Five Americans Advance to Semifinals of ITF J300 Ecuador; Gaines Reaches Palm Coast M15 Quarterfinals; Four Qualifiers Advance at Orlando W50, Seven Americans Reach Cleveland Challenger Quarterfinals; UTR Pro Tennis Tour Update

The semifinals are set at the ITF J300 in Salinas Ecuador, with three US girls and two US boys still in contention for the singles titles.

Top seed Michael Antonius, who swept the titles last week at the J300 in Colombia, defeated qualifier Koki Nara of Japan 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 in today's quarterfinals. For the second week in a row, he will play Canadian Xavier Massotte, the No. 3 seed, in the semifinals. Massotte, who lost 6-3, 6-0 to Antonius last week, beat Christopher Thies of Germany 6-4, 7-5. Unseeded Navneet Raghuram advanced to his first J300 semifinal with a 1-6, 6-0, 6-4 win over Takahiro Kawaguchi of Japan. He will play No. 8 seed Lucas Yunez of Ecuador, who defeated No. 2 seed Mathys Domenc of France 7-6(6), 6-1.

No. 6 seed Yael Saffar defeated No. 2 seed Pietra Rivoli of Brazil 6-3, 6-1 and will face No. 3 seed Janae Preston, who eliminated Lani Chang 6-3, 6-2. Preston, who won the ITF J300 title in Costa Rica two weeks ago, did not play the Colombia J300 last week.

The player preventing a second all-USA semifinal is Sona Depesova of Slovakia, who beat qualifier Kathryn Cragg 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(5). She will play No. 7 seed Sarah Ye, who beat Daniella Britton of Great Britain 7-5, 6-4.

Antonius and Kawaguchi, the No. 2 seeds, will play for their second straight doubles title on Friday.

After getting his first ATP point with a win yesterday, 16-year-old Jerrid Gaines Jr didn't stop there, advancing to Friday's quarterfinals with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Charles Bertimon(VCU) of France at the M15 in Palm Coast Florida. He will play unseeded Fermin Tenti of Argentina next.

Andy Johnson lost to No. 5 seed Ignacio Monzon of Argentina 6-2, 6-1. Top seed Andrew Fenty(Michigan) and Ryan Colby(USC, Georgia) are the two Americans, in addition to Gaines, in the quarterfinals.

At the W50 in Orlando, there are four qualifiers and just two seeds remaining after today's second round. Qualifier Sofia Cabezas(Iowa State, Tennessee) defeated Stanford freshman Monika Ekstrand 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 and will play LSU sophomore Kayla Cross of Canada, the No. 5 seed. Cross will obviously not be in Chicago for her team's first round match against Tennessee, who will also not have recently announced addition Katrina Scott. Scott defeated fellow wild card Lea Ma(Georgia) 6-3, 7-5 to advance to the quarterfinals. She will play qualifier Martina Capurro Taborda(Oklahoma) of Argentina.

Former USC All-American Eryn Cayetano defeated No. 2 seed Maria Carle(Georgia) of Argentina 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 and will face former Cal All-American Haley Giavara, who beat qualifier Ena Koike of Japan 7-5, 6-2.

The other quarterfinal is also between two Americans, with No. 7 seed Mary Stoiana(Texas A&M) playing Kayla Day.

Seven of the eight quarterfinalists at the ATP Challenger 75 in Cleveland Ohio are Americans, including three qualifiers.

Daniel Milavsky(Harvard) will face qualifier Joshua Sheehy(Abilene Christian), who will be competing in his first Challenger quarterfinal.

Borno Gojo(Wake Forest) of Croatia will play qualifier Quinn Vandecasteele(Oregon) and No. 7 seed Stefan Kozlov faces Keegan Smith(UCLA).

Defending champion Colton Smith(Arizona), the No. 2 seed, will face qualifier Stefan Dostanic(USC, Wake Forest). The two met last year in the second round of the Cleveland Challenger, with Smith winning 6-4, 6-4. Smith saved a match point in his 3-6, 7-6(6), 6-4 first round victory over Cannon Kingsley(Ohio State).

