Svajda Ready for Top Seed Ohio State as Men's ITA Indoor Championships Begin Friday; Pinnington Jones Makes Dallas Open Quarterfinals; Johnson Beats Fenty To Reach Sunrise M15 Quarterfinals; Preston Extends J300 Winning Streak in Peru

©Colette Lewis 2026--

Dallas Texas--

Today was Media Day for the teams at the ITA Men's Team Indoor Championships, and the eight teams at the SMU site cycled through the production area on the third floor, filming introductions, answering questions from Cracked Racquets announcer Chris Halioris, the ITA's social media consultants and Nate Walroth of Not Your Country Club.

One player who I wasn't able to talk to at the Dallas Open in my visit there yesterday was at the top of my list for an interview today, with SMU junior Trevor Svajda in a unique position to compare the level of the college game.

Svajda, who lost to Ethan Quinn 7-6(3), 7-5 in the first round of the Dallas Open, was in the unique position of being able to see the improvements in his game from one year to the next, after he had lost to Quinn in the first round of the Dallas Open last year 6-4, 6-2.

"I was excited when I saw the draw," Svajda said. "He's a great player, I'm kind of friends with him off the court, he's a nice kid, but I was excited to have a second chance at him. And I think I proved myself a little bit more this year than I did last year."

Although Svajda has been focusing on improving his serve and saw the fruits of that labor when he reached the NCAA singles final in November, he singled out Quinn's serve as the difference in the match Wednesday.

"His serve was the toughest thing," said the 19-year-old from San Diego, who broke Quinn just once in the match. "I got an early break in the first set, but I guessed right four times in a row and saw a couple of second serves. He broke me back right after, and I saw no more chances at all. He has one of the best serves I've played against, so I'd say that's the biggest difference."

Svajda is also not only in a position to rate his own game, but in the middle of his third collegiate season, he can compare the levels of the pros at the ATP 500 level and the players he competes against at the No. 1 position in collegiate competition.

"I think college tennis is at the highest level that it's ever been," Svajda said. "These players are definitely Top 200 players, some top 150, and I think college tennis is at its peak right now, it's pretty similar level to the ATP tour."

Svajda returned for his junior year after what he described as "not the greatest seasons" but with his results this fall he sees himself more prepared now for the pro tour.

"I think it was a good learning experience for me and I'm going to get as many matches as I can, and once I feel I'm ready, I'll turn pro," said Svajda, who believes his switch to a Yonex racquet has contributed to his improved results. "This season, it's looking more and more likely that I'm ready."

Svajda will take on Ohio State's Aidan Kim, who he beat in his run to the Kalamazoo 18s final in 2023 and lost to in an M25 last summer here in Dallas, at No. 1 singles in the noon match Friday.

"I think we're going to come out loose," Svajda said. "Anything can happen, it's college tennis, so I think no nerves for us. I think we're going to try to come out and play our best tennis. They are a good team."

Another player who just a year ago was playing No. 1 in the final of the ITA Men's Team Indoor, TCU's Jack Pinnington Jones, provided more evidence of the level at the top of the collegiate game, advancing to the quarterfinals of the Dallas Open with a 7-6(5), 4-6, 7-6(4) win over collegiate rival Eliot Spizzirri. Pinnington Jones, who lost to Wake Forest's Stefan Dostanic 7-6(3), 5-7, 6-4 in the deciding match, qualified for the Dallas Open and beat No. 4 seed Flavio Cobolli of Italy 6-2, 6-2 in the first round Tuesday.

In his first ATP quarterfinal Friday, Pinnington Jones will face Marin Cilic of Croatia, who beat Ethan Quinn(Georgia) 7-6(4), 6-3.

I'll be covering all four matches at the SMU site tomorrow; all matches at both sites will be available at the Cracked Racquets YouTube Channel, with two separate streams.

ITA Men's Division I Team Indoors first round matches Friday February 13, 2026

All times Central

Baylor site

Wake Forest[1] v UC Santa Barbara[8] 6:30 pm

Central Florida[4] v Baylor[5] 3:30 pm

Texas A&M[6] v Texas[3] 12:00 pm

LSU[7] v TCU[2] 9:00 am

SMU site

Ohio State[1] v SMU[8] noon

Stanford [4] v Arizona State[5] 9:00 am

Florida[6] v Mississippi State[3] 6:30 pm

Clemson[7] v Virginia[2] 3:30 pm

I probably won't have time to follow much else Friday, so I'll do a brief update tonight on the USTA Pro Circuit events, with the quarterfinals set at the ATP Challenger 50 in Baton Rouge and the M15 in Sunrise Florida. 

In Baton Rouge, Stefan Dostanic is through to his third Challenger quarterfinal and the second in a row, with the 24-year-old qualifier advancing to a meeting with LSU's Olaf Pieczkowski of Poland, who will not be available for the Tigers 9 a.m. match in Waco against TCU.

Wild card Braden Shick(NC State), playing in just his second career Challenger, beat No. 7 seed Tyler Zink(Georgia, Oklahoma State) 7-6(7), 6-4 to advance to a meeting with No. 2 seed Andres Andrade(Florida) of Ecuador. Cannon Kingsley(Ohio State) and Andre Ilagan(Hawaii) will face off in a an all-USA quarterfinal, with Daniel Milavsky(Harvard) playing top seed Alexis Galarneau(NC State) of Canada. Galarneau beat Jack Kennedy 6-4, 6-3 in the second round.

