Hazelitt Sweeps Titles at J500 Osaka; TCU's Pascual, Ohio State's Perry Claim ITA All-American Titles; Bonding Wins M15 Columbia SC; Basavareddy Takes San Diego Challenger Title; PanAm J300 Seeds; Kalamazoo Photo Gallery

Jordyn Hazelitt became the first American girl to capture the World Tennis J500 Osaka Mayor's Cup singles title, breaking a drought that extended back to the tournament's start in 1987. 

The 16-year-old from Nevada, seeded No. 2, defeated unseeded Miyu Nishiwaki of Japan 6-3, 6-2 in Sunday's final to add a J500 title to the J300 title she won in March in San Diego. 

In the girls doubles final, Hazelitt and Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi, the top seeds, defeated the unseeded Japanese pair of Rei Sato and Nagisa Shiomi 6-2, 6-2.

With the two titles, Hazelitt will move to No. 11 in the WT junior rankings; her previous career-high was 18. She will now be behind only Janae Preston, who is the top-ranked American girl at No. 6.

The boys title went to Japan's Koki Nara, with the No. 8 seed beating No. 6 seed Ntungamili Raguin of Botswana 6-4, 6-1 in the final. The 16-year-old Nara's previous biggest title was at the J200 level.

The No. 2 seeded team of Hyu Kawanishi and Kanta Watanabe beat unseeded Sota Kagawa and Shintaro Ogaki 6-2, 7-5 in the all-Japan boys doubles final.

The finals of both the men's and the women's ITA All-American Championships didn't contain much drama, with three straight-sets victories and a retirement.

No. 2 seed Luciana Perry of Ohio State became just the second Buckeye woman to win the singles title, with Francesca Di Lorenzo, now the women's assistant coach at UCF, the first Ohio State All-American champion in 2016.

Perry defeated Duke freshman Mimi Xu, a wild card, 6-2, 6-1, in the women's final at the Cary Tennis Park in Cary North Carolina.

In the women's doubles final, North Carolina's Maddy Zampardo won her second All-American doubles title, with a different team and different partner from her title two years ago. Zampardo and Susanna Maltby, the No. 6 seeds, defeated No. 3 seeds Perry and her partner Flora Johnson 6-0, 6-1 in today's final. Zampardo and Gabby Broadfoot won the title in 2024 when Zampardo played for NC State.

The NCAA qualifiers decided today were singles consolation finalists Sophia Cisse-Ignatiev of Ohio State and Mia Slama[5] of NC State, and doubles consolation champions Katie Rolls and Martina Genis Salas of Virginia.

While the No. 2 seed held off the unseeded player in the women's final, the opposite occurred in the men's final in Tulsa Oklahoma, with Roger Pascual of TCU defeating Keegan Rice of Virginia 6-3, 6-1. Pascual is the first Horned Frog to win the ITA All-American singles title. 

The all-Ohio State battle in the men's doubles final ended after one set, with top seeds Nikita Filin and Brandon Carpico winning it 6-2 before teammates Aidan Kim and Bryce Nakashima retired. 

The men's NCAA qualifiers are consolation finalists Aidan Kim of Ohio State and Connor Van Schalkwyk of Baylor, along with doubles consolation champions Matisse Farzam and Tiago Pires of Clemson.

Chris Halioris of College Tennis Ranks has posted a google doc tracking all the qualifiers for this November's NCAA individual championships in Athens, with the first 10 entries decided this week. The men's document is here; the women's document is here.

Pascual wasn't the only Horned Frog to claim a title today, with sophomore Oliver Bonding winning his third M15 title in Columbia South Carolina. The 19-year-old from Great Britain defeated University of South Carolina senior Sean Daryabeigi, a wild card, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 in the final.

Dakotah Bobo(LSU, Southern Miss) and Nathan Cox(Vanderbilt) won the doubles title, with the No. 4 seeds beating Florida State's Seydina Andre of Senegal and Luis Felipe Miguel, the older brother of Guto Miguel, seeded No. 3, 6-3, 6-1.

Nishesh Basavareddy(Stanford) won his fourth ATP Challenger title today at the San Diego 75 at Barnes Tennis Center. The 21-year-old from Indiana, who won a Challenger in April but was out for three months this summer with an injury, defeated unseeded Igor Marcondes of Brazil 7-5, 6-4 in the final. Basavareddy, the top seed, defeated ITA preseason No. 1 Dylan Dietrich of Virginia 6-7(10), 6-4, 5-1 retired in the semifinals last night. 

Local favorites Christopher Papa(San Diego Christian, Pepperdine) and Stian Klaassen(San Diego) of the Netherlands won the doubles title, with the unseeded pair defeating wild cards Vignesh Gogineni(Yale) and Noah Zamora(UC-Irvine) 7-6(6), 5-7, 10-3 in the final.

