will face No. 3 seed Ayana Akli(Maryland, South Carolina) next. Seventeen-year-old Thea Frodin lost her first round match to Anastasia Kulikova of Finland 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.

Former UNC All-American Fiona Crawley is the No. 2 seed, with Hina Inoue the No. 4 seed.

Heat has continued to be a problem at the M25 in Edwardsville Illinois, with the third and final round of the 64-player qualifying being pushed into this evening. The first round of doubles is also scheduled for tonight, but no main draw singles matches. Johannus Monday(Tennessee) of Great Britain is the No. 1 seed, with Karim Bennani of Morocco the No. 2 seed. Wild cards were given to Kyle McNally(Dayton), Max Exsted(USC), Sebastian Gorzny(TCU, Texas) and Bryce Nakashima(Ohio State). 

Waelti and Anikina Win European 14s Titles; Meineke Sweeps J30 Titles for Second Straight Week; Minvielle Claims Both TItles at J100 in Colombia; New Memphis WTA 250 Underway

The European 14s championships concluded Sunday in Most Czechia, with Jonas Waelti of Switzerland and Elizaveta Anikina of Estonia claiming the titles. No. 7 seed Waelti, who won the boys Wimbledon 14-and-under title two weeks ago, had no trouble in his return to clay, beating top seed Richard Mitchell, also of Switzerland, 6-2, 6-1 in the final. 

Elizaveta Anikina 2026 Les Petits As
photo credit: Richard van Loon, toptennis.photos

No. 16 seed Anikina, the finalist at Les Petits As this year, defeated Wimbledon 14-and-under finalist Mariia Kochezhenko of Ukraine, the No. 1 seed this week, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.

Top seeds Oskar Laskowski and Liam Sharkey of Great Britain took the boys doubles title, defeating No. 7 seeds Pablo Jimenez Roman and Jorge Mateo Moreno of Spain 6-1, 7-6(5) in the final.

No. 2 seeds Olivia Serena Conticello and Giulia Luchetti of Italy captured the girls doubles title, beating the unseeded Swiss team of Liv Bretscher and Lilly Falkenberg 6-4, 6-1 in the final.

All draws can be found here.

For the second consecutive week, Dylan Meineke swept the titles at a J30 in Jamaica.  The top seed last week in Kingston, the 15-year-old Texan defeated doubles partner Vaclav Barina of Czechia, the No. 2 seed 7-6(5), 6-1 in the singles championship match. The top-seeded Meineke and Barina, who had also won the doubles title in Ocho Rios two weeks ago, defeated unseeded Petru Cotoman and Cyprus's Andreanos Kyriakides 7-5, 6-0 in the final.

Charles Minvielle claimed his second J100 singles title last week in Cali Colombia, and added the doubles title as well. The 17-year-old from Florida, seeded No. 2, defeated top seed Riku Nakamoto of Japan 6-4, 6-2 to cap a straight-sets run to the title. The second-seeded Minvielle and partner Alejandro Pena, who had won the doubles title at the J100 in Medellin earlier in the month, defeated top seeds Nakamoto and Thomas Piot of France 3-6, 7-6(5), 10-1 in the final.

At the J60 in Providence Rhode Island last week, No. 3 seeds Sebastian Bielen and Omar Rhazali earned the boys doubles title, beating the second-seeded Canadian team of Pierre-Olivier Hay and Randy Manoela Rakotonavahy 7-6(6), 6-4 in the final.

The unseeded Rhazali lost in the singles final to No. 2 seed Rafael Bote of Canada 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(5).

Fifteen-year-old Daniela Davletshina, who has lived in Florida for years but is unaffiliated in World Tennis junior competition due to her Russian background, swept the girls titles, her first two titles on the WT junior circuit. Davletshina's younger sister Nikol, who won the Girls 16s Clay Courts title earlier this month, gave Daniela a walkover in the semifinals; in the final, Daniela defeated 14-year-old Evija Thoresen of Atlanta 6-2, 6-2. Nikol and Daniela defeated Masha Semenova and Stephanie Smart-Abbey 7-5, 6-4 to claim the girls doubles title.

