My Recap of Kalamazoo 16s National Championships; Masi Named to Replace Peter Smith at USC; ITF Grade B1 Pan American Closed Moves Indoors; New Athletic Complex in Carson to Feature 52 Tennis Courts

Beginning with the 12s on Tuesday, the Tennis Recruiting Network has been providing recaps of the USTA National Championships, held last week in five different cities.  The article on the girls 12s final in Alpharetta Georgia, which saw Claire An defeat Bella Payne is here. For more on the boys 12s final in Mobile Alabama between Maxwell Exsted and Abhinav Chunduru click here.

The boys 14s, also in Mobile, concluded with Cooper Williams beating Nicholas Godsick, and Theadora Rabman defeated Brooklyn Olson in the girls 14s final in Rome Georgia.

My article on Alex Bernard's win over Aidan Mayo for the Kalamazoo 16s title was posted today, as was Rhiannon Potkey's look at Reese Brantmeier's victory in the 16s final over Valencia Xu in San Diego. My recap also features comments from 16s doubles champions Hugo Hashimoto and Benjamin Kittay. The 18s article will go up on Friday.

The news broke last weekend that Brett Masi would be leaving Texas Tech and returning to USC to replace Peter Smith and USC made it official today with this announcement.  Masi, who was an assistant to Smith at USC from 2005-2009, left after their 2009 NCAA team title to take the head coaching job at University of San Diego. He was there from 2010-2015 before taking the head coaching job at Texas Tech, where he has been the past four years. USC announced Smith's retirement on July 19th. The release does not say whether current associate head coach Kris Kwinta will remain.

After many years in Tulsa, the ITF Grade B1 Pan American Closed left Oklahoma in 2018, with the tournament held in Charlotte, North Carolina last October. Although the University of North Carolina-Charlotte has a beautiful facility, the lack of indoor courts and outdoor lights made it a difficult week, with Hurricane Michael playing a large role in that frustration. This year the event is moving to Nicholasville Kentucky, outside of Lexington, and will be played on 12 indoor courts at Top Seed Tennis, a private club. Qualifying is scheduled for October 5-6, with main draw running from October 7-12.  The deadline for entry is September 10, and due to the time of year and the closed nature of the tournament, the qualifying rarely fills, so those interested in getting started in ITF tournaments should consider entering.

In February, the USTA announced its foundation as a partner in the construction of the Carol Kimmelman Athletic and Academic Campus in Carson California. With approval from the Los Angeles County board, construction is expected to begin this winter, and when complete, will feature 52 tennis courts and five soccer fields as well as academic facilities. USTA Player Development-West, currently just a short distance away, and the USTA Southern California section are expected to move to the facility upon its completion.  The USTA's initial release is here and a recent press release from the County of Los Angeles is here.