Gaines Ousts No. 3 Seed, Qualifier Gowda Beats No. 4 Seed in Second Round of College Park J300; Antonius, Johnson and Penickova Advance in US Open Qualifying; Kennedy Defers Enrollment at UVA Until January

©Colette Lewis 2026--
College Park MD--

Tuesday was the first day of action for the seeds at the World Tennis J300 in College Park and ten of them did not survive, with five boys seeds and five girls seeds falling to unseeded players on another perfect weather day at the Junior Tennis Champions Center.

And the upsets weren't confined to lower seeds, with Jerrid Gaines Jr. defeating No. 3 seed Arnav Paparkar of India 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 and qualifier Thara Gowda eliminating No. 4 seed Ailina Sol Larraya Guidi of Argentina 6-4, 6-1.

Gaines, who had lost to Paparkar in three set May's J300 in Belgium on clay, didn't change his strategy, but did approach the match with a different mindset.

"I had to adjust a couple of things in terms of the mental," said the 17-year-old from Florida. "Just trusting myself, having that confidence. Sometimes I would lack confidence, but the key for me is to have that deep belief in those hard moments, because I do put in the work, and deserves to believe I can do whatever I put my mind to."

Gaines, a wild card, said he thought the court speed favored him more in this match than in their previous one, although he does like clay.

"I felt my ball was doing a little bit more on him," Gaines said. "So I was able to dictate the points a little bit more."

Gaines showed signs of frustration during the match, including several racquet tosses that went unnoticed by the roving officials, which he said was more physical than mental.

"I was playing great, but I was just a little bit worried because my knee started to hurt," Gaines said. "It was oh no, not now."

Gaines will face No. 15 seed Safir Azam in the only all-USA boys match in the third round. Azam, who defeated Rihards Neimanis of Latvia 6-4, 6-1 today, beat Gaines more than a year ago in their previous meeting in the third round of a J100 in the Dominican Republic, but Gaines is ready to extend his run this week.

"Obviously the tournament has a lot of great players," Gaines said. "But I think I could go deep in the tournament. You just have to put your head down and work, and just see what happens."

Gowda has had a much tougher journey to the third round, as the top seed in the qualifying tournament. She did receive a bye, but in the second round, her first match, she trailed Anastasia Pleskun 5-2 and 6-2 in the match tiebreaker before coming back for a 3-6, 6-3, 10-8 win.

"I was unusually calm in that tiebreaker to be honest," said Gowda, a 17-year-old from Michigan. "I don't really know why. But my dad just told me to make the balls, deep middle, huge margins, and that helped a lot. She was missing more than I was, and I should probably do that more often."

Gowda won her final round qualifying match with the loss of just four games, but had a three-set battle with Tea Kovacevic of Bosnia in the first round yesterday. It looked as if she was headed to another three-setter today, when she fell behind 3-0, but she rebounded to win six of the last seven games.

"In the first set I was just playing so solid, some of the best tennis I've played in a while, I wasn't really doing anything wrong," said Gowda, who has verbally committed to the University of Michigan for 2027. "In the second set, I have no idea what happened, I started shaking so much, and I wasn't moving my feet enough. How do you go from playing so good, to missing every ball? And then my dad coached me and said, get it in, move your feet, use bigger margins. And I gained some confidence, started playing better and I got back on serve. From there, she just started making more mistakes, and I pulled it out."

Gowda said her win today was her best in World Tennis junior circuit competition, with Larraya Guidi currently No. 14 in the world. 

"I don't know if I've played anyone in the Top 20 before, so she's the best player I've beaten," said Gowda, who was a quarterfinalist at the USTA National Championships in San Diego two weeks ago. "It's good to know I can be at that level."

Gowda acknowledges that the pressure she felt in qualifying is much different from what she felt today or in the USTA Pro Circuit events she has played. 

"In these higher level tournaments, I'm definitely the lower ranked player against whoever I play, so I just go out there, swing freely, with nothing to lose," said Gowda, who has a WTA ranking of 989. "I don't feel as nervous as playing qualifying, when I'm supposed to win; it's more relaxed than qualifying or a lower level tournament."

The other qualifier to advance to the third round is Antoine Genereux of Canada, who beat No. 11 seed Kirill Filaretov of Russia 7-6(5), 6-4.