Sixteen-year-old qualifier Janae Preston fell in the final of the W50 in Berkeley California today, with top seed Kayla Day completing her impressive straight-sets run to the title with a 7-5, 6-4 victory. 

Sofia Cabezas(Iowa State, Tennessee) and Katherine Hui(Stanford) won the doubles title, beating Oklahoma teammates Reina Goto of Japan and Evialina Laskevich of  Ruissa 3-6, 6-4, 10-7 in today's final.

The draws are up for the J300 Pan American Closed in Spring Texas, with the first round set for Monday. The qualifiers are listed below, the seeds listed won't play until Tuesday in the 48-player draws. Countries given only when not USA.

Girls qualifiers:
Molly Widlansky
Vibha Gogineni
Ava Quincy Brewer
Charlotte Ballarin
Emily Golovanov
Sadira Ouyang

Boys qualifiers:
Antanas Daugis
Marko Mikic
Piotr Gradzki
Mateo Rizo-Patron
Justin Zhang
Joshua Dolinsky

Boys seeds:

1. Andy Johnson

2. Tanishk Konduri

3. Safir Azam

4. Joshua Adamson, Canada

5. Daniel Malacek

6. Mason Vaughan

7. Erik Schinnerer

8. Jerrid Gaines Jr

9. Kamil Stolarczyk

10. Teodor Davidov

11. Kayden Colombo

12. Felipe Mamede, Brazil

13. Mauricio Schtulmann Gasca, Mexico

14. Caden Colburne, Canada

15. Antoine Clavel, Canada

16. Sebastian Inaki Godoy

Girls seeds:

1. Avery Alexander, Canada

2. Carrie-Anne Hoo

3. Adla Lopez

4. Emery Combs

5. Armira Kockinis

6. Ireland O'Brien

7. Olivia De Los Reyes

8. Isabelle DeLuccia

9. Thara Gowda

10. Londyn McCord

11. Ellery Mendell

12. Brooke Wallman

13. Camille Allegre

14. Andrea Cabio, Canada

15. Reiley Rhodes

16. Anya Arora

The USTA Boys Nationals gallery is up now at the Tennis Recruiting Network, featuring all the boys in both divisions in the round of 16 and in the quarterfinal qualifying round of the consolation draws.

The US Open Juniors gallery should be up soon as well.

Xu vs Perry, Rice vs Pascual for ITA All-American Titles; Hazelitt Reaches Osaka J500 Final; Preston Advances to Final at Berkeley W50; Brantmeier Plays for WTA 125 Title Sunday; Davletshina Claims Corpus Christi J200 Title

The finals are set for the ITA All-American Championships, with the No. 2 seeds in both the men's and women's draws facing surprising opponents for the title.

No. 2 seed Luciana Perry of Ohio State, a semifinalist last year, will face wild card Mimi Xu of Duke for the title at 10 a.m. Sunday at the Cary Tennis Park. Perry, a senior, defeated No. 16 seed Rose Marie Nijkamp of Texas 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 to earn her spot in the final, while Xu, a freshman, prevented an all-Buckeye final with a 6-1, 7-5 win over Ohio State junior. Nao Nishino.

Perry will also compete in the doubles final, with Flora Johnson, after the No. 3 seeds defeated Oklahoma's Salakthip Ounmang and Zoie Epps 6-4, 4-6, 10-5. Their opponents are North Carolina's Maddy Zampardo and Susanna Maltby, whose partnership goes back to the juniors, with the No. 6 seed defeating Nijkamp and Carmen Herea of Texas 6-1, 6-2.

No. 2 seed Keegan Rice of Virginia continued his impressive march through the draw, defeating Wake Forest qualifier Dominick Mosejczuk 6-3, 6-4, to advance to the final. Rice will face TCU junior Roger Pascual, who defeated Nicolas Arseneault of Kentucky 6-4, 7-5. Pascual, who played at No. 6 for the Horned Frogs last year, had an outstanding summer on the Pro Circuit and has carried that form into the fall season. 

Top seeds Brandon Carpico and Nikita Filin of Ohio State have also picked up where they left off earlier this month. As the first NCAA wild cards to reach the third round of the US Open, Carpico and Filin were heavy favorites for this title, and they have reached the final with a 7-6(2), 6-0 win over the unseeded Ole Miss team of Mortiz Kudernatsch and Pietro Pampanin. It will be an all-Ohio State final in doubles with Bryce Nakashima and Aidan Kim defeating Noa Vukadin and Viktor Markov of Clemson 3-6, 6-3, 13-11 in a late match that was moved indoors due to rain.

