Parity Reigns at World Tennis Junior Finals with Quarterfinalists to be Decided Friday; Secord Reaches First USTA Pro Circuit Quarterfinal at Ithaca M15; Ma Advances at W35 Bakersfield; Four Americans in Fort Worth Challenger Quarterfinals

The World Tennis Junior Finals have seen some upsets in the first two days of group play, but all four groups head into Friday's final day of round robin play in Chengdu China with the exact same scenarios: one defeated player, one winless player and two players with 1-1 records.

The top two finishers in each group will advance to Saturday's semifinals, and No. 3 seed Keaton Hance still has an opportunity to be one of the semifinalists after his 6-0, 6-2 win over Dimitar Kisimov of Bulgaria Thursday. Hance needs to beat No. 2 seed Thilo Behrmann of Austria, the other player in his group that is 1-1, to move on. 

No. 4 seed Janae Preston lost to No. 2 seed Jana Kovackova of Czechia 6-4, 6-4 and will not advance to the semifinals, even with a win over Group B leader Mariia Makarova of Russia. 

No. 4 seed Jordan Lee lost to No. 6 seed Ziga Sesko of Slovenia 7-6(5), 6-7(3), 6-2 to fall to 1-1, but he can qualify for the semifinals if he beats top seed Jamie Mackenzie(TCU) of Germany Friday. Sesko and Vincent Reisach of Germany, who is 2-0 in Group B, are assured of advancing regardless of their results Friday.

Top seed Xinran Sun of China is the Group A leader at 2-0, after her emphatic 6-2, 6-0 win over No. 3 seed Anna Pushkareva of Russia. Pushkareva and Sun met in the last two girls slam finals, with Pushkareva winning in three sets at Wimbledon and Sun winning in three sets at the US Open, so a match that one-sided seemed unlikely.

Live streaming begins at 10:30 tonight in the Eastern time zone with the Preston-Makarova match. Live scoring can be found here.

Eighteen-year-old Jack Secord has advanced to his first USTA Pro Circuit quarterfinal at this week's M15 in Ithaca New York. Secord, No. 19 in the WT junior rankings, received entry via the WT Junior Reserved program, with this only his third pro tournament of the year, fourth, if including the US Open men's qualifying. The Stanford recruit defeated 19-year-old Benjamin Willerth, the 2025 Australian Open boys champion, 6-2, 6-3 and will face No. 4 seed Jack Anthrop(Ohio State) in the quarterfinals Friday. 

Anthrop defeated Eli Stephenson, a senior at Kentucky, 6-0, 3-6, 6-3 in today's second round, his second win over Stephenson in the past six days. Anthrop beat Stephenson last week in the semifinals of the M15 in Lexington Kentucky 6-1, 3-6, 6-4.  Vignesh Gogineni(Yale) is the other American in the quarterfinals, with the No. 6 seed defeating Zsombor Velcz(Baylor) of Hungary 6-3, 6-2. 

At the W50 in Austin Texas, 17-year-old qualifier Thea Frodin lost to No. 5 seed Madison Brengle 7-6(2), 6-3 in today's quarterfinals. Brengle will play No. 8 seed Elli Mandlik, who beat No. 4 seed Barbora Palicova of Czechia 7-6(3), 7-6(4). In the bottom half, LSU junior Ella McDonald of Great Britain, a qualifier, has advanced to the semifinals after beating newly announced Florida recruit Rebecaa Mortensen of Denmark 4-6, 7-5, 6-1. McDonald will play unseeded Anastasia Tikhonova of Russia, who beat No. 3 seed Yeonwoo Ku of Korea 1-6, 7-5, 6-3.

McDonald will also play in the doubles final Friday, with Kylie Collins(Texas, LSU, Oklahoma State). The No. 4 seeds will play the unseeded team of Ashley Lahey(Pepperdine) and Alexandra Vagramov(UCLA) of Canada.

Rain Wednesday pushed many of the Bakersfield California W35 first round matches to today, with all of them now complete, and second round matches underway. Former Stanford All-American Connie Ma continues to post impressive results,  with last week's Redding W35 champion defeating fellow wild card Aspen Schuman 7-6(5), ret. in the first round, and then breezing past No. 5 seed Diletta Cherubini of Italy 6-0, 6-1 in the second round. In Friday's quarterfinals, Ma will play the winner of the second round match this evening between qualifier Astra Sharma(Vanderbilt) of Australia and No. 2 seed Lea Ma(Georgia).

At the ATP Challenger 75 in Fort Worth Texas, four Americans have advanced to Friday's quarterfinals.

Top seed Jenson Brooksby will play Patrick Maloney(Michigan); Aidan Mayo faces qualifier Sander Jong(TCU) of the Netherlands; No. 2 seed Darwin Blanch, the 2025 Kalamazoo 18s champion, will play fellow 19-year-old left-hander Mees Rottgering of the Netherlands, a sophomore at Wake Forest.