The first month of the UTR Pro Tennis Tour is in the books, with the results from the tournaments in the United States below. Prize money is $20,000 for events without an asterisk.

MEN:

December 27 Knoxville TN
Aleksa Ciric d. Asahi Harazaki 2-6, 7-6(5), 6-4

December 27 Newport Beach CA
did not finish due to weather

December 29 Waco TX
Cooper Woestendick d. Chad Kissell 6-3, 6-3

January 4 Athens GA

Noah Johnston d. Sacha Palta 7-5, 7-6(4)

January 5 Newport Beach CA

Maciej Rajski d. Hugo Hashimoto 6-2, 6-4

January 5 South Bend IN

Sebastian Dominko d. Perry Gregg 7-6(2), 3-6, 7-5

*January 12 Stillwater OK

Nicolas Kobelt d. Charlie Valentine 6-3, 4-6, 6-2

*January 12 Philadelphia PA

Aram Noroozian d. Benjamin George 6-4, 6-3

January 12 Chapel Hill NC

Roan Jones d. Ian Mayew 5-7, 7-6(7), 6-2

January 19 Bonita Springs FL

Tomas Compagnucci d. Joao Vitor Goncalves Ceolin 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(4)

January 19 Newport Beach CA

Maciej Rajski d. Rishvanth Krishna 6-3, 6-0

January 26 Newport Beach CA

Hugo Hashimoto d. George Hakopian 6-0, 3-0 ret.

*12.5K Prize Money

WOMEN:

December 27 Newport Beach CA

Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer v Hanna Chang DNF

December 28 Boca Raton FL

Ekaterina Khayrutdinova d. Ema Burgic 6-1, ret.

December 29 Waco TX

Dalayna Hewitt d. Alina Shcherbinina 6-0, 6-3

January 5 Athens GA

Aysegul Mert d. Deniz Dilek 6-3, 6-4

January 5 Newport Beach CA

Hanna Chang d. Veronika Miroshnichenko 7-5, 6-2

January 5 South Bend IN

Bianca Molnar d. Ellie Coleman 6-4, 4-6, 6-4

*January 12 Stillwater OK

Alina Shcherbinina d. Martina Okalova 4-6, 6-4, 6-0

January 12 Boca Raton FL

Katerina Mandelikova d. Victoria Bervid 6-1, 6-2

January 19 Newport Beach CA

Veronika Miroshnichenko d. Shakhnoza Khatamova 6-0, 6-3

*January 26 Bonita Springs FL

Najah Dawson d. Emma Jackson 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(4)

January 26 Newport Beach CA

Veronika Miroshnichenko d. Sofia Johnson 6-0, 2-6, 6-3

*12.5K Prize Money

January Aces; Cragg Upsets No. 1 Seed in ITF J300 Ecuador; Virginia Men Move to Top Spot in Coaches Poll, New No. 1 in D-I Men's Singles; Gaines Earns First ATP Point in Palm Coast; Ekstrand Ousts Top Seed Osuigwe in Orlando

My column for the Tennis Recruiting Network featuring the top performances of the previous month is now available for January, featuring titles won by current and former collegians and juniors. The Australian Open and Les Petits As are always at the heart of the first month of the year, and 2026 is no exception, but Challenger-level titles and expertise in both singles and doubles are also highlighted.

At the ITF J300 in Salinas Ecuador, qualifier Kathryn Cragg defeated top seed Sofia Meabe of Argentina 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 to reach the quarterfinals.  Cragg, 14, also qualified for last week's J300 in Colombia and also played the top seed in the second round, but she lost to Welles Newman 6-3, 6-0. 

Cragg is one of five US girls in the quarterfinals, with No. 7 seed Sarah Ye, No. 3 seed Janae Preston, who plays Lani Chang and No. 6 seed Yael Saffar, who plays No. 2 seed Pietra Rivoli of Brazil. Rivoli beat last week's J300 Colombia champion Olivia Traynor 6-3, 7-6(3), in the first round.

Unseeded Navneet Raghuram beat No. 4 seed Dan Brand 6-1, 6-1 to reach the quarterfinals. Top seed Michael Antonius's second round score has not been posted. 

