Neff, Grishuk Reach ITF Grade 1 Quarterfinals in Malaysia; US Juniors Advance to Quarterfinals in WTT Events

Two Americans have reached the quarterfinals at the ITF Grade 1 in Malaysia, with 16-year-old Skyler Grishuk and 17-year-old Adam Neff advancing to the final eight in the only Grade 1 on the Junior Circuit this week. Grishuk, the No. 11 seed, has reached a Grade 1 final twice before, including last year at this same tournament, but is looking for her first appearance in a G1 semifinal when she takes on unseeded Aunchisa Chanta of Thailand. Neff is making his first appearance in a G1 quarterfinal and will play No. 8 seed Kevin Chahoud of Sweden next. Neff has also advanced to the doubles semifinals, with partner Blu Baker of Great Britain.

The ITF World Tennis Tour has three tournaments this week in California, as well as two in Cancun Mexico, all of whom have Americans in the quarterfinals.

At the women's 15K event in Cancun, unseeded 18-year-old Lea Ma picked up her first WTT-level win in the first round over No. 8 seed Maria Jose Portillo Ramirez, then added her second today, over qualifier Jazmin Ortenzi of Argentina. Ma will next play Emily Appleton of Great Britain, who owns a 2-0 head-to-head against Ma in juniors, with both matches going three sets. No. 7 seed Dasha Ivanova is the other American in the quarterfinals.

At the men's $15K in Cancun, the only American remaining is No. 2 seed Harrison Adams(Texas A&M).

The two 15Ks in California are also at the same venue, at the Arcadia Tennis Center in Southern California. All eight women's quarterfinalists are American, including four juniors: wild card Natasha Subhash, a Virginia recruit, Savannah Broadus, Hurricane Tyra Black and last week's $15K champion in Carson, Elli Mandlik.  Black and Mandlik will face off Friday, with Black winning their only previous junior meeting. The four other quarterfinalists are top seed Hanna Chang, No. 3 seed Pam Montez(UCLA), wild card Allie Will(Florida) and Sarah Lee(Michigan). Will, 27, has played only a handful of tournaments since 2014, while Lee, 25, missed seven months last year and is playing for the first time since last November this month.

The men's quarterfinals in Arcadia feature four Americans: 17-year-old Emilio Nava, Connor Farren(USC), Vasil Kirkov and qualifier Grey Hamilton, a recent Ole Miss graduate.

There is also a men's $25K in Bakersfield, with at least three Americans in the quarterfinals. Top seed Ryan Shane(Virginia) is not one of them, as he was beaten by former teammate Alexander Ritschard in the first round. Ritschard lost today to Kalamazoo 18s champion Jenson Brooksby, a wild card, 6-7(2), 7-5, 7-6(5) in over three hours. Qualifier Isaiah Strode beat No. 6 seed Martin Redlicki(UCLA) today in a third-set tiebreaker and is joined in the quarterfinals by No. 7 seed Sekou Bangoura. Strong Kirchheimer has yet to complete his second round match.

The ATP 125 Challenger in Phoenix, a new event this year, had only four Americans in the draw, with most of the competitors entering due to from early exits at the BNP Paribas Open. All 16 seeds were ranked in the Top 100, making it one of the strongest Challenger fields in memory. Mitchell Krueger, Ernesto Escobedo, qualifier Nathan Ponwith(Arizona State) and Ryan Harrison were the Americans in the main draw, with Harrison advancing to the third round, but losing today to Lorenzo Sonego of Italy.

At the ATP 80 Challenger in Drummondville Canada, Michael Redlicki has advanced to the quarterfinals. The unseeded 25-year-old, a former star at Duke and Arkansas, has already beaten two seeds this week in straight sets: No. 9 JC Aragone(Virginia) in the second round, and today, No. 6 seed Nikola Milojevic of Serbia.