Maggie Sohns defeated No. 8 seed Yihan Qu of China 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(1), while Adla Lopez's 6-0, 6-1 win over No. 13 seed Renee Alame of Australia was more than an hour shorter. Wild card Reiley Rhodes defeated No. 16 seed Olivia Traynor 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, but it was Kennedy Drenser-Hagmann's three-hour and 32-minute 6-4, 5-7, 7-6(3) win over No. 12 seed Maria Pop of Romania that drew the crowds to Court 17, with the other second round matches concluding and the first round of boys doubles occupying most of the other courts.

Pop served for the match at 5-3 in the third, but couldn't finish off Drenser-Hagmann. In the tiebreaker, Pop took a 3-1 lead, but Drenser-Hagmann began to construct points to get the backhands she wanted, while also hitting a drop shot winner and an overhead winner as she claimed the last six points of the match.

Australian Open champion and top seed Ksenia Efremova of France defeated USTA National 16s champion Shristi Selvan, a wild card, 6-2, 7-5 and No. 2 seed and Wimbledon champion Anna Pushkareva of Russia survived a bruising first set before defeating Canadian wild card Clemence Mercier 7-6(10), 6-0.

In addition to Paparkar and Filaretov, the other boys seeds to fall on Tuesday were No. 5 seed Ryan Cozad, who lost to Felix Roussel of Canada 6-2, 3-6, 6-1; No. 12 seed Savva Rybkin of Russia, who retired against wild card Joseph Lee at 1-6, 7-5; and No. 16 seed Benjamin Azar of Canada, who was beaten by Teodor Davidov 4-6, 6-1, 6-4.

Top seed Vincent Reisach of Germany defeated wild card Mason Vaughan 6-2, 6-2 and No. 2 seed Yannik Alvarez beat qualifier Kahven Singh 6-1, 6-0.

Singles will begin at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, with the second round of both boys and girls doubles in the afternoon, with the seeded teams playing for the first time.

Live scoring is availabe at iOnCourt; live streaming links and links to the order of play and draws are here.

The first round of qualifying at the US Open is now complete and five of the nine US teens given wild cards have advanced to the second round.

In addition to Jordan Lee and Julieta Pareja, who won their first round matches Monday, Michael Antonius, Andy Johnson and Kristina Penickova picked up wins today. Antonius started the day with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Great Britain's Henry Searle, with Penickova following with a 7-5, 6-2 victory over Elli Mandlik. Andy Johnson closed out the evening for Americans with an improbably third set comeback on Court 17, beating ATP No. 160 Taro Daniel of Japan 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 after trailing 4-1 in the final set. Johnson, who turned 17 on Sunday, hit 35 winners to Daniel's 10, with most of those coming in the final five games, when he could do no wrong, riding the support of the crowd to the second round. All three boys on the USA's champion Junior Davis Cup team last fall have posted victories in their first US Open men's qualifying competition.

Tuesday's results of US teens:

Michael Antonius d. Henry Searle(GBR) 6-1, 6-2

Tristan Schoolkate(AUS) d. Jack Secord 6-3, 6-2 

Andy Johnson d. Taro Daniel(JPN) 2-6, 6-2, 6-4

Kristina Penickova d. Elli Mandlik 7-5, 6-2

Nao Hibino d. Janae Preston 7-6(4), 6-1

Harriet Dart[29](GBR) d. Jordyn Hazelitt 6-0, 6-7(1), 6-1

Martyna Kubka(POL) d. Annika Penickova 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-2

Wednesday's second round matches for US teens:

Michael Antonius v Kei Nishikori[WC](JPG)

Andy Johnson v Liam Draxl(CAN)

Jordan Lee v Daniel Rincon(ESP)

Julieta Pareja v Iryna Shymanovich(BLR)

Kristina Penickova v Harriet Dart[29](GBR)

The ITA released its preseason and newcomer rankings today (men here; women here) and when Kalamazoo 18s champion Jack Kennedy didn't appear on the newcomers list for men, the speculation as to why began. I reached out to Jack Kennedy and this is his statement:

"I can confirm that I have deferred my enrollment to UVA until January. My decision is about wanting to utilize as many wild cards that I have earned and finish this year with a focus on playing as many main draw Challengers as possible. I started the year at 975 and I'm now 386. I want to see how I can finish the year playing mostly a pro schedule." 