The ITA's first Division I singles and doubles rankings since last November were published today, and there is a new man at the top, with SMU's Trevor Svajda taking over the top spot from Columbia's Michael Zheng. Zheng, of course, is the two-time NCAA singles champion, beating Svajda in November's final, but Zheng has not played collegiately as much before and since that title, so Svajda moved up.

There is also a new No. 1 in the men's team rankings, with Virginia taking over from Wake Forest at the top spot after the Demon Deacons' loss to Ohio State last weekend. The Buckeyes move up to two, receiving five first place votes to Virginia's seven. Click on the headings to see the full lists.

Men's Division I Team Coaches Poll February 4, 2026

(first place votes in bracket, last week's ranking in parentheses)

1. Virginia[7] (2)
2. Ohio State[5] (6)
3. Wake Forest[1] (1)
4. Stanford (3)
5. TCU (4)
6. Mississippi State (7)
7. Texas (5)
8. Texas A&M (8)
9. Central Florida (9)
10. Oklahoma (13)

Men's Division I singles Top 10

1. Trevor Svajda, SMU

2. Dylan Dietrich, Virginia

3. Michael Zheng, Columbia

4. Jay Friend, Arizona

5. Duncan Chan, TCU

6. Petar Jovanovic, Mississippi State

7. Paul Inchauspe, Princeton

8. Max Dahlin, Michigan

9. Matthew Forbes, Michigan State

10. Sebastian Gorzny, Texas

Men's Division I doubles Top 5

1. Brandon Carpico and Nikita Filin, Ohio State

2. Mans Dahlberg and Dylan Dietrich, Virginia

3. DK Suresh and Andrew Delgado, Wake Forest

4. Manfredi Graziani and Aaron Sandler, Penn

5. Max Dahlin and Bjorn Swenson, Michigan

While both of the men's No. 1 spots went to the NCAA finalists, with the champions at No. 2, Reese Brantmeier of North Carolina bucked that trend in women's singles by holding on to her No. 1 ranking. NCAA women's doubles champions Tori Osuigwe and Gabby Broadfoot of NC State are No. 2 behind NCAA semifinalists Roisin Gilheany and Gloriana Nahum of Oklahoma.

Women's Division I singles Top 10

1. Reese Brantmeier, North Carolina

2. Carmen Herea, Texas

3. Luciana Perry, Ohio State

4. Aysegul Mert, Georgia

5. Valerie Glozman, Stanford

6. Savannah Dada-Mascoll, Appalachian State

7. Ange Oby Kajuru, North Carolina

8. Emily Welker, Ole Miss

9. Piper Charney, Michigan

10. Berta Passola Folch, Cal

Women's Division I doubles Top 5

1. Roisin Gilheany and Gloriana Nahum, Oklahoma

2. Gabriella Broadfoot and Victoria Osuigwe, NC State

3. Sophia Webster and Celia-Belle Mohr, Vanderbilt

4. Melodie Collard and Vivian Yang, Virginia

5. Ange Oby Kajuru and Susanna Maltby, North Carolina

On the USTA Pro Circuit today, 16-year-old Jerrid Gaines Jr earned his first ATP point, beating former Ole Miss standout John Hallquist Lithen of Sweden, the No. 8 seed, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 at the M15 in Palm Coast Florida.  Gaines, a qualifier this week, had qualified for two M15s previously, one in November and last week in Naples, but this is his first main draw victory. Sixteen-year-old Andy Johnson also reached the second round, beating Fernando Cavallo of Argentina 6-2, 6-1.

At the W50 in Orlando, 18-year-old Stanford freshman Monika Ekstrand, a wild card, defeated top seed Whitney Osuigwe 7-6(5), 7-6(4) in two and a half hours. Osuigwe is 152 in the WTA rankings; Ekstrand is ranked 355. Half of the seeds are out in Orlando after one round of competition.

North Carolina, Auburn Top Seeds for ITA Women's D-I Team Indoor Championships; Davidov, Stoot and Gaines Qualify at M15 Palm Coast; W50 Underway in Orlando; Martin Upsets Top Seed at Cleveland Challenger

The seeds and draw for the ITA Women's Division I Team Indoor Championships are out, with North Carolina and Auburn the top seeds at the two sites. On Friday there will be four matches at each site, with North Carolina at the top of draw in Campaign and Auburn at the top of the draw in Chicago. 