The other WT junior title last week for an American was at the J30 in the country of Georgia. Seventeen-year-old Lucas Lukosik of Florida won his first WT junior circuit title, taking the boys doubles with Richard Lutak of Slovakia. The unseeded pair defeated unseeded Tudor Stefan Ionescu and Florin Robert Pantelimon of Romania 4-6, 7-5, 12-10 in the final.

This week's World Tennis junior tournament in the United States is a J60 in Medford New Jersey. 

In addition to the ATP/WTA 500 Mubadala DC Open this week, there is a new WTA 250 event in Memphis Tennessee. Unfortunately, extreme heat has been an issue, and they have been playing most of the matches at night. No Americans made it through qualifying, with wild card Kennedy Drenser-Hagmann falling to top seed Tatiana Prozorova 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 in the final round last night.

Sixteen-year-old Seattle resident Kristina Liutova did advance to the main draw with a 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(4) win over Mariia Kozyreva(St. Mary's). She will face top seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in the first round.

Katie Volynets won her first round match today, beating No. 3 seed Viktorija Golubic of Switzerland 7-5, 1-6, 7-6(3). Wild cards Whitney Osuigwe and Reese Brantmeier(UNC) lost their opening matches tonight, with Maya Joint of Australia beating Osuigwe 6-4, 6-1 and qualifier Iryna Shymanovich defeating Brantmeier 6-4, 6-3. 

McCartney Kessler(Florida) is the No. 2 seed, with Caty McNally[6] and Peyton Stearns[7] the other seeded Americans. Stearns will face Mary Stoiana(Texas A&M) in the first round. 

Sloane Stephens received a wild card and will play No. 8 seed Yuliia Starodubtseva(Old Dominion) of Ukraine; the fourth wild card, Cadence Brace(LSU) of Canada, plays No. 4 seed Zeynep Sonmez of Turkey.

Michelsen, Dolehide, Rapolu and Bynoe Claim USTA Pro Circuit Titles; Pareja, Svajda, Martin and Cruz Qualify for Mubadala DC Open 500s

Americans swept all four USTA Pro Circuit singles titles today, with only Bloomfield Hills ATP Challenger 125 champion Alex Michelsen doing so as the top seed.

Michelsen overcame a 4-0 first set deficit to end the nine-match winning streak of No. 8 seed Jacob Fearnley(TCU) of Great Britain with a 7-6(4), 6-3 victory in this afternoon's final. Michelsen, who wasn't broken in his three-set semifinal win over lucky loser DK Suresh, was broken three times today, but ultimately had a better serving day than Newport Challenger 125 champion Fearnley, with 10 aces and some outstanding defense the keys to his first title since April of 2025.

Michelsen now heads to the ATP 500 in Washington DC, where he'll play wild card Jack Draper of Great Britain in the first round.

Caroline Dolehide won her first title in more than three years at the W100 in Evansville Indiana. The unseeded 27-year-old from Illinois, who reached a WTA career-high of 41 in January of 2024, defeated unseeded Yeonwoo Ku of Korea 7-6(3), 7-6(5) in today's final.

At the W35 in Santa Fe New Mexico, 23-year-old Malaika Rapolu(Texas) won her fourth Pro Circuit singles title, with the No. 5 seed defeating top seed Hina Inoue, also of the United States, 6-2, 6-0 in the final. The only set Rapolu lost this week was the first one she played; after beating Lexington Reed(Texas A&M) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the first round, she didn't drop more than four games in any set.

The M25 in Champaign Illinois produced a first-time winner, with former Cornell standout Evan Bynoe earning his first pro singles title with a 6-2, 7-6(5) victory over No. 5 seed Naoya Honda of Japan. Bynoe, 27, had not reached a Pro Circuit final until this week, but he won three of the four tiebreakers he played this week and three three-setters to claim the long-awaited title.

Seventeen-year-old wild card Julieta Pareja lost in the second round of the W100 in Evansville this week to Mary Stoiana(Texas A&M), but that freed her to compete in the qualifying for the WTA 500 in Washington DC this weekend, and she made the most of it, with her win today getting her into the main draw.  Pareja, a former World Tennis junior No. 1, saved three match points in her 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 win over 34-year-old Heather Watson of Great Britain; two came with Pareja serving at 3-5, and the third with Watson serving at 5-4. Pareja, who received a main draw wild card to the US Open last year, will be making her debut in the main draw of a WTA 500 event; last year she reached the semifinals of a WTA 250 in Colombia.

