Junior Davis Cup and Junior Billie Jean King Cup Begin Monday; USTA Pro Circuit Titles for Dietrich, Dolehide, Combs, Shcherbinina and Maxted; Brantmeier Goes Back-to-Back at W75s in Canada; Rapolu Wins W50 in Mexico

The international Junior Davis Cup and Junior Billie Jean King Cup competitions for 16-and-under players begin tomorrow in Egypt, with both the teams from the United States seeded second.

The US girls won the title last year and will be going for their fifth straight title, but they are seeded behind Czechia, which features WT junior No. 3 Jana Kovackova and No. 20 Katerina Zajickova and are two-time junior slam doubles champions. The United States team consists of No. 12 Jordyn Hazelitt, No. 31 Welles Newman and No. 64 Hannah Ayrault. New USTA National Coach Dave Secker is the captain. The only time the US girls have not won the title since 2017 was in 2021, when the USTA declined to send teams to the competition due to the pandemic. Czechia won the title in their absence.

The US boys have won two titles in succession, but 16-year-olds Jordan Lee and Michael Antonius, who were on last year's championship team and are eligible to compete again this year, have opted out. The US team consists of No. 81 Teodor Davidov, No. 135 Izyan Ahmad and No. 250 Gadin Arun, who replaced previously announced team member Tomas Laukys. Sylvain Guichard, returns as captain after guiding the team to the title last year.

The top seed in the boys draws is Australia, who has WT junior No. 75 Taiki Takizawa, No. 133 Ethan Domingo and No. 214 Har Abir Sekhon.

The US girls play Slovakia and the boys play India in group play Monday, with each of the four groups below sending two teams to the quarterfinals.

Junior Billie Jean King Cup

Group 1
Czechia[1]
Colombia[8]
Australia
Taiwan

Group 2

Japan[4]

Great Britain[7]

Brazil

Egypt

Group 3

Ukraine[3]

Spain[5]

Korea

Tunisia

Group 4

USA[2]

Romania[6]

Canada 

Slovakia

Junior Davis Cup

Group 1

Australia[1]

Egypt[6]

Serbia

Canada

Group 2

Brazil[3]

Spain[5]

Hungary

Morocco

Group 3

Japan[4]

Czechia[7]

Italy

Venezuela

Group 4

USA[2]

France[8]

Kazakhstan

India

The full list of Junior Davis Cup players is here; the full list of Junior Billie Jean King Cup players is here. The World Tennis preview is here. Live streaming is available here.

Dylan Dietrich faced his toughest contest in his 10-match ATP Challenger winning streak this month in today's final of the Sioux Falls 100-level tournament. The University of Virginia senior lost his first set in that streak to No. 5 seed Liam Draxl(Kentucky) of Canada, but was able to rebound for a 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory.

"I think at the beginning I was a little bit hesitant because I was not focusing on my side enough," the 22-year-old from Switzerland told press aide Greg Sharko, after admitting that he had expected Draxl to show more signs of fatigue from his two three-setters in the quarterfinals and semifinals. "Then I corrected that in the second set, told myself I'm just going to try every single point, being maybe a little bit more offensive, a little bit more aggressive, try to come in a little bit more, and that worked out great."

Dietrich, who will play top seed Marcos Giron(UCLA) in next week's ATP Challenger 75 at his home courts in Charlottesville, is now into the Top 200 of the ATP rankings with this title, after starting the summer at 998.

In the doubles final Saturday, No. 4 seeds Jarno Jans of the Netherlands and Joran Vliegen(East Carolina) of Belgium defeated No. 2 seeds Miguel Reyes-Varela(Texas) and Reese Stalder(TCU) 6-4, 7-6(7).

Caroline Dolehide defeated 17-year-old Julieta Pareja 6-4, 6-3 in the battle of unseeded Americans in the final of the W100 in New Braunfels Texas today. The 28-year-old from Illinois, who has a WTA career-high ranking of 32, will move back into the WTA Top 200 with the title, while Pareja's ranking will rise to a career high of 202.

Emery Combs won her first Pro Circuit singles title a day after claiming her first Pro Circuit doubles title yesterday at the W15 in Sumter South Carolina. The 15-year-old from Conway South Carolina captured a second winner's trophy when qualifier Malwina Rowinska(Florida, FAU) of Poland retired after losing the first set 6-4. I believe Combs now joins Ekaterina Dotsenko of Russia as the only girls born in 2011 with a World Tennis women's singles title.

At the W35 in Norman Oklahoma, No. 5 seed Alina Shcherbinina(Baylor, Oklahoma) of Russia defeated No. 2 seed Dana Guzman(Oklahoma) of Peru 7-5, 6-4 to win her fourth, and biggest title, all of them coming in 2026. She should move into the WTA Top 500 when the points are added a week from Monday.

No. 4 seed Lui Maxted of Great Britain, the fall 2024 NCAA doubles champion while a senior at TCU, won the M25 in Norman, coming back to beat No. 5 seed Tyler Zink(Georgia, Oklahoma State) 6-7(1), 7-5, 6-3 in three hours and nine minutes. It's the third M25 singles title for the 22-year-old, who has claimed six M25 doubles titles.