After the first two rounds, the two semifinalists emerging from the University of Illinois site will take Sunday off to relocate to the Northwestern venue, with the semifinals scheduled for Monday and the final for Tuesday evening.

The complete schedule for the five days can be found here.

Women's Team Indoor first round matches and times:
(all times Central)

Illinois site( 1st and 2nd rounds)

Friday February 6
North Carolina[1] v Illinois[8] 3:30 pm
Duke[4] v Ohio State[5] 6:30 pm

Vanderbilt[6] v Texas A&M[3] 9:00 am
Texas[7] v Oklahoma[2] noon

Northwestern site (1st and 2nd rounds, semis and finals)

Friday February 6
Auburn[1] v Northwestern[8] 3:30 pm
Oklahoma State[4] v NC State[5] 6:30 pm

Tennessee[6] v LSU 9:00 a.m.
Virginia[7] v Georgia[2] noon

The second of five consecutive M15s on the Florida green clay is underway in Palm Coast, with qualifying concluding today and four first round matches played.

Four American teenagers qualified for the main draw today: 19-year-old Dillon Beckles, a Dartmouth recruit; 16-year-old Jerrid Gaines Jr; 15-year-old Teodor Davidov, and 18-year-old Nikolas Stoot, an LSU recruit.

All four of the wild cards played today, with Oleksandr Bielinskyi of Ukraine losting to top seed Andrew Fenty 6-4, 6-1; Liam Krall(SMU) falling to Fermin Tenti of Argentina 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 and Matthew Segura losing to No. 2 seed Tommaso Compagnucci of Italy 6-2, 6-1. The only wild card to win his match was Hunter Heck(Illinois), who beat Ronit Karki 6-4, 6-4. Karki and Andy Johnson received entry via the ITF's Junior Reserved program.

The women's USTA Pro Circuit event this week is a W50 at the National Campus in Lake Nona Florida. 

Three former American collegians qualified: Madison Sieg(USC), Eryn Cayetano(USC) and Haley Giavara(Cal). Julieta Pareja lost in the final round of qualifying to former Iowa State and Tennessee star Sofia Cabezas of Venezuela 2-6, 6-4, 6-2.

Whitney Osuigwe is the top seed, and will play Stanford freshman Monika Ekstrand, a wild card, in the first round Wednesday. Wild cards were given to Akasha Urhobo, who lost to Hanna Chang 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 today; Lea Ma(Georgia) and Katrina Scott, who has been announced as an addition to the Tennessee roster but has yet to compete for the Vols. 

No. 2 seed Maria Carle(Georgia) of Argentina won her first round match today over Alicia Herrero Linana(Baylor) of Spain 1-6, 6-2, 6-2.

At the ATP Challenger 75 in Cleveland, top seed Sho Shimabukuro of Japan, 141 in the current ATP ranking, lost to Dan Martin of Canada, No. 399 in the ATP rankings, 6-3, 6-4 this afternoon. It's the best win of the 26-year-old Martin's career by ranking; he played college tennis at Dartmouth and Miami.

Jack Kennedy's main draw debut didn't go well, with the 17-year-old New Yorked failing to win a game against former Wake Forest All-American Borna Gojo of Croatia. Gojo had nine aces and Kennedy had 34 unforced errors in the 53-minute match.

Qualifier Quinn Vandecasteele(Oregon) defeated No. 5 seed Murphy Cassone(Arizona State) 7-6(2), 6-3 and Christian Langmo(Miami) beat No. 8 seed Alex Rybakov(TCU) 7-6(6), 6-3 last night.

Antonius and Traynor Win ITF J300 Titles in Colombia; Kennedy Makes ATP Challenger Main Draw Debut in Cleveland; Georgia Tops Women's Winter Recruiting Class Rankings; Tommy Paul, Christian Harrison Added to USA's Davis Cup Roster

The ITF J300 in Baranquilla Colombia has always been a popular and successful tournament for American juniors, regardless where its been on the ITF Junior Circuit calendar, with American boys winning five of the past six singles titles. Keaton Hance, the Australian Open boys finalist won it last year, along with Julieta Pareja, and again this year Americans swept the titles, with Michael Antonius winning both the singles and doubles championships and Olivia Traynor collecting her first ITF J300 title.

