Semifinals Set in US Open National Playoffs; Day Posts Another WTA Top 100 Win in Connecticut; Qualifying Ends Sunday at Grade 1 in College Park

Two rounds are complete in the US Open National Playoffs, with just four players in both the men's and women's events still alive in the quest for the US Open qualifying wild card that goes to the champion.

The women's draw has just one seed remaining, No. 2 Sanaz Marand, who will play Julia Elbaba, last year's finalist, in the semifinals.  In the top half of the draw, Nika Kukharchuk will play Sophie Chang for the other place in the final.

Three of the four top seeds in the men's draw are through to the semifinals, with No. 1 Nick Meister taking on Gage Brymer in a match between a former and current UCLA star. No. 2 seed Evan King will face No. 4 seed Jose Statham of New Zealand, who eliminated last year's winner Jesse Witten 7-6(3), 3-6, 7-6(6).

The women's doubles competition, with a main draw wild card on the line, started today, with the men's doubles beginning on Sunday.

Also in Connecticut, last week's USTA 18s National champion Kayla Day won her second qualifying match at the WTA Connecticut Open, beating No. 10 seed and WTA No. 60 Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium 3-6, 6-4, 6-1. In order to qualify, Day will need a third straight Top 100 win, as she faces No. 5 seed and WTA No. 52 Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia Sunday.   Nicole Gibbs and Louisa Chirico have also advanced to the final round of qualifying.  NCAA champion Danielle Collins fell to No. 2 seed Annika Beck of Germany 7-5, 7-5.

In the Winston-Salem ATP event, Kalamazoo 18s champion Michael Mmoh lost his first round qualifying match 6-3, 6-4 to No. 4 seed James Duckworth of Australia. Mackenzie McDonald, Wil Spencer and Dennis Uspensky also lost. The only players with college ties still in qualifying are Wake Forest sophomore Petros Chrysochos, who advanced when Alejandro Falla of Colombia retired after losing the first set 6-4, and North Carolina State alum James McGee, who beat McDonald.

Sunday I'm on my way to College Park, Maryland for the ITF Grade 1 Prince Georges County International Hard Court Championships, with the main draw beginning on Monday.  The final round of qualifying is set for Sunday, with the order of play available here.

The main draw wild cards for the tournament:

Boys:
Christian Alshon
Michael Heller
Josh Keitelman
Trey Hilderbrand
Alexander Stater
Arvan Dhingra
William Woodall
Ian Witmer

Girls:
Alexa Noel
Lea Ma
Gabriella Price
Sophia Hatton
Nicole Hammond
Ayana Akli
Maria Adiaconitei