2025 NCAA singles champion Reese Brantmeier added a second straight W75 title today, with the No. 7 seed beating No. 3 seed Katherine Sebov of Canada 6-3, 6-1 in the Toronto final. The recent North Carolina graduate will now move into the WTA Top 200 for the first time and with the 170 points she's earned in the past three weeks in Canada, she is in the driver's seat for the USTA's Australian Open reciprocal wild card, with one week remaining in the women's race.

A fourth American woman won a title this week in North America, with 23-year-old Malaika Rapolu capturing the W50 in Morelia Mexico. The former University of Texas standout, seeded No. 4, defeated No. 2 seed Anastasia Tikhonova of Russia 6-4, 6-0 in the final, recording her fifth consecutive straight-sets victory. Now at a career-high 255 in the live rankings, Rapolu is making a push for a place in qualifying at the 2027 Australian Open.

Fiona Crawley(North Carolina) lost in the final of the W75 in Glasgow Scotland, with the fifth seed falling to No. 7 seed Suzan Lamens of the Netherlands 6-4, 6-3.

The M25 in Las Vegas has been disrupted by rain for three days now, and the final between Andres Santamarta(Virginia) of Spain and JC Roddick(UCF, Texas A&M) is in another delay after three games were played.

The doubles final was played last night, with No. 3 seeds Jack Anthrop(Ohio State) and Noah Zamora(UC-Irvine) defeating top seeds Oliver Okonkwo of Great Britain and Jack Vance 7-6(8), 4-6, 10-8.

Dietrich Reaches Sioux Falls Challenger Final; Brantmeier Aims for Second Straight W75 Title Sunday; Pareja Advances to First W100 Final; Combs Goes for Sweep at W15 Sumter SC

Dylan Dietrich is waltzing through the draw this week at the ATP Challenger 100 in Sioux Falls South Dakota, earning his ninth straight victory this month with his 6-4, 6-2 win over Aidan Mayo. The University of Virginia senior, who won his first Challenger title earlier this month in Columbus, has not dropped a set since retiring down 5-1 in the third set to Nishesh Basavareddy in the semifinals of the San Diego Challenger in September.  He will face No. 5 seed Liam Draxl(Kentucky) of Canada, who saved two match points at 6-4 in the second set tiebreaker en route to the final, ending the run of qualifier Sebastian Dominko(Notre Dame) 6-7(7), 7-6(6), 6-4.

Dietrich, who is up to 222 in the ATP live rankings, and will break into the Top 200 if he wins Sunday, told Cracked Racquets' Alex Gruskin after his quarterfinal win Friday that short of winning the Australian Open men's singles title in Melbourne in January, he will be returning to Charlottesville to defend the Cavaliers NCAA team title.

"There's just no world now (that I don't come back)," said the 22-year-old from Switzerland, who clinched that title for Virginia in May. "Many people now, especially back home, are telling me 'why wouldn't you go pro, why wouldn't you use this momentum?' But if you think about it, from where I started at UVA, how much I've improved, how much I've matured, I should be looking at it almost the other way. I've improved so much, let's squeeze everything possible out this last year, out of the coaches, out of Igdar, our fitness coach, out of Rosalind, our athletic trainer, because they certainly helped me come here and play in the semis of this 100 Challenger. So I'm looking at it that way, that I'm trying to make the best out of this last year, learn as much as possible and have a good time with the guys as well. It is truly a special time."

Another top college player who would agree with that assessment is Reese Brantmeier, who played all four years at the University of North Carolina, winning the 2023 NCAA team title and the 2025 NCAA singles title. The 22-year-old from Wisconsin is now 29-10 since her graduation in May, and on Sunday she will play for her second consecutive W75 title in Canada. 

After winning in Saguenay last week unseeded, Brantmeier is the No. 7 seed this week in Toronto, and today she avenged her last loss, in the semifinals of W50 in Quebec two weeks ago, to No. 2 seed Kajsa Rinaldo Persson of Sweden with a 6-4, 7-5 victory.

Brantmeier is now in the WTA Top 200 after today's win, and she can go a long way toward securing the USTA's Australian Open wild card, with just one more week remaining, if she takes the title tomorrow. Brantmeier will face No. 3 seed Katherine Sebov of Canada, who advanced when Ayana Akli(Maryland, South Carolina) retired trailing 7-5, 3-2. 

Seventeen-year-old Julieta Pareja, who had already reached two W100 semifinals this month, added a third today at the W100 in New Braunfels Texas by avenging one of those semifinal losses. Due to rain yesterday, the unseeded Pareja and No. 4 seed Sloane Stephens played their quarterfinal today, with Pareja winning 6-3, 6-4. She had lost to Stephens in a third set tiebreaker two weeks ago at the W100 in Edmond Oklahoma. Pareja then played No. 6 seed Akasha Urhobo, who had beaten top seed Renata Zarazua of Mexico 7-6(3), 6-4 in the quarterfinals, and Pareja won that semifinal 6-4, 6-1 to reach her first W100 final. 

