Sales and Colombo Sweep Titles at ITF J60 in Georgia; Johnson Qualifies for Savannah Challenger; John McEnroe Tennis Academy's College Combine Returns in June

With the two 15Ks in Orlando last week and two more this week, American juniors aren't as prevalent as usual on the ITF Junior Circuit, although the ITF's US junior clay swing is ramping up now. With a J30 in Raleigh serving as the kickoff of it two weeks ago, a J60 was played in Atlanta last week, with a J100 this week in Charleston South Carolina and two new J200s, on red clay in South Carolina and Tennessee, following.

Two players swept the titles last week in Georgia, with 15-year-old Daniella Sales and 17-year-old Kayden Colombo winning both singles and doubles titles.

Colombo had won only doubles titles on the ITF Junior Circuit prior to Saturday, but he won his first singles title by going undefeated in his group play in the new round robin/knockout format, then continuing his straight-sets run from the quarterfinals. He defeated Daniil Berezin 6-1, 6-4 in the singles final, avenging his loss to Berezin in the J30 Raleigh semifinals the week prior. In the doubles final that followed, Colombo partnered with Griffin Goode, with the unseeded pair defeating No. 4 seeds Carson Kuchar and John Murphy 6-1, 6-3.

Sales, the 2025 14s Nationals champion, also won her round robin group without dropping a set, but needed three sets to get past Alina Vysochenko of Ukraine in the quarterfinals. After a walkover put her in the final, Sales defeated another Ukrainian, Anastasiya Muravia, 6-4, 6-3 for her second ITF singles title, both at the J60 level.

In doubles, Vysochenko and Sales, the top seeds, beat unseeded Capri Butera and Puerto Rico's Aurora Lugo 2-6, 6-2, 11-9 in the final. 

The only other singles title won by an American last week was at a J30 in Colombia, with 13-year-old Sofia Dvortsova winning her first ITF Junior Circuit title. The No. 16 seed, Dvortsova defeated top seed Mariana Andrea Pinzon Sampedro of Colombia 6-2, 6-1 in the final.

Anita Tu reached the singles semifinals and won the doubles title at the J200 in Slovakia last week. Tu lost to champion Maria Valentina Pop of Romania 6-2, 6-4 in singles, but beat Pop and partner Elizaveta Anikina of Estonia in the semifinals of doubles. Tu and partner Tea Kovacevic, the top seeds, went on to take the title with a 6-4, 6-2 win over No. 8 seeds Sofie Maresova and Sara Oliveriusova of Czechia.

There are five USTA Pro Circuit tournaments this week, so I'm going to look at four of them tomorrow, after qualifying is complete. The fifth, the ATP Challenger 75 in Savannah Georgia, will be previewed tonight, now that there are three American teenagers in the main draw.

Seventeen-year-old Jack Kennedy, who reached the semifinals of the Tallahassee Challenger last week, received entry as part of the ATP/ITF Accelerator program that grants main draw spots to boys who finish in the Top 20 of the ITF junior rankings. He plays Sascha Gueymard Wayenburg of France in Tuesday's opening round.  Sixteen-year-old Michael Antonius, the youngest American male to win a Pro Circuit event when he captured the Bakersfield M25 last month, received a wild card into the main draw, where he'll play Mitchell Krueger.

The third teen earned his spot today, with 16-year-old Andy Johnson advancing through qualifying to make his Challenger debut.  Johnson defeated the fourth seed in qualifying, Garrett Johns(Duke), 7-6(4), 6-4 on Sunday and beat Roberto Cid Subervi(USF) of the Dominican Republic 6-2, 7-6(7) in the final round of qualifying today.  Johnson will play No. 2 seed Nishesh Basavareddy(Stanford) in the first round Tuesday, although Basavareedy retired from his quarterfinal match in Sarasota two weeks ago and withdrew from the Tallahassee Challenger.

The other Americans who qualified are Aidan Mayo and Tyler Zink(Georgia, Oklahoma State); Braden Shick(NC State) received entry as a lucky loser.  Liam Draxl(Kentucky) of Canada is again the top seed, as he was in Tallahassee last week.

