USTA Girls 16s and 14s National Champions Face Off in Corpus Christi J60 Quarterfinals; Round of 16 Set at European 16s Championships; Top Seeds Out at USTA Pro Circuit $15Ks; Davenport Named New Billie Jean King Cup Captain

Unlike last week's ITF J300 Pan American Closed, where the top two seeds in both the boys and girls fields met in the final, this week's J60 in Corpus Christi has only one Top 2 seed in the quarterfinals after round of 16 action today.

Thirteen-year-old Christina Lyutova, the USTA National 16s Clay Court and Hard Court champion this year, defeated top seed Jane Dunyon 6-1, 6-2 to reach the quarterfinals of the second ITF Junior Circuit tournament she has played. Lyutova, who won the Junior Orange Bowl 12s title last year, will face unseeded Lyla Middleton in Thursday's quarterfinals, with Middleton the 2023 USTA National 14s Hard Court champion. Middleton, who will turn 14 soon, defeated qualifier Chloe Qin 6-2, 6-1 today. Middleton and Lyutova met in a USTA National Level 3 final in Las Vegas in April of 2022, with Lyutova winning 6-3, 4-6, 10-5.

No. 2 seed Eva Oxford is through to the all-USA quarterfinals with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Elena Mireles; she and No. 4 Thea Latak are the only seeds remaining in the girls singles.

Boys top seed Abishek Thorat lost in the first round, with No. 2 seed Xavier Calvelo eliminated from contention today by 2023 Easter Bowl 14s champion Roshan Santhosh 7-5, 7-6(5). Kalamazoo 16s quarterfinalist Simon Caldwell is through to the all-USA quarterfinals in his first ITF Junior Circuit event, and Kalamazoo 16s finalist Lachlan Gaskell has also reached the quarterfinals of an ITF Junior Circuit tournament for the first time.

There's a new site for the European 16s Championships, which had been held in Moscow Russia for 13 years (the tournament was canceled in both 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic). When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Tennis Europe pulled the tournament out of Moscow and last July it was played in the Czech Republic. This year it was not played in July, as is customary, but is going on now in Parma Italy, and will stay in Italy through 2027.

The top seed in the boys draw, Kolos Kincses of Hungary, retired in his first match (in the second round) trailing Linus Lagerbohm of Finland 2-0 in the third set, but No. 2 seed William Rejchtman Vinciguerra of Sweden has reached the round of 16. 

The top seed in the girls draw is Teodora Kostovic of Serbia, who was the No. 2 seed in the 18s European Championships in Klosters this past July, which is one advantage of having the 16s tournament at a later date. Kostovic, who lost in the quarterfinals in Klosters, and No. 2 seed Charo Esquiva Banuls of Spain both competed in the US Open Junior Championships earlier this month, with No. 14 seed Kostovic losing to Hannah Klugman of Great Britain in the second round and No. 16 seed Esquiva falling to No. 4 seed Sara Saito of Japan in the third round.

Draws, order of play and links to live scoring and live streaming are available at the Tennis Europe site.

The No. 1 seeds at both the USTA men's $15,000 tournament in Albuquerque and the USTA women's $15,000 tournament in Hilton Head lost today in their first round matches.

Qualifier Ryan Dickerson(Duke/Baylor) defeated top seed Alfredo Perez(Florida) 6-3, 6-3 in New Mexico; Arkansas sophomore Carolina Gomez Alonso of Spain defeated top seed Lauren Proctor 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 in South Carolina. Texas A&M freshman and 2023 Roland Garros girls finalist Lucciana Perez Alarcon of Peru won her first round match, beating 16-year-old Mia Yamakita 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-2 in two hours and 51 minutes. Fifteen-year-old Tyra Grant lost to 31-year-old Connie Hsu(Penn) of Taiwan 6-1, 6-4.

The USTA announced today that Lindsay Davenport has been named captain of the United States' Billie Jean King Cup team, taking over for USTA head of women's tennis Kathy Rinaldi, who will retire from that post after this November's finals in Spain. 

Although she never mentioned her new role, I had a conversation with Davenport last week at the ITF Pan American Closed about team competitions in conjunction with the news that her son Jagger Leach had been named to the Junior Davis Cup team for this fall's event in Spain. From both of their reactions to Leach's making the JDC team, it was obvious how much the family(along with father Jon Leach) valued the opportunity to play for the United States in an international team competition, and that enthusiasm will serve Davenport well in her position. The complete USTA release is below.

LINDSAY DAVENPORT NAMED NEXT U.S. BILLIE JEAN KING CUP CAPTAIN

 

ORLANDO, Fla., September 27, 2023 – The USTA today announced that Hall-of-Famer, Grand Slam champion and four-time year-end world No. 1 Lindsay Davenport will be the next captain of the U.S. Billie Jean King Cup team. A three-time Billie Jean King Cup champion, Davenport will become the team’s 20th captain following the 2023 Finals, which will be captained by Kathy Rinaldi.

 

“Playing Billie Jean King Cup was always something that was a huge priority and a huge highlight for me during my career. I always felt a tremendous amount of pride representing my country, and I'm excited to do it now in a different role,” Davenport said. “Joining a prestigious list of U.S. captains is an incredible honor, and with the group of players that we have now and their great personalities, I really couldn't ask for a better time to have this position.”

 

Davenport was one of the most successful U.S. Billie Jean King Cup players in history, helping to lead the U.S. to titles in 1996, 1999 and 2000. She played in 20 ties over a record 11 years, going 26-3 in singles and 7-0 in doubles. Her 26 singles victories are tied with Billie Jean King for second all-time for the U.S., behind leader Chris Evert, and her 33 total wins rank fourth, behind Evert, King and Rosie Casals.

 

Davenport was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2014 after a career that saw her win three Grand Slam singles and doubles titles, along with the 1996 Olympic Gold Medal in singles. She won 55 singles and 38 doubles titles in all, spent 98 weeks as the world No. 1 and was the year-end No. 1 in 1998, 2001 and 2004-05.

 

Since retiring in 2010, Davenport has worked as a commentator and as a coach, notably of American Madison Keys. As captain, Davenport will have a year-round role with USTA Player Development, traveling to support American players and serving as a mentor for American pros and juniors.

 

“Lindsay has been the embodiment of a champion throughout her career, and few players have had as much success playing for their country as she has,” said Brian Hainline, Chairman of the Board and President, USTA. “We’re excited to welcome her experience and leadership back to the Billie Jean King Cup team at a time when the present and future of American women’s tennis couldn’t be brighter.”

 

Current captain Kathy Rinaldi, who will continue on as USTA Player Development’s Head of Women’s Tennis after stepping down from the captaincy, will lead the U.S. in the upcoming Billie Jean King Cup by Gainbridge Finals November 7-12 in Seville, Spain. The Finals will feature 12 nations competing in four round-robin groups of three, with the group winners qualifying for the knockout semifinals. The U.S. was drawn into Group A with Switzerland and the Czech Republic.

 

“I look forward to watching and supporting the U.S. team in the Finals later this year,” Davenport said. “Kathy has been an amazing role model to not only the players now but also myself, and I look forward to continuing what she started the last seven years. She’s done a remarkable job and I look forward to the U.S. hopefully winning it this year so that when I’m captain, we’re defending champions.”