NCAA D-I Draws Provide Early Challenges for Top Seeds; Secord Advances to M15 Naples Final; Anthrop Reaches Another Final at M25 Columbus; Gailis Plays for Title at W35 Weston; Fritz Ends Season with Stockholm Title

The draws for next week's NCAA Division I singles and doubles championships were released this afternoon, with top seeds Mimi Xu of Duke and Roger Pascual of TCU set to face experienced opponents in the early rounds.

Xu will play Kyoka Kubo of Kansas in the first round, with Kubo the only quarterfinalist from last year in the draw. If the freshman from Great Britain gets past Kubo, whe could face Jennifer Jackson of Texas Tech, who is 10-1 this fall and posted a win over preseason No. 2 Carmen Herea of Texas in Sectional play recently.

Pascual will face Kyle McNally of Dayton, who is 10-2 this fall, and then plays the winner of match between Luca Pow of Wake Forest and preseason No. 5 Devin Badenhorst of Baylor. Pow is the only quarterfinalist from last year in the field, posting a win over Virginia's Dylan Dietrich in the round of 16.

No. 2 Luca Preda of Virginia has also drawn a tough opponent in Connor Van Schalkwyk of Baylor. Preda, the top-ranked Newcomer in the preason, lost to Van Schalkwyk 6-3, 6-7(3), 6-3 in the ITA All-American consolation semifinals, which put Van Schalkwyk into the NCAAs, while Preda earned his spot in the NCAAs by advancing to the final at Atlantic Regional. Van Schalkwyk also reached the final of the M25 in Harlingen last week, so he is in top form.

My preview of the tournament for Tennis Recruiting Network will be up Sunday morning, but I had to submit it before the draws were released, so I wasn't able to delve into anyone's path to the title.

Pow didn't get a break in the doubles either, with he and partner Cornelius Shalmi facing top seeds Nikita Filin and Brandon Carpico of Ohio State in the first round Wednesday.

North Carolina's Maddy Zampardo and Susanna Maltby will need to be ready for their possible second round encounter with Sara Shumate and Gloria Nahum of Oklahoma, with Nahum 25-5 in doubles last year for the Sooners, and Shumate winning the USTA girls 18s title (with Georgia's Bella Payen) in San Diego this year.

Men's singles: https://www.ncaa.com/_flysystem/public-s3/files/2026%20M%20Singles%20Bracket_0.pdf

Women's singles: https://www.ncaa.com/_flysystem/public-s3/files/2026%20W%20Singles%20Bracket_0.pdf

Men's doubles: https://www.ncaa.com/_flysystem/public-s3/files/2026%20M%20Doubles%20Bracket_0.pdf

Women's doubles: https://www.ncaa.com/_flysystem/public-s3/files/2026%20W%20Doubles%20Bracket_0.pdf

Jack Secord will look to join his peers Keaton Hance, Andy Johnson, Michael Antonius and Jack Kennedy as champion on the USTA Pro Circuit tomorrow after his comeback victory in today's semifinal at the M15 in Naples Florida. The 18-year-old from Illinois, who is No. 16 in the World Tennis junior rankings, defeated No. 3 seed Dragos Cazacu(Tennessee, Oklahoma) of Romania 2-6, 6-4, 6-3. He will play qualifier Lucca Liu(UC-Santa Barbara), who defeated wild card Tomas Jirousek(TCU) of Czechia 6-4, 7-6(3). He will also be competing in his first Pro Circuit final. 

Jack Anthrop has been winning consistently this fall on the USTA Pro Circuit although the recent Ohio State graduate has yet to claim a title. The 23-year-old from Florida will have another chance tomorrow on his collegiate home courts at the M25 in Columbus, after he avenged two losses last year in Big Ten competition against Matt Forbes, then with Michigan State. Forbes, who transferred to Ohio State, had won both of those matches in three sets, so it's no surprise this one went the distance as well, with Anthrop prevailing 6-7(3), 6-0, 6-2. 

The unseeded Anthrop, who has made two M15 finals and an M25 semifinal since the beginning of October, will face top seed Raphael Perot(Texas A&M) of France, who beat current Aggie Bor Artnak of Slovenia, the No. 4 seed, 7-6(4), 6-3 today.

Forbes did get his revenge quickly however, with he and teammate Alex Okonkwo of Great Britain beating Anthrop and Preston Stearns 7-6(1), 6-3 in the doubles final. Forbes and Okonkwo will arrive in Athens for the NCAAs with the confidence of a recent pro title.

At the W35 in Weston Florida, a former Florida Gator and a current one will square off for a title. Qualifier Rachel Gailis, an All-American at Florida in 2024, defeated No. 3 seed Aran Teixido Garcia(Cincinnati, Memphis, LSU) of Spain 6-3, 6-4 and will compete in her first women's WTT final since June of 2025. She will play fellow qualifier Jana Hossam of Egypt, who beat unseeded Dasha Ivanova 6-1, 6-1. Hossam, a semifinalist at the NCAAs last year as a sophomore at USC, transferred to Florida for this season.