Several weeks ago I made my annual change to the banner ad from my longtime sponsor John McEnroe Tennis Academy, as it's the time of year when registration for their College Combine opens. I hope you noticed it, but if not, here's additional information on the event from JMTA:

Today, JMTA announced the 10th Annual John McEnroe Tennis Academy College Recruiting Combine, to be held June 27th and June 28th, 2026, at SPORTIME Port Washington NY. This will be the third consecutive year that the Combine is being held at that location.

Now in its milestone tenth year, the JMTA College Combine has become one of the premier recruiting events in junior tennis. The Combine will provide both JMTA and non-JMTA players the opportunity to showcase their technical and tactical tennis skills, and their athletic abilities, in front of coaches from top colleges and universities. The Combine also features a live-streaming platform, which gives players the opportunity to perform for a wider group of coaches. Last year, over 100 coaches from across the country “attended” the event virtually, joining those who attended in-person.

“Helping players reach the next level has always been central to what we do at JMTA,” said John McEnroe. “Ten years ago, we created the Combine to give committed players a serious opportunity to be seen and evaluated in a meaningful way. Watching our Combine grow into one of the most respected recruiting events in the country has been incredibly rewarding. Bringing it back again to Port Washington, where my brother Patrick and I trained as kids, makes this milestone year especially meaningful for us.”

SPORTIME Port Washington, formerly the Port Washington Tennis Academy, is one of two JMTA locations on Long Island. The facility has been operated by SPORTIME, following an $8.5 million renovation, since 2023. The club holds a storied place in American tennis history. In addition to John and Patrick McEnroe, alumni include Vitas Gerulaitis, Mary Carillo and Tracy Austin.

The 2026 JMTA College Combine will welcome 50 boys and 50 girls. Coaches representing all three NCAA Divisions are expected to attend, with 2026 coach commitments to-date including coaches from Brown, Baylor, Cornell, Wake Forest, Yale, Colgate, Bryant, Villanova, Williams, and many other top programs, and with many more coaches expected to confirm their attendance in the weeks to come. Representatives from prestigious leagues, including the Ivy League, ACC, Big East, SEC, Big 10, Patriot League and NESCAC attended in previous years and are expected again this year.

Applications for the 100 available Combine spots will be accepted from now through May 31st. A dedicated Selection Committee will evaluate each application based upon objective competitive criteria. Players will be notified of their status as admitted or wait-listed on a rolling basis.

Each Combine day will begin with an 8:00 a.m. check-in. Participants will compete in singles and doubles match-play, with tracked results that count toward their UTRs. Players will also receive athletic performance assessments and will be invited to participate in Sports Vision Testing and in a College Coaches’ Panel Discussion. Combine partner Tennis Analytics will be video-recording all matches and will offer participant packages, including match videos with detailed analytics. Included for each Combine participant is an integrated recruiting package, including the match videos, which are made available, digitally, to both participants and coaches, at the touch of a button on their personal Player Portals. 

For further details, and for information about JMTA’s College Placement Service, visit www.SPORTIMENY.com/JMTACombine or email jmtacombine@sportimeny.com.

Urhobo Claims W35 Title in Zephyrhills; Combs Falls in Orlando W15 Final; Shelton Makes History in Munich; ACC Conference Titles to Wake Forest and NC State; Texas and Auburn Win SEC Conference Tournaments; TCU Sweeps Big 12 Titles

Nineteen-year-old Akasha Urhobo won her third W35 title of the year today in Zephyrhills Florida, with the No. 3, who received a wild card, beating No. 5 seed Angela Fita Boluda of Spain 7-5, 6-4 in the final.

Urhobo, who won a USTA Pro Circuit tournament at Zephyrhills in 2024 when it was a W75, will add to her lead in the USTA's Roland Garros Wild Card race. When the 35 points are added she will have 100, with two more weeks to go. Kayla Day, who was in second place with 60 points after winning the W35 in Boca Raton last week, did not play this week. The best three results from the five weeks are counted. 

At the W15 in Orlando, 15-year-old wild card Emery Combs fell in the final to qualifier Margaux Maquet of Belgium 6-0, 6-3. Although Combs has played only two Pro Circuit events, one short of the requirement for a WTA ranking, that can be circumvented if a player earns 10 points in a singles tournament. With her singles final and doubles quarterfinal, I believe Combs has met that condition.

The title at the M15 in Orlando went to top seed Corentin Denolly of France, who beat qualifier Justin Roberts(USF, Arizona State) 6-4, 6-3 in today's final.

