2018 Kalamazoo 18s Champion Brooksby, Finalist Nakashima Return for 2019; USTA Clay Courts Semifinals for 12s, Quarterfinals for 14s, 16s and 18 Set for Friday

The acceptances are out for the 2019 USTA Nationals, with both finalists in last year's 18s division returning to Kalamazoo. Champion Jenson Brooksby, who turns 19 in October and is therefore eligible for Kalamazoo but not for ITF Junior Circuit events, won a $25,000 Pro Circuit event in March and two rounds at the $100,000 Sarasota Challenger in April, but has not played since then. Finalist Brandon Nakashima, who will turn 18 during this year's tournament, spent a semester at the University of Virginia, but played both the French and Wimbledon Junior Championships, losing in the third round of both. Nakashima has not yet made a decision about returning to school, with his results this summer part of what he'll weigh in making that choice.

French Open finalist Toby Kodat will make his Kalamazoo debut, and his frequent doubles partner Martin Damm, the 2018 16s champion, is also entered in the 18s. Australian Open finalist Emilio Nava withdrew from Wimbledon with an injury, so it remains to be seen whether he will be healthy for Kalamazoo, but he is listed in the initial acceptances.
Last year's 16s finalist Zane Khan, who also suffered an injury last month while in Europe, has not entered.

Notable names in the 16s include Easter Bowl champion Samir Banerjee, Winter National champion Luke Casper, Alex Bernard and Aidan Mayo.

Wild cards have not yet been awarded, but should be announced next week.

The complete list of accepted players is available at ustaboys.com.

The acceptances for the girls 18s and 16s Nationals in San Diego include French Open finalist and Wimbledon semifinalist Emma Navarro, Wimbledon finalist Alexa Noel, Wimbledon doubles champions Savannah Broadus and Abigail Forbes, and other ITF Top 50 players Elli Mandlik, Chloe Beck and Robin Montgomery. Natasha Subhash, who has won two $15Ks the past two months, will be among the favorites, along with Katie Volynets and Connie Ma.  Hurricane Tyra Black is not listed among the competitors, nor is Hailey Baptiste.

Some of the top names in the 16s division are Easter Bowl champion Vivian Ovrootsky, Reese Brantmeier, Eleana Yu and Ava Catanzarite.

Click here for the acceptances for the boys 12s and 14s in Mobile, the girls 12s in Alpharetta and the girls 14s in Rome.

The semifinals are set in the 12s divisions of the USTA Clay Court Championships, which have smaller draws than the other divisions, which will play their quarterfinals Friday. Below are the matchups; click on the header to go to the TennisLink site. Keep in mind that the winners of the 18s Clay Courts receive a main draw wild card into the upcoming US Open Junior Championships.

B12s:
Semifinals:
Maximus Dussault[12] v Abhinav Chunduru[4]
Abhishek Thorat[3] v Roman Sancilio[8]

G12s:
Semifinals:
Emily Deming[1] v Eva Oxford[3]
Brooke Wrigley[7] v Bella Payne[2]

B18s:

Quarterfinals:

Leighton Allen[1] v Theo Winegar[17]

Welsh Hotard[9] v Aryan Chaudhary[15]

Alejandro Quiles[10] v Evin McDonald[3]

Jacob Bickersteth[17] v Logan Zapp[2]

B16s:

Quarterfinals:

Samir Banerjee[1] v Louis Cloud[5]

Adit Sinha[12] v Jack Anthrop[7]

Braden Shick[9] v Ben Shelton[4]

Ozan Colak[17] v Luke Casper[2]

B14s:

Yannik Rahman[1] v Nishesh Basavareddy

Learner Tien[3] v Kaylan Bigun[34]

Payton Young[24] v Nicolas Godsick[4]

Dylan Tsoi[6] v Cooper Williams[2]

G18s:

Quarterfinals:

Jaedan Brown[17] v Vivian Ovrootsky[33]

Emma Charney v Gabby Price[17]

Hadley Doyle[6] v Sarah Hamner[12]

Karina Miller[7] v Gianna Pielet[10]

G16s:

Quarterfinals:

Grace Levelston[33] v Kida Ferrari[17]

Carrie Beckman[3] v McKenna Schaefbauer[17]

Qavia Lopez[8] v Clervie Ngounoue[17]

Katie Codd[17] v Aubrey Nisbet[13]

G14s:

Quarterfinals:

Stephanie Yakoff[1] v Brooke Schafer[17]

Susanna Maltby[14] v Daniela Livson[17]

Natalie Block[11] v Alexis Blokhina[3]

Kate Kim[17] v Lara Smejkal[15]