Qualifier Frodin Defeats Top Seed Stephens at Austin W50; Lee Sole US Winner on Opening Day of World Tennis Junior Finals; Texas Signs Former Junior No. 1 Pacheco; USA's Bille Jean King Cup Team Selected; Update for Email Subscribers

Seventeen-year-old qualifier Thea Frodin, the 2026 USTA National 18s champion in San Diego, claimed the best win of her career today at the W50 in Austin Texas, beating top seed and ATP No. 118 Sloane Stephens, the W100 champion in Edmond Oklahoma last week, 6-4, 6-4 in the second round. The 2026 Australian Open girls semifinalist will face another seeded veteran Thursday, with No. 5 seed Madison Brengle reaching the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 6-0 win over former Georgia All-American Mell Reasco of Ecuador. 

Qualifier Rebecca Munk Mortensen of Denmark, who beat No. 2 seed Akasha Urhobo in the first round, advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-4, 6-1 win over qualifier Amelie Van Impe of Belgium, a sophomore at SMU. Mortensen signed with the University of Florida for the upcoming spring season, according to this announcement today.

The first matches of the WT Junior Finals are in the books, with Jordan Lee picking up the only victory for an American Wednesday. The Wimbledon boys champion, seeded No. 4, defeated No. 8 seed Yannik Alvarez of Puerto Rico 6-3, 6-4, coming from 3-0 down in the second set. Lee's opponent Thursday is No. 5 seed Ziga Sesko of Slovenia, who defeated top seed Jamie Mackenzie(TCU) of Germany 6-4, 6-4. 

No. 3 seed Keaton Hance lost to No. 7 seed Vincent Reisach 6-3, 6-4 and will face No. 6 seed Dimitar Kisimov of Bulgaria Thursday; Kisimov lost to No. 2 seed Thilo Behrmann of Austria 7-6(8), 7-6(3) Wednesday.

No. 4 seed Janae Preston, the only US girl in the field, lost to No. 7 seed Polina Skliar of Ukraine 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. Preston will pay No. 2 seed Jana Kovackova of Czechia, who was also upset in the first day of play, losing to Mariia Makarova of Russia 7-5, 7-6(8).

Top seed and US Open girls champion Xinran Sun of China defeated No. 6 seed Anastasija Cvetkovic of Serbia 7-6(1), 6-2 and will face rival Anna Pushkareva of Russia, the Wimbledon girls champion and No. 3 seed, who lost to Sun in the US Open final after beating her in the Wimbledon final. 

Live streaming, which begins at 10:30 p.m. Eastern time tonight, with Skliar vs Makarova, can be found here.  Live scoring is available here.

In addition to Mortensen, there was another big collegiate signing announced today, with former World Tennis No. 1 Rodrigo Pacheco Mendez of Mexico committing to the University of Texas.

The 21-year-old, who reached No. 1 in the world after winning the J500 in Milan in May of 2023, will join the Longhorns for the upcoming spring season, according to today's release. This signing casts doubt on the likelihood that Matej Dodig of Croatia, now 138 in the ATP rankings, will join Texas for the spring season, with his signing announced in July. Dodig has won two Challengers made the finals of three others since that announcement, which said he would join Texas this fall, but he would hardly be the first recruit to change his plans after having success on the Challenger circuit.

The USTA announced its team for the Billie Jean King Cup tie next month against Hungary, which is scheduled for November 21-22 in Delray Beach Florida.

Coco Gauff, Madison Keys, Ann Li, Taylor Townsend and Nicole Melichar Martinez will be attempting to return the USA to the field that will play for the 2027 BJK Cup after losing to Belgium in April to get knocked out of the 2026 competition.  The Hungarian team is set to include Anna Bondar, Dalma Galfi, Amarissa Toth, Fanny Stollar and Adrienn Nagy. Bondar is Hungary's only WTA Top 100 singles player.

NOTE FOR EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:

After results of the survey I sent early last week, I've decided to scale back on the daily emails generated after each post. Beginning soon, emails with links to my daily posts will go out four times a week, on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I will continue to post daily and link to those posts on social media, but the emails will no longer go out daily.  If you are not currently subscribed and are interested in receiving these emails, please use the sign-up form in the left column of this page.

Twenty-two More Division I NCAA Singles Berths Filled with Completion of Regionals; Four USTA Pro Circuit Tournaments Again This Week; Stephens Takes Lead in USTA's Australian Open Wild Card Race

The Division I ITA Regional Championships concluded this afternoon, with 10 men and 12 women earning their spots in next month's NCAA singles championships in Athens Georgia. Five men's and six women's doubles teams are also heading to the University of Georgia after claiming regional titles over the past five days.

For the links to all draws in all 26 regional tournaments, visit the ITA's tournament page.

Results from all regionals are below, with the most recent first, with last week's regionals results below the dividing line.