Antonius, the top seed, didn't drop a set until the final, but had a stern test in the final, with the 16-year-old from Buffalo New York beating unseeded Rhys Lawler of Great Britain 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-1 for his second ITF J300 singles title.

Antonius had already claimed his second ITF J300 doubles title the day before, partnering with Takahiro Kawaguchi of Japan. The No. 2 seeds defeated the unseeded team of Zavier Augustin and Japan's Koki Nara 6-3, 6-4 in the final.

With the two titles, Antonius moved back up to his ITF junior ranking career high of 14.

Traynor, an 18-year-old from New York, hadn't won more than one match in an ITF J300 tournament until last week, but the unseeded University of Michigan recruit picked up five victories to take the title, beating No. 4 seed Jordyn Hazelitt 7-6(3), 6-3. Traynor also advanced to the doubles final with partner Ana Avramovic, with the unseeded pair falling to top seeds Hazelitt and Welles Newman, who also won the doubles title at the ITF J300 in Costa Rica two weeks ago.

Traynor moved from 131 in the ITF junior rankings to 66.

Both Antonius and Traynor are in the draws at this week's J300 in Salinas Ecuador, with Antonius again the No. 1 seed. Traynor, who is unseeded, drew No. 2 seed Pietra Rivoli of Brazil in the first round.

The other two ITF Junior Circuit titles for Americans came at J30s.

At the J30 tournament in Sri Lanka, 15-year-old Swanika Roy won her first ITF Junior Circuit singles title. The No. 4 seed defeated No. 2 seed Aaraa Aasaal Azim of the Maldives 6-3, 6-3; all five of her victories came in straight sets.

At the J30 in Uruguay, 16-year-old Londyn McCord won her first ITF Junior Circuit singles title, with the No. 5 seed beating No. 4 seed Sofia Barbosa Perez of Uruguay 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 in the final. 

Jack Kennedy will make his ATP Challenger main draw debut Tuesday at the Cleveland Open 75 against 2018 NCAA singles finalist Borna Gojo(Wake Forest) of Croatia. Kennedy has played Challenger qualifying matches before, but this is his first main draw match, with that opportunity coming courtesy of the ATP Junior Accelerator Program. After finishing in the Top 10 of the ITF Junior rankings in 2025, Kennedy has up to eight entries at Challengers at the 50 or 75 level this year.

Qualifying was completed today, with five of the six qualifiers former collegians, four from the United States: Joshua Sheehy(Abilene Christian), Justin Boulais(Ohio State) of Canada, Quinn Vandecasteele(Oregon, Matt Kuhar(Bryant), Stefan Dostanic(USC, Wake Forest) and Ben Jones of Great Britain.

Wild cards were awarded to Kaylan Bigun(UCLA), Karl Poling(Princeton, UNC) and Cleveland State junior Lincoln Battle.

Sho Shimabukuro of Japan is the top seed, with defending champion Colton Smith(Arizona) the No. 2 seed. In first round action today, Daniel Milavsky(Harvard) defeated Bigun 6-4, 6-3; Stefan Kozlov[7] beat Cedrik-Marcel Stebe of Germany 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 and Antoine Ghibaudo of France defeated No. 4 seed Bernard Tomic of Australia 6-1, 6-3. Ghibaudo, a sophomore at Kentucky, announced yesterday that he was leaving the Wildcats program to concentrate on his professional career. 

The winter edition of the Tennis Recruiting Network's 2026 women's recruiting class rankings came out today, with Georgia taking the top spot, followed by Texas A&M and North Carolina. Georgia received eight first place votes, Texas A&M four and North Carolina one. The other programs in the top 10 are Tennessee, Clemson, Central Florida, Florida, Auburn, Wake Forest and Florida State.

As the article accompanying the rankings points out, ten of the top 25 this year did not appear in the top 25 last year, with top recruiting classes less predictable in this new era of the transfer portal and NIL and the Ivys less prominent than usual. 