Alana Smith(NC State) lost to No. 2 seed Daria Kasatkina of Australia 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 and No. 7 seed Varvara Lepchenko fell to No. 4 seed Polina Kudermetova of Russia 4-6, 7-6(7), 6-4.

Another wild card, 2025 NCAA singles finalist Trevor Svajda(SMU), also advanced to the main draw in Washington DC with the 20-year-old from San Diego defeating 2021 Washington ATP 500 finalist and No. 6 seed Mackenzie McDonald(UCLA) 6-4, 6-4 today. Svajda will face No. 7 seed Jakub Mensik of Czechia in the first round of the main draw.

Andres Martin's third-set tiebreaker loss to lucky loser DK Suresh(Wake Forest) in the Bloomfield Hills Challenger on Friday obviously didn't shake his confidence, with the former Georgia Tech immediately heading to Washington DC for the qualifying and picking up two wins to reach the main draw. Martin defeated No. 7 seed Moes Echargui(Nevada) of Tunisia 6-2, 7-5 to book a first round encounter with Ugo Humbert of France.

Wimbledon boys finalist Cruz Hewitt of Australia advanced to the main draw when top seed and two-time Kalamazoo 18s champion Zachary Svajda, Trevor's older brother, retired trailing the 17-year-old son of Lleyton Hewitt 1-6, 7-6(3), 2-0. Hewitt will face fellow qualifier Marcos Giron(UCLA), while Svajda received the lucky loser spot and will play qualifier Aleks Vukic(Illinois) of Australia in the first round.

Fearnley and Michelsen Reach Bloomfield Hills Challenger 125 Final; Pareja Earns Washington WTA 500 Qualifying Win; Dolehide, Bynoe, Inoue and Rapolu In Pro Circuit Finals; Two Pairs of Teenaged Sisters Claim Doubles Titles

Top seed Alex Michelsen will have an opportunity to avenge his recent Wimbledon first round loss and end Jake Fearnley's Challenger winning streak Sunday in the final of the Cranbrook Tennis Classic.

Great Britain's Fearnley, who received a wild card after his ranking had fallen outside the Top 100, came from two sets down to beat Michelsen 3-6, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 last month. Both played the Newport Challenger 125 earlier this month, with Michelsen falling to Adam Walton in the semifinals, while Fearnley beat Walton in the final with another huge comeback, saving six match points after trailing the Australian 7-5, 5-1, eventually earning a 5-7, 7-6(8), 6-4 victory.

Fearnley, the eighth seed this week at the Challenger 125 in Bloomfield Hills, didn't need a comeback today, beating No. 6 seed Michael Zheng 6-3, 6-4 with little drama. Michelsen, on the other hand, needed three sets to get by lucky loser DK Suresh(Wake Forest) of India, but eventually secured a 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-2 win to make his first final since he claimed the title at last April's Challenger 175 in Estoril Portugal.

Top seeds Trey Hilderbrand(UCF, Texas A&M) and JJ Tracy(Ohio State) won the doubles title today in their first tournament as a team, beating No. 3 seeds Pruchya Isaro of Thailand and Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha of Indian 6-3, 7-6(2).

At the ATP/WTA 500 Mubadala DC Open in Washington, wild card Julieta Pareja reached Sunday's final round of women's qualifying with a 6-4, 6-2 win over No. 6 seed Polina Iatcenko of Russia. She will play Heather Watson, who at 34 is exactly twice Pareja's age, for a place in the main draw. Wild card Clervie Ngounoue lost to No. 7 seed Varvara Lepchenko 6-1, 4-6, 6-4. Alana Smith(NC State), who got in as an alternate when Katie Swan of Great Britain withdrew, beat Lea Ma(Georgia) 6-4, 7-6(5) to set up a meeting with No. 2 seed Daria Kasatkina of Australia.  Former Syracuse All-American Gabriela Knutson of Czechia defeated top seed Shuai Zhang of China 6-4, 1-6, 6-1.

In men's qualifying, two wild cards advanced, with Wimbledon boys finalist Cruz Hewitt of Australia moving on when No. 8 seed Dusan Lajovic of Serbia retired trailing 5-2. He will face top seed Zachary Svajda, who beat Stefan Kozlov 7-5, 6-1. Svajda's younger brother Trevor(SMU) was the other wild card to post a victory, beating No. 12 seed Elias Ymer of Sweden 6-0, 7-6(5). He will play No. 6 seed Mackenzie McDonald(UCLA) for a spot in the main draw.