Texas A&M junior Lexington Reed, who will be playing in both singles and doubles at the NCAAs next week, won the doubles title in Weston with 2026 teammate Violeta Martinez. The unseeded pair defeated Hossam and Florida freshman Allegra Korpanec Davies of Great Britain 6-3, 6-2 in today's final. It's the third pro doubles title for Reed, the first for Martinez.

At the W15 in Lincoln Nebraska, Kristina Paskauskas, who will be playing doubles at the NCAAs with Reed, has reached the final, beating qualifier Ave Esposito(Auburn) 6-3, 6-2. She will face recent Texas A&M graduate Mia Kupres of Canada, who defeated No. 6 seed Karla Bartel(Alabama) of Germany 6-1, 6-2.

Auburn will leave Lincoln with a title in doubles, after teammates Merna Refaat of Egypt and Isabella Kruger of South Africa, who were unseeded, beat No. 2 seeds Jeena Dean and Maria Kononova(North Texas) of Russia 6-1, 7-5.

The last Americans were eliminated today at the ATP Challenger 75 in Knoxville Tennessee, with No. 2 seed Michael Zheng(Columbia) falling to No. 4 seed Clement  Chidekh(Washington) 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 and qualifier Daniel Milavsky(Harvard) losing to unseeded Abdullah Shelbayh(Florida) 7-6(6), 6-3.

No. 3 seeds Jarno Jans of the Netherlands and Joran Vliegan(East Carolina) of Belgium won their third straight Challenger doubles title, beating unseeded Andy Andrade(Florida) of Ecuador and Johannes Ingildsen(Florida) of Denmark 7-5, 6-3 in today's final.

At the ATP Challenger 125 in France, Nishesh Basavareddy is through to the final, with the unseeded former Stanford All-American beating No. 2 seed Daniel Altmaier of Germany 6-2, 6-3 to reach his third Challenger final of the year. Basavareddy, who won both of those finals, will face unseeded Otto Virtanen of Finland, who beat unseeded Pedro Martinez of Spain 6-2, 6-2. Basavareddy will take the lead in the USTA's Australian Open Wild Card Challenge if he wins the title tomorrow, with just one more week to go in the race. Basavareddy won the AO wild card race in 2024.

At the WTA Finals in Indian Wells, Jessica Pegula lost to Mirra Andreeva of Russia 6-3, 6-4 in the semifinals. Elina Svitolina of Ukraine defeated Linda Noskova of Czechia 6-1, 6-2 to advance to the final against Andreeva.

Taylor Fritz won his 12th ATP title today at the Stockholm 250 to end his season on a positive note after failing to qualify for the ATP Finals in Turin. He defeated Thiago Tirante of Argentina 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(3) and will finish the year ranked in the Top 10 for the fifth straight year. 

Ben Shelton(Florida) and Frances Tiafoe will be competing in the ATP Finals in Turin Italy, with Shelton playing his first group match against Arthur Fils of France Sunday. Former University of Virginia All-American Rafael Jodar of Spain is also in the field, becoming the first player to reach the ATP Finals in his first year on the ATP Tour. He faces ATP No. 1 Alexander Zverev of Germany in group play Sunday.

USTA's 2027 Junior Schedule Reveals Easter Bowl Moving from Indian Wells; Secord Reaches First USTA Pro Circuit Semifinal at Naples M15; Forbes Advances at Columbus M25; Zheng into Knoxville Challenger Semis

The complete USTA National Junior Tournament Schedule for 2027 isn't out yet, but the USTA portion of it, not including the World Tennis events, has been added as a link on usta.com, and that version features one notable change of venues. The USTA Spring Championships, also known as the Easter Bowl, will no longer be in the Palm Springs area in 2027.

The tournament, which dates back to 1968 for the 14s, 16s and 18s (the 12s division joined in 2014), has been in the Palm Springs area of Southern California since 1995, with the main site Indian Wells Tennis Garden, home of the BNP Paribas Open, since 2014. That 30-year run is over, with the tournament moving to Orange County for 2027.

The NJTS identifies the venue for the March 20-28 tournament as Great Park Tennis Center in Irvine California, although, as always, there will be many other sites in the area used given the size of the event. The USTA Southern California section will be responsible for the event, and an official announcement with more details is expected in the next several weeks.

2026 Kalamazoo 18s semifinalist Jack Secord will play in his first USTA Pro Circuit semifinal after another straight-sets win at the M15 in Naples Florida. The 18-year-old left-hander from Illinois, who reached the quarterfinals at the M15 in Ithaca last month on indoor hard courts, defeated qualifier Youcef Rihane(Florida State) of Algeria 6-1, 6-3 to continue his run this week on outdoor clay courts. 

Secord, who received entry via the World Tennis junior reserved program, plays the only seed remaining, No. 3 Dragos Cazacu(Tennessee, Oklahoma) of Romania. Cazzcu defeated Joaquim Almeida(VCU, Liberty) of Brazil 6-1, 6-4 in the quarterfinals today.