The United States Davis Cup team travels to Hungary this weekend for a first round qualifying match and two additions to the team were announced today: Tommy Paul and Christian Harrison. The USTA release:

Tommy Paul, Christian Harrison Join U.S. Davis Cup Team for 2026 First Round Qualifier vs. Hungary February 7-8

 

TATABÁNYA, Hungary, February 2, 2026 – World No. 22 Tommy Paul and 2026 Australian Open men's doubles champion Christian Harrison have joined No. 68 Ethan Quinn, No. 82Emilio Nava and doubles No. 52 Austin Krajicek on the U.S. Davis Cup Team for its Qualifying First Round tie vs. Hungary February 7-8 in Tatabánya, Hungary. 

 

Paul joins the team for his 11^th tie, while Harrison replaces Rajeev Ram in his debut Davis Cup nomination. This weekend's matches will be played on an indoor clay court at the Tatabányai Multifunkcionális Sportcsarnok.

 

This First Round Qualifying competition is a best-of-five match series that will begin with two singles matches on Saturday, February 7, starting at 1 p.m. local time (7 a.m. ET), then continue with a doubles match and two more singles matches on Sunday, February 8, beginning at 11 a.m. local time (5 a.m. ET). The first nation between the USA and Hungary to win three out of those five matches wins the First Round Qualifier and will advance to the Second Round of Qualifying in late September. Tennis Channel will feature coverage in the U.S.

 

The Hungarian team and Captain Kornel Bardoczky have nominated world No. 46 Fabian Marozsan, No. 176 Zsombor Piros, No. 533 Peter Fajta, No. 622 Mate Valkusz and No. 781 Matyas Fuele.

 

Captains may make up to three combined substitutions / additions to their rosters up until Friday's draw ceremony, when the initial lineups and matchups are set. 

Karabanova, Hotelier Capture Les Petits As Titles; Svajda, Kalieva, Andreescu and Grant Win Championships on USTA Pro Circuit; No. 1 Georgia Women, No. 1 Wake Forest Men Fall at UNC, Ohio State

There were two completely different finals at Les Petits As, the prestigious international tournament for 14-and-under players held annually in Tarbes France.

Girls champion Aleksandra Karabanova of Russia, the No. 10 seed, saved a match point in her 5-7, 7-6(5), 6-0 win over Elizaveta Anikina of Estonia in a final that spanned nearly three hours, while No. 16 seed Lyoma Hotelier of Japan breezed past qualifier Richard Mitchell of Switzerland 6-0, 6-1 in 45 minutes.

Aleksandra Karabanova
photo @Richard van Loon, TopTennis.photos

The drama in the Karabanova - Anikina match was persistent throughout, with Anikina looking for every opportunity to close the net, while Karabanova was able to counteract that by passing well and getting sure winners back in play.  

Although neither has a serve that produces free points, Anikina got only 36 percent of her first serves in, limiting her ability to be aggressive early in the point. Karabanova made only 50 percent of her first serves and had 14 double faults, but she kept her composure despite the frustration she must have felt. 

One of those double faults came at deuce with Karabanova serving at 5-6 in the second set, but Anikina sent a forehand long early in the rally and Karabanova held for the tiebreaker.

That tiebreaker featured two significant line calling controversies, both going against Anikina, which got me thinking that it was odd that the tournament, usually so innovative, didn't have electronic line calling. But then I recalled that the event is a major training ground for aspiring French chair umpires, so maybe that played a role.

In any case, the chair overruled the line judge on the far sideline to give Karabanova the point for 2-2 and then a Anikina ball that looked to be on the line was called wide at 5-all, with Anikina shanking her backhand on the next point to drop the set.

The third set was not as one-sided as it may have looked, but Anikina was making many more unforced errors, possibly due to fatigue. Karabanova went up 5-0 mostly by playing much more conservatively than she had in the first two sets, extending rallies until Anikina missed, and that strategy worked, with Anikina unable to play three good points in succession at any time in the final set.