Although there is no reference to it in his statement, the $140,000 prize money he'll earn in a first round appearance at the US Open, money he could not accept if he were enrolled this fall at Virginia, was also certainly a factor in his decision. 

Singh and Genereux Survive Brutal Qualifying Days, Advance to Second Round at WT J300 College Park; Lee and Pareja Win Opening US Open Qualifying Matches, Seven More US Teens Play First Round Matches Tuesday

©Colette Lewis 2026--
College Park MD--

The seeds begins play Tuesday at the World Tennis J300 at the Junior Tennis Champions Center, and several of them will take on opponents who have already proven their toughness and competitive spirit over the last three days. 

No. 2 seed Yannik Alvarez of Puerto Rico will find himself facing Kahven Singh, who was cramping himself when his opponent retired with cramps in his second match of qualifying Sunday, and today came back from 6-0, 4-1, 40-0 down to defeat Kunanan Pantaratorn of Thailand 0-6, 7-5, 6-1.

Singh had beaten No. 4 seed Tyler Lee in the first round of qualifying Saturday 2-6, 6-1, 10-6 and J100 Chestertown champion Sebastian Godoy 3-6, 6-2, 10-3 in his first qualifying match Sunday morning. Against Eliot Awomoyi, Singh managed to win the first set 6-4, but the match became a battle of attrition shortly thereafter, with Awomoyi retiring with Singh up 4-3 in the second set.

"It was definitely tough physically," said the 16-year-old from Bethesda Maryland, who reached the Kalamazoo 16s doubles final a week ago Saturday. "I started cramping at the end of the first set, but then he cramped and I got through it."

Singh said he used every tool at his disposal to try to recover for today's match.

"I took an ice bath, compression boots, ate a lot and hydrated a lot and I definitely needed that," Singh said, who did not get on court for today's first round match until after 5 p.m. "A lot of waiting today for my court, which helped me a little bit, but was tiring mentally, I would say."

Singh didn't assign any blame for the first set score on his fatigue or his wait. 

"The guy really hot, he was playing really, really well, but me and my coaches (Mateo Cevallos and Vince Pulupa of OSSA) were just like, keep fighting, try to find a way, maybe he'll drop his level a little bit and I could play a little better," Singh said. "That ended up happening, I found some great chances and executed them pretty well. I pulled away in the third set, definitely long, long games, but I got through it."

Singh said he was "flowing a little bit" by the third set and didn't feel it as much physically as he might have.

"I was just playing really well, stepping in and making him play everything, one extra ball, and that really helped me," Singh said. "I thought that I fought pretty well today."

Antoine Genereux of Canada had an even more difficult weekend than Singh, as he lost in the final of the J100 in Chestertown Saturday morning and had to play his first round of qualifying in College Park that afternoon.

"I played Saturday morning at 8 o'clock at an indoor facility(due to rain)," said the 17-year-old from Quebec City. "After the final I had to drive here and I actually played at 7 o'clock at night. There were no lights on my court, so we had to switch courts and had to wait, come back at 8:20 on one of the courts with lights. It was a hell of a day, finished at like 10 o'clock."

Genereux avoided a match tiebreaker until his second qualifying match Sunday, when he defeated fellow Canadian Samuel Pelletier 6-0, 4-6, 10-7. But four matches in two days took their toll, especially after playing four three-set matches last week in Chestertown.

"I'm so tired," said Genereux, who defeated fellow qualifier Charles Minvielle 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 today in two hours and 40 minutes. "I wake up every day and I'm feeling fine, but when I go on court--I'm usually good in long rallies, keeping a heavy ball and putting pressure on my opponents--but now I'm getting tired quicker than usual so it was harder in my match today."

Genereux said he has been working to improve his transition game, and that proved valuable today against Minvielle.

"I've worked on it a lot and got more comfortable doing it recently," said the rising high school senior, who is talking with college coaches now to determine the right fit for him. "I've worked on it a lot the past few years, but it's never been something I'm comfortable with. But I feel like recently, it's been clicking a little bit more and I try to use it, especially against opponents like him."

