More Rain Delays; Top Four D-I Women's Teams Pitch Shutouts Saturday, Beck Beats Shnaider as Duke Tops NC State; No. 3 Ohio State Men Visit No. 4 Michigan Sunday

The women's $25,000 USTA Pro Circuit tournament in Jackson Mississippi, is not yet back on schedule, although the quarterfinals, which did not start until late this afternoon, are complete.  Former Princeton star Victoria Hu, who did not return last fall for her sophomore year, reached the semifinals with a 6-1, 6-3 win over top seed Priska Nugroho of Indonesia, who did not return to NC State last fall for her sophomore year. Hu will face No. 4 seed Timea Babos of Hungary in tonight's semifinal, after Babos took out Makenna Jones(North Carolina) 6-3, 4-6, 6-4. 

No. 7 seed Grace Min, a 6-4, 6-1 winner over wild card Tatum Evans, will play No. 2 seed Whitney Osuigwe, who beat Ganna Poznikhirenko of Ukraine 6-4, 6-4.

In the doubles final, 2022 NCAA doubles champion Jaeda Daniels(NC State) and partner Mccartney Kessler(Florida) each won their first Pro Circuit title, with the unseeded pair defeating No. 4 seeds Allura and Maribella Zamarippa(Texas) 1-6, 6-1, 10-5 in tonight's championship match.

2022 NCAA singles champion Peyton Stearns advanced to her first WTA semifinal last night in Bogota, defeating Tamara Zidansek of Slovenia. (Stearns did reach the semifinals of the WTA 125 in Midland last fall, but those tournaments are generally not considered WTA level). Her semifinal match today with No. 4 seed Kamilla Rakhimova was interrupted in the first set, with Stearns trailing 3-4 and Rakhimova serving. The winner of that match will play defending champion and No. 2 seed Tatjana Maria of Germany for the title, who completed her semifinal match before the rain. Stearns is now up to 101 in the WTA live rankings.

The weather finally cooperated today at the ATP 250 in Houston, with top seed Frances Tiafoe getting two wins today, in the second round and quarterfinals. Tiafoe beat Steve Johnson(USC) and Jason Kubler to advance to Sunday's semifinal against ATP 123 Gijs Brouwer of the Netherlands, who beat No. 4 seed John Isner and No. 5 seed JJ Wolf to reach his first ATP semifinal at the age of 27. Former USC star Yannik Hanfmann of Germany defeated No. 2 seed Tommy Paul 7-6(6), 6-2 in the second round and is playing his quarterfinal with fellow qualifier Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic later tonight. 

The top four women's team in the ITA Division I rankings were all in action today, and all won their matches without the loss of a point. No. 1 North Carolina cruised past Wake Forest 4-0 to remain undefeated; No. 2 Texas A&M defeated Mississippi 4-0 to stay unbeaten in SEC play; No. 3 Pepperdine beat Gonzaga 7-0 for their tenth straight win, and No. 4 Michigan beat Purdue 4-0 to remain unbeaten in Big Ten competition. 

Diana Shnaider returned to college competition today for NC State, but it didn't help the Wolfpack, with No. 6 Duke defeating No. 7 seed NC State 4-3. Duke's Chloe Beck and Ellie Coleman were the stars for the Blue Devils, winning over Shnaider and Alana Smith at No. 1 doubles 6-4, as Duke took that point.

Coleman and Beck both got singles wins to make it 3-0, with Coleman beating Sophie Abrams 6-4, 6-3 at line 5 and Beck handing Shnaider, who had just beaten the 13th-ranked WTA player Veronika Kudermetova three days ago, her third collegiate singles loss, by a score of 6-3, 6-3 at line 1. Gina Dittman got a point for the Wolfpack at line 6, but Georgia Drummy secured the win with a three-set victory over Abigail Rencheli at line 4.  NC State took the two matches unfinished at the time Duke clinched.

I have no idea why Shnaider is struggling to win matches in college, while continuing to post wins at the WTA level. Is it all the indoor tennis(the match today was played indoors)? different pressure? no-ad? hard courts?  It's just hard to explain.

Tomorrow's big match is in Ann Arbor, with No. 3 Ohio State traveling to No. 4 Michigan. The weather is expected to be good for the noon match, with temperatures in the low 60s, so it should be a rare outdoor match at the Varsity Tennis Center. Michigan has been struggling of late, beating both Louisville and, last night, Penn State, 4-3 at home, but current form may not be all that relevant given the stakes (a probable Big Ten title to the winner) and the rivalry. Live scoring will be found here.