Another French player, Clement Tabur, won the ATP Tallahassee 75 Challenger, with the 26-year-old No. 5 seed earning his first Challenger title when Joao Reis Da Silva of Brazil retired trailing 6-4, 1-0.

2022 NCAA singles champion Ben Shelton(Florida) won the ATP 500 in Munich today, becoming the first American to win a clay tournament above the ATP 250 level since Andre Agassi in 2002. Shelton, the No. 2 seed, defeated No. 4 seed Flavio Cobolli of Italy 6-2, 7-5 in the final. It's Shelton's fifth ATP title and his second ATP 500 title of the year, after winning Dallas on indoor hard courts.

Former collegians also captured the doubles title in Munich, with Jakob Schnaitter(Azusa Pacific, Wake Forest) and Mark Wallner(Temple, Tennessee) of Germany the champions. Schnaitter and Wallner, who were qualifiers, beat unseeded Theo Arribage and Albano Olivetti of France 6-4, 6-7(4), 12-10 for their first ATP title.

At the ATP 500 in Barcelona, Julian Cash(Mississippi State, Oklahoma State) and Lloyd Glasspool(Texas) of Great Britain won their first title of 2026, after winning Wimbledon and six other titles in 2025. Cash and Glasspool, the top seeds, defeated unseeded Pierre-Hugues Herbert of France and Andrea Vavassori of Italy 6-3, 6-4 in the final.

Arthur Fils of France won the singles title in Barcelona, beating Andrey Rublev of Russia 6-2, 7-6(2) in the final. 

Last night the TCU women joined the TCU men, who had earlier in the day won the Big 12 tournament title at the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona. TCU, seeded No. 3, beat top seed UCF 4-1 to earn a first conference tournament title for the women's program. For more on the women's title, see this article from gofrogs.com.

In the ACC conference finals today in Cary North Carolina, top seed Wake Forest defeated No. 2 seed Virginia 4-2 to earn their second win over the Cavaliers in their two meetings this year. It's the fourth conference tournament title for the Demon Deacons and the third time they've won both, although they shared the regular season title with Virginia. For more, see this godeacs.com article.

The women's title went to No. 3 seed NC State, who avenged their loss to No. 1 Virginia just a week ago, blanking the Cavaliers for their second ACC conference tournament title. For more on the final, see this article from gopack.com.

In College Station, Texas swept the conference titles, with the top-seeded Longhorns defeating No. 2 seed Mississippi State 4-2 in today's final. Texas won the regular season conference title outright. For more on their tenth conference title and their second straight sweep since moving to the SEC, see this article from texaslonghorns.com.

The only 4-3 match of six finals this weekend came in Norman, where No. 3 seed Auburn defeated No. 9 seed LSU with a win in a third-set tiebreaker at No. 6 singles.  Eva Ionescu, who has played only occasionally for Auburn, got the call today, and outlasted Kinaa Graham, who also had not played regularly for LSU, 6-4, 6-7(4), 7-6(2) to give Auburn their first SEC conference title. With the match ending just an hour or so ago, no article is yet available, but the box score is here. Article on the final from auburntigers.com: https://auburntigers.com/news/2026/04/19/tournament-champs-no-3-auburn-tops-no-15-lsu-in-sec-womens-tennis-championship-final

The Big Ten concluded its regular season today, with the Ohio State, Michigan and USC women sharing the regular season conference title and Michigan State and Ohio State sharing the men's conference title. 

The Big Ten conference tournament brackets are out, with the Ohio State women, who are hosting this year, the top seed.

Michigan State is the top seed in the men's tournament, which is being played in Ojai California.

Easter Bowl 18s Finals Videos; 15-year-old Combs Reaches W15 Final; Urhobo Earns More Points in Roland Garros Wild Card Race; Kennedy Drops Three-Setter in Tallahassee Challenger Semis; TCU Men Claim Big 12 Conference Title

Below are the videos of the 18s finals at last month's Easter Bowl, which wraps up my YouTube content from my March trip out West. All those videos can be seen at the tenniskalamazoo YouTube Channel. The most popular of all those videos, with nearly 5000 views, is the boys final at the ITF J300 in San Diego, and I can understand why, with the quality of that match way above average for a junior final. I have one more task to complete from that trip, a Tennis Recruiting Network photo gallery from the Easter Bowl.