Jordyn Hazelitt has advanced to the singles and doubles final at the World Tennis J500 in Osaka Japan. The No. 2 seed, Hazelitt defeated No. 3 seed Renee Alame of Australia 6-3, 6-1 and will face unseeded Miyu Nishiwaki of Japan for the title. Nishiwaki defeated top seed Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi of India 7-5, 6-4 in the semifinals.

Hazelitt and Rajeshwaran Revathi, the top seeds, have advanced to the doubles final, where they will play the unseeded Japanese team of Rei Sato and Nagisa Shiomi. Sato and Shiomi defeated No. 6 seeds Scarlett Fagan and Maggie Sohns 6-3, 6-2 in the semifinals.

The boys singles final in Osaka will feature No. 6 seed Ntungamili Raguin of Botswana and No. 8 seed Koki Nara of Japan.

The boys doubles final will be an all-Japanese contest, with No. 2 seeds Hyu Kawanishi and Kanta Watanabe facing unseeded Sota Kagawa and Shintaro Ogaki.

Kawanishi and Watanabe defeated No. 3 seeds Naveet Raghuram and Raguin 6-4, 6-2 in the semifinals.

Hazelitt isn't the only Henderson Nevada resident having a good week, with fellow 16-year-old Janae Preston advancing to the final of the W50 in Berkeley California as a qualifier.

Preston defeated ITA preseason No. 1 Lucciana Perez, a senior at Texas A&M, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4. Preston will face top seed Kayla Day in an all-American final, with Day beating LSU junior Ella McDonald of Great Britain 7-6(7), 6-3. 

At the M15 in Columbia South Carolina, Gamecock senior Sean Daryabeigi will face TCU sophomore Oliver Bonding, giving the Horned Frogs two players in finals Sunday. Daryabeigi, a wild card, advanced to the final when Will Jansen(UNC, Ohio State, Georgia) retired after losing the first set 7-6(4). Bonding defeated South Carolina junior wild card Gabe Avram 7-5, 6-1 and will play for his third M15 title, while Daryabeigi aims for his first.

2025 NCAA champion Reese Brantmeier(North Carolina) has reached the final of the WTA 125 in Portugal as a qualifier. The 21-year-old from Wisconsin, who has not dropped a set this week, will face top seed Maria Timofeeva of Uzebekistan in the final. Brantmeier picked up her first WTA Top 100 win today, beating No. 95 and No. 2 seed Sinja Kraus of Austria 6-3, 6-0. Regardless of the outcome of Sunday's final, Brantmeier will move into the WTA Top 300 for the first time.

At the J200 in Corpus Christi, 13-year-old Nikol Davletshina won her second title in two weeks, after winning the J100 in San Antonio last week. The Florida resident defeated No. 8 seed Ellery Mendell 6-4, 6-3 in today's final to run her winning streak in WT Junior Circuit tournaments to 17 matches. She will approach the Top 200 in the junior rankings with this title.

The boys title went to Turkey's Samim Filiz, with the No. 4 seed defeating top seed Joshua Adamson of Canada 2-6, 6-4, 6-4. 

No. 3 seeds Adamson and Caden Colburne won the boys doubles title, beating Antoine Clavel and Andy Tchinda Kepche 6-0, 6-2 in the all-Canadian final.

No. 6 seeds Ciara Harding and Reiley Rhodes won the girls doubles title, defeating the unseeded team of London Evans and Puerto Rico's Aurora Lugo Torres 7-6(2), 6-2 in the final. 

My Article on Recent Success of US Junior Boys; Preston Reaches Semifinals at Berkeley W50; South Carolina Wild Cards Advance at M15 Columbia; First NCAA Qualifiers Decided Friday at ITA All-American Championships

The US juniors boys have been posting impressive results all year on the USTA Pro Circuit and the World Tennis Junior Circuit, yet the three first round US Open men's qualifying wins by Michael Antonius, Jordan Lee and Andy Johnson really had the tennis world taking notice. I asked many of the American boys I interviewed at the US Open Juniors what those wins meant to them, with this article for Tennis Recruiting Network the result. 

The US junior girls have also had a good year, and one of the breakout stars of the first six months of 2026, Janae Preston, has continued to post impressive results. After reaching the Wimbledon girls semifinals and the final of the USTA National 18s in San Diego, Preston made the quarterfinals of the US Open Junior Championships, and is now into the semifinals of the W50 in Berkeley California as a qualifier. 