Pareja will face an unseeded opponent in the final in Caroline Dolehide, who took out No. 2 seed Kristina Liutova 7-5, 6-2 in the semifinals. Pareja and Dolehide met in the quarterfinals of the W100 in Templeton early this month, with Pareja earning a 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 victory.

Top seeds Savannah Broadus(Pepperdine) and Allura Zamarripa(Texas) won the doubles title, beating No. 3 seeds Kylie Collins(Texas, LSU, Oklahoma State) and Kristina Penickova 7-6(5), 6-0 in the final. It's their second W100 title this month, and both Broadus(129) and Zamarripa(86) will move to career-highs in the WTA doubles rankings.

Fifteen-year-old Emery Combs advanced to her second W15 final today with a 6-4, 7-5 win over No. 5 seed Anita Sahdiieva(Baylor, LSU) in Sumter South Carolina.  Combs, who lost in her first W15 final in Orlando in April, will face qualifier Malwina Rowinska(Florida, FAU) of Poland Sunday. Rowinska, 21, prevented an all-US, all-15-year-old final with her 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 win today over Lani Chang.

Combs will be going for a sweep of the titles after she and longtime partner Olivia De Los Reyes earned their first pro doubles title after winning seven WT junior titles together in the past two years. They defeated Arkansas teammates Celine Simunyu of Ireland and Daria Koreshkova of Russia 7-6(3), 3-6, 11-9 in the final. 

At the M25 tournament in Norman Oklahoma, which moved both the quarterfinals and today's semifinals indoors, No. 4 seed Lui Maxted(TCU) will take on No. 5 seed Tyler Zink(Georgia, Oklahoma State) for the title. 

Maxted, a 22-year-old from Great Britain, defeated top seed and compatriot Alastair Gray(TCU) 6-4, 6-1; Zink, a 25-year-old from Florida, beat spring 2024 NCAA singles champion Filip Planinsek(Alabama) of Slovenia 6-3, 6-4.

Spencer Papa, the former Oklahoma Sooner and 2017 NCAA doubles champion, has returned to tennis at age 31 after a six-year absence, and he has earned his first pro title in his sixth tournament back. He and partner Asahi Harazaki of Japan, a senior at Oklahoma, received a walkover from the second-seeded British team of Giles Hussey(Georgia State, Tennessee) and Aidan McHugh.

At the W35 in Norman, No. 5 seed Alina Shcherbinina(Baylor, Oklahoma) of Russia and No. 2 seed Dana Guzman(Oklahoma) of Peru will play for the title, after Shcherbinina defeated qualifier Salakthip Ounmuang(Oklahoma) of Thailand 6-2, 7-5 and Guzman beat Ashley Lahey(Pepperdine) 6-4, 7-6(4).

Sooner teammates Evialina Laskevich of Belarus and Edda Mamedova of Russia won the doubles title, beating Lahey and Alexandra Vagramov(UCLA) of Canada 4-6, 6-4, 10-8 in today's final.

At the M25 in Las Vegas, rain pushed the semifinals back to this evening, but the final is set, with unseeded Virginia sophomore Andres Santamarta of Spain facing unseeded JC Roddick(UCF, Texas A&M) Sunday. Santamarta defeated No. 6 seed Jack Anthrop(Ohio State) 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-3 and Roddick defeated qualifier Nikita Filin(Ohio State) 6-2, 6-4. 

October Aces; Dietrich and Brantmeier Roll On; Combs and Chang Advance to Semifinals at Sumter SC W15; Norman OK Pro Circuit Tournaments Move Indoors; Qualifier Filin Reaches Semis at Las Vegas M25

My monthly Tennis Recruiting Network Aces column for October is a bit early, but as has been the case for many months now, I've had to leave out more former and current collegians and juniors than I include. Half of the 18 players featured won more than one title this month, and both WT Junior Finals champion Xinran Sun and Columbus Challenger champion Dylan Dietrich are still alive in their current tournaments. Sun defeated Claire Liu 7-5, 7-6(2) to advance to the semifinals of the WTA 250 in Guangzhou China; Dietrich is through to the semifinals of the ATP Challenger 100 in Sioux Falls South Dakota and Brantmeier has reached the semifinals at the W75 in Toronto.

Dietrich defeated JJ Wolf(Ohio State) for the second time in his now eight-match winning streak, with his 6-2, 7-5 victory in today's quarterfinals similar to his 7-6(6), 6-3 win over Wolf in the first round of the Columbus Challenger.  Now up to 239 in the ATP live rankings, Dietrich will face unseeded Aidan Mayo, who beat Mees Rottgering(Wake Forest) of the Netherlands 6-3, 6-4.

Qualifier Sebastian Dominko, a recent Notre Dame graduate, is through to the semifinals in just his second ATP Challenger main draw. The 23-year-old from Slovenia defeated Max Rehberg of Germany 7-6(4), 6-4 and will face the winner of tonight's match between No. 4 seed Liam Draxl of Canada and No. 3 seed Darwin Blanch.

Brantmeier will have an opportunity to avenge her last loss, two weeks ago in the semifinals of the W50 in Quebec, to Kajsa Rinaldo Persson of Sweden.  The seventh-seeded 2025 NCAA singles champion as a senior at North Carolina, Brantmeier defeated No. 4 seed Valentina Ryser of Switzerland 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-2 to extend her winning streak to eight matches. The second-seeded Rinaldo Persson, who beat Brantmeier 7-5, 7-6(4) in Quebec, defeated Lea Ma(Georgia) 6-4, 6-0.