Two of the American teenagers in action today on the USTA Pro Circuit are through to Sunday's finals: 15-year-old Emery Combs and 19-year-old Akasha Urhobo.

Wild card Combs, playing in just her second pro event, defeated 18-year-old University of Florida recruit Capucine Jauffret, a qualifier 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 in today's semifinals at the W15 in Orlando. She will play another qualifier in the final, 24-year-old Margaux Maquet of Belgium, who squandered a 5-0 lead in the third set, but went on to beat 14-year-old Sofiia Bielinska of Ukraine 6-2, 3-6, 7-5. 

In the doubles final, unseeded 23-year-olds Kailey Evans(Texas Tech, San Diego) and Ellie Coleman(Duke) defeated unseeded Anastasia Bertacchi of Italy and Carolina Bohrer Martins of Brazil 6-3, 7-5. The pair did not drop a set all week. It was the second Pro Circuit title for Coleman and the third for Evans.

At the W35 in Zephyrhills Florida, No. 3 seed Urhobo advanced to the final when unseeded Lea Ma(Georgia) retired after dropping the first set 6-2. Urhobo, currently leading the USTA's annual Roland Garros wild card race in this the third of the five week window for accumulating points, has earned points in all three weeks. She will face No. 5 seed Angela Fita Boluda of Spain, who beat compatriot Alicia Herrero Linana(Baylor) 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.

Former Pepperdine All-American Savannah Broadus won her second straight W35 doubles title on Florida's green clay, this week with former Virginia standout Hibah Shaikh. The unseeded pair defeated unseeded Daria Egorova and Anastasia Tikhonova of Russia 6-3, 5-7, 10-5 in the final. It's the 10th title for the 23-year-old Broadus, the third for Shaikh, and their second as a team.

At the M15 in Orlando, Michael Antonius, the No. 8 seed, lost to qualifier Justin Roberts(USF, Arizona State) of the Bahamas 6-4, 6-1. Roberts will face top seed Corentin Denolly of France, who ended the run of qualifier Adam Lynch(Barry) with a 6-1, 6-4 win today. Antonius has received a main draw wild card into the ATP Challenger 75 in Savannah Georgia next week.

2024 Kalamazoo 16s doubles champions Ryan Cozad and Yannik Alvarez won their first Pro Circuit doubles title today, with the 17-year-old wild cards beating No. 2 seeds Benjamin Thomas George(Western Michigan) of Canada and Christopher Li(UNC, Tennessee, Ohio State) of Peru 6-2, 6-4 in today's final. They defeated the 4, 1 and 2 seeds this week, dropping only one set.

In the semifinals of the ATP Challenger 75 in Tallahassee, 17-year-old Jack Kennedy lost to Joao Reis Da Silva of Brazil 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 after serving at 4-3 40-0 in the third set. Reis Da Silva will play No. 5 seed Clement Tabur of France in the final, after Tabur beat Michael Mmoh 6-4, 6-2. Kennedy is also in the main draw of the Savannah Challenger via the ITF/ATP Accelerator program.

Unseeded Stefan Dostanic(USC, Wake Forest) and Alex Rybakov(TCU) won their first Challenger doubles title, beating top seeds David Stevenson(Memphis) of Great Britain and Cleeve Harper(Texas) of Canada 6-4, 6-2 in today's final.

The finals are set for the SEC and ACC Conference championships Sunday, with a lot of 1, 2 and 3 seeds in the hunt, as well as No. 9 seeded LSU women. The Tigers defeated top-ranked, but fourth-seeded Georgia 4-1 this evening in Norman Oklahoma, getting the doubles point and wins from Cadence Brace at line 1, Ella McDonald at line 3 and Addison Lanton at line 4.

LSU will face No. 3 seed Auburn, who beat No. 2 seed Texas A&M 4-1 in the early semifinal. Auburn defeated LSU 4-2 in Baton Rouge in conference play early last month.

