Guichard, Lopez and Basavareddy Reach Quarterfinals of JA Banana Bowl; Tennessee, Not Team Indoor Champion TCU, Moves to No. 1 in First Men's Computer Rankings; North Carolina Women Remain No. 1

The quarterfinals of the ITF Grade A Banana Bowl are set for Thursday in Criciuma Brazil, with three Americans advancing: Ahmani Guichard, No. 5 seed Qavia Lopez and Nishesh Basavareddy.

The 17-year-old Guichard, the only unseeded girl in the quarterfinals, defeated No. 6 seed Luciana Moyano of Argentina 7-5, 6-3 in today's second round. Next up for the blue chip from Florida is No. 2 seed Victoria Mboko of Canada.  No. 5 seed Lopez, who defeated Malwina Rowinska of Poland 6-2, 6-2, faces top seed Kayla Cross of Canada in the quarterfinals. 

Basavareddy, who won eight matches last week to take the title at the J1 warmup event, defeated No. 8 seed Gerard Campana Lee of Korea 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-2. He will face Princeton recruit Paul Inchauspe of France, who beat No. 3 seed Ignacio Buse of Peru 6-2, 6-3.

Leanid Boika, who had taken out No. 1 seed Adolfo Daniel Vallejo of Paraguay in the first round, lost to qualifier Hayato Matsuoka of Japan 1-6, 6-3, 6-1 today and Yaroslav Demin of Russia defeated No. 7 seed Cooper Williams, 6-3, 7-6(6). Basavareddy, Inchauspe, Matsuoka and Demin, all in the top half, are unseeded, while in the bottom half, No. 2 seed Gonzala Bueno of Peru plays No. 5 seed Lautaro Midon of Argentina and No. 6 seed Bor Artnak of Slovenia faces No. 4 seed Peter Privara of Slovakia.

The doubles quarterfinals and semifinals are also on Thursday's schedule. Lopez is the only American girl remaining. She and her partner Chelsea Fontenel of Switzerland are the No. 3 seeds. Basavareddy, with partner Patrick Schoen of Switzerland, will play Alexander Frusina and Jonah Braswell in the quarterfinals. Boika, partnering with Demin, will play the Japanese team of Matsuoka and Kenta Miyoshi. The only seeded team remaining the boys doubles draw after one round of play is Vallejo and his partner Martin Antonio Vergara del Puerto of Paraguay, the No. 2 seeds.

The ITA released its first computer rankings today, and, as usual, they don't look right. Although Women's Team Indoor champions North Carolina managed to stay at the No. 1 spot, there was little else that remained the same in the Top 10, with Oklahoma being replaced at No. 2, despite a win over USC this weekend, by North Carolina State, who beat Texas. Ohio State, 5-3 on the year, moved from 11 in last week's poll to 4, while Oklahoma State went from a T22 in the poll to 10.

ITA Division I Women's Team Top 10 February 23, 2022
(previous ranking from coaches poll in parentheses)
1. UNC (1)
2. North Carolina State (4)
3. Oklahoma (2)
4. Ohio State (11)
5. Texas (3)
6. Cal (7)
7. Texas A&M (9)
8. Pepperdine (T5)
9. Virginia (T5)
10. Oklahoma State (T22)

The men's first computer rankings have the University of Tennessee at No. 1 even though they lost in Monday's Team Indoor final to TCU, which is at No. 2. Tennessee beat TCU last month, in Fort Worth, and because there is no bonus for a more recent win, but there is a bonus for winning a road match, the Volunteers earned the top ranking, by a very small margin. The full rankings, which now extend to 75, can be viewed by clicking on the headings below. The rankings in parentheses are from the Coaches Poll of February 9, the date of the last published ITA rankings for men.

ITA Division I Men's Team Top 10 February 23, 2022

1. Tennessee (2)

2. TCU (4)

3. Ohio State (1)

4. Baylor (3)

5. Southern Cal (11)

6. South Carolina (13)

7. Florida (5)

8. Wake Forest (6)

9. Stanford (8)

10. Kentucky (10)

I was expecting the Men's Team Indoor All-Tournament Team announcement today and new singles and doubles rankings, but as of now, those have not been released.

The USTA/Tennis Channel polls make a lot more sense than this first batch of ITA computer rankings right now. The Top 10 are below; click on the header to see the full list of 25.  Moving out of the Top 10 in the women's poll is Cal; in the men's poll, Texas A&M, Virginia and Georgia drop out of the Top 10. 

USTA/Tennis Channel Men's Division I Team Top 10:

1. TCU (4)

2. Tennessee (3)

3. Ohio State (1)

4. Baylor (2)

5. Florida (5)

6. Wake Forest (12)

7. South Carolina (14)

8. Stanford (6)

9. Texas (10)

10. USC (11)

USTA/Tennis Channel Women's Division I Team Top 10:

1. North Carolina (1)

2. Oklahoma (2)

3. NC State (3)

4. Texas (4)

5. Pepperdine (5)

6. Virginia (6)

7. Georgia (7)

8. Texas A&M (8)

9. Ohio State (9)

10. Duke (11)