Wild card Tomas Jirousek(TCU) of Czechia will face recent UC Santa Barbara graduate Lucca Liu, after Jirousek defeated 18-year-old qualifier Riley Anson 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-3 and Liu ousted No. 4 seed Evan Bynoe(Cornell). Liu has reached four quarterfinals on the WT men's tennis tour this year, but this is the 22-year-old's first semifinal. Jirousek, 26, is playing his first pro circuit event since November of 2023, when he was in his fifth year at TCU.

Michigan State's Sheldon brothers, Max and Mitchell, won their first doubles title in Naples without taking the court. The No. 2 seeds received a walkover from No. 4 seed Tristan McCormick(Notre Dame, Georgia) and 44-year-old Jesse Witten(Kentucky). 

At the M25 in Columbus, 2024 Kalamazoo 18s champion Matt Forbes has broken out of his fall slump this week, advancing to the semifinals. Forbes, who transferred to Ohio State from Michigan State this spring, was unsuccessful in his attempts to qualify for the NCAAs and lost in the first round of the two USTA Pro Circuit touraments he played prior to this. Today he defeated Arizona State junior Ofek Shimanov of Israel 6-4, 6-2 and will play recent Ohio State graduate Jack Anthrop, who defeated No. 6 seed Alec Dekkers of the Netherlands 5-7, 6-3, 6-4.

Forbes and Anthrop played twice last year, with Forbes winning both matches, but they were close: 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 in March and 6-2, 5-7, 7-6(3) in the Big Ten conference tournament final, with Forbes clinching the title for the Spartans with that victory.

In the top half, No. 1 seed Raphael Perot(Texas A&M) of France defeated Ohio State sophomore Victor Lilov 6-7(4), 7-5, 6-4 and No. 4 seed Bor Artnak of Slovenia beat current Texas A&M teammate Theo Papamalamis of France, the No. 5 seed, 7-5, 6-4.

The doubles final will be all-Buckeyes, but surprisingly will not No. 1 seeds Nikita Filin and Brandon Carpico, who lost to teammates Preston Stearns and Jack Anthrop in the quarterfinals. Stearns and Anthrop will face Forbes and Alexander Okonkwo, who advanced to the final via a walkover from Ohio State's Bryce Nakashima and Aidan Kim.

At the ATP Challenger 75 in Knoxville, No. 2 seed Michael Zheng(Columbia) came from 5-3 down in the second set to defeat Stefan Kozlov tonight to advance to the semifinals. Zheng will face No. 4 seed Clement Chidekh(Washington) of France, who beat No. 7 seed Liam Draxl(Kentucky) of Canada 6-4, 0-6, 6-2.

In the top half, qualifier Daniel Milavsky(Harvard), advanced to his second Challenger semifinal with a 6-3, 1-6, 7-5 win over Max Rehberg of Germany; he play unseeded Abdullah Shelbayh(Florida) of Jordan, who beat Alastair Gray(TCU) of Great Britain 6-4, 6-4.

Qualifier Rachel Gailis(Florida) and unseeded Dasha Ivanova have reached the semifinals of the W35 in Weston Florida, with Gailis defeating No. 7 seed Ilinca Amariei(Texas A&M) of Romania 6-2, 6-3 and Ivanova defeated Michaela Laki(NC State, Miami) of Greece 6-3, 6-4.  Gailis will play No. 3 seed Aran Teixido Garcia(Cincinnati, Memphis, LSU) of Spain, while Ivanova faces Florida junior Janna Hossam of Egypt, a qualifier.

At the W15 in Lincoln Nebraska, qualifier Ava Esposito(Auburn) is through to the semifinals after beating teammate and No. 7 seed Merna Refaat of Egypt 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 today. She will face Texas A&M senior Kristina Paskauskas of Great Britain, who ended the run of 18-year-old qualifier Karlin Schock 6-4, 6-2.  Unseeded Mia Kupres(Texas A&M) of Canada will play No. 6 seed Karla Bartel(Alabama) of Germany in the other semifinal. 

No. 2 Seed Rice Withdraws From NCAA Championships, Complete Redo of Women's Doubles Seeds; Anson and Secord Reach Quarterfinals at M15 Naples; Schock Advances at W15 Lincoln; Pegula Moves On at WTA Finals; USTA Board for 2027-28 Term Announced

With none of the top 4 men in the ITA preseason rankings competing next week at the NCAA championships, the list of obvious favorites was short, and it shrunk even more yesterday when No. 2 seed and ITA All-American finalist Keegan Rice of Virginia withdrew.

Rice, who didn't play the Charlottesville Challenger, was announced as a member of Canada's Davis Cup team today, after both Denis Shapovalov and Gabriel Diallo(Kentucky) withdrew with an injury. The Davis Cup quarterfinals begin on November 24 in Italy; the NCAA singles and doubles finals are on November 22.