The men's final in the SEC will feature No. 1 Texas and No. 2 Mississippi State. Top-ranked Texas needed come-from-behind three-set wins from Abel Forger at line 5 and Sebastian Gorzny at line 1 to beat No. 5 seed Texas A&M 4-2, after the Longhorns had taken the doubles point and Jonah Braswell posted a straight-sets win at line 6.  Mississippi State, playing without their No. 2 Petar Jovanovic, defeated No. 3 seed LSU 4-2, getting straight-sets wins from Mario Martinez Serrano at 3, Raphael Vaksmann at 4 and Bryan Hernandez Cortes at 5 to add to their doubles point.

Texas, who won the regular season conference title outright, will go for the sweep tomorrow in College Station. They defeated Mississippi State 4-3 in Starkville in February, shortly after winning their first Team Indoor title.

Wake Forest and Virginia were co-champions of the regular season in the ACC, but only one can win the conference title when they meet for the second time this season. Top seed Wake Forest, who beat Virginia 4-2 last month in Winston-Salem, avenged the loss that cost them the outright conference title, beating No. 4 seed Stanford today 4-0 in Cary North Carolina. Wake took the doubles points and got straight-sets wins from Charlie Robertson at line 4, Joaquin Guilleme at line 5 and Kacper Szymkowiak at line 6 to blank last year's tournament champions. 

No. 2 seed Virginia dropped the doubles point to No. 3 seed Notre Dame, but got straight-sets wins from Dylan Dietrich at line 1, Andres Santamarta at line 3, Jangjun Kim at line 4 and Mans Dahlberg at line 6 to advance.

The top-seeded Virginia women defeated Duke 4-2 to give themselves an opportunity to sweep the conference titles. The Cavaliers took the doubles point and got straight-sets wins from Annabelle Xu at line 2, Katie Rolls at line 3 and Isabelle Lacy at line 4. 

Virginia will play No. 3 seed NC State, who beat No. 2 seed North Carolina 4-2, with four of the six singles matches going to three sets. NC State took the doubles point, and got the only two straight-sets wins from Gabby Broadfoot at line 3 and Lavinia Tanasie at line 4. The Wolfpack's fourth point came at line 1, with Mia Slama beating Reese Brantmeier 4-6, 7-6(7), 7-5.

Virginia and NC State played last Sunday, in Charlottesville, with Virginia winning that match 4-2 to clinch their first outright regular season conference title.

The Big 12 finals were today in Lake Nona, with No. 2 seed TCU breezing past top seed Arizona 4-0. The doubles point was close, with TCU taking line 3 7-5 after dropping line 1, but taking line 2 6-0 in 21 minutes. 

TCU, who had been shut out by Arizona last month, grabbed all six first sets in singles, with Duncan Chan at line 1, Oliver Bonding at line 4 and Roger Pascual at line 6 closing out their matches in straight sets to deliver another conference title to the Horned Frogs.

For more on the final, and the box score, see this article from gofrogs.com.

The top-seeded UCF team is taking on No. 3 seed TCU in the women's final tonight in Lake Nona. Live scoring of that match is here.

Easter Bowl 16s Finals Videos; Kennedy Reaches Tallahassee Challenger Semifinals; Antonius Moves on at M15 Orlando; Combs, Jauffret Advance to W15 Orlando Semifinal Meeting; Ma vs Urhobo in W35 Zephyrhills; All US Teams Advance in ITF Team Qualifying

The videos of the finals of the 16s division are available below, with the videos of the 12s and 14s finals available at the tenniskalamazoo YouTube Channel.

Jack Kennedy, who won the M15 title in Boca Raton last week, has extended his USTA Pro Circuit winning streak to eight matches by getting his second career ATP Top 200 win today in the quarterfinals of the ATP Challenger 75 in Tallahassee. The 17-year-old from New York defeated No. 4 seed and ATP 177 Daniil Glinka of Estonia 6-4, 6-4 this evening. Glinka had beaten Darwin Blanch 6-3, 6-4 in the second round last night. 

Kennedy had a bit of luck in the first set, getting a net-cord winner serving at 5-4, 40-30 after squandering five set points serving for it at 5-2, but he held on to an early break in the second set and closed it out, on his first match point, with his only ace of the match.

He will face unseeded Joao Lucas Reis Da Silva of Brazil in Saturday's semifinals, Reis Da Silva beat Pedro Boscardin Dias of Brazil 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 earlier today.

