Florida Signs Aidan Kim; NC State's Shnaider Beats WTA No. 13 Kudermetova in Charleston; ITF's Ngounoue Feature; SoCal Pro Series Pre-Qualifying Entry Deadline Thursday

The last of the Tennis Recruiting Network's Top 15 Blue Chips in the Class of 2023 has made his choice, with the University of Florida announcing today that Aidan Kim has signed with the Gators. The Florida release:

Florida men’s tennis head coach Bryan Shelton has announced the signing of one of the top recruits in the nation, Aidan Kim.

“Just so happy to announce the addition of Aidan Kim to our Gator family,” said Shelton. “Aidan is an exceptional student-athlete and person. He has all the attributes that we look for and values the things we value. On top of that, Aidan is a very special tennis player that has had a ton of great experience playing all around the world. We really appreciate Aidan’s all court game and know he will continue to improve and reach his goals as he gets a first-class education.”

The native of Milford, Michigan is the No. 3 overall recruit in the class of 2023 and will join the Gators for the 2023-24 season.

Kim established himself as one of the top juniors in the world. Ranked as high as No. 43 in the ITF’s Junior Rankings, Kim finished his junior-career with an 85-41 overall singles record, including 52-19 on hard courts, and won eight ITF doubles titles along with three ITF singles titles.

In 2022, Kim won four ITF doubles titles on clay and notably teamed up with current Florida freshman Tanapatt Nirundorn to collect the title at J1 Santa Croce Sull'Arno in Italy. Additionally, Kim played in all four junior Grand Slams and reached the third round of Wimbledon after dispatching junior world No. 3 Gabriel Debru. Following his standout performance at Wimbledon, Kim continued his success in August by making it to the semifinal at J1 College Park.

Currently holding a career-high ATP singles ranking of No. 943 and career-high ATP doubles ranking of No. 980, Kim reached the semifinals at both the Fayetteville 15k in 2022 and Weston 15k in 2023 on the Men’s ITF Tour.

Kim is rated a 13.24 on the Universal Tennis Rating (UTR) scale and a five-star, blue chip recruit according to Tennis Recruiting Network.

Kim had been reticent about his plans after graduating from high school, but has obviously decided that college tennis will be the next step in his pursuit of a pro career. Kim, who doesn't turn 19 until November, is eligible to compete in Kalamazoo this year.

NC State's chances of beating No. 1 North Carolina Thursday diminished today, when the Wolfpack's No. 1, Diana Shnaider, defeated No. 5 seed and ATP No. 13 Veronika Kudermetova 6-4, 6-3 today to advance to the round of 16 Thursday at the WTA Credit One Charleston Open.  Shnaider, who lost to Maria Sakkari in the second round of the Australian Open, the only other time she had faced a Top 15 player in her limited WTA experience, will face No. 12 seed and WTA No. 33 Paula Badosa of Spain. For more on Shnaider's best win, see this article from the WTA website. No. 7 NC State plays No. 6 Duke Saturday in another important ACC match.

Cracked Racquets will provide its CrossCourt coverage of the UNC-NC State match tomorrow at 5 p.m. via ESPN Watch streaming.

The ITF Junior Circuit website recently published "Five Things to Know About Clervie Ngounoue", the 16-year-old American who just swept the singles and doubles titles at both J300s in Southern California last month. Note that, as I have reported since last year's US Open, Ngounoue is now living and training in Orlando Florida, with USTA National Coach Jermaine Jenkins; she is no longer at Mouratoglou Academy in France.

The SoCal Pro Series is back for 2023, bigger than ever, with entries for the first pre-qualifying tournament closing on Thursday April 6. Winners of the men's and women's pre-qualifying tournament, set for April 14-16 in Rancho Santa Fe, will receive a main draw wild card for the RSF $15,000 Futures event May 29-June 4, 2023. The finalist in the pre-qualifying tournament will receive a qualifying wild card. There are restrictions on who may enter; see the Serve Tennis site for more information.