With Rice withdrawing prior to Saturday's release of the draw, everyone except No. 1 Roger Pascual of TCU moved up a spot. Luca Preda of Virginia is now No. 2, Cornell's Rodrigo Fernandes moved from a 9-16 seed to No. 8 and Texas's Oliver Ojakaar is now a 9-16 seed. Erik Schiessl of Baylor, who was the first alternate, is now in the men's draw.

My preview of the NCAA Division singles and doubles championships will be out Sunday at the Tennis Recruiting Network. This week they are concentrating on Signing Week.

There was also a change to the men's doubles seeding, with North Carolina's Chris Xu and Niels Ratiu stripped of their 9-16 doubles seeding. With the withdrawal of UCF's Wissam Abderrahman and Mohammad Alkotop, alternates Schiessl and Connor Van Schalkwyk of Baylor moved into the draw, and due to their ranking, took the 9-16 seed that had been given to Xu and Ratiu.

These changes were withdrawal related, but that wasn't the case for the women's doubles seeds, which were completely changed from those announced on Monday. As you can see from the two sets of seedings below, only two teams that were listed as seeds Monday are still seeded now. The new seeds obviously make much more sense, with the ITA All-American champions going from unseeded to the No. 1 position, and 2025 NCAA doubles champion Whitney Osuigwe now on a team that's seeded in the Top 4.

Women's Doubles:

Initial Seeds: 
1. Teah Chavez and Sophia Cisse-Ignatiev, Ohio State
2. Rose Maris Nijkamp and Carmen Herea, Texas
3. Lexington Reed and Kristina Paskauskas, Texas A&M
4. Patricija Paukstyte and Bella Payne, Georgia

5-8, alphabetical by school

Sara Svetac and Lily Taylor, Arizona State

Emma Dong and Ranah Stoiber, Georgia

Luciana Perry and Flora Johnson, Ohio State

Salakthip Ounmuang and Zoie Epps, Oklahoma

Revised Seeds 11/11/26:

1. Maddy Zampardo and Susanna Maltby, North Carolina

2. Salakthip Oumuang and Zoie Epps, Oklahoma

3. Piper Charney and Reese Miller, Michigan

4. Victoria Osuigwe and Roisin Gilheany, NC State

Seeds 5-8, alphabetical by school

Emma Dong and Ranah Stoiber, Georgia

Gianna Oboniye and Athina Pitta, Mississippi State

Alanis Hamilton and Tatum Evans, North Carolina

Martina Genis Salas and Katie Rolls, Virginia

Three 18-year-olds have advanced to the quarterfinals of USTA Pro Circuit tournaments today.

Riley Anson, who earned his first ATP point yesterday, defeated No. 2 seed Ryan Colby(USC, Georgia) 7-6(3), 6-1 and will play wild card Tomas Jirousek(TCU) of Czechia, who beat No. 8 seed Zsombor Velcz(Baylor) of Hungary 3-6, 7-6(2), 6-2. Anson, who reached the round of 16 in Kalamazoo this past August, has committed to Princeton for 2027.

Jack Secord, who beat top seed Tristan McCormick(Notre Dame, Georgia) in the first round, defeated Santiago Giamichelle(UCF, Georgia) 6-4, 6-3 in Naples Florida today to reach his second M15 quarterfinal in the past two months. He will play former Florida State standout and current assisant coach Youcef Rihane of Algeria, a qualifier who defeated 18-year-old wild card Gavin Goode 6-1, 6-1. 

Jerrid Gaines Jr. lost to No. 3 seed Dragos Cazacu(Tennessee, Oklahoma) 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. 

At the W15 in Lincoln Nebraska, Karlin Schock, who won her first pro match yesterday, claimed her second today, with the 18-year-old from Wisconsin defeating Auburn sophomore Eva Maria Ionescu of Romania 6-2, 6-4. Schock will face unseeded Texas A&M senior Kristina Paskauskas of Great Britian in the quarterfinals. 

Jessica Pegula has advanced to the semifinals of the WTA Finals this week in Indian Wells, while eliminating Coco Gauff in the process in group play tonight. Pegula defeated Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova 7-6(2), 4-6, 7-5, saving a match point, and will play Mirra Andreeva of Russia in the semifinals. Noskova also advances to the semifinals, despite the loss, and will play the winner of Friday's match between Aryna Sabalenka and Elina Svitolina in the semifinals.

The USTA announced its incoming board of directors for the two-year term beginning in January of 2027. The incoming chairman and president is Chris Lewis, an All-American at USC in the 1970s, who takes over from Brian Vahaly, who was an All-American at Virginia 1999-2001. 

Other officers are:

First Vice President: Bill McGugin

Vice President: Chris Capossela

Vice President: Kathleen Francis

Secretary-Treasurer: Perren Wong

For the complete list of board members, with bios, see this article from usta.com.

Merida J500, Bradenton J300 Acceptance Lists; Jauffret Upsets Collins at W35 Weston; Secord Defeats Top Seed McCormick at Naples M15; First ATP Points for Krishna and Anson

The home stretch of the World Tennis Junior Circuit is in sight, with the North American clay swing featuring two J300s and two J500s, capped off by the Orange Bowl in Fort Lauderdale Florida.