Wild card Michael Mmoh is through to the semifinals with a 6-3, 7-6(5) win over qualifier Hynek Barton of Czechia. He will face the winner of tonight's match between No. 5 seed Clement Tabur of France and Tyler Zink(Georgia, Oklahoma State).

Sixteen-year-old Michael Antonius is through to the semifinals of the M15 in Orlando, after the No. 8 seed defeated Dragos Cazacu of Romania 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in just under three hours today at the USTA National Campus. Antonius, who is 22-3 this year, with a 10-0 record in the two J300s he played and a 12-3 record in the four M25 and M15 tournaments. He will face Justin Roberts(USF, Arizona State) of the Bahamas, who beat fellow qualifier Nick Stoot, an LSU recruit, 6-1, 4-6, 6-1. 

In the top half, Barry senior Adam Lynch, a qualifier, defeated Yannik Alvarez of Puerto Rico 6-0, 6-4 to reach his first Pro Circuit semifinal. The 22-year-old, who was a three-star on Tennis Recruiting Network during his junior career, will face top seed Corentin Denolly of France, who beat qualifier Toby Martin of Great Britain 6-4, 6-1.

Alvarez and Ryan Cozad, the 2024 Kalamazoo 16s doubles champions, are through to Saturday's final after defeating No. 1 seeds Wally Thayne(Utah, Brigham Young) and Jamie Vance 6-2, 3-6, 10-6. They will play No. 2 seeds Benjamin Thomas George(Western Michigan) of Canada and Christopher Li(UNC, Tennessee, Ohio State) of Peru for the title.

Three teenagers have advanced to the semifinals of the W15 in Orlando, with one of them quaranteed to reach Sunday's final.

Fifteen-year-old wild card Emery Combs defeated 16-year-old junior reserved entrant Sarah Ye 7-5, 6-1 in today's quarterfinals and will play 18-year-old qualifier Capucine Jauffret in the first pro semifinal for both. Jauffret, a University of Florida recruit, defeated qualifier Didi Bredberg Canizares of Spain 7-6(2), 2-6, 6-2.

Fourteen-year-old Sofiia Bielinska of Ukraine, playing in just her second Pro Circuit event, is through to the semifinals after beating unseeded Ava Markham(Wisconsin) 6-3, 6-2. She will play 24-year-old qualifier Margaux Maquet of Belgium, who beat Kailey Evans(Texas Tech, San Diego) 3-6, 6-4, 6-1. 

At the W35 in Zephyrhills Florida, No. 3 seed Akasha Urhobo and unseeded Lea Ma(Georgia) have advanced to a semifinal meeting after No. 3 seed Urhobo defeated unseeded Shilin Xu of China 6-3, 7-5 and Ma beat Gina Feistel(SMU) of Poland 6-0, 1-6, 6-4. 

In the bottom half semifinal, unseeded Alicia Herrero Linana(Baylor) of Spain will play No. 5 seed Angela Fita Boluda, also of Spain. Herrero Linana defeated No. 6 seed Eva Vedder of the Netherlands 7-5, 6-4, while Fita Boluda ended the run of 18-year-old Russian qualifier Daria Egorova 6-4, 6-2.

The North and Central America and Caribbean qualifying for the ITF's Junior Davis Cup, Junior Billie Jean King Cup and World Junior Tennis team events concluded today in Montreal, with the United States finishing first in all four divisions. Canada finished second in all four groups, with those two nations qualifying for the finals this summer for the 14-and-under teams and this fall for the 16-and-under teams. The players competing this week are not necessarily those who will be on the teams going to the finals.

Individual results from the three-day competition can be found here.

Davis Cup Juniors
vs. Canada, Dominican Republic, Mexico
Izyan Ahmad (15, Wayne, N.J.)
Gadin Arun (15, Paradise Valley, Ariz.)
Teodor Davidov (15, Bradenton, Fla.)
Captain: Sylvain Guichard, USTA Lead National Coach

 

Billie Jean King Cup by Gainbridge Juniors
vs. Canada, Dominican Republic, Mexico
Jordyn Hazelitt (15, Henderson, Nev.)
Welles Newman (16, Boca Raton, Fla.)
Janae Preston (15, Henderson, Nev.)
Captain: Thierry Champion, USTA National Coach

 