Preston, who just turned 16 in August, defeated No. 5 seed Hanna Chang 6-2, 6-4 in today's quarterfinals and will play ITA preseason No. 1 Lucciana Perez of Peru for a spot in the final. The 21-year-old Perez, a senior at Texas A&M who finished her junior year 28-0, defeated Auburn transfer Emma Kamper of Denmark, a qualifier, 6-4, 6-1. Perez isn't the only current collegian in the Berkeley semifinals, with unseeded LSU junior Ella McDonald of Great Britain beating No. 3 seed Madison Brengle 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. McDonald will play top seed Kayla Day, who beat No. 7 seed Anna Rogers(NC State) 6-1, 6-0 today.

At the M15 in Columbia South Carolina, two wild cards from the University of South Carolina's team have advanced to the semifinals. Junior Gabe Avram advanced when teammate Antonin Witz of France, a qualifier, retired trailing 6-0. Senior Sean Daryabeigi defeated Oklahoma freshman Tito Chavez of Spain 6-4, 7-6(3) to set up a meeting with unseeded Will Jansen(UNC, Ohio State, Georgia) of  Great Britain. Jansen defeated No. 6 seed Evan Bynoe(Cornell) 6-3, 6-3.  Avram's opponent in the semifinals is TCU sophomore Oliver Bonding of Great Britain. The eighth-seeded Bonding beat a third Gamecock wild card, sophomore Charlie Swaine of Great Britain, 6-4, 6-0 today. Swaine had defeated top seed John Hallquist Lithen(Ole Miss) of Sweden in the second round.

Daryabeigi is also in the doubles semifinals, with teammate Max Stenzer of Germany. Ryan Cozad and Gavin Goode are also through to the doubles semifinals.

The first eight collegians have earned their spots in the NCAA singles championships this November in Athens Georgia after the round of 16 determined those qualifiers today at the women's and men's ITA All-American Championships.

In Cary North Carolina, Duke earned three spots with victories in the round of 16, with freshman Mimi Xu justifying her wild card and then some with two more big wins today. Xu took out qualifier Nicole Khirin, the UNC transfer who was an All-American at Texas A&M, 6-4, 5-7, 7-5 in the round of 16. And while teammates Irina Balus and Aspen Schuman retired from their quarterfinal matches, Xu played hers, defeating No. 7 seed Amelie Van Impe of SMU 7-6(3), 6-2 to advance to Saturday's semifinal against Nao Nishino of Ohio State.

Women's A-A round of 16 results:

Mimi Xu[WC], Duke d. Nicole Khirin[Q], North Carolina 6-4, 5-7, 7-5
Amelie Van Impe[7], SMU d. Stephanie Yakoff, Harvard 6-1, 6-0
Irina Balus[4], Duke, d. Kaitlyn Carnicella, South Carolina 6-4, 1-6, 7-6(5)
Nao Nishino, Ohio State d. Mia Slama[5], NC State 7-5, 6-4
Aspen Schuman, Duke d. Sophia Cisse-Ignatiev, Ohio State 6-4, 6-4
Rose Marie Nijkamp[16], Texas d. Zuzanna Kubacha, Baylor 7-5, 6-2
Ekaterina Ivanova, Wisconsin d. Rinon Okuwaki, Tennessee 7-5, 6-1
Luciana Perry[2], Ohio State d. Emma Dong[WC], Georgia 6-3, 6-1

Women's A-A quarterfinal results:

Mimi Xu[WC], Duke d. Amelia Van Impe[7], SMU 7-6(3), 6-2
Nao Nishino, Ohio State d. Irinia Balus[4], Duke 2-0, ret.
Rose Marie Nijkamp[16], Texas d. Aspen Schuman, Duke 3-0 ret.
Luciana Perry[2], Ohio State d. Ekaterina Ivanova, Wisconsin 7-5, 6-2

Perry and Nijkamp are also through to the doubles semifinals, meaning they have qualified for both draws at the NCAAs.

Women's A-A doubles semifinals:

Maddy Zampardo and Susanna Maltby[6], North Carolina v Rose Marie Nijkamp and Carmen Herea, Texas

Salakthip Ounmang and Zoie Epps, Oklahoma v Luciana Perry and Flora Johnson[3], Ohio State

The men's semifinals are night matches, but all the quarterfinalists have booked their spots in the singles draw in Athens. Max Exsted, a sophomore at USC, took out 2025 finalist Aidan Kim of Ohio State 6-4, 6-4.