The J300 in Zapopan Mexico is next week, followed by the J500 in Merida Mexico the week of Thanksgiving and the J300 in Bradenton Florida the first week of December, and the J500 Orange Bowl the next week.

Many of the juniors, particularly those from outside the US, enter at least three of these events, but depending on their results, usually don't play them all, So the acceptance lists are in flux more than they are for the junior slams, and the cutoffs will change quite dramatically in the next couple of weeks. The Orange Bowl acceptances will be out next week.

The J500 in Merida and the J300 in Bradenton have similar acceptances lists, which is not unusual, although Bradenton actually has one more Top 10 player in the each field.

Victoria Barros of Brazil, No. 4 in the WT junior rankings and Australian Open champion Ksenia Efremova of France, currently No. 9, are entered in both. No. 10 Polina Skliar of Ukraine is entered only in Bradenton.

Puerto Rico's Yannik Alvarez, at No. 11, is the highest ranked boy on the Merida acceptance list; he is not entered in Bradenton. No. 10 Dimitar Kisimov of Bulgaria, last year's Bradenton finalist, withdrew from Merida, but is on the acceptance list for Bradenton as of today. 

There are 13 US girls and seven US boys on the list for Merida. The girls are Welles Newman, Anita Tu, Armira Kockinis, Lani Chang, Emery Combs, Hannah Ayrault, Sarah Ye, Ellery Mendell, Ireland O'Brien, Carrie-Anne Hoo, Londyn McCord, Isabelle DeLuccia and Brooke Wallman. The US boys are Tanishk Konduri, Vihaan Reddy, Safir Azam, Ryan Cozad, Teodor Davidov, Navneet Raghuram and Agassi Rusher. Erik Schinnerer is the next boy in.

The cutoff, as of yesterday's withdrawal date, is 118 for the girls and 124 for the boys.

The same seven US boys are on the Bradenton acceptance list, with Izyan Ahmad receiving entry via the WT 16s reserved program. The US girls on the acceptance list for Bradenton are Newman, Kennedy Drenser-Hagmann, Tu, Kockinis, Chang, Combs, Ayrault, Ye, Maggie Sohns, Adla Lopez, O'Brien, Hoo, Olivia De Los Reyes and McCord, with Daniela Del Mastro entered via the 16s reserved program. DeLuccia and Wallman are the next girls in.

The boys cutoff (the withdrawal deadline is next week) is currently 110 and the girls cutoff is currently 111.

The fields for the 12s, 14s and 16s divisions at the IMG Academy International Championships in Bradenton that same week were released late last month and can be found here.

Wednesday was a good day for teenagers on the USTA Pro Circuit.  At the W35 in Weston Florida, 18-year-old wild card Capucine Jauffret, a freshman at Florida, defeated No. 2 seed and WTA No. 310 Kylie Collins(Texas, LSU, Oklahoma State) 7-6(7), 6-1 today. She will face lucky loser Anita Sahdiieva(Baylor, LSU) of Ukraine in the second round.

At the M15 in Naples Florida, 18-year-old Jack Secord defeated top seed Tristan McCormick(Notre Dame, Georgia) 6-3, 7-5 and will play Santiago Giamichelle(UCF, Georgia) of Argentina in the second round Thursday. Secord reached the quarterfinals of the M15 in Ithaca New York last month. Seventeen-year-old qualifier Jerrid Gaines Jr defeated Kalamazoo 16s champion Kamil Stolarczyk, a wild card, 6-1, 7-5 and will play No. 3 seed Dragos Cazacu(Tennessee, Oklahoma) of Romania next.

Riley Anson, the 18-year-old Princeton recruit, earned his first ATP point in Naples, defeating fellow qualifier William Nolan(Auburn) 6-4, 6-1. He will play No. 2 seed Ryan Colby(USC, Georgia), who defeated Max Shelton(Michigan State) 6-3, 7-6(7).

At the W15 in Lincoln Nebraska, 18-year-old qualifier Karlin Schock won her first main draw match on the USTA Pro Circuit, defeating No. 3 seed Kalista Liu(Maryland) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. She will play Auburn sophomore Eva Maria Ionescu of Romania next.

Ionescu is one of six Auburn players into the second round in Lincoln.

Not to be outdone, Ohio State has six players in the second round of the M25 in Columbus, as well as a recent graduate. Three of Thursday's second round matches will be all-Buckeye, with wild card Nikita Filin facing Victor Lilov; Denis Petak of Czechia playing Matt Forbes and Aidan Kim facing Jack Anthrop, the 2026 Ohio State graduate. The only Buckeye not playing a teammate is wild card Alex Okonkwo, who takes on No. 5 seed Theo Papamalamis(Texas A&M) of France.