In Sunrise, 16-year-old Andy Johnson reached the quarterfinals of an M15 for the second time in three weeks, beating No. 2 seed Andrew Fenty(Michigan) 6-4, 7-6(2). Johnson will face qualifier Fermin Tenti of Argentina in the quarterfinals.

At the J300 in Lima Peru, Janae Preston continued her winning streak, with the No. 3 seed beating unseeded Sophie Triquart of Germany 6-1, 6-2. Preston, who won the J300 in Costa Rica last month and the J300 in Ecuador last week, will play top seed Candela Vasquez of Argentina in the semifinals.

In the all-USA semifinal in the bottom half, qualifier Londyn McCord will take on No. 5 seed Lani Chang.

All US boys are out in singles, but Gabriel Jessup and Agassi Rusher are through to the doubles final.  Chang and Preston, the top seeds, are in the girls doubles final.

Quinn Fights Off Jet Lag and SMU's Trevor Svajda to Advance, Spizzirri Uses Texas Support to Reach Second Round at ATP 500 Dallas Open

©Colette Lewis 2026--
Dallas, Texas--

I spent the day at the ATP 500 Nexo Dallas Open, watching many of the players I've covered in the juniors and in college competing or practicing at the highest levels of the game. 

I decided to focus on the two matches played on the Grandstand court at the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, which is where the Dallas Cowboys conduct their training camp.

Although most of the impressive midweek crowd was glued to the Center Court for 2024 champion Tommy Paul's 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(4) win over Jenson Brooksby, I wanted to watch the match between two former Kalamazoo 18s finalists: Ethan Quinn and wild card Trevor Svajda.

Quinn, now No. 74 in the ATP rankings, had played the SMU junior last year in the Dallas Open first round, earning a 6-4, 6-2 victory, but today's match was much closer, with Quinn earning a 7-6(3), 7-5 victory.

Svajda, a 19-year-old from San Diego, earned the first break of the match going up 3-2 in the first set, but Quinn immediately got the break back and earned a set point with Svajda serving at 4-5. But Svajda saved it with a good first serve, hit one of his six aces on the next point and put a forehand on the baseline to hold. 

In the tiebreaker Svajda made an unforced error to fall behind 4-2 and Quinn took control with a perfect and rare drop shot winner to go up 6-3. Svajda missed a backhand wide to give Quinn the set, but continued to go toe-to-toe with the 21-year-old Californian throughout the second set, holding from 0-40 down at 4-all with some clutch serving. 

But Quinn was holding much more easily and with Svajda serving at 5-all 15-30, Quinn got an extremely fortunate let cord winner on a return and converted on his first break point. 

Quinn dropped the first point, but raised his level after that, closing out Svajda with his seventh and eighth aces of the match.

After winning his Davis Cup singles match in Hungary on Saturday, an emotionally draining 13-11 in a third set tiebreaker over Fabian Marozsan, Quinn was happy to have a Wednesday noon start.

"I'm a little tired," Quinn said in a Mixed Zone interview after the match. "It's always a challenge going from one continent to the next, from Australia, back to North America, having just three or four nights to adjust to North American time zone, then go to Europe and adjust to that time zone. It's difficult, but that's just a part of professional tennis and as you do it more and more you just kind of get used to it. This is one of the first times I've had to do that and it definitely got to me a little bit, but it was nice that the tournament accommodated me, giving me a Wednesday start, first on. If I was playing later today, I don't know how that would have gone."

Quinn said he was impressed with how Svajda's game has improved in the past twelve months.

"Last year I was able to be a little bit more physical with him, hit him off the court a little bit," said Quinn, who lost to Learner Tien in the 2022 Kalamazoo 18s final, and won the NCAA title while a freshman at Georgia the following year. "This year Trevor was more aggressive with his second serve, moving his spots a little more. On the deuce side, his slider wide has improved a ton, and he was able to hit that spot short in the box and I was really having to go out and get it."

Quinn has been known for his potent forehand, but he has worked hard on his backhand in the past year.

"My backhand side is nails now," Quinn said. "It's very solid, I've beaten guys on big points just backhand to backhand. In Davis Cup, there was a lot of huge points that I beat Fabian just backhand to backhand, breaking him down, so from last year to now, I think that's the biggest improvement I made, along with my serve. I'm able to hit my spots a little better, a little bit bigger."

Quinn's second round opponent is 37-year-old Marin Cilic of Croatia, who won his 600th ATP match and prevented a rematch of that 2022 Kalamazoo final with a 7-5, 7-6(4) win over Learner Tien Tuesday.

"I saw that he won his 600th ATP match yesterday," Quinn said. "I mean, that's just unbelievable how long he's been able to do it. I remember as a kid, watching him win the US Open in an era that was dominated by three guys. Looking at him, you know I've thought, it's possible. Right now it's like Jannik and Carlos are the guys you're going to have to get through, but it's possible to win a grand slam (now) because he's proven it. So to be on the other side of the court from him, it's an honor."