Men's A-A round of 16 results:

Viktor Markov[16], Clemson d. Sam Landau, Indiana 6-4, 7-6(1)

Nicolas Arseneault, Kentucky d. Rodrigo Fernandes[11], Cornell 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-4

Theo Papamalamis[4], Texas A&M d. Tomasz Berkieta[Q], Texas 4-6, 6-2, 6-2

Roger Pascual, TCU d. Sasha Rozin, Arizona 6-2, 6-2

Dominick Mosejczuk[Q], Wake Forest d. Nikita Volonski[Q], Tulsa 7-6(4), 6-1 

Maxwell Exsted, USC d. Aidan Kim[3], Ohio State 6-4, 6-4

Nikita Filin, Ohio State d. Amirkhamza Nasridinov[10], Texas A&M 6-3, 6-4 

Keegan Rice[2], Virginia d. Bryan Hernandez Cortes, Mississippi State 6-0, 6-1

Men's A-A singles quarterfinals:

Nicolas Arseneault, Kentucky d. Viktor Markov[16], Clemson 6-4, 6-7(7), 6-3

Roger Pascual, TCU d, Theo Papamalamis[4], Texas A&M 6-3, 6-1

Dominick Mosejczuk[Q], Wake Forest d. Maxwell Exsted, USC 3-6, 6-3, 6-4

Keegan Rice[2], Virginia d. Nikita Filin, Ohio State 6-3, 6-0 

Men's A-A doubles semifinals:

Nikita Filin and Brandon Carpico[1], Ohio State v Mortiz Kudernatsch and Pietro Pampanin, Ole Miss

Aidan Kim and Bryce Nakashima, Ohio State v Noa Vukadin and Viktor Markov, Clemson

Qualifying begins Saturday at the J300 Pan Am Closed in Spring Texas. There are 29 girls and 36 boys in the 48-player draws. Chase Bowden and Aleksandra Jerkunica are the top qualifying seeds. I'll be on site covering the event beginning Monday.

Sohns and Hazelitt Advance to Osaka J500 Quarterfinals; Preston Reaches Quarterfinals at W50 Berkeley; Top Seed Herea Ousted by Duke Newcomer Xu at All-American Championships; Mosejczuk Saves Four Match Points in Upset of Debru

The quarterfinals are set for Friday at the J500 in Osaka, with two American girls competing for a chance to play in each other in the semifinals.

No. 10 seed Maggie Sohns defeated No. 7 seed Fleur De Bresser of the Netherlands 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 putting the 16-year-old in her first J500 quarterfinal. She will play No. 3 seed Renee Alame of Australia, who defeated No. 15 seed Sakino Miyazawa of Japan 6-4, 6-0. 

No. 2 seed Jordyn Hazelitt, who hadn't won a match at a J500 until this week, came back to defeat No. 16 seed Elizaveta Anikina of Estonia 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 to advance. The 16-year-old from Nevada will play unseeded Fangyu Shang of China, who beat No. 5 seed Ui Su Jeong of Korea 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-2.

Hazelitt and Sohns have also advanced to the semifinals in doubles. Sohns is playing with Scarlett Fagan and the No. 6 seeds will face the unseeded Japanese team of Rei Sato and Nagisa Shiomi. Hazelitt and Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi of India are the top seeds, and they will play No. 8 seeds Kokona Ishii and Miku Kitaoka of Japan.

Navneet Raghuram has reached the semifinals in boys doubles, with partner Ntungamili Raguin of Botswana. The No. 3 seeds will face No. 2 seeds Hyu Kawanishi and Kanta Watanabe of Japan.

Live scoring and live streaming can be found here.

Janae Preston ended the run of Connie Ma today at the W50 in Berkeley California. The 16-year-old qualifier from Nevada defeated the former Stanford All-American 6-3, 6-3 to reach her first quarterfinal above the W15 level. She'll face No. 5 seed Hanna Chang next.

Peru's Lucciana Perez, a senior at Texas A&M, is playing Berkeley rather than the All-American Championships this week, which is the case for quite a few of the top program's top players. Perez is through to the quarterfinals with a 6-0, 6-2 win over Oklahoma's No. 4 preseason newcomer Reina Goto of Japan. Denmark's Emma Kamper, an Auburn transfer, also has reached the quarterfinals as a qualifier. LSU's Ella McDonald of Great Britain defeated No. 6 seed Savannah Broadus(Pepperdine) 6-3, 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals.

The second round of the ITA All-American Championships has concluded, with another big upset, this time in the women's draw. Duke freshman Mimi Xu, who was in the main draw as an ITA wild card, defeated top seed and 2025 finalist Carmen Herea of Texas 6-3, 3-6, 6-1. Only five seeds have advanced to the women's round of 16; Duke and Ohio State lead with three players each in the final 16. Below are the round of 16 matchups; the winners of those matches will qualify for the NCAAs in November.