2026 Easter Bowl champion Rishvanth Krishna earned his first ATP point in Columbus with the 17-year-old Southern California defeated No. 7 seed Hunter Heck 7-6(5), 6-1. Krishna has had success in Newport Beach tournaments on the UTR Pro Tennis Tour but has played in only five main draws on the USTA Pro Circuit. He will play Arizona State junior Ofek Shimanov of Israel in the second round Thursday.

Brantmeier Claims USTA's 2027 Australian Open Wild Card; Knoxville Challenger Among This Week's Five USTA Pro Circuit Tournaments

A year ago, University of North Carolina senior Reese Brantmeier was preparing for the NCAA individual championships in Lake Nona, where she won the women's singles title. Today the 22-year-old from Wisconsin was announced as the winner of the USTA's women's Australian Open Wild Card Challenge, secured by her run last month in Canada.

Brantmeier's appearance in Melbourne will be her first slam other than the US Open, where she made her main draw debut in September as the USTA American Collegiate Wild Card Playoff winner. Brantmeier, now 181 in the WTA rankings, reached the semifinals of a W50 in Quebec, then won back-to-back W75s in Saguenay and Toronto to finish with 170 points. Claire Liu actually finished in first place, with her title last week at the WTA 250 in Hong Kong, but with Liu's ranking rising to 69, she will get into the main draw on her own, so Brantmeier, in second place, receives the wild card. 

Aidan Mayo has taken the lead in the men's Australian Open Wild Card race, with two more weeks remaining, but it remains extremely close.

The top of the women’s standings after Week 5 of 5:

 

Women's Standings

(Player's current ranking in parentheses)

 

                                                               1. ​Claire Liu (69) -- 322
                                                               2. Reese Brantmeier (181) -- 170
                                                               3. Sloane Stephens (117) -- 127 
                                                               4. Malaika Rapolu (245) -- 112
                                                               5. Julieta Pareja (204) -- 104

 

The top of the men’s standings after Week 3 of 5: 

 

Men's Standings

(Player's current ranking in parentheses)

 

                                                               1. Aidan Mayo (235) -- 85
                                                               T2. Jenson Brooksby (93) -- 82
                                                               T2. Martin Damm (102) -- 82
                                                               T2. Stefan Kozlov (205) -- 82
                                                               5. Darwin Blanch (149) -- 64

Both Mayo and Blanch have already lost at this week's ATP Challenger 75 in Knoxville Tennessee and Brooksby and Damm aren't playing this week, so Charlottesville Challenger champion Kozlov, who defeated No. 8 seed Alexis Galarneau(NC State) of Canada 6-3, 7-6(4) in the first round tonight, is in a good position to take the lead heading into the final week.

The first round of the Knoxville Challenger will be completed tonight, with wild card and top seed Marcos Giron(UCLA) yet to play. Mayo lost to No. 6 seed Michael Mmoh 6-2, 6-4 and  No. 5 seed Blanch was beaten by Alastair Gray(TCU) of Great Britain 6-2, 6-3. Mmoh will face qualifier Daniel Milavsky(Harvard), who beat Murphy Cassone(Arizona State) 6-1, 6-4. 

Qualifier Ozan Baris(Michigan State) and Michael Zheng(Columbia) will renew their college rivalry after Baris beat Oliver Tarvet(San Diego) of Great Britain 6-4 6-4 and No. 2 seed Zheng overtook qualifier Giles Hussey(Georgia State, Tennessee) 2-6, 6-4, 6-4. Zheng defeated Baris in three sets in both the 2024 fall NCAA singles final and in the quarterfinals of the 2025 singles championships.

Kalamazoo 18s champion Jack Kennedy, who received entry via the WT junior accelerator program, lost to No. 3 seed Nicolas Mejia of Colombia 6-3, 6-1 and US Open boys champion Marcel Latak, who received a wild card, lost to No. 4 seed Clement Chidekh(Washington) of France, 7-6(4), 6-4 in the first round.

Qualifying is complete at the W35 in Weston Florida, with three Americans advancing to the main draw: Rachel Gailis(Florida), Adriana Reami(NC State) and Ava Catanzarite(UCLA, Oklahoma). Lexington Reed(Texas A&M) received entry as a lucky loser.

Cadence Brace(LSU) of Canada is the top seed, with Kylie Collins(Texas, LSU, Okalahoma State) the No. 2 seed. Wild cards were given to Salma Djoubri(Lynn) of France, 18-year-old Capucine Jauffret(Florida), 17-year-old Yael Saffar and 17-year-old Zaire Clarke, who has struggled with injury since May of 2025 and retired from her first round match today.

Djoubri defeated No. 6 seed Alina Shcherbinina(Baylor, Oklahoma) of Russia 7-5, 6-2 in one of the two first round matches played today.

On the other coast of Florida, in Naples, the men are competing in an M15, with Tristan McCormick(Notre Dame, Georgia) and Ryan Colby(USC, Georgia) the top two seeds.