Following Quinn and Svajda on Grandstand were Eliot Spizzirri and James Duckworth, with Duckworth getting the Wednesday start after playing Davis Cup for Australia over the weekend in Ecuador.

Spizzirri was in control from the start, got a break at 3-all in the second set and closed out the match with his best game of the match with two winners and two great serves for a 6-2, 6-4 victory.

The 24-year-old from Connecticut pointed to his improvement on that shot as one of the reasons he has risen to a career-high ATP ranking of 68.

"I would say the serve is a big area of my game that I've improved," Spizzirri said. "It's allowed me to free me up on return games, and get free points in service games. It's obviously one of the most important shots in tennis, and with that improved, it's carried over to better decision making in other parts of my game."

After his stunning match against Jannik Sinner in the third round of the Australian Open last month, Spizzirri admitted to seeing a change in the recognition he received.

"A little bit, I would say more immediately after (the Sinner match)," Spizzirri said. "When I was in Australia, the airport stuff and then at home. But not a crazy amount. It's definitely something you kind of notice, but I don't want to read too much into it. I am in Dallas, and I played a lot of tennis in Texas, so I wasn't surprised there's a few Longhorns here cheering me on."

Spizzirri flashed the Hook 'em Horns sign to the Texas fans after he finished the match, with many of those fans no doubt looking forward to his next match at the Dallas Open with college rival Jack Pinnington Jones of TCU. The pair faced off at No. 1 singles in the 2024 NCAA team final, with Pinnington Jones winning  2-6, 6-4, 6-2 to give TCU its third point in a 4-3 victory.

Pinnington Jones, who qualified for the main draw, earned his spot in the second round Tuesday with a 6-2, 6-2 win over No. 4 seed Flavio Cobolli of Italy.

Quinn and Spizzirri are both scheduled to play at noon on Thursday, but I'll be at media day for the ITA Men's Team Indoor Championships at SMU all day, so will be following results from there.

Dilek Saves Four Match Points in Third Set Tiebreaker to Deliver Georgia's Second Straight ITA Women's Division I Team Indoor Championship; Seeds, Matchups for Men's Indoor First Round Set for Friday; Kennedy Earns First Challenger Victory in Baton Rouge

Georgia freshman Deniz Dilek was up 6-0, 2-0, then down 5-0 and 6-3 in the third set tiebreaker of the deciding match of this year's ITA Women's Division I Team Indoor Championships. A whole lot happened in between, but Dilek simply would not concede defeat, with the result a 4-3 victory for defending champion Georgia over a formidable Ohio State team.

When Georgia took the courts this evening at the Combe Tennis Center on the campus of Northwestern University, they looked the part of the favorite, with the No. 2 seeds taking big leads at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles, while Ohio State, playing in their first Team  Indoor final, were up 5-1 at No. 3 doubles. 

Anastasiia Lopata and Patricija Paukstyte of Georgia closed out their match at line 2 6-1, but Dilek and Aysegul Mert had to win a deciding point with Dilek serving at 4-3 to keep their lead, and Mert came from 0-40 down before serving out the doubles point at 5-4. Meanwhile, Georgia's Anastasiia Gureva and Emma Dong had come all the way back from 5-1 down to even their match with Sophia Cisse-Ignatiev and Audrey Spencer, when Dilek and Mert put the point on the board for the Bulldogs. 

Ohio State had lost the doubles point in their quarterfinal win over North Carolina and their semifinal win over Texas A&M yesterday, so the Buckeyes were hardly daunted, even when Georgia took two quick sets with Dilek at line 3 and Anastasiia Gureva at line 4 charging out of the gates. But Ohio State began working their way back into matches they appeared out of, and when the final two first-sets were completed in tiebreakers, each team had three.  

That meant Ohio State had to win a three-set match, but after trailing Dilek 6-0, 2-0, Sophia Cisse-Ignatiev earned a split. Gureva made it 2-0 Georgia with a 6-2, 6-2 pounding on Nao Nishino at line 4, but the other five singles matches remained too close to call, with all but one on serve. 

Teah Chavez finally got Ohio State on the board with a 7-5, 6-4 win over Aysegul Mert, the hero in Georgia's 4-3 semifinal win over Auburn, at line 2. Georgia went up 3-1 with Sofia Rojas's 7-6(3), 6-4 victory over Hephzibah Oluwadare at line 6, but Luciana Perry countered with a 7-6(4), 6-4 win over Lopata at line 1. By that time, the last two matches were in tiebreakers, with Dong of Georgia needing to win a tiebreaker from Audrey Spencer at line 5 to force a third set. She could not, with Spencer saving a set point at 6-7 and closing out a 6-4, 7-6(7) win on her second match point to make it 3-3.

By that time Dilek trailed 5-0 in the tiebreaker, but the 18-year-old from Turkey won the next three points, before Buckeye sophomore Cisse-Ignatiev made it 6-3. Dilek played two solid points on serve to make it 6-5, then hit big with such depth up the middle that Cisse-Ignatiev was forced into an error. Cisse-Ignatiev earned a fourth match point with a first serve return error from Dilek, but hit a forehand wide to make it 7-7. 

