Koepfer, Musetti Earn Big Wins to Advance to Italian Open Round of 16; Nava Reaches Portugal $15K Quarterfinals; Parenting Aces Interview with Dominic Thiem's Father Set for Saturday; Fed Cup Renamed for Billie Jean King; French Open Reduces Number of Fans

The 10 Americans who participated in the Italian Open singles draws this week have now all lost, with Coco Gauff losing to No. 9 seed Garbine Muguruza of Spain 7-6(3), 3-6, 6-3 and No. 3 seed Sofia Kenin failing to win a game against US Open finalist Victoria Azarenka today. The transition from the hard courts of the US to the clay of Europe isn't easy, and Americans have never been much of a factor in Rome, but for the ten players to earn just two wins total is disappointing regardless of the reason.

While Americans have not had much success, a former collegian is having a terrific run, with former Tulane All-American Dominik Koepfer of Germany picking up his first Top 10 win today in Rome, beating ATP No. 9 Gael Monfils, the No. 5 seed this week, 6-2, 6-4. The 26-year-old left-hander, who is coached by former Tennessee star Rhyne Williams, qualified for the tournament and picked up a win over US Open quarterfinalist Alex De Minaur of Australia in the first round.

Koepfer's opponent in the round of 16 Friday is another qualifier, 18-year-old Lorenzo Musetti, the 2019 Australian Open boys champion. Musetti, who needed a wild card to get into qualifying, defeated Stan Wawrinka in straight sets in the first round and followed that impressive win with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Kei Nishikori today. Ranked 280 coming out the shutdown, Musetti will move past Carlos Alcaraz of Spain to become the second-highest ranked teenager on the ATP tour, behind countryman Jannick Sinner, 19, who is currently at 81.

Emilio Nava, who will always be linked to Musetti in my mind, due to their epic Australian Open boys final, which Musetti won 4-6, 6-2, 7-6(12). Nava is also playing in Europe right now, although on a much less significant level, at the ITF World Tennis Tour M15 in Portugal. Nava, who used a junior exemption for entry into the event, has advanced to the quarterfinals, after beating Patrick Kypson 6-3, 6-3 in the first round and qualifier Arnaud Bovy of Belgium 6-2, 6-2 in today's second round. He will take on another qualifier, 19-year-old Nicolas Alvarez Varona of Spain, in the quarterfinals. Two former collegians are the only seeds remaining, Memphis's Ryan Peniston of Great Britain, the No. 1 seed, and No. 5 seed Sebastian Fanselow of Germany, the Pepperdine standout. 

Nava and his older brother Eduardo, who played at TCU and Wake Forest, have also advanced to the doubles semifinals. 

Lisa Stone of Parenting Aces has announced that she will be talking with US Open champion Dominik Theim's father Wolfgang via Facebook Live on Saturday at 11 a.m. Eastern, 8 a.m. Pacific. For more on what to expect from that conversation, see the Parenting Aces Facebook page.

The Fed Cup, which was canceled for 2020 quite a while ago, made news today by announcing that it would be changing its name to honor Billie Jean King. The women's version of the Davis Cup will now be known as the Billie Jean King Cup. For more on the ITF's decision to rename the competition, see this Associated Press article.

The French Open begins in 10 days, but there are still changes coming from the organizers. Today it was announced that the initial plan to have up to 11,500 fans in three separate zones has been scrapped, and the number of fans will now be limited to 5000 each day. For more, see this BBC article.