Unseeded Ayana Akli(Maryland, South Carolina) defeated qualifier Carson Tanguilig 6-3, 6-4 to reach the semifinals, where she will play No. 3 seed Katherine Sebov of Canada. Sebov defeated unseeded Madison Sieg(USC) 3-6, 6-1, 6-4.

Fifteen-year-olds Emery Combs and Lani Chang have advanced to the semifinals of the W15 in Sumter South Carolina with routine victories in today's quarterfinals. Combs, who lives in South Carolina, defeated qualifier Alice Soulie(Ole Miss) of France 6-3, 6-1 to reach her second W15 semifinal. She will face No. 5 seed Anita Sahdiieva(Baylor, LSU) of Ukraine, who beat lucky loser Yael Saffar 6-3, 6-3.

Chang also will be playing in her second W15 semifinal after defeating qualifier Amelie Smejkalova(Clemson, NC State) 6-1, 6-1. Chang's opponent in the semifinals will be another qualifier, Malwina Rowinska(Florida, FAU) of Poland, who defeated wild card Scarlett Fagan 6-4, 6-2.

Combs and partner Olivia De Los Reyes have advanced to the doubles final after beating Saffar and Abigail Haile 6-4, 6-1 in the semifinals today. Combs and De Los Reyes have won seven WT junior circuit doubles titles together, including the J300 in Spring Texas earlier this month, but this is their first women's WTT final. They will play the unseeded pair of Daria Koreshkova of Russia and Celine Simunyu of Ireland, who are teammates at Arkansas, in the final.

Rain has been a problem all day at the W100 in New Braunfels Texas, with one second round match not yet complete. Top seed Renata Zarazua of Mexico and Xinyu Gao of China were at 5-5 in the first set last night when their second round match was postponed. The other three quarterfinals have been postponed until Saturday morning; they may still be trying to finish that second round singles match and two of the doubles quarterfinals tonight.

Looking at the forecast for Friday and Saturday, the organizers of the M25 and W35 in Norman Oklahoma announced last night that they would be moving indoors, and all matches today were played inside. 

Two Oklahoma teammates and frequent doubles partners Salakthrip Ounmuang of Thailand and Gloriana Nahum of Benin, both qualifiers, played in today's quarterfinals, with Ounmuang taking a 6-1, 6-1 decision. She will play No. 5 seed Alina Shcherbinina(Baylor, Oklahoma) in the semifinals. Ashley Lahey(Pepperdine) is into the semifinals after a 5-7, 6-3, 6-1 win over Florida recruit Rebecca Munk Mortensen of Denmark; she will play No. 2 seed Dana Guzman(Oklahoma) of Peru, who beat Bella Payne(Georgia) 6-4, 6-2.

None of the men's players at Oklahoma have advanced to the semifinals, which will feature two former TCU stars from Great Britain: top seed Alastair Gray and No. 4 seed Lui Maxted. Gray defeated qualifier Luca Pow(Wake Forest) 7-6(4), 6-2 to advance, while Maxted got a walkover from Bruno Kuzuhara(Clemson). 

2024 spring NCAA champion Filip Planinsek(Alabama) of Slovenia defeated Bor Artnak(Arizona State, Texas A&M) 6-3, 6-4 to advance to a semifinal meeting with No. 5 seed Tyler Zink(Georgia, Oklahoma State). Zink beat the last Sooner in the draw, wild card Johan Rodriguez of Colombia, 6-4, 6-2.

Nikita Filin, the Ohio State junior, has advanced to his second M25 semifinal, with his first, this August in East Lansing, also as a qualifier. Today at the M25 in Las Vegas, Filin defeated former teammate William Jansen(UNC, Ohio State, Georgia) of Great Britain 7-5, 6-4 to set up a semifinal contest against unseeded JC Roddick(UCF, Texas A&M). Roddick beat qualifier Preston Stearns, a senior at Ohio State, 2-6, 7-5, 7-6(4) in a three-hour plus quarterfinal match. Recent Ohio State graduate Jack Anthrop, the No. 6 seed, beat Ohio State senior Aidan Kim, the No. 3 seed, 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 to reach his third semifinal in as many weeks. He will face Virginia sophomore Andres Santamarta of Spain, who defeated wild card Tanishk Konduri 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-0.

Dietrich Earns First ATP Top 100 Win to Advance to Sioux Falls Challenger Quarterfinals; Liutova, Pareja and Ma Move On at W100; Four Juniors Reach W15 Sumter Quarterfinals; Tanguilig Beats Top Seed at W75 in Toronto; Buckeyes Plentiful at Las Vegas M25

University of Virginia senior Dylan Dietrich achieved another milestone this month, with the ITA preseason No. 1 earning his first ATP Top 100 win last night at the ATP Challenger 100 in Sioux Falls South Dakota.