Lyoma Hotelier
photo @Richard van Loon, TopTennis.photos

The boys final could not have been more different, with Mitchell obviously out of gas after winning seven matches prior to the final. Hotelier, who had won the Tennis Europe Category 1 title in Bolton England the previous week, has won 11 matches in the indoor hard fortnight, losing just two sets in that span.

The four tournaments on the USTA Pro Circuit concluded today in Florida and California, with three American singles champions crowned.

At the ATP Challenger 100, No. 4 seed Zachary Svajda, playing in his hometown of San Diego, defeated top seed Sebastian Korda 6-4, 7-6(5). The two-time Kalamazoo 18s champion, now 23 years old, played the cleaner match against the current ATP No. 53, hitting 22 winners and making just 14 unforced errors, while Korda had 26 winners and 40 unforced errors.

Svajda had only two aces in the match, but couldn't have picked a better time for his second. After Svajda took a 6-3 lead in the second set tiebreaker, Korda hit two winners on his two service points, but Svajda closed out his seventh Challenger title with an ace. He will move to 109 in the ATP rankings, just shy of his career-high of 102.

No. 3 seeds Mac Kiger(North Carolina) and Trey Hildebrand(UCF, Texas A&M) won the doubles title in San Diego, beating the unseeded team of Garrett Johns(Duke) and Karl Poling(Princeton, UNC) 6-3, 6-4 in the final. It's the seventh Challenger title for Kiger and his third with Hilderbrand, who has eight Challenger doubles titles.

At the W100 in San Diego, No. 5 seed Elvina Kalieva won her first title since 2023, beating No. 2 seed Elli Mandlik 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 in today's final. Kalieva had ended the comeback of Jennifer Brady(UCLA) with a 5-7, 7-6(2), 6-2 win in the semifinals, while Mandlik had beaten No. 6 seed Mary Stoiana 6-4, 6-3 in the semifinals.

The 22-year-old Kalieva will rise to a career-high ranking of 154 with the title.

LSU sophomore Kayla Cross of Canada and Alana Smith(NC State) won the doubles title, with the No. 2 seeds beating unseeded Catherine Harrison(UCLA) and Dalayna Hewitt 6-2, 6-3 in the final. 

Bianca Andreescu of Canada continued her comeback in Florida, winning her second title in the past three weeks at the W75 in Vero Beach. The No. 6 seed, Andreescu defeated unseeded Xiaodi You of China 7-5, 6-1 in today's final, played in temperatures in the mid 40s. Andreescu is 13-1 to start the year, with her only loss in the semifinals of the W35 in Bradenton to Akasha Urhobo.

No. 3 seeds Allura and Maribella Zamarripa(Texas) won the doubles title when they were given a walkover by No. 2 seeds Anna Rogers(NC State) and Jazmin Ortenzi of Argentina in the final. 

The title at the M15 in Naples Florida went to No. 8 seed Will Grant(Florida), who beat former Gator teammate Duarte Vale of Portugal, a qualifier, 6-2, 6-3 in the final. It's the first Pro Circuit singles title for the 24-year-old Grant. Vale, 27, has been in the ATP Top 500, but hadn't played in over a year, so started this week unranked.

Tristan McCormick(Notre Dame, Georgia) and 43-year-old Jesse Witten(Kentucky) won the doubles titles, with the unseeded pair beating former Illinois teammates Hunter Heck and Zeke Clark, who were also unseeded, 6-4, 1-6, 10-5 in the final.

With the ITA Team Indoor Championships looming in the next two weeks, teams are preparing by getting as many matches as possible against top teams. With so many new faces and only a few results as the new season begins, it's difficult to flag any outcome as an upset, but both teams who are No. 1 in the coaches poll due to their NCAA titles last year, the Georgia women and the Wake Forest men, lost today.

Georgia traveled to No. 3 North Carolina for their annual blockbuster, and the Tar Heels took care of a young Georgia team with the clinch coming at 4-1. The matches were played out, with the final score 5-2. NCAA champion Reese Brantmeier, who had clinched the Tar Heels 4-3 win over NC State Friday at line 1 singles, got the fourth point with her 7-6(5), 6-4 win over Anastasiia Lopata of Georgia.