Dilek then played a point that will live in Bulldog lore, tracking down a good drop shot from Cisse-Ignatiev and ripping a winner crosscourt to give her team its first championship point. She converted when Cisse-Ignative netted a backhand after a short rally, sending the Bulldogs into a jumping circle of red as they celebrated their third consecutive national title, with the 2025 NCAA championship sandwiched between their two National Indoor titles.

Georgia now has six ITA National Team Indoor titles, but all credit to Ohio State for their stunning performances throughout the tournament that has taken that program to new heights and gave college tennis fans a final to remember.

Georgia[2] d. Ohio State[5] 4-3

Doubles:
1. Deniz Dilek and Aysegul Mert(UGA) d. Hephzibah Oluwadare and Teah Chavez(OSU) 6-4
2. Anastasiia Lopata and Patricija Paukstyte(UGA) d. Luciana Perry and Flora Johnson(OSU) 6-1
3. Sophia Cisse-Ignatiev and Audrey Spencer(OSU) v Anastasiia Gureva and Emma Dong(UGA) 5-5, dnf

Order of finish: 2, 1

Singles:
1. Luciana Perry(OSU) d. Anastasiia Lopata(UGA) 7-6(4), 6-4
2. Teah Chavez(OSU) d. Aysegul Mert(UGA) 7-5, 6-4
3. Deniz Dilek(UGA) d. Sophia Cisse-Ignatiev(OSU) 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(7)
4. Anastasiia Gureva(UGA) d. Nao Nishino(OSU) 6-2, 6-2
5. Audrey Spencer(OSU) d. Emma Dong(UGA) 6-4, 7-6(7)
6. Sofia Rojas(UGA) d. Hephzibah Oluwadare(OSU) 7-6(3), 6-4

Order of finish: 4, 2, 6, 1, 5, 3

A replay of the match can be found at the Cracked Racquets YouTube Channel.

The ITA Men's Division I Team Indoor Championships begin Friday in Texas, with the seeds and the match times announced today. I'll be at SMU throughout the event, as I was last year.

ITA Men's Division I Team Indoor Championships first round matches 

Friday February 13, 2026

All times Central

Baylor site

Wake Forest[1] v UC Santa Barbara[8] 6:30 pm

Central Florida[4] v Baylor[5] 3:30 pm

Texas A&M[6] v Texas[3] 12:00 pm

LSU[7] v TCU[2] 9:00 am

SMU site

Ohio State[1] v SMU[8] noon

Stanford [4] v Arizona State[5] 9:00 am

Florida[6] v Mississippi State[3] 6:30 pm

Clemson[7] v Virginia[2] 3:30 pm

The two USTA Pro Circuit events this week are both men's events, with another M15 in Florida, this one in Sunrise, and an ATP Challenger 50 in Baton Rouge Louisiana.

After losing to eventual finalist Borna Gojo(Wake Forest) of Croatia 6-0, 6-0 in the first round last week in Cleveland in his Challenger main draw debut, University of Virginia signee Jack Kennedy picked up his first Challenger victory today, beating Antoine Ghibaudo(Kentucky) of France 6-4, 6-4.

In a Wednesday first round match in Sunrise, wild card Gavin Goode and Andy Johnson will play for the fourth time, with Johnson holding a 2-1 edge in their head-to-head on the ITF Junior Circuit.

Upstart Ohio State Faces Defending Champion Georgia in Tuesday's ITA Women's Division I Team Indoor Final; Four More ITF Junior Circuit Titles Last Week for Americans

There will be a new face and a familiar face in Tuesday night's final of the ITA Division I Women's Team Indoor Championships after defending champion Georgia came from behind to beat Auburn and Ohio State earned the program's a first trip to a national final with a win over Texas A&M.

Georgia looked down and out against Auburn this afternoon in Evanston, but roared backed from a 3-1 deficit to beat top seed Auburn 4-3 to return to the final.

Georgia, the No. 2 seed, lost the doubles point and dropped five first sets in singles. But freshman Deniz Dilek, the only Bulldog to win a first set, closed out Angella Okutoyi at line 3 7-5, 6-1 to put her team on the board. Auburn built the lead to 3-1 with straight-sets wins by Ava Esposito at line 5 and Ashton Bowers at line 4, and the Tigers' Ekaterina Khayrutdinova served for her match with Aysegul Mert at 6-3, 5-4 at line 2. But Mert broke back, and with Georgia's Anastasiia Lopata at line 1 and Emma Dong at line 6 already having forced third sets, everything rode on Mert getting through her second set. Mert, who had lost to Khayrutdinova in two previous meetings, trailed 3-0 in the tiebreaker, but won seven of the next nine points to force a third.

The third sets of the remaining three matches were all close, 4-4 at 1, 3-3 at 2 and 4-3 at 6. But Dong got the break for a 5-3 lead at 6, after Eva Ionescu had been up 40-0 in the game and served it out to make it 3-2.

Lopata was up 5-4 on serve at 1 and Mert was up 4-3 serving at 2, after seven straight breaks to start the third set. She got the crucial hold and had four match points in Khayrutdinova's 3-5 service game, when Khayrutdinova's call was overturned by the ELC after a Mert challenge, making it 0-40. But Khayrutdinova wasn't rattled, winning the next four points with some aggressive play, forcing Mert to serve it out. 