Genereux's opponent in Tuesday's second round is No. 11 seed Kirill Filaretov of Russia.

"I actually played him in Bulgaria," said Genereux, who won their second round match at the J300 this spring 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(6). "It was an amazing match, and he's an amazing player so I don't take anything for granted."

Genereux is one of four Canadian boys who advanced to the second round with wins today, with No. 16 seed Benjamin Azar playing his first match tomorrow.

The final match of the day also had to be moved to a lighted court, with wild card Joseph Lee, who earned his wild card via the playoff held each year at the JTCC, defeating Livas Eduardo Carvalho Damazio of Brazil 5-7, 6-3, 7-5 after 8 p.m. Monday night.

Three girls qualifiers reached the second round: Thara Gowda, Brooke Wallman and Clemence Mercier of Canada, with lucky loser Scarlett Fagan also earning a victory in the first round today.

The seeds take the court for the first time Tuesday, beginning with the boys. The first round of girls doubles was played today, with the first round of boys doubles scheduled for Tuesday evening. Seeded doubles teams in both genders will play for the first time Wednesday.

Live scoring is available at iOnCourt, with live streaming on courts 13, 14 and 17, with links here.

Kalamazoo finalist Jordan Lee won his first round US Open men's qualifying match today in New York, defeating ATP 152 Mark Lajal of Estonia, a former College Park J300 champion, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3. He will face Daniel Rincon of Spain in Wednesday's second round.

San Diego semifinalist Julieta Pareja defeated No. 9 seed Kayla Day 6-3, 6-1 and will face Iryna Shymanovich of Belarus in the second round Wednesday. Tuesday's first round matches for American teenagers:

Michael Antonius v Henry Searle(GBR)

Jack Secord v Tristan Schoolkate(AUS)

Andy Johnson v Taro Daniel(JPN)

Kristina Penickova v. Elli Mandlik 

Janae Preston v Nao Hibino(JPN)

Jordyn Hazelitt v Harriet Dart[29](GBR)

Annika Penickova v Martyna Kubka(POL)

Secord and Hazelitt Win US Open Qualifying Wild Card Playoffs, Join Seven US Teens In Qualifying; Few Seeded Americans at College Park J300, Colombo Beats Top Seed to Qualify; Gauff Wins Cincinnati Open

©Colette Lewis 2026--
College Park MD--

Men's and women's qualifying begins Monday at the US Open, with two US juniors joining five of their counterparts in the draw after winning two matches today in the new qualifying wild card playoff.

Sixteen-year-old Jordyn Hazelitt defeated Shannon Lam 6-2, 7-6(2) in the first match and Melije Clarke 6-3, 3-6, 10-7 to earn her wild card into women's qualifying. 

She joins 17-year-old Julieta Pareja and 16-year-olds Janae Preston, Kristina Penickova and Annika Penickova in the draw.

Seventeen-year-old Jack Secord, a semifinalist in Kalamazoo last week, defeated Ozan Baris(Michigan State) 3-6, 6-2, 11-9 and Dali Blanch 6-4, 6-2 to win the men's qualifying wild card playoff, joining 17-year-old Andy Johnson and 16-year-olds Jordan Lee and Michael Antonius in the draw.

Only two of the seven US juniors will be in action Monday: Pareja faces No. 9 seed Kayla Day and Lee plays Mark Lajal of Estonia, both at 11 a.m.

The full qualifying schedule is here.

The mixed doubles qualifying also begins Monday.

With the qualifying at the World Tennis J300 College Park now complete, with two rounds played today at the Junior Tennis Champions Center, the draws have been released. Below are the seeds, wild cards and qualifiers. Jordyn Hazelitt was a late withdrawal, due to winning the women's qualifying playoff (Kennedy Drenser-Hagmann, who lost to Clarke in the first round this morning did make the trip from New York and will play here tomorrow. Scarlett Fagan is the lucky loser in for Hazelitt. 

There are only four Americans seeded, in total, primarily because so many are in qualifying in New York.

The seeds do not play until Tuesday, but all those who won two matches today to advance to the main draw are on Monday's schedule.