Women's ITA Division I Regional results, with NCAA qualifiers in bold: 

MOUNTAIN:
Sara Akid[1](Utah) d. Allison Isaacs[3](Boise State) 1-6, 7-5, 6-2
Sage Bergeson(BYU) d. Silver Bijlsma(Wyoming) 1-6, 7-6(10), 6-2

Doubles final:
Ema Bubalo and Lera Alexin[2](Colorado) d. Nikol Mircheva and Hudson Hawkins[1](UNLV) 6-3, 7-6(7)

ATLANTIC:

Anastasiia Sorska[9](Maryland) d. Vivian Yang[1](Virginia) 7-5, 6-1

Katie Rolls[2](Virginia) d. Oliwia Orlinska[4](Maryland) 7-6(7), 6-2

Doubles final:

Emma Ghirardato and Diya Challa[3](Maryland) d. Vivian Yang and Alyssa James[1](Virginia) 1-6, 6-1, 10-5

CENTRAL:

Arina Malygina[9](Oklahoma State) d. Xin Tong Wang[9](Wichita State) 6-4, 6-3

Laura Brunkel[9](Oklahoma) d. Alyssa Novoa(Tulsa) 7-5, 6-3

Doubles final:

Sara Shumate and Gloriana Nahum[1](Oklahoma) d. Chloe Noel and Laura Brunkel[5](Oklahoma) 6-0, 6-1

SOUTHWEST:

Ahmani Guichard[9](UCLA) d. Alexia Harmon(Pepperdine) 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-3

Lily Taylor[7](Arizona State) d. Sara Svetac[6](Arizona State) 2-6, 6-4, 6-1

Doubles final:

Vessa Turley and Tea Lukic[5](San Diego State) d. Polina Marakhtanova and Koronayashe Rugara(UCLA 4-6, 6-4, 10-7

CAROLINA:

Jana Stojanova(South Carolina) d. Avery Nguyen(North Carolina) 6-2, 602

Lavinia Tanasie[3](NC State) d. Kaitlyn Carnicella[2](South Carolina) 6-4, 4-6, 6-2

Doubles final:

Victoria Osuigwe and Roisin Gilheany[1](NC State) d. Tatum Evans and Alanis Hamilton[6](North Carolina) 0-6, 6-0, 10-8

NORTHEAST:

Tsehay Driscoll(Princeton) d. Isabella Chhiv[9](Princeton)4-6, 7-6(2), 7-6(2)

Kenzie Nguyen[5](Columbia) d. Pearlie Zhang[9](Princeton) 7-5, 7-6(5)

Doubles final:

Maelie Monfils and Patricia Grigoras[2](Penn State) d. Esha Velaga and Athina Schlepphorst[6](Penn) 6-2, 6-7(3), 10-5

Men's ITA Division I Regional results, with NCAA qualifiers in bold: 

SOUTHEAST:

Julian Alonso[3](Georgia) d. Noah Johnston[9](Georgia) 6-3, 6-1

Maxime Dubouch(Georgia) d. Cooper Johnson(Georgia) 6-1, 6-3

Doubles final:

Wissam Abderrahman and Mohammad Alkotop(UCF) d. Ty Host and Henry Jefferson[1](Florida) 4-6, 6-3, 10-2

NORTHWEST:

Lenn Luemkemann(Cal) d. Nicholas Godsick(Stanford) 6-1, 6-0

Gus Grumet(Stanford) d. Ronit Karki(Stanford) 6-3, 7-5

Doubles final:

Soham Purohit and Jan Chlodnicki[9](Washington) d. Maas Schotanus and Aajun Pandit(Portland State) 6-2, 4-0, ret. inj.

SOUTHWEST:

Lasse Poertner[5](Pepperdine) d. Adrien Berrut[9](San Diego) 2-6, 6-4, 6-2

David Fix[9](Pepperdine) d. Aleksa Pisaric[5](Pepperdine) 6-4, 6-2

Doubles final:

Jan Kobierski and Piotr Siekanowicz[14](San Diego State) d. Aleksa Pisaric and Lasse Poertner[1](Pepperdine) 6-4, 1-6, 10-4

MIDWEST:

Brandon Carpico[14](Ohio State) d. Preston Stearns[3](Ohio State) 6-1, 6-2

Victor Lilov[6](Ohio State) d. Adam Jilly(Illinois) 6-0, 6-2

Doubles final:

Peter Nad and Chase Thompson[7](Notre Dame) d. Adam Jilly and David Bakonyi[6](Illinois) 6-7(5), 6-3, 10-6

NORTHEAST:

Nischal Spurling(Penn) d. Andrew Ena(Columbia) 6-4, 6-1

Landon Ardila[2](Princeton) d. Damir Zhalgasbay[3](Columbia) 7-5, 6-3 

Doubles final:

Andrew Ena and Damir Zhalgasbay[5](Columbia) d. Aaron Sandler and Justin Chung[6](Penn) 6-4, 7-6(2)

========================================

Regionals Results from previous week:

WOMEN

MIDWEST:

Piper Charney[1](Michigan) d. Ariel Madatali(Illinois) 6-1, 6-0

Ekaterina Ivanova[2](Wisconsin) d. Olivia Traynor[6](Michigan) 6-3, 6-3

Third place: 

Olivia Traynor[6](Michigan) d. Ariel Madatali(Illinois) 6-2, 6-3

(Ivanova had already qualified for NCAAs by reaching ITA All-American quarterfinals)

Doubles final:

Piper Charney and Reese Miller[1](Michigan) d. Audrey Spencer and Anna Bennett[9](Ohio State) 6-3, 6-1 

NEW ENGLAND:

Lauren Kettlewell[9](Boston U) d. Kavya Karra[9](Harvard) 7-6(5), 7-5

Stephanie Yakoff[2](Harvard) d. Monika Wojcik(Syracuse) 6-0, 6-1

Doubles final: 

