My Recap of Emory's NCAA Division III Sweep in Singles; Four Americans Qualify for French Open Junior Championships; Maryland Starts Search for New Coach

Despite the mostly dreary weather, I really enjoyed getting reacquainted with Division III tennis last week here in Kalamazoo. After my 2016 experience, I expected great drama and wasn't disappointed, with the Wesleyan women winning the program's first NCAA title (and only the second in the school's history in any sport) with two consecutive 5-4 wins over perennial powerhouse Emory and defending champion Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. The men's team tournament didn't feature any 5-4 matches, but Emory's two 5-3 wins in the semifinals and finals were tense and exciting. My coverage of the team events for Tennis Recruiting Network is here.

Back in 2016, when the Division III championships were last held in Kalamazoo, I couldn't believe how many matches players on the teams in the finals had to play over the course of three days. This year, for the first time, there was a day off between the team finals and the start of the three-day individual event, and it seemed a popular change with the players I spoke with about it. Two players who reached the finals, champion Jonathan Jemison of Emory and finalist Venia Yeung of Wesleyan, certainly benefited from that day of rest, and I hope that schedule is adopted permanently going forward. 

My recap of the individual event, which included a sweep of the singles titles by Emory, an all-CMS women's doubles final and a third NCAA title for Grant Urken of Bowdoin, is now available here.  The TRN coverage of the Division I individual championships is here.

Qualifying is now complete for the French Open Junior Championships, with four Americans advancing to the main draw. No. 5 seed Chloe Beck came from behind to defeat No. 13 seed Maria Timofeeva 2-6, 7-5, 6-0 and No. 7 seed Charlotte Chavatipon beat Lauren Anzalotta of Puerto Rico 6-1, 6-4 to earn a spot in the draw of a junior slam for the first time. Both US boys who advanced will be playing in a junior slam main draw for the first time. No. 12 seed Will Grant beat No. 3 seed Tristan Schoolkate of Australia 6-4, 7-6(6) and No. 11 seed Dali Blanch defeated No. 5 seed Stijn Pel of the Netherlands 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.

At the Grade 1 in Belgium, unseeded Katrina Scott lost to top seed Leylah Fernandez of Canada 6-3, 6-4. Fernandez will face No. 8 seed Carole Monnet of France in the final. The boys final will feature two unseeded players: Alibek Kachmazov of Russia and Leandro Riedi of Switzerland.  No. 7 seeds Skyler Grishuk of the US and her partner Carol Lee of the Northern Mariana Islands lost in the girls doubles final to Veronika Pepelyaeva and Avelina Sayfetdinova of Russia 6-4, 6-2. The boys doubles titles went to the unseeded Belgian team of Pierre Bailly and Alexander Hoogmartens, who beat No. 8 seeds Sergey Fomin of Uzbekistan and Stefan Storch of Australia 6-4, 6-4. 

Sloane Stephens[7] is the first US women to reach the fourth round at the French Open, after she defeated Polana Hercog of Slovenia 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 today.  Madison Keys[14] finished off her second round match, delayed due to darkness on Thursday, beating Australian wild card Priscilla Hon 7-5, 5-7, 6-3.  Keys will be back in action on Saturday against qualifier Anna Blinkova of Russia. Three other American women will play on Saturday, with Serena Williams[10] taking on Sonya Kenin and Amanda Anisimova facing Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania.

Another Power Five conference member is searching for a new head coach, with the Big Ten's Maryland announcing yesterday that it was not renewing the contract of Daria Panova after seven years leading the women's program (Maryland has not had a men's tennis team since 2012). Maryland went 1-10 in conference play this year and 3-18 overall. Maryland Associate head coach Katie Dougherty has been designated interim head coach while the search for a new coach is conducted. The Terrapins have a blue chip recruit, Ayana Akli, signed for this fall.