Michelsen and Quinn Get First ATP Wins at Hall of Fame 250 in Newport; Forbes Claims Singles and Doubles at ITF J200 in Mexico; Karnataki and Yakoff Win Back-to-Back Titles at Aruba J30s

Two days after Alex Michelsen claimed his first ATP Challenger title in Chicago, the 18-year-old from Southern California earned his first ATP main draw singles win on the grass of the ATP 250 Infosys Hall of Fame Open in Newport Rhode Island.

Michelsen, who is getting less likely to attend the University of Georgia with each milestone, defeated defending champion Maxime Cressy(UCLA) 6-7(5), 6-4, 7-5 in today's first round. Although I expect he'll get a US Open main draw wild card regardless, Michelsen is currently tied for first place with Steve Johnson(USC) in the USTA's US Open Wild Card Challenge, with four more weeks to go. Michelsen's next opponent is Australian James Duckworth.

Not to be outdone, NCAA singles champion Ethan Quinn(Georgia) won his first main draw ATP match in Newport, with the 19-year-old wild card defeating qualifier Mukund Sasikumar of India 6-3, 6-1 to move his ATP live ranking into the Top 400 for the first time. He will face top seed Tommy Paul in the second round.

The Atlanta Open, an ATP 250 tournament taking place next week, announced today that Quinn and Trent Bryde, who recently completed his eligibility at Georgia, have been awarded a main draw doubles wild card. Wimbledon breakout star Chris Eubanks, who was in qualifying for the Atlanta Open, has moved into the main draw. 

Former University of Illinois All-American Kevin Anderson, who retired last year, returned to competition this week with a wild card in Newport and won his first round match over former Kentucky star Gabriel Diallo of Canada 6-3, 6-2. My article from last year on Anderson's retirement for the Tennis Recruiting Network is here.

I didn't have an opportunity to acknowledge all the Americans who won ITF Junior Circuit titles two weeks ago, so I'm combining those with this week's list.

Matthew Forbes, a North Carolina recruit, won his first two titles on the ITF Junior Circuit, taking the singles and doubles at the J200 in Veracruz Mexico two weeks ago. The 17-year-old Forbes, who was unseeded, defeated top seed Ilyas Fahim of Morocco 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the singles final. Forbes and partner Maximus Dussault, who were unseeded, defeated No. 3 seeds Denny Bao of Canada and Rohan Belday 6-4, 6-3 in the final.

The girls doubles title went to No. 3 seeds and future UCLA Bruins Olivia Center and Kate Fakih, who defeated unseeded Riley Crowder and India's Krisha Mahendran of India 6-3, 6-2 in the final. 

Top seed Shannon Lam won the singles title at the J100 in the Dominican Republic last week, with the 15-year-old from New Jersey defeating No. 2 seed Mayaan Laron of Israel 6-4, 6-0 in the final. It's her first ITF Junior Circuit title. Eighteen-year-old Francesco Cordova won the boys singles title, with the No. 3 getting his third ITF Junior Circuit singles title when top seed Cesar Cruz of El Salvador retired trailing 4-6, 6-4 2-0.

Sixteen-year-old Aspen Schuman won the J100 in Vancouver Canada last week, her second ITF Junior Circuit title. The No. 8 seed defeated unseeded Eva Oxford 6-1, 6-3 in the all-US final.

At the J30s the past two weeks in Aruba, 17-year-old Stephanie Yakoff and 15-year-old Ajinkya Karnataki took the singles titles, the first for both on the ITF Junior Circuit.

Two weeks ago, top seed Yakoff defeated No. 2 seed Sarah Stoyanov 7-6(4), 6-0 in an all-US girls final, while the unseeded Karnataki beat No. 5 seed Gijs Fidler of Aruba 6-7(6), 6-1, 6-2. 

Last week, Yakoff, again the top seed, beat unseeded Rachel Secord in the final 6-1, 6-2. The unseeded Karnataki defeated unseeded William Secord 6-3, 6-2 for his tenth straight win this month.

Unseeded Rachel Secord and Gabriela Vilar won the doubles title, beating top seeds Yakoff and partner Ella Princiotta 6-3, 2-6, 10-5 in the final. 

At last week's J30 in Uruguay, Athena Rosas-Pacifico and Brazil's Gabriela Kawano Cho won the girls doubles title, with the top seeds beating No. 2 seeds Julia Caffarena of Argentina and Luiza Eidelvein of Brazil 6-4, 7-5 in the final. 

At last week's J30 in El Salvador, unseeded Lauren Tadoum and Yontha Tadoum took the girls doubles title, beating unseeded Alison Ramirez of Guatemala and Alyssa Sucrovich of Honduras 6-4, 6-1 in the final.