College Park J300 seeds
Boys
1. Vincent Reisach(GER)
2. Yannik Alvarex(PUR)
3. Arnav Paparkar(IND)
4. Dan Brand(ISR)
5. Ryan Cozad(USA)
6. Emilio Camacho(ECU)
7. Tanishk Konduri(USA)
8. Conner Doig(RSA)
9. Pedro Henrique Chabalgoity(BRA)
10. Vihaan Reddy(USA)
11. Kirill Filaretov(RUS)
12. Savva Rybkin(RUS)
13. Juan Miguel Bolivar Idarraga(COL)
14. Ntungamili Raguin(BOT)
15. Safir Azam(USA)
16. Benjamin Azar(CAN)

Wild cards: (all USA)

Mason Vaughan

Kamil Stolarczyk

Nicolas Pedraza

Erik Schinnerer

Jerrid Gains Jr

Joseph Lee

Qualifiers: (USA unless noted)

Kayden Colombo

Antoine Genereux(CAN)

Antoine Clavel(CAN)

Kahven Singh

Charles Minvielle

Tomas Laukys

Girls

1. Ksenia Efremova(FRA)

2. Anna Pushkareva(RUS)

3. Mariia Makarova(RUS)

4. Sol Ailin Larraya Guidi(ARG)

5. Paola Pinera Celorio(ESP)

6. Felitsata Dorofeeva-Rybas(RUS)

7. Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi(IND)

8. Yihan Qu(CHN)

9. Yushan Shao(CHN)

10. Yu Jun Lin(CHN)

11. Maia Ilinca Burcescu(ROU)

12. Maria Valentina Pop(ROU)

13. Renee Alame(AUS)

14. Antonina Sushkova(UKR)

15. Yu-Chen Lin(TPE)

16. Olivia Traynor(USA)

Wild cards (all USA):

Shristi Selvan

Camille Allegre

Reiley Rhodes

Priscilla Sirichantho

Sadira Ouyang

Aarini Bhattacharya

Qualifiers (USA unless noted):

Thara Gowda

Carlota Moreno

Brooke Wallman

Clemence Mercier(CAN)

Sera Park(KOR)

Rose Biria

WT junior No. 120 Thara Gowda, the top seed in the girls qualifying, trailed 6-2 in the match tiebreaker in her second round match with Anastasia Pleskun, but won eight of the next 10 points to move on to the final round of qualifying, where she defeated Sena Yoon 6-4, 6-0.

Kai Thompson of Hong Kong, the top seed in the boys qualifying, wasn't as fortunate, falling to Kayden Colombo 6-2, 6-2 in the final round after escaping with a 6-3, 4-6, 10-6 win in the second round over Dhakshish Aryan Basavaraju. Thompson, No. 34 in the WT junior rankings was automatically withdrawn from the junior event when he received entry into an M15, so his only route to compete in College Park was as a wild card in qualifying, but Colombo's big serve and powerful ground strokes were too much for him this afternoon.

"I've been working on my serve and kind of made a few changes," said the 6-foot-5 17-year-old from Marietta Georgia, who is training at the USTA Campus in Lake Nona with National Coach Troy Hahn. "I liked how I hit the serve today. He's a great player, his level is definitely there for the main draw, but I played pretty good today."

Colombo said he has not had his serve clocked, but estimates it could be "in the 130 range maybe." When that shot is clicking, he believes he can compete with anyone, and he is not ruling out a deep run in the main draw.

"I think I definitely have the game, I have what it takes to win this tournament," said Colombo, who admits his resemblance to Tommy Paul had been remarked on at the USTA National Campus. "It's not going to be easy, there is a ton of great players. But I'm going to go out there, compete, play the right way, look to come forward, serve and volley, play that big style of tennis that can hopefully translate to the pros one day. I'm ready to play anyone, anywhere, anytime. Let's go."

Colombo will face Oluwaseun Peter Ogunsakin of Nigeria in the first round Monday.

Live scoring is available (not point by point until matches are chaired) at iOnCourt.

At the Cincinnati Open today, Coco Gauff won her second WTA 1000 title in that city, beating Jessica Pegula 6-2, 6-4 in the final. The last time Gauff won Cincinnati, in 2023, she went on to win her first major at the US Open.

In the men's final, Arthur Fils of France won his first ATP Masters 1000 title, beating Frances Tiafoe 6-3, 1-6, 6-0. 