Mert took a 40-0 lead, made an error on her first match point, but forced an error with a big forehand to send Georgia back to the championship match against Ohio State.

The Buckeyes, seeded No. 5, had to find four singles points after dropping the doubles point to the third-seeded Aggies, but they had proven capable of that in their 4-2 quarterfinal win over No. 1 seed North Carolina on Saturday. 

Texas A&M made it 2-0 with Lucciana Perez continuing her steamrolling of opponents, beating Luciana Perry 6-2, 6-1. Perry had played number 1 in the Buckeyes' first two matches, but coach Melissa Schaub moved Teah Chavez to 1, as well as switching the lineup at line 3 and 4 and lines 5 and 6. Those switches paid off handsomely, with Chavez putting Ohio State ahead with her straight-sets win over Mia Kupres, and Audrey Spencer at 6, Hephzibah Oluwadare at 5 and Nao Nishino at 4 following with straight-sets victories one right after the other to earn the 4-2 win. 

Ohio State had reached the ITA Team Indoor semifinals in 2016 and 2017, but this will be their first final. Georgia will be playing for its sixth Team Indoor Championship Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. Central.

Cracked Racquets will have coverage of the final at their YouTube channel.

Women's ITA Division I Team Indoor Semifinals February 9, 2026

Georgia[2] d. Auburn[1] 4-3
Doubles:
1. Deniz Dilek and Aysegul Mert(UGA) d. DJ Bennett and Stefani Webb(AUB) 6-2
2. Angella Okutoyi and Ava Esposito(AUB) d. Anastasiia Lopata and Patricija Paukstyte(UGA) 6-1
3. Ekaterina Khayrutdinva and Ashton Bowers(AUB) d. Emma Dong and Anastasiia Gureva(UGA) 7-5

Order of finish: 2, 1, 3

Singles:

1. Anastasiia Lopata(UGA) d. DJ Bennett(AUB) 1-6, 6-2, 6-4

2. Aysegul Mert(UGA) d. Ekaterina Khayrutdinova(AUB) 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-4

3. Deniz Dilek(UGA) d. Angella Okutoyi(AUB) 7-5, 6-1

4. Ashton Bowers(AUB) d. Anastasiia Gureva(UGA) 6-4, 6-3

5. Ava Esposito(AUB) d. Sofia Rojas(UGA) 6-4, 6-4

6. Emma Dong(UGA) d. Eva Ionescu(AUB) 3-6, 6-3, 6-3

Order of finish: 3, 5. 4, 6, 1, 2

Ohio State[5] d. Texas A&M[3] 4-2

Doubles:

1. Mia Kupres and Lucciana Perez(TAMU) d. Hephzibah Oluwadare and Teah Chavez(OSU) 6-3

2. Flora Johnson and Luciana Perry(OSU) v Violeta Martinez and Anna Perelman(TAMU) 5-4, dnf

3. Lexington Reed and Daria Smetannikov(TAMU) d. Sophia Cisse-Ignatiev and Audrey Spencer(OSU) 6-4

Order of finish: 1, 3

Singles:

1. Teah Chavez(OSU) d. Mia Kupres(TAMU) 6-2, 6-4

2. Lucciana Perez(TAMU) d. Luciana Perry(OSU) 6-2, 6-1

3. Lexington Reed(TAMU) v Sophia Cisse-Ignatiev(OSU) 7-5, 5-4 unf

4. Nao Nishino(OSU) d. Violeta Martinez(TAMU) 6-4, 6-2

5. Hephzibah Oluwadare(OSU) d. Daria Smetannikov(TAMU) 6-3, 6-4

6. Audrey Spencer(OSU) d. Anna Perelman(TAMU) 6-1, 6-4

Order of finish: 2, 1, 6, 5, 4

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

In addition to the titles by Michael Antonius and Janae Preston at the ITF J300 in Ecuador,  which I covered in Saturday's post, six other Americans won titles on the ITF Pro Circuit.

At the J60 in Mexico, Chase Bowden won his first title on the ITF Junior Circuit, and is the first player I can recall claiming a title when they received entry based on their WTN ranking. Bowden, a 16-year-old from Florida, has competed in the Battle of Boca series of events there, which has doubtless assisted in building up his World Tennis Number ranking.  Bowden, obviously not seeded, defeated No. 2 seed Justin Riley Anson 7-5, 6-4 in an all-USA final.

In the girls doubles final, No. 7 seeds Enya Hamilton and Autumn Xu won their second ITF junior doubles title, beating No. 2 seeds Sofia Mills and Mexico's Maria Jose Gil Castillo 6-0, 6-3 in the final. 

At the J30 in Sri Lanka, Swanika Roy won her second straight title, this week as the top seed, after winning the week before as the No. 4 seed. The 16-year-old defeated No. 2 seed Yeon Joo Cha of Korea 6-3, 6-1 in the final.

At the J30 in Kenya, sisters Bi-Neh Awantang 15, and Mbongta Awantang 16, won their first ITF Pro Circuit title in doubles; after defeating the top seeds in the second round, the unseeded pair took the title when No. 3 seed Kudzai and Kuzivaishe Chapepa of Zimbabwe retired at 4-6, 5-3. 