Five Americans advanced to the main draw via qualifying: Lucca Liu(UC-Santa Barbara), Michigan State junior Mitchell Sheldon, 17-year-old Jerrid Gaines Jr, 18-year-old Riley Anson, and Corey Craig(Boston Univ, Florida State).

Eighteen-year-old Gavin Goode, a semifinalist last week at the Hilton Head M15, received a wild card and won his first round match over Justin Roberts(USF, Arizona State) 2-6, 7-5, 6-1. Other wild cards went to Emilio Sanchez Bronzetti(Charlotte) of Spain, Tomas Jirousek(TCU) of Czechia and Kalamazoo 16s champion Kamil Stolarczyk. Stolarczyk will face Gaines in the first round. WT Junior reserved spots went to Jack Secord, who plays McCormick, Koki Nara of Japan, who lost today to Fadi Bidan(UCF) of Lebanon 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 and Vihaan Reddy, who lost to Santiago Giamichelle(UT Arlington, UCF, Georgia) of Argentina 6-2, 6-3.

At the M25 in Columbus Ohio, four Americans qualified, 2026 Easter Bowl champion Rishvanth Krishna, Jonah Braswell(Florida, Texas), Alejandro Moreno(Auburn, Tennessee) and Simon Caldwell(Arizona State).

Raphael Perot(Texas A&M) of France is the top seed, and he defeated wild card Preston Stearns, a senior at Ohio State, 6-4, 6-4 in the first round. Perot will face 16-year-old Michael Antonius next, after Antonius defeated Michael Bassem Sobhy(LSU) of Egypt 6-1, 7-5.

In addition to Stearns, three other current Buckeyes received wild cards: Nikita Filin, Brandon Carpico and Alex Okonkwo of Great Britain. Aidan Kim, Victor Lilov, Matt Forbes and Denis Petak of Czechia received entry by their ATP rankings. Recent Ohio State graduate Jack Anthrop is also in the draw; he'll face No. 2 seed Aidan McHugh of Great Britain in the first round. In addition to Krishna and Antonius, the other junior in the main draw is Keaton Hance.

The qualifying draw at the W15 in Lincoln Nebraska had 12 byes, so one win could get you into the main draw, with wild card Briana Rademacher(Omaha) getting in without playing even one qualifying match. Karlin Schock, Sophie Suh, Ava Esposito(Auburn), Catherine Rennard(Wake Forest) and Katelynn Kock(Omaha) are the other Americans who qualified.

Ana Grubor is the top seed; Michigan recruit Thara Gowda was the No. 2 seed; she lost to Oklahoma State freshman Arina Malygina of Russia 6-4, 6-4 in the first round today. Malygina, 18, received entry via the WT junior reserved program.  Adla Lopez also received a junior reserved entry; she lost to Texas A&M senior Kristina Paskauskas of Great Britain 7-5, 6-7(2), 6-3 in the first round.

Wild cards were given to Nebraska seniors Maria Taranova of Russia and Emma Rizzetto of Italy, Nebraska sophomore Katie Spencer and Nebraska junior Conley Raidt.

Duke's Xu and TCU's Pascual Head List of Seeds for NCAA Singles Championships; Budasek Sweeps J100 Titles in Mexico for Second Straight Week; Kim Claims First WT Junior Title at J100 in Boca Raton

The seeds are out for next week's NCAA Division I Singles and Doubles Championships in Athens Georgia, with ITA All-American Champion Roger Pascual of TCU the men's top seed and All-American finalist Mimi Xu of Duke the women's top seed. 

Although the World Tennis Number is the starting point for seeding, other metrics can be used, as they are for the team event, with strength of schedule, head-to-head results and record against common opponents among the considerations. Although Ohio State's Luciana Perry defeated Xu in the final of the All-American Championships, that wasn't enough to move her ahead of Xu.

The complete list of participants, including alternates, is available here for the men, and here for the women. As I mentioned last night, I will have a preview of the tournaments for the Tennis Recruiting Network this Friday. Draws will be published Saturday evening.

WOMEN:

Singles:
1. Mimi Xu, Duke
2. Amelie Van Impe, SMU
3. Lexington Reed, Texas A&M
4. Luciana Perry, Ohio State
5. Nao Nishino, Ohio State
6. Rose Marie Nijkamp, Texas
7. Kaitlyn Carnicella, South Carolina
8. Emma Dong, Georgia

9-16, alphabetical:

Irina Balus, Duke

Sophia Cisse-Ignatiev, Ohio State

Arina Malygina, Oklahoma State

Alexis Nguyen, North Carolina

Salakthip Ounmang, Oklahoma

Bella Payne, Georgia

Katie Rolls, Virginia

Lavinia Tanasie, NC State

Doubles:

1. Teah Chavez and Sophia Cisse-Ignatiev, Ohio State

2. Rose Maris Nijkamp and Carmen Herea, Texas

3. Lexington Reed and Kristina Paskauskas, Texas A&M

4. Patricija Paukstyte and Bella Payne, Georgia

5-8, alphabetical by school

Sara Svetac and Lily Taylor, Arizona State

Emma Dong and Ranah Stoiber, Georgia

Luciana Perry and Flora Johnson, Ohio State

Salakthip Ounmuang and Zoie Epps, Oklahoma

Revised women's doubles seeding(11/11/26)