ITF World Junior Tennis – Boys
vs. Canada, Costa Rica, Mexico
Nathan Lee (13, Tustin, Calif.)
Rex Kulman (14, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)
Max Smith (13, Parkland, Fla.)
Captain: Jon Glover, USTA National Coach

 

ITF World Junior Tennis – Girls
vs. Canada, Dominican Republic, Mexico
Isha Manchala (13, Hilton Head Island, S.C.)
Anna Kapanadze (13, Staten Island, N.Y.)
Nadia Poznick (13, Ann Arbor, Mich.)
Captain: Celeste Frey, USTA National Coach

 

Easter Bowl 14s Finals Videos; Kennedy Reaches First Challenger Quarterfinal in Tallahassee; In Orlando, Teens Oust Seeds at W15, Alvarez, Antonius and Stoot Advance to M15 Quarterfinals

The videos of the finals of the 14s division at last month's Easter Bowl are below; the 12s videos, which went up yesterday, can be found at my tenniskalamazoo YouTube channel.

Seventeen-year-old Jack Kennedy has advanced to his first ATP Challenger quarterfinal, with the ITF Junior No. 5 defeating Oliver Crawford(Florida) of Great Britain 7-6(4), 4-6, 7-5 this afternoon in Tallahassee. Kennedy survived 10 double faults and Crawford's 83 percent of first serves primarily by securing the final four points of the match.

Both players were holding serve easily in the final set, with only one deuce game played and neither of them facing a break point in the first 11 games of the third. Kennedy, trailing Crawford 0-30 with Crawford serving at 5-6, hit a backhand winner, forced an error with a big backhand and then earned the only break point he saw with an overhead winner, setting up a match point. Kennedy then got a forehand error from Crawford early in the rally, with the tiebreaker that seemed unavoidable suddenly not needed.

Kennedy, who won the M15 last week in Boca Raton, will face the winner of tonight's second round match between Darwin Blanch and No. 4 seed Daniil Glinka of Estonia. Kennedy and Blanch met in the Kalamazoo 18s semifinals last year, with Blanch posting 7-6(5), 6-1 victory. 

Glinka and No. 5 seed Clement Tabur of France are the only seeds remaining, with Michael Mmoh and Tyler Zink(Georgia, Oklahoma State), and possibly Blanch, joining Kennedy as unseeded Americans in the quarterfinals.

Four teenagers have advanced to the quarterfinals at the W15 in Orlando, taking out the No. 3, No. 4, No. 6 and No. 7 seeds in today's second round.

Fifteen-year-old Emery Combs defeated No. 3 seed Carla Markus of Argentina 6-4, 2-6, 6-1 and will play 16-year-old Sarah Ye, who beat No. 7 seed Jessica Hinojosa Gomez of Mexico 6-4, 7-6(4).  Eighteen-year-old qualifier Capucine Jauffret reached her second W15 quarterfinal, beating No. 6 seed Justina Maria GGonzalez Daniele of Argentina 6-3, 7-5 and will face qualifier Didi Bredberg Canizares of Spain, who defeated unseeded Maria Jose Portillo Ramirez of Mexico 7-5, 6-1. 

Fourteen-year-old Sofiia Bielinska of Ukraine, playing in just her second Pro Circuit event, with last week's tournament in Bonita Springs her first, beat No. 4 seed Luiza Fullana of Brazil 5-7, 7-6(5), 6-4. She will play Ava Markham(Wisconsin) next. The only quarterfinal without a teenager is at the top, with Kailey Evans(Texas Tech, San Diego) facing qualifier Margaux Maquet of Belgium.

At the M15 in Orlando, three teenagers have advanced to the quarterfinals: 16-year-old Michael Antonius, 17-year-old Yannik Alvarez of Puerto Rico and 18-year-old qualifier Nick Stoot.

Antonius, the No. 8 seed, defeated qualifier Davide Tortora of Italy 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 and will play 22-year-old Dragos Cazacu(Tennessee), who beat No. 4 seed Will Grant(Florida) 2-6, 6-2, 6-0. Stoot defeated No. 4 seed Blu Baker of Great Britain 6-3, 6-4 to advance to his second USTA Pro Circuit M15 quarterfinal. He will play 29-year-old qualifier Justin Roberts(USF, Arizona State) of the Bahamas, who beat No. 2 seed Reda Bennani of Morocco 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in the first round.