Women's ITA All-American Championships Round of 16:

Mimi Xu[WC], Duke v Nicole Khirin[Q], North Carolina
Amelie Van Impe[7], SMU v Stephanie Yakoff, Harvard
Irina Balus[4], Duke, v Kaitlyn Carnicella, South Carolina
Mia Slama[5, NC State v Nao Nishino, Ohio State
Sophia Cisse-Ignatiev, Ohio State v Aspen Schuman, Duke
Rose Marie Nijkamp[16], Texas v Zuzanna Kubacha, Baylor
Rinon Okuwaki, Tennessee v Ekaterina Ivanova, Wisconsin
Emma Dong[WC], Georgia v Luciana Perry[2], Ohio State

The men have six seeds in the round of 16, with highest seed to lose today No. 5 Gabriel Debru of Texas, who fell to qualifier Dominick Mosejczuk of Wake Forest 6-3, 1-6, 7-6(3). Mosejczuk was down 0-40 serving at 5-6 in the third set, but saved the first three matches points, then won an epic deciding point to force the tiebreaker (Wake Forest posted the entire game on X: https://x.com/WakeMTennis/status/2103200275318124931?s=20 ) Texas A&M and Ohio State are the only teams with more than one player in the last 16.

Men's ITA All-American Championships Round of 16:

Sam Landau, Indiana v Viktor Markov[16], Clemson

Nicolas Arseneault, Kentucky v Rodrigo Fernandes[11], Cornell

Theo Papamalamis[4], Texas A&M v Tomasz Berkieta[Q], Texas

Sasha Rozin, Arizona v Roger Pascual, TCU

Nikita Volonski[Q], Tulsa v Dominick Mosejczuk[Q], Wake Forest

Maxwell Exsted, USC v Aidan Kim[3], Ohio State

Amirkhamza Nasridinov[10], Texas A&M v Nikita Filin, Ohio State

Bryan Hernandez Cortes, Mississippi State v Keegan Rice[2], Virginia

Preston Beats Pushkareva, Connie Ma Reappears to Post Win Over No. 2 Seed Urhobo in Berkeley W50; Hance Earns First Challenger Victory in San Diego; Top Seed Badenhorst Falls in First Round of ITA All-American Championships; Ojai to Host WCC Championships

The women's USTA Pro Circuit is back this week after a six-week hiatus with a W50 in Berkeley California, and just four days in, it's already been an eventful tournament.

2022 NCAA singles finalist Connie Ma, who graduated from Stanford in 2025, never expressed any interest in pro tennis as a career, with medical school her next step after completing her eligibility. Ma played very little tennis, even back in her junior days, with academics always her main focus, and she didn't spend her college summers on the Pro Circuit either. So it was surprising to see her as a wild card in the qualifying draw in Berkeley, where she picked up two wins over current collegians, beating Auburn junior Merna Refaat, the No. 6 seed,  6-1, 5-7, 6-0 in the first round and No. 12 seed Duru Soke, a junior at Pepperdine, 6-2, 6-4 in the second and final round of qualifying.

Today Ma defeated No. 2 seed and WTA No. 174 Akasha Urhobo 6-1, 7-5 in the first round of the main draw, a result that certainly suggests the 23-year-old doesn't need much match play to locate her best tennis. It's unlikely this run will change Ma's ambitions, but it is, in the moment, a remarkable achievement.

In Thursday's second round, Ma will face 16-year-old Janae Preston, who also earned entry through qualifying. Preston, who retired from her US Open girls quarterfinal match due to illness, defeated 23-year-old Texas newcomer Arianna Zuchini of Italy 7-6(4), 6-7(5), 6-3 in the final round of qualifying Tuesday.

Today Preston defeated Wimbledon girls champion and US Open finalist Anna Pushkareva of Russia, also a qualifier, 6-3, 1-6, 6-1 in the first round; Preston is No. 6 is the current WT junior rankings, Pushkareva No. 3, and they could meet again soon in the Junior Finals in Chengdu next month.

Kayla Day, the top seed, is through to the second round with a 6-0, 6-1 win over qualifier Arina Bulatova of Russia, a Texas A&M newcomer.

The men's Pro Circuit event this week is an M15 in Columbia South Carolina, with four members of the University of South Carolina men's team advancing to the second round.

Wild cards Charlie Swaine of Great Britain, a sophomore, Gabe Avram, a junior,  and Sean Daryabeigi, a senior, posted victories, with Avram defeating No. 3 seed Dragos Cazacu(Tennessee, Oklahoma) of Romania 6-1, 6-4 today. The fourth Gamecock through to the second round is qualifier Antonin Witz of France, a freshman.

Gavin Goode, one of the three junior reserved entrants, defeated Micah Braswell(Texas) 6-2, 6-2 and will play Avram on Thursday.

Tito Chavez(Oklahoma) of Spain won today's first round battle of the Junior Reserves, beating Ryan Cozad 6-2, 3-6, 6-1.

Sweden's John Hallquist Lithen(Ole Miss), the top seed, beat qualifier Alex Bernard(Ohio State) 6-3, 6-2 and will play Swaine in the second round Thursday.