1. Maddy Zampardo and Susanna Maltby, North Carolina

2. Salakthip Oumuang and Zoie Epps, Oklahoma

3. Piper Charney and Reese Miller, Michigan

4. Victoria Osuigwe and Roisin Gilheany, NC State

Seeds 5-8, alphabetical by school

Emma Dong and Ranah Stoiber, Georgia

Gianna Oboniye and Athina Pitta, Mississippi State

Alanis Hamilton and Tatum Evans, North Carolina

Martina Genis Salas and Katie Rolls, Virginia

MEN:

1. Roger Pascual, TCU

2. Keegan Rice, Virginia

3. Luca Preda, Virginia

4. Theo Papamalamis, Texas A&M

5. Aidan Kim, Ohio State

6. Dominick Mosejczuk, Wake Forest

7. Nikita Filin, Ohio State

8. Tomasz Berkieta, Texas

9-16, alphabetical

Luciano Ambrogi, Oklahoma

Nicolas Arsenault, Kentucky

Rodrigo Fernandes, Cornell

Toby Kodat, NC State

Bruno Kuzuhara, Clemson

Johan Rodriguez, Oklahoma

Andres Santamarta, Virginia

Ilia Snitari, Texas A&M

Doubles:

1. Nikita Filin and Brandon Carpico, Ohio State

2. Aidan Kim and Bryce Nakashima, Ohio State

3. Albert Pedrico and Cooper Woestendick, TCU

4. Noa Vukadin and Viktor Markov, Clemson

5-8, alphabetical by school

Chris Xu and Niels Ratiu, North Carolina

Mortiz Kudernatsch and Pietro Pampanin, Ole Miss

Lasse Poertner and Aleksa Pisaric, Pepperdine

Paul Barbier Gazeu and Charlie Robertson, South Carolina

Last week produced two American singles champions at J100 events, with Sophia Budacsek earning a second straight sweep in Guadalajara and Atticus Kim winning his first World Tennis junior title in Boca Raton.

Budacsek, seeded No. 4, defeated No. 2 seed Eve Thibault of Canada 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in the final to claim her tenth straight singles victory. The 17-year-old from Illinois, has now reached a final, a semifinal and won two titles in her four J100 tournaments since the beginning of October, with her WT junior ranking now up to 179.

She has also won all four doubles titles at those four J100s, and now has six doubles title this year. Last week she partnered with Ana Avramovic, with the top seeds defeating No. 2 seeds Grace Dollar and Mexico's Romina Dominguez Garcia 6-2, 6-3 in the final.

Sebastian Godoy and South Africa's Jayden Summers won the boys doubles title, with the top seeds defeating No. 7 seeds Macksimus Malhotra and Italy's Niccolo Magagnin 6-3, 7-6(4) in the final. Malhotra also reached the singles final, losing to No. 3 seed Felipe Mamede of Brazil 7-6(4), 6-3.

In Boca Raton, another 17-year-old from Illinois prevailed in the boys singles, with the unseeded Kim beating No. 16 seed Indra Vergne 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 in the final. Kim, who has played only a handful of WT junior events in the past year, has more than halved his ranking with the title, which is up to 550.

Qualifier Amy Gray of Australia won the girls singles title, beating unseeded 14-year-old Evija Thoresen 7-6(3), 6-1 in the final. 

Unseeded Lyla Middleton and Emily Morgan won the girls doubles title, beating Capri Butera and Gabrielle Villegas, also unseeded, 6-3, 6-2 in the all-USA final. 

In another all-unseeded, all-USA doubles final, Gurbaaz Narang and Aryan Ponugoti defeated Alexander Lerman and Peter Nistad 7-5, 4-6, 10-2.

This week's WT junior tournament in the United States is another J100 on clay, in Coral Gables Florida. Mason Vaughan and Aarini Bhattacharya are the top seeds.

At the J30 in Jamaica, two 16-year-olds won their first titles on the WT junior circuit. Karan Shanker claimed his when Cavan Donnelly retired trailing 6-0, 1-0, and wild card Jaiya Siffrard, the top seed, defeated No. 2 seed Daniela Rangel Ramos of Mexico 6-4, 6-2 for her first title.

Rangel and American partner Emelie Valdes won the girls doubles, with the top seeds defeating Siffrard and Raquel Delarosa, the No. 2 seeds, 4-6, 6-2, 10-8 in the final.

Donnelly and Krish Advani won the boys doubles titles beating Isaac Llovera De Lasse of Mexico and Stanley Salmon of Great Britain 6-4, 6-2 in the final.

At the J30 in Barbados, Enya Neagu and China's Jiarui Li, the top seeds, won the girls doubles title, defeating Rylee Cherry and the Cayman Islands' Ava Pierre 7-5, 6-7(5), 10-7 in the final.