Wimbledon boys champion Jordan Lee lost to No. 7 seed Moez Echargui(Nevada) of Tunisia 7-5, 6-1. Echargui will play Andres Martin, who made it to DC from Bloomfield Hills, where he played yesterday afternoon, and didn't skip a beat, defeating No. 5 seed Christopher O'Connell of Australian 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.  Wake Forest sophomore Aryan Shah of India, the fourth wild card, lost to No. 2 seed Marcos Giron(UCLA) 7-5, 6-4.

Other Americans in the final round of men's qualifying are Andre Ilagan(Hawaii) and No. 4 seed Martin Damm.

While Kozlov and Lee lost in singles, the wild cards did win their first doubles qualifying match, beating No. 2 seeds Ariel Behar of Uruguay and Anirudh Chandrasekar of India 6-3, 6-2. They will play the veteran team of JP Smith(Tennessee) of Australia and Fernando Romboli of Brazil for a spot in the men's doubles draw.

Caroline Dolehide has reached her first tournament final since October 2024 at the W100 in Evansville Indiana. The unseeded 27-year-old from Illinois, who has played only eight tournaments this year, defeated top seed Renata Zarazua of Mexico 7-5, 6-4 in today's semifinal and will face Yeonwoo Ku of Korea, also unseeded, for the title. Ku beat No. 2 seed Dasha Vidmanova(Georgia) and No. 6 seed Mary Stoiana(Texas A&M) in back-to-back three-setters, then defeated unseeded Lucrezia Stefanini of Italy 6-4, 6-2 in today's semifinals.

The doubles title went to top seeds I-Hsuan Cho and Yi Tsen Cho of Taiwan, who beat No. 2 seeds Kayla Cross(LSU) of Canada and Anna Rogers(NC State) 6-2, 6-3 in today's final.

At the M25 in Champaign Illinois, unseeded Evan Bynoe(Cornell) has advanced to his first Pro Circuit final at the age of 27. The previous best result for Bynoe at an M25 came last year, when he reached the Edwardsville quarterfinals.  Bynoe, currently 965 in the ATP rankings, defeated qualifier Mitchell Sheldon(Michigan State) 7-6(4), 7-6(4) and will face 20-year-old Naoya Honda of Japan, the fifth seed, in the final. Honda, a former Top 10 World Tennis junior, defeated Will Jansen(UNC, Ohio State, Georgia) 7-6(4), 7-6(5) in today's semifinals.

Unseeded Nikita Filin(Ohio State) and Tyler Bowers(Illinois, Auburb) won the doubles title, beating unseeded Vignesh Gogineni(Yale) and Billy Suarez(Tulane) 4-6, 6-3, 10-7 in this evening's final. It's the second Pro Circuit doubles title for Filin and the first for Bowers.

The only all-USA final Sunday on the USTA Pro Circuit will be at the W35 in Santa Fe New Mexico, with top seed Hina Inoue facing No. 5 seed Malaika Rapolu(Texas). Inoue defeated unseeded Dana Guzman (Oklahoma) of Peru 6-1, 6-4, while Rapolu beat No. 2 seed Angelina Voloshchuk of Portugal 6-2, 6-4 in today's semifinals. 

The Penickovas twins with the March 2025 San Diego J300 doubles trophies

Twin sisters Annika and Kristina Penickova won their first W35 doubles title together and their third Pro Circuit doubles title as a team today in Santa Fe, with the unseeded 16-year-olds beating unseeded Carolina Gomez(Arkansas) of Spain and Celine Simunyu(Arkansas) of Ireland 6-3, 6-3 in the final. Annika won a W35 title in May with Capucine Jauffret; Kristina won a W15 title this summer with Jauffret during the SoCal Pro Series.

And at the W15 in Huamantla Mexico, 18-year-old Olivia Allegre(UC San Diego) and 16-year-old sister Camille won their first Pro Circuit title, with the unseeded pair defeating unseeded Jayna Clemens(Mississippi State, San Diego State) and Kallista Liu(Maryland) of Hong Kong 6-3, 6-3 in today's final.