The 22-year-old from Switzerland, who was the 2026 NCAA Team Championships Most Outstanding Player, defeated top seed Jenson Brooksby 6-3, 6-3 in the second round to reach his fifth consecutive quarterfinal at the Challenger level. Dietrich won his first Challenger title this month at the 75 in Columbus, so he will take a seven-match winning streak into Friday's quarterfinal match against JJ Wolf(Ohio State). Dietrich's winning streak began with a  first round 7-6(6), 6-3 win over Wolf in Columbus.

Alex Gruskin of Cracked Racquets is onsite in Sioux Falls this week and is conducting post-match interviews with every winner, and from his conversation with Dietrich, the likelihood that Dietrich doesn't return to Virginia for his final semester is remote. Similar to Michael Zheng last year, most observers discount the importance of a college degree, but when a player is just a semester away, those five months that make up a final semester are not really that significant in the larger scheme of things.

Dietrich admitted to Gruskin that he had tapped into his highest level against Brooksby, who had won the Fort Worth Challenger 75 last week.

"Tonight was really special," Dietrich said. "I feel like at one point I just reached flow state. I felt like I couldn't miss anymore and I went for crazy shots and it just kept on going in, so I kept trying it and trying it....obviously, I played incredible, that obviously helped for the win tonight."

Dietrich told Gruskin that it was only last fall that he really decided that pro tennis was a career he wanted to pursue.

"A few weeks before the Charlottesville Challenger, I had a great talk with coach (Andres Pedroso)," Dietrich said. "Up until then I was always sure I wanted to do something else after college. Not because I don't love the sport of tennis, but just because I've been playing it for so long and it was time to do something else. But last fall I was telling the coaches, I'm all in, I really want to go for it. It's a sport where the margins are so small if you're not really fully committed, you're not going to have a chance. It doesn't matter how talented you are...you really need to be fully committed to it and I am at the moment."

The full interview is available at the Cracked Interviews podcast.

There are no seeds left in the top half, with the Netherlands' Mees Rottgering, a sophomore at Wake Forest, facing unseeded Aidan Mayo in the other quarterfinal.

In the bottom half, recent Notre Dame graduate and qualifier Sebastian Dominiko of Slovenia eliminated No. 2 seed Valentin Royer of France 7-5, 7-5 and will play unseeded Max Rehberg of Germany in the quarterfinals. No. 5 seed Liam Draxl(Kentucky) will play the winner of tonight's match between Mitchell Krueger and No. 3 seed Darwin Blanch.

At the W100 in New Braunfels Texas, 16-year-old Kristinia Liutova, 17-year-old Julieta Pareja and wild card Connie Ma(Stanford) have reached the quarterfinals, along with Akasha Urhobo[6], Sloane Stephens[[4] and Caroline Dolehide.

Liutova, the No. 2 seed, defeated 35-year-old Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands 6-2, 7-6(4) and will play Ma in the quarterfinals. Ma, who returned to competition this fall after graduating from Stanford in 2025, beat Kylie Collins(Texas, LSU, Oklahoma State) 6-2, 6-2. Pareja defeated No. 7 seed Barbora Palicova of Czechia 6-4, 6-4 and will play Stephens in a rematch of their semifinal at the W100 in Edmond two weeks ago, which Stephens won 2-6, 6-1, 7-6(5).  Urhobo defeated qualifier Allura Zamarripa 6-2, 6-1 and will face the winner of tonight's match between top seed Renata Zarazua of Mexico and Xinyu Gao of China.

At the W75 in Toronto qualifier Carson Tanguilig(North Carolina) defeated top seed Kayla Cross(LSU) of Canada 6-1, 4-6, 7-6(4) to advance to a quarterfinal meeting with Ayana Akli(Maryland, South Carolina). Akli defated No. 8 seed Hiromi Abe of Japan 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.  No. 7 seed Reese Brantmeier(North Carolina) extended her winning streak with a 6-3, 6-0 win over qualifier Clervie Ngounoue; Lea Ma(Georgia) and Madison Sieg(USC) are also through to the quarterfinals. 

Georgia freshman Bella Payne has advanced to the quarterfinals of the W35 in Norman Oklahoma after beating qualifier Lily Taylor(Arizona State) 6-7(1), 6-4, 6-2. Payne will play No. 2 seed Dana Guzman(Oklahoma) of Peru next. 

Four of the quarterfinalists at the W15 in Sumter South Carolina are American juniors, and those four could all advance to the semifinals.

Fifteen-year-old Emery Combs is through to her second W15 quarterfinal, beating 18-year-old Adla Lopez 6-0, 2-6, 6-3. Seventeen-year-old lucky loser Yael Saffar has reached her first Pro Circuit quarterfinal, beating qualifier Mia Robinson(Mississippi State) 6-4, 7-5. Sixteen-year-old wild card Scarlett Fagan beat No. 8 seed Karla Bartel(Alabama) of Germany 6-2, 6-1 to reach her first Pro Circuit quarterfinal, and 15-year-old Lani Chang, a junior reserved entry, defeated qualifier Celia Anson Sanchez(Clemson) 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 to reach her second W15 quarterfinal.