Rhodes, Godoy Win J100 Chestertown Titles; Two Rounds of College Park Qualifying Set for Sunday; Pegula and Gauff Meet for Cincinnati Title; Tiafoe Beats Nakashima, Faces Fils in Cincy Final; Kenin, Kypson Receive US Open Wild Cards

The warmup tournament for the World Tennis J300 in College Park is a J100 in Chestertown Maryland and Sebastian Inaki Godoy played both of them, claiming his second title of the year at the 100 level, then required to play qualifying on the same day in College Park.

The 16-year-old Texan, seeded No. 6. defeated top seed Antoine Genereaux of Canada 6-4, 6-3 in today's Chestertown final, then drove the 90-minutes to College Park, where he beat Nikita Garfurov of Uzbekistan 6-1, 6-0. Godoy could play two more matches on Sunday, with the second and third round of qualifying on Sunday. Usually two rounds of qualifying are played Saturday, but with wet courts that wasn't possible and it gave Godoy a realistic opportunity to compete in both tournaments; three matches in a day, including a final, might have been too much to ask.

The girls singles title in Chestertown went to 16-year-old Reiley Rhodes, who picked up her second J100 title with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Kalista Papadopoulos. Rhodes didn't lose more than four games in any of her five victories this week. Like Godoy, Papadopoulos also was in the qualifying at College Park; she lost to Kathryn Cragg 6-4, 6-3. Rhodes was listed in the qualifying, but she may have received a wild card into the main draw.

The girls doubles title went to unseeded Anna Scott Laney and Daniella Sales, who beat No. 4 seeds Kaya Baker and Canadaian Elisabeth Djabourian 6-2, 7-6(4) in the final.

Genereux and Rafael Bote of Canada, the top seds in boys doubles, won the title with a 6-2, 6-2 win over No. 8 seeds Achyuth Binu and Chase Bowden.

When we arrived in College Park this evening, the wet weather had passed but the first round of the qualifying was still going, finishing after 9 p.m. due to wet weather in the area earlier in the day. The girls second round of qualifying has an 8:30 a.m. start Sunday, with top seed Thara Gowda and No. 2 seed Carlota Moreno taking the courts for the first time. Boys top qualifying seed Kai Thompson of Hong Kong, who received a wild card into qualifying, defeated Oscar Puyplat 6-2, 6-3 in his first round qualifying match. Two rounds will be played, and those who qualify will play again on Monday.

It will be an all-American final at the WTA 1000 Cincinnati Open Sunday, after No. 3 seed Jessica Pegula defeated No. 7 seed Iga Swiatek of Poland 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 this afternoon, and No. 4 seed Coco Gauff beat unseeed Sara Bejlek of Czechia 6-4, 6-1 to close out the night.

Tonight in Cincinnati, No. 17 seed Frances Tiafoe reached a second ATP Masters 1000 final with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Brandon Nakashima(Virginia), the 27 seed. Tiafoe, a finalist in Cincinnati two years ago, losing to champion Jannik Sinner, has never won an ATP Masters 1000 title.

Tiafoe will face No. 21 seed Arthur Fils of France, who defeated No. 7 seed Flavio Cobolli of Italy 6-3, 6-4.

The USTA announced today that Sofia Kenin and Patrick Kypson(Texas A&M) are the last wild card recipients for the US Open main draw, although Kenin is close to direct entry and there could be other withdrawals before qualifying begins Monday.

In the pre-qualifying event tomorrow at the USTA BJK National Tennis Center, Shannon Lam has replaced Welles Newman and will play Jordyn Hazelitt, while Melije Clarke will face Kennedy Drenser-Hagmann. 

For the men's qualifying wild card playoff, Jack Secord will play Ozan Baris(Michigan State) and Keaton Hance will face Dali Blanch.

My Recap of Kalamazoo 18 Championships; College Park J300 Qualifying Begins Saturday; NCAA Wins Stay of Ruling Extending Eligibility; Nakashima Beats Fritz, Faces Tiafoe in Cincinnati Open Semifinal; Blanch Receives Winston-Salem and US Open Main Draw Wild Cards

The last two recaps of National Championships week at Tennis Recruiting Network were published today, with my article on the titles for Jack Kennedy in singles and Noah Johnston and Yannik Alvarez in doubles going up this morning, and Rhiannon Potkey's article on Thea Frodin and Bella Payne and Sara Shumate's titles in San Diego following this afternoon.