Stephanie Yakoff and Kavya Karra[1](Harvard) d. Peyton Capuano and Michela Moore[2](Dartmouth) 6-3, 6-4

NORTHWEST:

Anna-Marie Weissheim[6](Washington) d. Sofia Daryaie(Saint Mary's) 6-3, 6-2

Alyssa Ahn[2](Stanford) d. Jermine Sherif[9](Washington) 6-2, 6-2

Doubles final:

Nela Jandova and Marina Markina[6](Washington) d. Priya Nelson and Stella Remander[9](Saint Mary's) 4-6, 6-3, 10-8

OHIO VALLEY:

Julia Zhu[3](Kentucky) d. Mariia Dolzhenko(Lipscomb) 6-0, 6-1

Donna Le Roux[9](Kentucky) d. Asuncion Jadue(Kentucky) 6-7(6), 6-2, 6-4

Doubles final:

Valeria Ray and Sophia Webster[1](Vanderbilt) d. Sarah Mildren and Alyson Shannon[2](Tennessee) 6-2, 7-6(6)

SOUTHEAST:

Bella Payne[9](Georgia) d. Malwina Rowinska(Florida Atlantic) 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 

Emma Dong[6](Georgia) d. Patricija Paukstyte[9](Georgia) 6-2, 6-3

Doubles final:

Emma Dong and Ranah Stoiber[4](Georgia) d. Jantje Tilbuerger and Marta Makarova(UCF) 7-5, 6-0

SOUTHERN:

Ashton Bowers[1](Auburn) d. Addison Lanton[3](LSU) 7-5, 6-4

Alice Battesti(Ole Miss) d. Tegan Bush[9](LSU) 6-2, 3-6, 6-1

Doubles final:

Gianna Oboniye and Athina Pitta[2](Mississippi St) d. Andrea Nova and Alice Soulie[4](Ole Miss) 7-5, 7-5

TEXAS:

Divna Ratkovic[3](Rice) d. Alian Zack[5](Baylor) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3

Sofiia Mykhailets[6](TCU) d. Kori Montoya(Texas A&M) 6-3, 6-2

Doubles final:

Sofiia Mykhailets and Cristina Ramos Sierra[9](TCU) d. Na Dong and Ligaya Murray[9](Baylor) 6-4, 6-3

MEN

ATLANTIC:

Andres Santamarta[1](Virginia) d. Stiles Brockett[5](Virginia) 6-2, 3-6, 6-1

Luca Preda[3](Virginia) d. Jangjun Kim[2](Virginia) 3-6, 6-4, 6-1

Doubles final:

Jangjun Kim and Andres Santamarta[1](Virginia) d. Blake Hilsen and Eyal Shumilov[2](Virginia Tech)

CAROLINA:

Charlie Robertson[9](South Carolina) d. Chris Xu(North Carolina) 6-3, 6-4

Bruno Kuzuhara[8](Clemson) d. Ian Mayew[9](North Carolina) 6-1, 6-3

Doubles final:

Marko Mesarovic and Henrik Bladelius[4](Clemson) d. Cody Benton and Toby Kodat[8](NC State) 6-3, 6-3

CENTRAL:

Johan Rodriguez[1](Oklahoma) d. Tito Chavez[8](Oklahoma) 6-0, 6-4

Luciano Ambrogi[2](Oklahoma) d. Asahi Harazaki[4](Oklahoma) 6-4, 6-4

Doubles final:

Connor Smillie and Brendan Boland[4](Arkansas) d. Tito Chavez and Alejandro Melero[7](Oklahoma)

MOUNTAIN:

NCAA qualifiers:

Dylan Davies(Denver) d. Sep De Visser(Idaho State) 7-6(4), 6-3

Xavier Calvelo[4](Utah State) d. Matthew Upton(Montana) 6-3, 7-5

Doubles final:

Marko Maksimovic and Kemal Karakas[1](UNLV) d. Matthew Upton and Duncan McCall 7-6(4), 6-3

NEW ENGLAND:

Rodrigo Fernandes[1](Cornell) d. Eric Verdes[9](Cornell) 6-2, 6-7(2), 7-5

Rohan Murali[2](Harvard) d. Cezar Papoe[4](Cornell) 6-1, 6-2

Doubles final: 

Rushil Khosia and Rethin Senthil Kumar[2](Cornell) d. Rohan Murali and Kolos Kincses[3](Harvard) 6-3, 6-4

OHIO VALLEY:

Nour Fathalla[5](Purdue) d. Lorenzo Balducci(Purdue) 6-1, 6-3

Kyle McNally[9](Dayton) d. Aryan Saleh(Middle Tenn St) 6-2, 6-4

Doubles final:

Hamza El Amine and Lucas Bazin[13](Louisville) d. Sturle Skigelstrand and Mikkel Zinder(Dayton) 7-5, 7-5

SOUTHERN:

Igor Kudriashov[5](Ole Miss) d. Vlado Jankanj[7](Ole Miss) 7-6(5), 6-4

Niccola Baroni[2](Ole Miss) d. Manel Lazaro[8](Auburn) 4-6, 6-3, 6-0

Doubles final:

Igor Kudriashov and Kai Milburn(Ole Miss) d. Aleksander Blus and Theo Hegarty(Alabama) 6-3, 7-6(4)

TEXAS:

Tomasz Berkieta[9](Texas) d. Niksa Arsic(Texas Tech) 6-2, 6-4 

Ilia Snitari[9](Texas A&M) d. Erik Schiessl[9](Baylor) 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(5)

Doubles final:

Albert Pedrico and Cooper Woestendick[1](TCU) d. Connor Van Schalkwyk and Erik Schiessl[2](Baylor) 6-1, 6-3

Thirty-six of the NCAA's 64 spots in singles and 18 of the NCAA's 32 spots in doubles have now been filled, with the remaining 28 singles entrants determined at the ITA Sectional Championships and the Conference Masters Championships, both of which will be played November 5-8.