Wake Forest played at No. 6 Ohio State, and the Buckeyes shut out the Demon Deacons, taking the doubles point and getting wins from Bryce Nakashima at 4, Preston Stearns at 2 and Nikita Filin at 6. Ohio State had beaten No. 5 Texas 4-1 on Friday, so they are looking to be a serious threat at the National Indoors in two weeks

Sesko and Efremova Claim Australian Open Junior Singles Titles

The Australian Open Junior Championships concluded Sunday in Melbourne with Ziga Sesko of Slovenia and Ksenia Efremova of France coming through tight battles to earn their first junior slam titles.

In the boys final, No. 7 seed Sesko became the first Slovenia boy to win a junior slam singles title, coming back to defeat No. 4 seed Keaton Hance of the United States 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Hance took the opening set after getting a second break of serve for a 3-2 lead and holding to close out the opening set. Hance was not getting many first serves in but he was returning well and winning rallies behind his second serve.

Sesko picked up his game in the second set, got his forehand under control and came from 0-30 down serving at 1-1 to find a higher level. He continued to serve well, and kept Hance playing defense, with his winner count by the match's end nearly twice that of Hance at 32 to 17.

Sesko finally broke Hance to take a 4-2 lead, but he needed to save a break point serving for the set, which he did with a forehand winner, to close out the second set 6-3.

The third set began with Sesko maintaining his level from the second set, and he broke Hance for a 3-1 lead. Hance held and then broke back, with Sesko playing a rare poor game serving at  3-2, but Hance dropped his next service game at love. Sesko held quickly for a 5-3 lead but Hance wasn't ready to concede, saving two match points in his service game with a forehand winner and a good first serve to put the pressure back on Sesko. 

Sesko was up to the task, starting with an ace and ending with a good first serve that Hance shanked high in the air, with a few seconds passing before it bounced well out and the electronic line calling recorded voice made the call. 

The two 17-year-olds embraced at the net, and the crowd in the Rod Laver Arena was generous in their applause after an entertaining final.

Sesko is the first player traveling with the ITF's Grand Slam Player Development Touring Team to win a junior slam title since Ricardas Berankis in 2007.

In the girls final, which was first up on Rod Laver Arena, No. 3 seed Ksenia Efremova of France prevailed over unseeded Ekaterina Tupitsyna of Russia 6-3, 7-5, with the match a study in contrasting styles.

Statistics don't always tell the story of a match, but in this case provide some insight, although intangibles and physical issues also played a role.

Efremova hit only five winners and made 18 unforced errors, while Tupitsyna struck 21 winners and made 45 unforced errors.

Although Efremova is a year younger, the 16-year-old, born in Russia but now representing France, has much more experience at the highest level of junior tennis. She has been touted as a future star since the 12s, trains at the Mouratoglou Academy and was a quarterfinalist in Melbourne as a 14-year-old in 2024. 

Tupitsyna had not won a match in her only other two junior slam appearances last year, and that may have been a factor in her slow start. She quickly fell behind 4-0, with Efremova simply keeping the rally going long enough for Tupitsyna to miss. 

But Tupitsyna held for 4-1 and began to find her form, with the pace and depth she had displayed all week putting her right back in the set. She got one break back and held a second time for 4-3, even earning a break point in Efremova's next service game. But Efremova, who made 72 percent of her first serves, held her advantage with a good first serve to make it 5-3 and then broke Tupitsyna from 40-15 up to claim the set.

After Tupitsyna took a bathroom break, she came out firing, taking a 3-0, two-break lead with her power too much for Efremova. But after dropping serve after having a point for a 4-0 lead, Tupitsyna asked for a trainer and went off-court for nine minutes, returning with her left thigh heavily taped. 

She lost the next five games, with the injury obviously affecting her side to side movement, but Efremova couldn't serve out the match at 5-3. Tupitsyna made one last push, holding for 5-all, but Efremova did not panic, winning two key points serving at 30-all to take the 6-5 lead.

The next game also went to 30-all, but Tupitsyna made the error in a 22-shot rally and Efremova took her opportunity to end it on her first chance.

Efremova is just the second French girl to win the Australian Open girls title and the first since Virginie Razzano in 1999. She will rise to No. 1 in the ITF junior rankings with the title.