There is another J300 in South America this week in Lima Peru, with Janae Preston the No. 3 seed. Other seeded US girls are Lani Chang[5] and Yael Saffar[6]. 

Michael Antonius is not making the switch from hard courts to clay, with the only seeded boy No. 5 Agassi Rusher, who qualified. Navneet Raghuram, who reached the semifinals last week in Ecudador, is also in the draw.

The top boys seed is Emilio Camacho of Ecuador, with Candela Vazquez of Argentina the top girls seed.

Smith Defends Cleveland Challenger Title; Day Wins W50 in Orlando; USA Shuts Out Hungary to Advance in Davis Cup; Zheng and Svajda Receive Dallas Open Wild Cards, TCU Pair Claim Doubles WC

Colton Smith returned to the scene of his first ATP Challenger title one year ago and emerged with his second Cleveland Open Challenger 75 title today. The 22-year-old former All-American was a senior at Arizona when he defeated Eliot Spizzirri(Texas) 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-3 in the 2025 final; now beginning his first full season as a professional, the No. 2 seed defeated former Wake Forest All-American Borna Gojo of Croatia 6-4, 7-5 in today's final, avenging his loss to Gojo in the Sioux Falls Challenger in October of 2024.

Smith, who saved a match point in his first round against Cannon Kingsley(Ohio State), moves up to 142 in the live rankings; his career high is 133.

At the USTA Pro Circuit W50 in Orlando, unseeded Kayla Day won her second title of the year, beating wild card Katrina Scott  6-4, 6-2 in today's final. Day, the 2016 USTA National 18s champion, is back into the WTA Top 200 with this title.

Ryan Colby(USC, Georgia) fell in the final of the M15 in Palm Coast Florida, with No. 2 seed Tommaso Compagnucci of Italy defeating Colby 6-3, 7-6(3).

At the W50 in Portugal, former North Carolina All-American Fiona Crawley won the biggest title of her career, with the No. 7 seed beating 18-year-old Elizara Yaneva of Bulgaria 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-4 in the final. Crawley is up to a career-high 202 in the WTA rankings.

The United States Davis Cup Team clinched a spot in September's second round of qualifying today in Hungary, with Christian Harrison and Austin Krajicek(Texas A&M) beating Zsombor Piros and Fabian Marozsan 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in the doubles to give the US the 3-0 win. Emilio Nava won the dead rubber over Matyas Fuel 6-2, 6-3 to make the final score 4-0.

The United States will play an away tie in the Czech Republic in September, after losing 3-2 to the Czech team in the second round of qualifying last September in Delray Beach.

The ATP 500 Nexo Dallas Open begins Monday, with four of the five players on the US Davis Cup team making the trip back from Europe to compete.

Christian Harrison, who won the Dallas title last year with Evan King, is playing with Neal Skupski(LSU) of Great Britain and the Australian Open doubles champions are the No. 2 seeds. Austin Krajicek is playing with Nikola Mektic of Croatia and they have drawn No. 1 seeds Marcel Granollers of Spain and Horacio Zeballos of Argentina. 

Tommy Paul, the No. 5 seed, plays Jenson Brooksby in the first round, while Ethan Quinn(Georgia) will play wild card Trevor Svajda.

Svajda, the 19-year-old junior at SMU, also received a Dallas Open wild card last year and played Quinn in the first round, falling 6-4, 6-2.

Another interesting rematch features wild card Michael Zheng,  the Columbia senior and two-time NCAA champion, and Sebastian Korda. Last month Zheng beat Korda in the first round of the Australian Open after getting through qualifying.

The third wild card went to Eliot Spizzirri, the former Texas star, whose profile was raised considerably after his second round loss to Jannik Sinner in Australia last month. Spizzirri will play James Duckworth of Australia in the first round.

The qualifying concluded today with Zachary Svajda, Rafael Jodar(Virginia) of Spain, Jack Pinnington Jones(TCU) of Great Britain and Sho Shimabukuro of Japan reaching the main draw. 

Svajda faces No. 3 seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain; Jodar plays defending champion Denis Shapovalov of Canada, the No. 7; Pinnington Jones faces No. 4 seed Flavio Cobolli of Italy and Shimabukuro plays Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia.

TCU's Duncan Chan and Cosme Rolland De Ravel won the Collegiate Doubles Wild Card Playoff and will compete in the main draw. They will face Constantin Frantzen(Baylor) of Germany and Robin Haase of the Netherlands in the first round.

I plan to be at the Dallas Open on Wednesday, as I am heading to that city for the ITA Men's Division I Team Indoor Championships, which begin Friday.

The four semifinalists at the ITA Women's Division I Team Indoor had the day off today as the Champaign semifinalists Ohio State and Texas A&M travel north to Northwestern. Georgia and Auburn will play at 3:30 pm Central time, followed by Ohio State and Texas A&M, not before 6:30 pm.

Cracked Racquets will be providing coverage on their YouTube channel.