For more on who will have a final opportunity to qualify for the NCAAs via the Sectional Championships, see collegetennisranks.com's Championship Tracker page.

The USTA Pro Circuit again has four tournaments this week, with the ATP Challenger 75 in Fort Worth Texas the one providing the most points.

The first round is complete, with eight Americans through to the second round: top seed Jenson Brooksby, Patrick Maloney(Michigan), qualifier Alex Rybakov(TCU), No. 5 seed JJ Wolf(Ohio State), qualifier Kaylan Bigun(UCLA), Aidan Mayo, Daniel Milavsky(Harvard) and No. 2 seed Darwin Blanch.

Half of the seeds lost their first round matches: No. 6 seed Murphy Cassone(Arizona State) to lucky loser Kenta Miyoshi(Illinois) of Japan; No. 3 Braden Shick(NC State), to Texas sophmore Gabriel Debru of France; No. 4 Colton Smith to Mayo; and No. 8 Max Rehberg of Germany to Mees Rottgering(Wake Forest) of the Netherlands.

Wild cards Trevor Svajda(SMU) and Sebastian Gorzny(TCU, Texas) both lost, but the third wild card, Austin M25 champion Cosme Rolland de Ravel(TCU) of France beat Ozan Baris(Michigan State) to advance to a meeting with Rottgering.

The other men's event is an M15 in Ithaca New York, with qualifying completed today. Three Americans reached the main draw through qualifying: 19-year-old Connor Plunkett, Drew Van Oderlain and Jonah Braswell(Florida, Texas).

The three junior reserved spots went to Joshua Adamson and Felix Roussel of Canada and Jack Secord. Secord played his first round match today and defeated No. 8 seed Matt Forbes(Michigan State, Ohio State) 7-6(4), 6-4.  Eli Stephenson is showing as a junior exempt on the draw, but that's certainly an ATP Accelerator spot, as Stephenson is 21 years old. 

Wild cards were given to Cornell senior Felipe Pinzon, Cornell junior Rodrigo Fernandes of Portugal, Cornell senior Eric Verdes of Romania and Liam Krall(SMU). Verdes and Fernandes will meet in the first round Wednesday. 

Alec Dekers of the Netherlands in the top seed.

Edmond W100 champion Sloane Stephens is the top seed at the W50 in Austin Texas, which started a day earlier than the standard USTA Pro Circuit women's event. That means the first round was completed today, with Stephens, a wild card, and 17-year-old qualifier Thea Frodin setting up a second round meeting with wins today.

Stephens got by former Pepperdine All-American Ashley Lahey 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, while Frodin beat Oklahoma freshman Reina Goto of Japan 6-3, 6-1.

Luciana Perry, a senior at Ohio State, received a wild card and lost today to No. 4 seed Barbora Palicova of Czechia 6-2, 6-4.  TCU senior Raquel Caballero Chica of Spain, the third wild card, lost to No. 5 seed Madison Brengle 6-0, 7-5. Qualifier Rebecca Munk Mortensen of Denmark beat No. 2 seed Akasha Urhobo 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.

The W35 in Bakersfield is on the traditional USTA Pro Circuit women's schedule, with qualifying completed today and just four first round matches complete.

Somehow Astra Sharma is still in qualifying, despite winning her last two tournaments, and she reached the main draw with two routine wins. 

Seventeen-year-old Natalie Kha, a USC recruit, advanced to the main draw, as did 16-year-olds Maggie Sohns and Sophie Suh. The fourth American to qualify was Brandy Walker(Northern Arizona).

Wild cards were awarded to Duke sophomore Aspen Schuman and Redding W35 champion Connie Ma(Stanford) and they will play each other Wednesday. The other wild cards went to Jenna DeFalco and Cal freshman Nika Hurkacz of Poland, the sister of Hubert Hurkacz, currently No. 30 in the ATP rankings. Hurkacz lost to No. 3 seed Hanna Chang in the first round today 6-4, 6-1. 

Vivian Wolff(Georgia, UCLA) and Lea Ma(Georgia) are the top two seeds.

After the first two weeks of the women's Australian Open Wild Card Challenge, Sloane Stephens has taken the lead, with three more weeks to go. The men's race begins this week and will also extend for five weeks, with the three best results counting.