As I mentioned yesterday, because the 18s final lasted only three games, there will be no videos this year on my YouTube channel. There is a recording of what did transpire at the livestream page.

Michael J. Lewis (no relation) is a New York-based journalist who follows the local juniors, and he had plenty to write about this week, with the National titles for Kamil Stolarczyk, Kennedy and Gabby Villegas.

His Long Island Press article on Kennedy is here, and his article of 14s champion Villegas is here. Look for one on Stolarczyk next month.

I'll be covering the ITF J300 in College Park Maryland for the 12th year beginning on Sunday, but the qualifying will begin Saturday and is scheduled for six indoor courts at the Junior Tennis Champions Center due to expected rain. The 48-player draw for the boys is full; the girls has only two byes, and all eight of the seeds in both girls and boys draws are in the World Tennis Top 200. Kai Thompson of Hong Kong, No. 34 in the WT junior rankings, is the top seed in boys qualifying. Thara Gowda, a quarterfinalist at last week's USTA 18s Nationals in San Diego, is the top seed; she and Carlota Moreno have the first round byes.

There was an important ruling today in the NCAA's Wisne case, in which a Colorado judge approved a fifth year of eligibility for those who completed their eligibility in 2026 before the adoption of a five-for-five standard set to begin in 2027. This is not likely to be the end of the court battles, but the NCAA provided this statement on X after the ruling.

There is no other statement from the NCAA that I can find, but some college tennis rosters for this fall may look different than they did a week ago with this stay.

Brandon Nakashima and Frances Tiafoe will face off in Saturday's semifinals of the ATP Masters 1000 Cincinnati Open after No. 27 seed Nakashima, a finalist at the Montreal 1000 two weeks ago, defeated No. 6 seed Taylor Fritz 7-6(9), 4-6, 6-3 this afternoon, and No. 17 seed Frances Tiafoe beat No. 10 seed Lorenzo Musetti of Italy 7-6(2), 7-5 tonight. The winner of that match will play the winner of Saturday's other semifinal between No. 7 seed Flavio Cobolli of Italy and No. 21 seed Arthur Fils of France in Sunday's final

Jessica Pegula[3] will face Iga Swiatek[7] of Poland in one of Saturday's semifinals; the winner of the Coco Gauff[4] and Marta Kostyuk[7] quarterfinal tonight will play Sara Bejlek of Czechia, who beat Madison Keys[20] 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(5) this afternoon.

2025 Kalamazoo 18s champion Darwin Blanch received a US Open main draw wild card according to today's USTA announcement; Martin Damm moved into the main draw on his own ranking after the withdrawals of Ethan Quinn(Georgia) and Canadian Gabriel Diallo(Kentucky), and Blanch was given Damm's previously announced wild card. There is still one men's main draw wild card to be announced.

Blanch also received a wild card into next week's Winston-Salem Open ATP 250, which he could not have used if he were playing in US Open qualifying. Damm also received a Winston-Salem wild card, as did Wimbledon boys finalist Cruz Hewitt, who will not be competing in New York.

Qualifying for Winston-Salem begins tomorrow, with Wake Forest's DK Suresh, Luca Pow and Mees Rottgering in the 16-player field, with Pow and US Open Collegiate playoff winner Sebastian Gorzny(TCU, Texas) receiving qualifying wild cards. TCU's rising junior Roger Pascual of Spain is also in the qualifying field. 

My Recap and Video Hightlights of Kalamazoo 16s Final; US Open Announces Big Increase in Prize Money; Eight Americans Reach Cincinnati Open Masters 1000 Quarterfinals

The Tennis Recruiting Network is more three-quarters of the way through its National Championship Week, with the articles on the 16s championships available today.

My article on Kamil Stolarczyk's sweep of the titles last weekend in Kalamazoo can be found here. My article on Jack Kennedy's title will be published Friday morning.

My video of the 16s final deviates from the previous years because the match was not played on George Acker Center Court, so the angle for Court 3 is not as good. There will not be any videos of the 18s final this year, due to Lee's retirement early in the first set.