Late last night in San Diego, 18-year-old wild card Keaton Hance picked up his first win at the ATP Challenger level, defeating ATP No. 322 Andres Martin(Georgia Tech) 6-4, 7-5. Hance will face top seed Nishesh Basavareddy(Stanford) in the second round Thursday; Basavareddy beat Wake Forest sophomore Mees Rottgering of the Netherlands 6-3, 6-3 yesterday.

It didn't take long for the first upset of the men's ITA All-American Championships in Tulsa Oklahoma, with top seed Devin Badenhorst of Baylor losing to 23-year-old NC State newcomer Toby Kodat 6-3, 6-1. 

Six other seeds lost today in the men's draw: No. 6 Matthew Forbes(Ohio State), No. 7 Jakub Vrba(Arkansas), No. 9 Eli Stephenson(Kentucky, No. 12 Luca Pow(Wake Forest), No. 13 Cooper Woestendick(TCU) and No. 15 Alex Razeghi(Stanford).

The first round of doubles is going on now, with the seeds below:

Men's ITA All-American doubles seeds:

1. Brandon Carpico and Nikita Filin, Ohio State
2. Oliver Ojakaar and Tomasz Berkieta, Texas
3. Cooper Woestendick and Albert Pedrico, TCU
4. Bruno Kuzuhara and Romain Gales, Clemson
5. Luca Pow and Aryan Shah, Wake Forest
6. Nicolas Arseneault and Mikael Arseneault
7. Lucas Marionneau and Gabriel Debru, Texas
8. Charlie Robertson and Paul Barbier Bazeu, South Carolina

Men's draws are here.

The women's ITA All-American Championships in Cary North Carolina lost four singles seeds today, three of them in the top eight, with most of the first round action taking place indoors due to rain.

Zuzanna Kubacha, a senior at Baylor, defeated No. 3 seed Piper Charney of Michigan 6-2, 6-2; No. 6 seed Janna Hossam Salah of Florida lost to Mississippi State qualifier Gianna Oboniye 6-2, 6-4 and Aspen Schuman of Duke beat No. 8 seed Valeria Ray of Vanderbilt 6-1, 6-2. No. 12 seed Ziva Falkner of Pepperdine lost to Sophia Cisse-Ignatiev of Ohio State 7-6(4), 7-5. 

Women's ITA All-American doubles seeds:

1. none

2. Roisin Gilheany and Victoria Osuigwe, NC State

3. Luciana Perry and Flora Johnson, Ohio State

4. Alexia Jacobs and Anna-Marie Weissheim, Washington

5. Ava Esposito and Ashton Bowers, Auburn

6. Maddy Zampardo and Susanna Maltby, North Carolina

7. Caroline McGinley and Amelie Van Impe, SMU

8. Anna Frey and Alanis Hamilton, North Carolina

Women's draws are here.

The Ojai will not be hosting the Big Ten conference championships after doing so for the women in 2025 and the men in 2026, but there will be Division I conference play there next April, with the announcement that the West Coast Conference has agreed to play there in 2027. San Diego and Pepperdine are the most prominent tennis programs in the conference, with UC-Santa Barbara joining the conference in the 2027-28 academic year.

For details on the WCC conference championship's agreement with the Ojai, see this press release.

Top Seeds Badenhorst and Herea Begin Title Quests at ITA All-American Championships Wednesday; Both No. 2 Seeds Fall at Corpus Christi J200; Pro Circuit Pillar Dow Tennis Classic Folds

The ITA All-American Championships have spent the past four days deciding the 16 qualifiers who will join the 48 other Division I collegians competing for the prestigious fall title and for spots in November's NCAA championships.

At the women's tournament in Cary North Carolina, Florida, Georgia and North Carolina each placed three players in the main draw, three of whom--Bella Payne and Patricija Paukstyte of Georgia and Anna Frey of UNC--have now won five matches, as they came through pre-qualifying. Florida freshman Capucine Jauffret also started in pre-qualifying, lost in the final round of qualifying, got into qualifying as a lucky loser and won both of her qualifying matches to reach the main draw.

Women's ITA All-American qualifiers:
Allegra Korpanec Davies[17], Florida
Patricija Paukstyte[PQ], Georgia
Capucine Jauffret[LL], Florida
Salakthip Ounmang[17], Oklahoma
Audrey Spencer[17], Ohio State
Gianna Oboniye, Mississippi State
Olivia Traynor[17], Michigan
Tianmei Wang, Stanford
Jantje Tilbuerger[10], UCF
Nicole Khirin[17], North Carolina
Linea Bajraliu[12], Georgia
Brooke Black[13], Florida
Alexis Nguyen[14], North Carolina
Anna Frey[PQ], North Carolina
Bella Payne[PQ], Georgia

Carmen Herea is the top seed in Cary, a year after the Texas junior reached the final, falling to Stanford's Valerie Glozman. 2025 semifinalist Luciana Perry of Ohio State is the No. 2 seed.