The current women's Top 5:

(Player's current ranking in parentheses)
1. Sloane Stephens (118) -- 100
2. Elvina Kalieva (113) -- 61
3. Julieta Pareja (228) -- 39
4. Annika Penickova (482) -- 37
5. Connie Ma (NR) -- 35

Kotseva, Dollar Win World Tennis J100 Titles; First 2027 Australian Open and Roland Garros Junior Wild Cards Awarded; Round Robin Groups for WTT Junior Finals Revealed, Play Begins Wednesday in Chengdu

After a couple of slow weeks on the World Tennis Junior Circuit for Americans, five players from the United States took singles titles last week, including two J100 titles. There were no J300s last week, and just two J200s, with Adla Lopez reaching the girls singles final at the J200 in Bolivia, losing to 15-year-old Sofiia Bielinska of Ukraine 6-1, 6-3.

At the J100 in Dubrovik Croatia, 15-year-old Raya Kotseva of Las Vegas, who has been training in Europe and hasn't played in a junior event in the US since the qualifying of last year's US Open, won her second J100 title of the year. Seeded No. 1, Kotseva defeated unseeded Sofia Kocisova of Slovakia 6-4, 6-3 in the final. Kotseva is now up to 207 in the WT junior rankings after the title; her career-high is 114, which came after she made the final of the J300 in San Diego in March of 2025.

Eighteen-year-old Grace Dollar won her first WT junior singles title last week at the J100 in Metepec Mexico as the No. 6 seed. She defeated No. 8 seed Vera Iamina of Russia 6-2, 6-3 in the final. Sophia Budacsek, who lost to Iamina in the singles semifinals, won the doubles title with Mexican partner Azul Lopez Vazquez R. The top seeds beat No. 4 seeds Dollar and Elsa Sahandi 6-1, 6-0 for their second straight title; they also won the doubles championship at the J100 two weeks ago in Metepec.

At the J60 in Panama, 14-year-old Sofia Dvortsova won her third, and biggest WT junior singles title of the year. The 14-year-old top seed defeated No. 2 seed Miranda Fernandez Figueroa of Mexico 6-1, 6-3 in the final.

Fifteen-year-old Norah Davoodi won her first WT junior circuit title at the J60 in Victoria Canada, beating Kendra Zhang of Canada 6-4, 6-0 in the girls singles final. Seventeen-year-old Jaidyn Finley reached the boys singles final and won the doubles title with Cayden Laughton, with the unseeded pair defeating the fourth-seeded Canadian team of Ilya Sherifali and Alden Yu 6-4, 6-2 in the final. Enya Hamilton and Autumn Xu won their fourth doubles title of year and their second in the past two weeks, with the top seeds beating Gwyneth Britton and Kingsley Wolf 6-3, 6-1 in the final.

The sole US boy to win a singles title last week was unseeded Macksimus Malhotra, who took the championship at the J60 in the Dominican Republic. The 16-year-old from Massachusetts defeated No. 2 seed Thiago Silveira of Brazil 7-5, 6-2 in the final for his third career singles title.

After a two-week hiatus, the World Tennis Junior Circuit returns to the United States for the next five weeks, with two J60s, two J100s and one J200, all on green clay.

This week's event is a J60 at the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona.

The first wild cards for both the 2027 Australian Open Junior Championships and the 2027 Roland Garros Junior Championships were determined this weekend.

In São Paulo Brazil, Brazilians Livas Damazio and Maria Eduarda Carbone won the Australian Open Junior Series South America playoffs. Damazio, 16, defeated Davi Sousa, also from Brazil, 6-2, 6-3 in the final and the 16-year-old Carbone beat 14-year-old Sofia Cuoco of Argentina 6-4, 6-3.

For more on the event, see this article from TenisBrazil.

In Tokyo, 16-year-old Yui Komada of Japan defended her 2025 title to earn a wild card into the 2027 Roland Garros Junior Championships via the Asia Junior Series. Komada is No. 64 in the WT junior rankings, so it remains to be seen if she will need the wild card when acceptances come out in the spring, but she is assured of her place now after defeating Natsuki Irokawa of Japan 6–4, 3–6, 6–4 in the final.

Dongjae Kim of Korea, also 16, won the boys wild card, defeating Shintaro Ogaki of Japan 6–4, 1–6 ,6–2 in the final. Kim is No. 124 in the WT junior rankings right now, so he is more likely to need a wild card for entry in 2027.

新王者誕生。次はパリの赤土へ🏆🇫🇷 Crowned in Tokyo. Destination: Paris. Huge congratulations to our 2026 champions who punched their ticket straight to the 2027 Roland-Garros Juniors Tournament 🧡✨ Girls' Champion: Yui KOMADA (JPN) Boys' Champion: Dongjae KIM (KOR) See you in Paris 👋🏛️ #RolandGarros #RGJapan

— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) October 18, 2026

A reminder that the World Tennis Tour Junior Finals begin Wednesday in Chengdu China, which will be tomorrow night here in the United States, Janae Preston, Jordan Lee and Keaton Hance are the Americans participating.

The groups for the first three days of play are here.

The WT media notes are here. The live streaming, which will feature commentary by Alex Gruskin of Cracked Racquets, will be available here.