Combs, Fagan and Chang all play qualifiers in the quarterfinals; Saffar faces the only seed remaining, No. 5 Anita Sahdiieva(Baylor, LSU) of Ukraine, who beat Carlota Moreno 7-6(4), 7-6(7) in the second round today.

At the M25 in Las Vegas, 17-year-old wild card Tanishk Konduri defeated Felix Corwin(Minnesoty) 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 and will play Virginia sophomore Andres Santamarta of Spain in the quarterfinals. Santamarta defeated qualifier Noah Johnston(Georgia) 6-3, 6-3. No. 3 seed Aidan Kim beat Virginia freshman Luca Preda of Romania, a qualifier, 6-1, 6-1 and will face his teammate at Ohio State the past two years, Jack Anthrop[4] in the quarterfinals. Two other Buckeyes have reached the quarterfinals, with qualifiers Preston Stearns and Nikita Filin also winning today. Filin will play former teammate Will Jansen(North Carolina, Ohio State, Georga) of Great Britain in the quarterfinals, after Jansen beat No. 5 seed Andy Johnson 6-2, 6-2. Stearns will face JC Roddick(UCF, Texas A&M) who beat Enzo Kohlmann de Freitas(LSU) of Brazil 6-7(6), 6-1, 6-1. Kim and Anthrop are the only seeds still in contention.

Conference Masters Participants Announced; Fields Set for Inaugural ITA Division II Individual Championships; Pareja, Gowda, Konduri and Johnson Earn First Round Wins in World Tennis Pro Events

Four of the remaining 28 spots to fill in next month's NCAA singles championships will be decided next week at the Conference Masters Championships, with representatives from 31 women's conferences and 27 men's conferences gathering in Rome Georgia. The four semifinalists in singles and the two finalists in doubles will earn a place in the draw, while at the same time, the 24 remaining singles and 12 remaining doubles spots will be filled at the Sectional Championships.

The non-Power 4 conferences often have tournaments to decide their representatives at the Conference Masters, but I don't believe the Power 4 conferences have any competition to determine who is designated as their representative.

The men from the Power 4 conferences competing in singles are:

ACC: Alex Razeghi(Stanford)

Big Ten: Rudy Quan(UCLA) 

Big 12: Niksa Arsic(Texas Tech)

SEC: Bryan Hernandez Cortes(Mississippi State)

The women from Power 4 conferences competing in singles are:

ACC: Alexis Nguyen(North Carolina)

Big Ten: Reese Miller(Michigan)

Big 12: Kyoka Kubo(Kansas)

SEC: Linea Bajraliu(Georgia)

The full list of all 32 competitors is here. After using byes in the past two years, this year the final few spots available in the draws were filled by lottery, resulting in a second entry for the SEC men: Texas A&M's Amirkhamza Nasridinov.

The ITA will be overseeing a third big event next week, with the first Division II Singles and Doubles Championships scheduled for November 4-8 in Tuscaloosa Alabama. 

Both singles and doubles champions will be crowned for men and women, with 32 players competing for the singles title and 16 teams playing for the doubles title. 

The full list of competitors is here.

A conversation with 17-year-old Julieta Pareja is featured today in Jon Wertheim's weekly mailbag column in Sports Illustrated, with the 2025 Wimbledon girls finalist discussing her connection to Colombia, the influence of her older sisters and her favorite players. The final answer in the interview sounds as if she is not considering college tennis, but in the current environment, there is no pressure for her to make that decision right now.

After reaching the semifinals of the W100 in Edmond Oklahoma two weeks ago, Pareja is competing in the W100 in New Braunfels Texas this week, and she is through to the second round with a 6-3, 6-2 win over qualifier Diae El Jardi(Rice) of Morocco. She will face No. 7 seed Barbora Palicova of Czechia Thursday. 

No. 2 seed Kristina Liutova defeated qualifier Veronika Miroshnichenko(Loyola Marymount) of Russia 6-4, 6-4 today and No. 6 seed Akasha Urhobo beat Savannah Broadus(Pepperdine) 6-2, 6-4, but wild cards Melije Clarke and Thea Frodin and junior exempt entrant Kristina Penickova lost their opening matches, leaving just three teens in the second round.

Austin W50 champion Ella McDonald(LSU) of Great Britain continued her winning streak, advancing when No. 3 seed Elvina Kalieva retired trailing 6-1, 3-0.

At the W75 in Toronto, University of Michigan recruit Thara Gowda qualified for the main draw and won her first round match today, beating Anna Rogers(NC State) 4-6, 6-2, 7-6(6). In case you missed it, I wrote about Gowda's choice of Michigan in this article for Tennis Recruiting Network last week. Gowda will face No. 3 seed Katherine Sebov of Canada in Thursday's second round.

Reese Brantmeier, champion at last week's W75 in Saguenay Canada, is the No. 7 seed at this week's W75 in Toronto. North Carolina's 2025 NCAA champion defeated Hina Inoue 7-5, 6-0 today to set up a second round match with 20-year-old Clervie Ngounoue, who qualified and beat Jasmijn Gimbrere of the Netherlands 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 in today's first round. 