Women's ITA All-American seeds:

1. Carmen Herea, Texas

2. Luciana Perry, Ohio State

3. Piper Charney, Michigan

4. Irina Balus, Duke

5. Mia Slama, NC State

6. Jana Hossam Salah, Florida

7. Amelie Van Impe, SMU

8. Valeria Ray, Vanderbilt

9. Emilija Tverijonaite, Arizona State

10. Anastasiia Grechkina, Pepperdine

11. Monika Ekstrand, Stanford

12. Ziva Falkner, Pepperdine

13. Tatum Evans, North Carolina

14. none

15. Helena Buchwald, South Carolina

16. Rose Marie Nijkamp, Texas

At the men's tournament in Tulsa Oklahoma, Wake Forest, Texas and NC State have two qualifiers each, with ten other schools getting one player through to the main draw. Three pre-qualifiers have cleared the second hurdle of qualifying: UCLA's Andy Nguyen, Dayton's Kyle McNally and Illinois' Jeremy Zhang.

Qualifiers:

Nour Fathalla[1], Purdue

Asahi Harazaki, Oklahoma

Jules Leroux[3], NC State

Nikita Volonski, Tulsa

Andy Nguyen[PQ], UCLA

Abel Forger[6], Texas

Aryan Shah[7], Wake Forest

Noa Vukadin[17], Clemson

Jeremy Zhang[PQ], Illinois

Kyle McNally[PQ], Dayton

Erik Schiessl[17], Baylor

Denis Petak[17], Ohio State

Luca Preda[13], Virginia

Toby Kodat[14], NC State

Dominick Mosejczuk[17], Wake Forest

Tomasz Berkieta[16], Texas

Baylor's Devin Badenhorst is the top seed, and is coming off a semifinal showing last year; Keegan Rice of Virginia, who was on Canada's Davis Cup team that advanced to the quarterfinals with a win over France at home last weekend (he did not see action), is the No. 2 seed. Aidan Kim of Ohio State, the 2025 finalist, is the No. 3 seed. Ohio State has a total of seven players in the main draw.

Men's ITA All-American singles seeds:

1. Devin Badenhorst, Baylor

2. Keegan Rice, Virginia

3. Aidan Kim, Ohio State

4. Theo Papamalamis, Texas A&M

5. Gabriel Debru, Texas

6. Matthew Forbes, Ohio State

7. Jakub Vrba, Arkansas

8. Preston Stearns, Ohio State

9. Eli Stephenson, Kentucky

10. Amirkhamza Nasridinov, Texas A&M

11. Rodrigo Fernandes, Cornell

12. Luca Pow, Wake Forest

13. Cooper Woestendick, TCU

14. Emon van Loben Sels, UCLA

15. Alex Razeghi, Stanford

16. Viktor Markov, Clemson

Doubles draws have not yet been posted. The men's draw page is here; the women's draw page is here.

There will be no Cracked Racquets coverage of the tournament this year; streaming links are available at the tournament pages. 

The seeds were in action for the first time today at the J200 in Corpus Christi Texas, and both No. 2 seeds were ousted. 

Filip Malis of Canada defeated Mason Vaughan 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 and Aleksandra Jerkunica beat Avery Alexander of Canada 7-5, 6-4.

They were not the only top 4 seeds to exit, with No. 4 Emery Combs losing to San Antonioa J100 champion Nikol Davletshina 6-1, 6-1 and No. 3 seed Jerrid Gaines Jr. retiring trailing Achyuth Binu 6-4, 5-2.

There was sad and shocking news today from the USTA Pro Circuit with the announcement that the Dow Tennis Classic in Midland Michigan will be discontinued. Started in 1989, the tournament was a part of the ITF Women's Circuit, moving up to a 100 level event before converting to a WTA 125 in 2021. 

I often attended the event, when it was in early February for many years, and then in the fall, where it landed after the pandemic, and I'll miss the opportunity to see local players compete there and to check in with former juniors and collegians who are making their way up the professional ladder. 

The community involvement, the exposure to pro tennis it offered to a vibrant grass roots tennis scene and its legendary hospitality made it one of the most highly regarded events on the USTA Pro Circuit calendar. Dow's decision not to renew the their decades-long sponsorship and the inability to find a replacement doomed the event, and it is blow not only to the WTA but to women's sports in general to see this event unable to garner the support necessary to survive.

For more on the decision to end the event, see this article.