Cressy Beats Querrey, Joins Brooksby in ATP Hall of Fame Quarterfinals; Rain Means No-ad at B18s and 16s Clays; Four Americans Advance to Third Round at Milan JA; Universal Tennis Launches Paid Hits

ATP tennis has moved back to the United States this week at the Hall of Fame Open 250 tournament in Newport Rhode Island and today both 20-year-old Jenson Brooksby and 24-year-old Maxime Cressy advanced to their first ATP quarterfinals with big wins.

Former UCLA Bruin Cressy, whose game is tailor-made for grass, defeated No. 2 seed Sam Querrey 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 this evening, while earlier in the day, Brooksby beat grass court specialist Denis Kudla 6-3, 4-6, 7-5. 

When I spoke to Cressy during Wimbledon qualifying, he told me he had put too much pressure on himself to play well on grass, given his serve and volley prowess, but he was determined to enjoy his time on the surface this summer. After losing from two sets up to Mackenzie McDonald in the last round of Wimbledon qualifying, this week's results must be gratifying. 

Brooksby, who did not play Wimbledon qualifying, had never played on grass, either in juniors or since turning pro, but the former Baylor Bear did not let that lack of experience hold him back. He picked up a 7-5, 6-3 win over 31-year-old Evgeny Donskoy of Russia in the first round and will play unseeded Peter Gojowczyk of Germany in the quarterfinals. Cressy faces No. 7 seed Jordan Thompson of Australia, who is one of just three seeds remaining in the quarterfinals. Jack Sock, a wild card, beat No. 3 seed Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan today, and Jason Jung(Michigan) of Taiwan defeated No. 5 seed Tennys Sandgren 6-2, 6-2. 

At the WTA 250 in Prague, Grace Min reached her first WTA quarterfinal since 2014, beating No. 7 seed Nina Stojanovic of Serbia 3-6, 6-1, 6-4. It's Min's first Top 100 win since 2016.

Rain has continued to be a problem at the Boys 16s and 18s USTA National Clay Courts in Delray Beach Florida, and as a result, even main draw matches are playing no-ad, and match tiebreakers for third sets, while consolation matches are to 4 with a tiebreaker at 4-all. The details on the format changes can be found on the USTA's Playtennis overview page for the tournament. The boys and girls 14s divisions, which are also in South Florida, are adjusting formats due to the weather too.

At the JA Trofeo Bonfiglio in Milan, four Americans have advancing to the round of 16: No. 11 seed Alexis Blokhina, Clervie Ngounoue, Benjamin Kittay and No. 2 seed Dali Blanch. Czech Linda Fruhvirtova, the No. 3 seed, lost to 14-year-old Mirra Andreeva of Russia, playing in her first Grade A, 6-2, 6-3. Fruhvirtova had lost to Mirra's older sister Erika in the second round of the French Open last month. 

Two US girls are into the doubles quarterfinals: Madison Sieg, playing with Alexandra Eala of the Philppines, are the top seeds, and Ngounoue, playing with Hanne Vandewinkel of Belgium, are the No. 8 seeds.

Tommaso Canepa, who has been a regular at the Trofeo Bonfiglio over the years, wrote this post about the players he's watched this week.

Universal Tennis is introducing a new program called Paid-Hits, which will provide a way for current college players to offer their services as a hitting partner for a fee that they set. Anyone with a UTR over 8 can offer their services, after a short application process and background check. Lisa Stone spoke with Universal Tennis's Stephen Amritraj today on Facebook Live, answering questions about the program, while also speaking later with Matt Andre about the College Prospect Camps scheduled for the remainder of the summer.