Stephens Wins Edmond W100, Ma Captures First Pro Title at Redding W35; Rolland de Ravel and Papamalamis Claim Singles Titles in Austin and Lexington; ITA Cup D-III, NAIA, JUCO Champions Crowned

The teenagers in the finals of the women's USTA Pro Circuit events Sunday fell to their more seasoned opponents, with 33-year-old Sloane Stephens defeating 16-year-old Kristina Liutova 6-3, 6-2 at the W100 in Edmond Oklahoma and 23-year-old Connie Ma beating 17-year-old Annika Penickova 7-5, 6-2 at the W35 in Redding California.

In handing the fourth-seeded Liutova just her sixth loss of the year, Stephens, the No. 5 seed, earns 100 points, bumping her WTA ranking up to 118. She will take the lead in the USTA's women's Australian Open Wild Card Challenge after the first two weeks, with three weeks remaining.

The doubles title in Edmond was won by No. 2 seeds Alicia Herrero Linana(Baylor) of Spain and Allura Zamarripa(Texas), who beat unseeded Sofia Johnson(Old Dominion) of Great Britain and Malaika Rapolu(Texas) 6-1, 6-2 in the final. 

Although Ma is six years older than Penickova, she came into the tournament with fewer matches and fewer singles titles on the women's WTT. Ma, who was an outstanding junior and on the USA Junior Billie Jean King Cup team that won the title in 2019, didn't play on the pro circuit once she entered college at Stanford. Ma reached the NCAA singles final in 2022 as a freshman and was a three-time All-American in singles, but only this fall, a year after her graduation, has she resumed competition on the USTA Pro Circuit, and was a wild card this week after qualifying and making the second round at the W50 in Berkeley last month.

Penickova, who won her first USTA Pro Circuit singles title this summer at the W35 in Florence SC, actually has played more pro matches than Ma, but Ma has now caught her in titles, with the first coming today. Penickova reached the final last night with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Ohio State junior Nao Nishino, a qualifier from Japan. It's Penickova's third W35 singles final of the year.

Ma was unable to pick up her first career doubles title, with No. 4 seeds Abigail Rencheli(NC State) and Maria Sholokhova(Wisconsin) of Russia beating Ma and Berta Passola(Cal) of Spain 2-6, 6-4, 14-12 in the final last night.

The men's USTA Pro Circuit singles title this week went to two French players. Texas A&M junior Theo Papamalamis, seeded fifth, defeated No. 8 seed Jack Anthrop, a recent Ohio State graduate, 2-6, 7-5, 6-2 at the M15 in Lexington Kentucky. It's the second career WTT men's singles title for Papamalamis, with both M15s title coming this year.

At the M25 in Austin Texas, qualifier Cosme Rolland de Ravel of France took out top seed Alastair Gray(TCU) of Great Britain 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 for his first WTT men's title. The 22-year-old, who played for Old Dominion prior to joining TCU last year, is interested in a fifth year at TCU if the courts decide it should be extended to those who entered college in 2022. 

Rolland de Ravel has received a main draw wild card into the ATP Challenger 75 in Fort Worth next week, as have Trevor Svajda(SMU) and Sebastian Gorzny(TCU, Texas). Sixteen-year-old Michael Antonius received a qualifying wild card and defeated No. 6 seed Quinn Vandecasteele(Oregon) 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 in the first round of qualifying today.

On the ATP tour, congratulations to former University of Virginia star Rafael Jodar of Spain, who reached his first ATP Masters 1000 final in Shanghai. The 20-year-old, who won the US Open boys title in 2024, lost to compatriot Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, who won the Wimbledon boys title in 2017, 1-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 in today's final. Jodar, who ended 2025 at 168 in the ATP rankings, is now at a career-high of 11. More on the final from the ATP here.

The ITA Cup, the fall individual championships for Division III, Junior College and NAIA, concluded today in Rome Georgia. The results from the finals are below. Complete draws can be found here.

ITA Cup Finals, October 17, 2026

WOMEN:

NAIA
Singles:
Seohyeon Jang[3], Concordia Nebraska, d. Maria Purizaca, Doane 6-4, 6-1

Doubles:
Ivet Prat and Ruslana Kovalenko, Tennessee Wesleyan, d. Marylove Edwards and Suryanshi Suryanshi, Georgia Gwinnett, 6-2, 6-2

JUCO

Singles:

Dina Lipovski[1], Tyler JC, d. Emily Lederer[2], Hillsborough CC, 6-2, 6-2

Doubles:

Naiomi Crowell and Mirthe De Bresser[3], Hillsborough CC, d. Dina Lipovski and Idom Cho[2], Tyler JC, 6-4, 6-2

DIVISION III

Singles:

Caitlin Bui[4], Washington St. Louis, d. Rebecca Kong[3], Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, 2-6, 6-1, 6-2

Doubles:

Clara Zou and Rosalyn Chan, Chicago, d. Yanire Marte and Devin Gilroy, Emory,  7-6(7), 6-1

MEN:

NAIA

Singles:

Kanan Gasimov[2], Georgia Gwinnett, d. Nicolas Cortes[4], Tennessee Wesleyan, 6-0, 6-2

Doubles:

Nicolas Philbert and Mariano Hasenkopf, Georgia Gwinnett, d. Facundo Grasso and Tadeo Ramirez[4], Lindsey Wilson, 6-1, 6-2

JUCO

Singles:

Koshiro Nakamae[2], Pratt CC, d. Matthew Harris[4], Pratt CC, 6-1, 6-3

Doubles:

Theo Cabre and Boitshepo Maake[3], Collin County CC, d. Edward Westgall and Oleksandr Ponomar[1], Pratt CC, 6-2, 6-2

DIVISION III

Singles:

Alex Feies[3], Carnegie Mellon, d. Garv Bahl[4], Tufts, 6-3, 6-3

Doubles:

Chase Kelley and Jesse Yang, Chicago, d. Juno Pethe and Mitchell Deames, Emory, 7-6(4), 7-5

Filing Now Open for NCAA Tennis Class Action Settlement Claims; Liutova Beats Zarazua, Faces Stephens for W100 Edmond Title; Connie Ma Makes W35 Redding Final; Gray Ends Mosejczuk's Winning Streak in Austin; Anthrop vs Papamalamis in M15 Lexington Final

The settlement announced in the case Reese Brantmeier(UNC) and others brought against the NCAA for restricting prize money has been out there for some time, but only now has the process for filing claims been established. The NCAA has set aside two million dollars to compensate student-athletes or prospective student-athletes who gave up money to retain their eligibility. The deadline for filing a claim is February 8, 2027; there will be a fairness hearing on January 8 in Greensboro North Carolina to determine if the settlement adequate. For more details on who is considered part of the Class seeking compensation, see this announcement, which has links to additional information.

Speaking of Brantmeier, the 2025 NCAA singles champion lost today in the semifinals of the W50 in Quebec, with No. 4 seed Kajsa Rinaldo Persson of Sweden posting a 7-5, 7-6(4) win. Rinaldo Persson will play unseeded Duke freshman Mimi Xu of Great Britain, who beat Ariana Arseneault(Auburn) of Canada 7-5, 6-2 to reach her first WTT women's final since last fall.

Brantmeier and Xu teamed up for the doubles title, with the unseeded pair defeating top seeds Arseneault and Raphaelle Lacasse(Kansas, Nebraska) of Canada 6-2, 6-7(5), 10-7. It's the fifth pro doubles title for Brantmeier and the seventh for Xu.

Sixteen-year-old Kristina Liutova has lost one match since July, to Qinwen Zheng of China in the first round of the US Open, and she is getting ever so close to the WTA Top 100 after reaching the final of the W100 in Edmond Oklahoma. In today's semifinal, the fourth-seeded Liutova earned her fourth WTA Top 100 win, beating No. 2 seed and WTA No. 85 Renata Zarazua of Mexico 6-1, 6-3.

Next up for Liutova, now 110 in the live rankings, is No. 5 Sloane Stephens, who prevented an all-teen final with a 2-6, 6-1, 7-6(5) win over 17-year-old Julieta Pareja. Pareja, who had advanced to semifinals earlier in the day with a 57-minute 6-1, 6-0 win over Kristina Penickova, served for the match at both 5-4 and 6-5, but only won one point in each of those service games.

At 33, Stephens is more than twice as old as Liutova, which is demonstrated by the disparity in their records on the pro tour. Stephens has played more than 700 matches, going 410-311, while Liutova has played just 83, with a record of 66-17.

In the W35 in Redding California, 2022 NCAA singles finalist Connie Ma is into her first ever pro final after beating No. 2 seed Lea Ma(Georgia) 1-6, 6-3, 7-6(3) this evening. The 23-year-old Ma, who had not played a pro event in five years, at the beginning of her freshman year at Stanford, qualified into the Berkeley 50 last month and reached the second round; she was awarded a wild card into the main draw this week. She will play the winner of tonight's match between No. 8 seed Annika Penickova and Ohio State junior Nao Nishino of Japan.

Ma is also through to the doubles final, with former Cal standout Berta Passola of Spain.

The M25 in Austin concludes Sunday with the singles final between French qualifier Cosme Rolland de Ravel, who played for TCU last year and top seed Alastair Gray of Great Britain, whose career at TCU lasted from 2017-21. Rolland de Ravel defeated No. 8 seed Lui Maxted of Great Britain, who graduated from TCU in 2025; Gray ended the 10-match USTA Pro Circuit winning streak of qualifier Dominick Mosejczuk, a sophomore at Wake Forest, with a 6-3, 7-5 win today.

The doubles title went to University of Texas teammates Gabriel Debru and Lucas Marionneau of France, who beat former Texas A&M teammates JC Roddick and Turkey's Togan Tokac 6-7(3), 6-4, 10-1 in the final.

Texas A&M junior Theo Papamalamis of France will face former Ohio State All-American Jack Anthrop in the final of the M15 in Lexington Kentucky Sunday.

Papamalamis, seeded fifth, defeated unseeded Nikola Slavic(Ole Miss) of Sweden 6-1, 7-6(4) in today's semifinals, with Anthrop getting by qualifier Eli Stephenson, a senior at Kentucky, 6-1, 3-6, 6-4. 

LSU sophomores Erik Arutiunian of Belarus and Olaf Pieczkowski of Poland won the doubles title, with the unseeded pair beating top seeds Slavic and Denmark's Oskar Brostrom Poulsen(Middle Tennessee, Baylor) 6-4, 3-6, 10-7 in the final.