In the top half, Alvarez, who reached the semifinals at his first Pro Circuit tournament last week in Boca Raton, defeated Boca Raton finalist Andreja Petrovic(North Dakota, Florida State, Duke) of Norway 6-3, 6-2 and will face one of four qualifiers in the quarterfinals, Barry senior Adam Lynch. Lynch defeated No. 3 seed Ignacio Monzon of Argentina 6-4, 7-5. Toby Martin of Great Britain, the fourth qualifier to advance, beat Benjamin Willwert 6-3, 7-6(4) and will play top seed Corentin Denolly.

Just two Americans have advanced to the quarterfinals of the W35 in Zephyrhills: unseeded Lea Ma(Georgia) and No. 3 seed Akasha Urhobo.

No. 2 seed Fiona Crawley(North Carolina) lost to 18-year-old Russian qualifier Daria Egorova 7-5, 6-2, and top seed Maria Carle(Georgia) of Argentina lost to Gina Feistel(SMU) of Poland 6-3, 2-6, 6-3. 

Ma, who beat qualifier Amelia Honer(UC-Santa Barbara) 6-2, 4-6, 6-0, will play Feistel in the quarterfinals; Urhobo, who beat 17-year-old qualifier Thea Frodin 6-4, 6-3, faces unseeded Shilin Xu of China.

Easter Bowl 12s Finals Videos; Change in D-I Eligibility Rules Allows Unlimited Prize Money Prior to Enrollment; Combs and Ye Earn First Pro Circuit Wins at Orlando W15; SI Interview with Michael Antonius

After finishing the Tucson ITF J300 and San Diego J300 finals the last few days, I've processed the first two videos from last month's USTA Level 1 Easter Bowl, with the 12s finals available below. To view the other videos from my recent trip out west, see the tenniskalamazoo YouTube Channel. 

The NCAA announced today that its D-I Cabinet has adopted changes to pre-enrollment eligibility rules that will affect all sports, including tennis.

Tennis had carved out a special exemption allowing $10,000 in prize money per year prior to enrollment, without regard to expenses, but that will no longer be necessary with all sports now allowing unlimited prize money prior to enrollment.

However, the issue of student-athletes accepting prize money after enrolling has not changed, so any collegiate player who makes substantial prize money prior to January of their senior year will continue to face the prospect of declining it to retain eligibility. That was the case for Fiona Crawley of North Carolina, who qualified for the US Open in 2023 after her junior season, but could not accept the prize money if she wanted to return to Chapel Hill for her senior season, and more recently, Oliver Tarvet, who could not accept his second round Wimbledon prize money if he wished to return to San Diego for his senior year, which he did. 

The lawsuit that Reese Brantmeier filed against the NCAA is being settled, but this announcement references that settlement as pertaining only to prospects, and it will not include any carve-out for enrolled student-athletes. It appears that an initiative from the USTA, LTA or some other governing entity, allowing any prize money to be put in a trust for post-graduation use, is still the only solution to the dilemma enrolled student-athletes will continue to face.

Another key topic of discussion is an age eligibility rule, but no decision has been made on that, according to this NCAA announcement on the eligibility of prospects.

Today at the W15 in Lake Nona, 15-year-old wild card Emery Combs and 16-year-old Sarah Ye, an ITF Junior Reserved entry, earned their first wins on the USTA Pro Circuit. 

Combs defeated 19-year-old Valentina Mediorreal Arias of Colombia 6-1, 6-3 in just her second USTA Pro Circuit match; Ye beat former Michigan All-American Jaedan Brown, a qualifier, 7-5, 6-3. Eighteen-year-old qualifier Capucine Jauffret also won her first round match, beating Carolina Bohrer Martins of Brazil 6-4, 6-3. Combs will play No. 3 seed Carla Markus of Argentina next; Ye's opponent in the second round is No. 7 seed Jessica Hinojosa Gomez of Mexico.

It's unusual for any pro tennis journalist to interview a junior, but Sports Illustrated's Jon Wertheim spoke to 16-year-old Michael Antonius about his win last month at the M25 in Bakersfield California, his coaching (correction on the spelling of the last name of USTA National Coach Troy HAHN) at the USTA, his game style, his college plans, and what making Pro Circuit history means to him. As long as I've known Michael, I did not know he spoke Norwegian.