Ngounoue and Brantmeier met in the quarterfinals of the W35 in Wichita in May, with Ngounoue winning the first set in a tiebreaker, but retiring with Brantmeier up 4-3 in the second set, with Brantmeier going on to win the title. Qualifier Carson Tanguilig(UNC), Madison Sieg(USC), Ayana Akli(Maryland, South Carolina) and Lea Ma(Georgia) are the other Americans through to the second round.

At the M25 in Las Vegas, 17-year-old wild card Tanishk Konduri advanced to the second round with a 7-5, 6-1 win over Nikola Djosic(Arizona State) of Switzerland. Konduri, who made the semifinals of the March M25 in Las Vegas, will play unseeded Felix Corwin(Minnesota) next.

No. 5 seed Andy Johnson defeated Djosic's Sun Devil teammate Xavi Palomar, a qualifier, 6-2, 6-2 today and will play Will Jansen(UNC, Ohio State, Georgia) of Great Britain Thursday.

Georgia sophmore Noah Johnston, a qualifier, beat Oliver Okonkwo(Iowa, Illinois) of Great Britain 0-6, 6-4, 7-6(1) and will face Virginia sophomore Andres Santamarta of Spain, who beat top seed Max Wiskandt of Germany in the first round yesterday.

The No. 2 seed is also out, with Ohio State junior Nikita Filin beating Andreja Petrovic(North Dakota, Florida State, Duke) of Norway 6-3, 7-6(5). He will play Micah Braswell(Texas) Thursday.

Three Men's and Three Women's USTA Pro Circuit Events This Week; ITA CEO Dave Mullins' Open Letter on Direction of College Tennis; Brooksby and Stephens Lead USTA's Australian Open Wild Card Challenge

The USTA Pro Circuit features six events this week, with a W100 in Texas and an ATP Challenger 100 in South Dakota leading the list. Both the men and women are in Norman Oklahoma for a W35 and M25, with the third men's event an M25 in Las Vegas and the third women's event a W15 in Sumter South Carolina.

The Sioux Falls Challenger, now in its third year, is ahead of the other five, with the first round scheduled to be completed tonight. Stefan Kozlov, Mitchell Krueger, Aidan Mayo, wild card Kaylan Bigun(UCLA), JJ Wolf(Ohio State), Daniel Milavsky(Harvard) and Darwin Blanch[3] have advanced to the second round, as has top seed and last week's Fort Worth Challenger champion Jenson Brooksby, who defeated wild card Bryce Nakashima(Ohio State) 6-3, 6-3 today. Brooksby will face ITA preseason No. 1 Dylan Dietrich of Switzerland, a senior at Virginia, in the second round. Dietrich defeated Colton Smith(Arizona) 6-3, 7-5 in the first round Monday.

Three Americans qualified for the main draw of the W100 in New Braunfels Texas with wins today: Lexington Reed(Texas A&M), Anne Christine Lutkemeyer(UCLA) and Allura Zamarripa(Texas). 

Wild cards were awarded to Thea Frodin, Melije Clarke, Connie Ma(Stanford) and Rose Marie Nijkamp(Texas). Ma advanced to the second round with a 6-4, 4-0, retired victory over Pepperdine sophomore Sonja Zhiyenbayeva of Kazakhstan.

In addition to Frodin and Clarke, other prominent teenagers in the draw are Kristina Penickova, who is using one of her Junior Exempt entries as the 2025 WT year end junior champion; Julieta Pareja, the 2025 Wimbledon finalist; 18-year-old Lea Nilsson of Sweden, the 2025 US Open finalist; 19-year-old Akasha Urhobo, the No. 6 seed; and 16-year-old Kristinia Liutova of Russia, who is the No. 2 seed. Renata Zarazua of Mexico is the top seed.

At the Norman W35, Oklahoma freshman Reina Goto of Japan is the top seed, with former Oklahoma star Dana Guzman of Peru the No. 2 seed. 

No Americans qualified, but a quartet of US teens are in the main draw: Georgia freshman Bella Payne, Florida freshman Capucine Jauffret, Duke sophomore Aspen Schuman and Kennedy Drenser-Hagmann, with the latter two receiving wild cards. Texas sophmore Christasha McNeil was also awarded a wild card.

Six members on the Oklahoma roster are in the draw: Goto, qualifiers Salakthip Ounmuang of Thailand and Gloriana Nahum of Benin, Edda Mamedova of Russia, Evialina Laskevich of Belarus and wild card Laura Brunkel of Denmark.

Due to the two other women's tournaments the same week, the W15 in South Carolina, features many younger American players, two of whom advanced to the main draw via qualifying today: 19-year-old Mississippi State sophomore Mia Robinson and 18-year-old blue chip Juliana Singeorzan, a high school senior from Florida. Eighteen-year-old Yael Saffar reached the main draw as a lucky loser.

Virginia freshman Shannon Lam was the top seed, but she withdrew; Kalista Liu(Maryland) is the No. 2 seed.

Wild cards were given to 15-year-olds Allison Wang and Abigail Haile, 16-year-old Scarlett Fagan and Sophie Williams(Florida, James Madison).