The USTA announced this year's prize money quite a bit later than usual, but the news is good, as the increases are substantial and sufficient to avoid the media boycott that the top players implemented at Roland Garros this year. The announcement of the introduction of a new Grand Slam Player Council is also is at the request of the top players. The complete release:

US Open Offers Largest Player Compensation Package in Professional Tennis History at $108 Million,  an Increase of 20 Percent from 2025  Represents the second consecutive year of 20 percent increase and a 44 percent increase in compensation over two years Increased prize money sets new Grand Slam records for both singles champion and first-round payouts Includes a $2 million contribution to a new US Open Player Support Program, equally split between men and women US Open unites with other Grand Slams to establish a new Grand Slam Player Council FLUSHING, N.Y., August 20, 2026 –  The United States Tennis Association is once again offering the largest player compensation package in professional tennis history, reaching $108 million at the 2026 US Open. This represents a 20 percent increase from the previous record set at the 2025 US Open ($90 million) - the second consecutive year of a 20 percent increase and a 44 percent increase in total compensation over two years. Players across the event will enjoy significant increases, including the largest Grand Slam payments in history for Main Draw Singles Champions at $5.5 million and first-round singles payout at $140,000. The compensation package also includes a new Player Support Program seeded with an initial $2 million commitment in 2026, equally split between men and women players.   Today’s historic, record-setting and ground-breaking actions reflect the ongoing and deep commitment of the USTA and US Open to supporting all players who compete at the US Open, especially emerging and lower-ranked competitors.   USTA CEO Craig Tiley said, “This is a significant first step in a multi-year investment in athletes as the US Open continues to be the best economic opportunity for players and the most valuable platform in tennis for players, fans and partners. We are proud to deliver record-setting prize money and expanded player benefits as well as providing a new platform to work together with players.”   New US Open Player Support Program and Grand Slam Player Council   The four Grand Slams are aligned on the importance of supporting players throughout and after their playing careers. The US Open will become the first Grand Slam to establish a Player Support Program. As part of the total 2026 compensation, the US Open committed an initial $2 million, equally split between men and women players, which will be held in an escrow account pending the finalization of details of the new program, with guidance and input from the newly formed Grand Slam Player Council. Designed to complement existing end-of-career pension funds, this new US Open program will bring a range of benefits for mid-career life events and retirement transitions. It will be built upon a simple definition of player eligibility without reliance on ranking tiers, making the program available to US Open main draw singles and doubles competitors.    Additionally, in a separate Grand Slam announcement today, the US Open joined the Australian Open, Roland-Garros, and Wimbledon to form a new Grand Slam Player Council to give players a voice in on-court and in-tournament issues. The Player Council will also provide recommendations to the US Open to guide how the new US Open Player Support Program will be deployed.   “The US Open has a long history of listening to players, and this player support program and Council builds on that commitment. We look forward to working directly with players to better understand the opportunities and challenges they face, and to continue finding meaningful ways to support them both on and off the court,” said Brian Vahaly, Chairman of the Board and President of the USTA.    More details on the programs will be forthcoming following further consultation with players.    Significant Increases Across All Rounds    Players throughout the tournament will see significant increases in payouts in 2026. A full table of prize money can be found at the bottom of this document. Highlights include:     Champions of Women’s and Men’s Singles will earn $5.5 million, the highest-ever  Champions prize for any tennis event Main Draw Singles first-round payout will increase 27 percent to $140,000, the highest in Grand Slam history Men’s and Women’s Qualifying first round payout will increase 16 percent to $32,000 Men’s, Women’s, and Mixed Doubles Champions to win $1,000,000 per team Prize Money Breakdown

The ATP/WTA Masters 1000 in Cincinnati Ohio has been especially successful for Americans this year, with four US women making the quarterfinals for the first time since 2004. Jessica Pegula defeated Amanda Anisimova 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(4) this afternoon, with Coco Gauff and Madison Keys playing their quarterfinals Friday.

Tommy Paul lost today to Flavio Cobolli of Italy 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, but Brandon Nakashima and Taylor Fritz play each other in Friday's quarterfinals and Frances Tiafoe is scheduled to play Lorenzo Musetti of Italy.