Four Americans Reach ITF Grade 1 Banana Bowl Semifinals; Other Notes from Around Tennis World

Three of the four semifinalists in the girls singles at the ITF Grade 1 Banana Bowl are from the United States, with top seed Maria Osorio Serrano of Colombia the fourth participant.  Osorio Serrano, who beat unseeded Varvara Gracheva of Russia 6-2, 5-7, 6-3, will face unseeded Vanessa Ong in the semifinals, after Ong defeated No. 11 seed Hailey Baptiste 6-2, 6-4 in the all-American quarterfinal.

The all-American semifinal will feature unseeded Kacie Harvey, into her first Grade 1 semifinal, against No. 2 seed Alexa Noel.  Harvey beat qualifier Olympe Lancelot of France 6-2, 6-2, while Noel came back to defeat No. 8 seed Georgia Drummy of Ireland 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(4).

No. 5 seed Tristan Boyer downed No. 2 seed Juan Cerundolo of Argentina 6-2, 2-6, 6-1 to reach his first Grade 1 semifinal (although the 16-year-old has reached a Grade A final previously, at last October's tournament in Japan). Boyer will face No. 9 seed Clement Tabur of France in the semifinal in the bottom half.  Top seed Sebastian Baez and Facundo Diaz Acosta will meet in an all-Argentina semifinal in the top half.

Drew Baird, playing with Nicolas Mejia of Colombia, and Eliot Spizzirri, playing with Sebastian Rodriguez of Peru, have reached the doubles semifinals.  The girls doubles final is set, with Noel and Elli Mandlik, the No. 2 seeds,  facing No. 3 seeds Mariam Dalakishvili of Georgia and Ania Hertel of Poland.

The ITA announced the All-Tournament team for the Division I Men's Team Indoor, with champion Wake Forest taking four of the six singles berths, and Petros Chrysochos named Most Outstanding Player.  Complete results for those named to the team can be found here.

ITA Men's Division 1 Team Indoor All-Tournament Team:

1. Will Blumberg, North Carolina
2. Petros Chrysochos, Wake Forest
3. Skander Mansouri, Wake Forest
4. Bar Botzer, Wake Forest
5. Walker Duncan, Georgia
6. Julian Zlobinsky, Wake Forest

Doubles
1. Robert Kelly and Will Blumberg, North Carolina
2. Keegan Smith and Austin Rapp, UCLA
3. Daniel Cukierman and Tanner Smith, USC

Most Outstanding Player: Petros Chrysochos, Wake Forest

The ITA released its Division II team rankings today, with the University of West Florida men and the Lynn women retaining their No. 1 positions.

The men's complete listing is here; the women's complete listing is here.

US Open men's finalist Kevin Anderson has been named to the University of Illinois Hall of Fame.  Anderson won the 2006 NCAA doubles championship with Ryan Rowe and played in the 2007 Team final.

University of Tennessee men's head coach Chris Woodruff is the subject of this feature article in the Memphis Daily News.

Reilly Opelka defeated top seed Jack Sock 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 in the second round of the Delray Beach Open Wednesday for his first Top 10 win on the ATP tour.  Opelka is joined in Friday's quarterfinals by NextGen players Taylor Fritz, Denis Shapovalov of Canada and No. 8 seed Hyeon Chung of Korea.  Steve Johnson has also advanced to the quarterfinals, with Frances Tiafoe taking on No. 2 seed Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina later tonight.

Wimbledon girls finalist Ann Li is among the quarterfinalists at the $25,000 USTA Pro Circuit event in Rancho Santa Fe California.  Li, who received entry as a lucky loser, defeated qualifier Lorraine Guillermo 7-6(2), 6-3 today after beating Louisa Chirico in the opening round Wednesday.  Sachia Vickery[3], Vicky Duval and Asia Muhammad are the other Americans advancing to Friday's quarterfinals today, with Danielle Lao yet to finish her match.