Fagan won her first round match, as did 15-year-old Emery Combs, who beat No. 7 seed Stefani Webb(UCF, Auburn, Tennessee) of Australia 1-6, 6-3, 6-2. Eighteen-year-old Carlota Moreno beat 16-year-old Maggie Sohns 6-2, 6-1, and Lani Chang, one of the three girls receiving junior reserved spots, beat No. 6 seed Emma Ghirardato(Oklahoma, Maryland) in other first round matches today.

The other junior reserved entries went to Adla Lopez and Ohio State recruit Ellery Mendell.

At the men's M25 in Norman, South Carolina's Sean Daryabeigi and Clemson's Marko Mesarovic are the Americans who advanced to the main draw via qualifying.

All four wild cards went to current University of Oklahoma players: junior Alejandro Melero of Spain, freshman Tito Chavez of Spain, senior Asahi Harazaki of Japan and sophomore Johan Rodrigues of Colombia. Senior Dragos Cazacu of Romania and freshman Luciano Ambrogi[3] of Argentina are the other two Sooners in the main draw.

Alastair Gray(TCU) and Giles Hussey(Georgia State, Tennessee) are the top two seeds. 

At the M25 in Las Vegas, the top seed has already been eliminated, with University of Virginia sophomore Andres Santamarta defeating Max Wiskandt of Germany 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 in first round action in the main draw.

Three Americans qualified today: Ohio State senior Preston Stearns, Ohio State junior Nikita Filin and Georgia sophomore Noah Johnston. Filin and Stearns join teammates Aidan Kim[3] and Matt Forbes[7] in the main draw.

Wild cards were awarded to Stanford recruit Tanishk Konduri, Utah State junior Xavier Calvelo and Marcel Latak, who is playing his first tournament since winning the US Open boys title last month. Latak lost 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 to Enzo Kohlmann de Freitas(LSU) of Brazil in the first round today. Seventeen-year-old Andy Johnson is the No. 5 seed.

Intercollegiate Tennis Association CEO Dave Mullins wrote an open letter to address many of the issues that have made college tennis look so much different than in the past. He's obviously given a great deal of thought to how a non-revenue sport can maintain its viability, and seems willing to look at curbs to the current influx of older pros joining college teams. 

From the letter:

College sports organizations, universities and national governing bodies should strengthen pathways for American juniors, examine eligibility rules surrounding extensive professional experience, create incentives for developmental opportunities and ensure that college athletics remains meaningfully connected to education. The ITA is actively engaged in these discussions and has a role in shaping them, but the NCAA ultimately determines its own eligibility standards.

At the same time, those of us in Olympic sports must confront another reality. Football and basketball increasingly drive the economics of major college athletics. Revenue sharing and escalating expenses will force university leaders to scrutinize every other sport they sponsor.

Tennis therefore cannot afford simply to defend the status quo.

We must generate greater value for our campuses. We need to open college facilities to communities, create new revenue opportunities, build better events, tell more compelling stories, and connect college tennis more deeply with the broader tennis industry.

College tennis can provide an elite pathway to professional tennis, welcome outstanding international athletes, and expand opportunities for American players, all while remaining rooted in education and the campus experience. In doing so, it can continue its decades-long tradition of developing future leaders across a wide range of industries.

The full letter can be found here. 

The latest standings in the USTA's Australian Open Wild Card Challenge were released today, with Sloane Stephens retaining her narrow lead over Reese Brantmeier after the completion of the third of the five-week window for women, and Jenson Brooksby leading after the men's first week of their five-week window.

2027 Australian Open Wild Card Challenge Standings Update   Orlando, Fla., October 27, 2026 – 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens and former world No. 33 Jenson Brooksby are the leaders of the Australian Open Wild Card Challenge after Week 3 of 5 for the women and Week 1 of 5 for the men. Stephens stays atop the women’s leaderboard as the women’s Challenge heads into its final two weeks. She is followed closely by 2026 NCAA singles champion Reese Brantmeier, who won the W75 Saguenay in Canada over the weekend. The victory marks the biggest title of Brantmeier’s career.   Brooksby holds the top spot in the men’s Challenge after the first week of its five-week window. Brooksby won the Fort Worth ATP Challenger 75 in Fort Worth, Texas, over the weekend, defeating fellow American Darwin Blanch. The victory marked his first title since the 2025 U.S. Men's Clay Court Championship ATP 250 and earned him the fourth Challenger crown of his career. The top of the women’s standings after Week 3 of 5:   Women's Standings (Player's current ranking in parentheses)                                                                  1. Sloane Stephens (115) -- 106                                                                2. Reese Brantmeier (215) -- 95                                                                3. Mary Stoiana (113) -- 72                                                                4. Madison Brengle (178) -- 65                                                                5. Elvina Kalieva (111) -- 61   The top of the men’s standings after Week 1 of 5:    Men's Standings (Player's current ranking in parentheses)                                                                  1. Jenson Brooksby (94) -- 75                                                                2. Darwin Blanch (144) -- 44                                                                3. Martin Damm (105) -- 32                                                                4. Nishesh Basavareddy (131) -- 13                                                                T5. Andre Ilagan (199) -- 12                                                       T5. Aidan Mayo (321) -- 12                                                       T5. Keegan Smith (185) -- 12                                                       T5. Patrick Maloney (774) -- 12