Buckeye Women Take Down No.1 UNC, OSU Men Beat No.1 Virginia; Antonius and Preston Claim ITF J300 Titles in Ecuador; Smith Returns to Cleveland Challenger Final; Day vs Scott for W50 Orlando Title; Quinn Gives US Davis Cup Team 2-0 Lead in Hungary

Saturday was a good day to be an Ohio State tennis fan, with both the women and the men taking down the No. 1 teams in the country.

Although the North Carolina women were not technically No. 1 in the last coaches poll released, they were the No. 1 seeds in this weekend ITA Division I women's Team Indoor Championships, but their pedigree did not intimidate the fifth-seeded Buckeyes. 

After getting absolutely blitzed in doubles, Ohio State won five of six first sets in singles and closed out two of those matches to take a 2-1 lead. UNC's Tatum Evans finished her match in straight sets to tie it, and Ohio State closed out another straight sets win to go up 3-2. But Reese Brantmeier at line 1 and Thea Rabman at line 6 had won second sets to give North Carolina a chance for a memorable comeback. Rabman had trailed 4-1 in the second set before winning five straight games, so the momentum was definitely with the Tar Heels, but Hephzibah Oluwadare of Ohio State closed out her big lead in the third set, putting that second set behind her and clinching the upset.

Ohio State will play another surprise winner in Monday's semifinals, after No. 3 seed Texas A&M defeated No. 2 seed Oklahoma 4-2. 

The Northwestern site's quarterfinals went as seeded, with No. 1 Auburn beating NC State 4-1 and No. 2 seed Georgia shutting out No. 3 seed LSU.

ITA Women's Division I Team Indoor Quarterfinals, February 7, 2026

Illinois Site:

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

Doubles:
1. Mia Kupres and Lucciana Perez(TAMU) d. Roisin Gilheany and Evialina Laskevich(OKLA) 7-5
2. Salakthip Ounman and Julia Garcia Ruiz(OKLA) d. Anna Perelman and Violeta Martinez(TAMU) 7-5
3. Laura Brunkel and Oyiniomo Quadre(OKLA) d. Daria Smetannikov and Lexington Reed(TAMU) 6-2

Order of finish: 3, 1, 2

Singles:

1. Evialina Laskevich(OKLA) v Mia Kupres(TAMU) 3-6, 6-2, 4-3, unf

2. Lucciana Perez(TAMU) d. Julia Garcia Ruiz(OKLA) 6-3, 6-4

3. Lexington Reed(TAMU) d. Chloe Noel(OKLA) 6-3, 6-3

4. Edda Mamedova(OKLA) d. Violeta Martinez(TAMU) 7-6(4), 6-3

5. Daria Smetannikov(TAMU) d. Salakthip Ounmang(OKLA) 6-1, 6-3

6. Anna Perelman(TAMU) d. Oyinlomo Quadre(OKLA) 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 

Order of finish: 3, 5, 2, 4, 6

Ohio State[5] d. North Carolina[1] 4-2

Doubles:

1. Ange Oby Kajuru and Susanna Maltby(UNC) d. Hephzibah Oluwadare and Teah Chavez(OSU) 6-2

2. Alanis Hamilton and Reese Brantmeier(UNC) d. Luciana Perry and Floria Johnson(OSU) 6-2

3. Tatum Evans and Anna Frey(UNC) v Sophia Cisse-Ignatiev and Audrey Spencer(OSU) 4-4, dnf

Order of finish: 1, 2

Singles:

1. Reese Brantmeier(UNC) v Luciana Perry(OSU) 3-6, 7-5, 4-5, unf

2. Teah Chavez(OSU) d. Ange Oby Kajuru(UNC) 6-3, 6-2

3. Tatum Evans(UNC) d. Nao Nishino(OSU) 6-4, 6-3

4. Sophia Cisse-Ignatiev(OSU) d. Anna Frey(UNC) 7-6(4), 6-1

5. Audrey Spencer(OSU) d. Alanis Hamilton(UNC) 7-5, 6-3

6. Hephzibah Oluwadare(OSU) d. Thea Rabman(UNC) 6-1, 4-6, 6-1

Order of finish: 2, 4, 3, 5, 6

Northwestern site:

Georgia[2] d. LSU[3] 4-0

Doubles:

1. Deniz Dilek and Aysegul Mert(UGA) d. Kenna Erickson and Ella McDonald(LSU) 6-2

2. Anastasiia Lopata and Patricija Paukstyte(UGA) d. Cadence Brace and Addison Lanton(LSU) 6-1

3. Anastasiia Gureva and Emma Dong(UGA) v Carolina Kuhl and Alexia Marginean(LSU) 5-2, unf

Order of finish: 2, 1

Singles:

1. Cadence Brace[LSU} v Aysegul Mert(UGA) 6-1, 5-4, unf

2. Ella McDonald(LSU) v Anastasiia Lopata(UGA) 6-1, 4-6 1-0, unf

3. Deniz Dilek(UGA) d. Carolina Kuhl(LSU) 6-3, 7-5

4. Anastasiia Gureva(UGA) d. Florentine Dekkers(LSU) 6-0, 6-0

5. Emma Dong(UGA) v Addison Lanton(LSU) 6-3, 1-6, unf

6. Sofia Rojas(UGA) d. Kenna Erickson(LSU) 6-0, 6-2

Order of finish: 4, 6, 3

Auburn[1] d. NC State[5] 4-1

Doubles:

1. Gabriella Broadfoot and Victoria Osuigwe(NCST) d. Stefani Webb and DJ Bennett(AUB) 6-0

2. Angella Okutoyi and Ava Esposito(AUB) d. Jasmine Conway and Anna Zyryanova(NCST) 6-4 

3. Ekaterina Khayrutdinova and Ashton Bowers(AUB) v Mia Slama and Lavinia Tanasie(NCST) 6-4

Order of finish: 1, 2, 3

Singles:

1. DJ Bennett(AUB) d. Mia Slama(NCST) 6-2, 6-4

2. Gabriella Broadfoot(NCST) v Ekaterina Khayrutdinova(AUB) 2-6, 6-1, 4-3, unf

3. Angella Okutoyi(AUB) v Anna Zyryanova(NCST) 6-4, 4-6, unf

4. Ashton Bowers(AUB) d. Victoria Osuigwe(NCST) 6-4, 6-2

5. Lavinia Tanasie(NCST) d. Eva Ionescu(AUB) 6-3, 6-3

6. Ava Esposito(AUB) d. Jasmine Conway(NCST) 6-4, 6-4

Order of finish: 6, 1, 5, 4

In Columbus, the Ohio State men, No. 2 in the recent coaches poll, defeated No. 1 Virginia 5-2, although the match was 4-1 at the clinch. Ohio State won the doubles point and got wins from Alex Bernard at line 5, Loren Byers at line 6 and the clinch from Preston Stearns at 2. Virginia got its points from freshman Andres Santamarta at line 3 and Dylan Dietrich at 1, with Bryce Nakashima getting the Buckeyes' fifth point at line 4.

Ohio State has now beaten No. 1 Wake Forest and No. 1 Virginia, so I expect that they will be the top seeds at next week's Men's Team Indoor in Texas. Both Virginia and Ohio State will be at the SMU site, with Wake Forest at the Baylor site for the first two rounds.

For the complete box score, see this article from ohiostatebuckeyes.com.

Janae Preston and Michael Antonius have gotten off to great starts this, with the pair, both born in 2010, picking up their second ITF J300 titles of the year today in Salinas Ecuador.

Preston, who doesn't turn 16 until August, defeated Sarah Ye, playing in her first J300 final, 6-1, 6-1 in the all-USA final. Preston, who did not lose more than three games in any set this week, now has a 10-match winning streak at J300s, after winning the Coffee Bowl in Costa Rica two weeks ago.

As impressive as Preston has been, Antonius has gone undefeated in 2026, winning both singles and doubles last week at the J300 in Colombia and this week in Ecuador. Antonius, who turned 16 last month, defeated Ecuador's Lucas Yunez 6-0, 6-3 in the final for his tenth consecutive singles victory. With his eight doubles wins, Antonius is 18-0 so far this year.

At the ATP Challenger 75 in Cleveland, No. 2 seed Colton Smith(Arizona) will defend his title against unseeded Borna Gojo of Croatia. Smith defeated Keegan Smith(UCLA) 7-6(4), 6-1 in today's semifinal, with Gojo beating qualifier Joshua Sheehy(Abilene Christian), who was playing in his first Challenger semifinal at age 29, 6-3, 7-6(8).

The unseeded team of Cannon Kingsley(Ohio State) and Jody Maginley(Northern Kentucky) won the doubles title, beating No. 2 seeds George Goldhoff(Texas) and Colum Puttergill of Australia 6-3, 6-4 in today's final.

The final of the USTA Pro Circuit M50 in Orlando will feature two unseeded Americans with Kayla Day taking on wild card Katrina Scott. Day defeated fellow left-hander Kayla Cross(LSU) of Canada, the No. 5 seed, 6-4, 6-4. Scott breezed past qualifier Eryn Cayetano(USC) 6-0, 6-1.

Lia Karatancheva of Bulgaria and Anita Sahdiieva(Baylor, LSU) of Ukraine won the doubles title, with the No. 4 seeds defeating the unseeded team of Thaisa Pedretti of Brazil and Noelia Zeballos Melgar of Bolivia 6-3, 6-4 in the final.

At the M15 in Palm Coast Florida, Ryan Colby(USC, Georgia), who won his first Pro Circuit title in November, will play for his second Sunday. The unseeded 22-year-old will face No. 2 seed Tommaso Compagnucci of Italy in the final. Colby defeated unseeded Joao Vitor Goncalves Ceolin of Brazil 6-4, 6-2, while Compagnucci beat unseeded Fermin Tenti 6-3, 7-6(4).

The doubles title went to No 2 seeds Tenti and Ignacio Monzon of Argentina, who beat top seeds Compagnucci and Argentina's Manuel Mouilleron Salvo 7-6(4), 6-4. 

At a Davis Cup First Round Qualifying match in Hungary, the US team took a 2-0 lead, with Tommy Paul winning the first singles match over Zsombor Piros 7-6(3), 6-3 and Ethan Quinn(Georgia) saving four match points in the final set tiebreaker to beat Fabian Marozsan 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(11).

Christian Harrison and Austin Krajicek(Texas A&M) will attempt to close it out Sunday morning when they play Piros and Marozsan in the doubles match.