USTA Offers New Format to Decide NCAA US Open Wild Card; Roh and Buchnik Win J500 Titles in Osaka; Italy and Spain Claim European 16s Championships; Three J30 Titles for US Boys on ITF Junior Circuit

With the NCAA singles and doubles championships moving to the fall this year, the US Open main draw wild card for an American winner was likely to change, given the nine months from the NCAAs in November until next August's US Open. While there was never a guaranteed wild card, the American singles and doubles champions have traditionally received US Open wild cards, with just one exception this century.

Earlier this month Division I college coaches were notified of a new format, which will guarantee that wild card, but it will not necessarily go to Novembers NCAA champions. Instead the USTA will hold a four-player/team playoff for the US Open wild card next spring; the NCAA champion and finalist, if American, will automatically be included, with two other American collegians selected to join them. If, as happened with the women in 2023 and the men in 2019, no American is in the final, all four American collegians will be selected by a committee to compete in the playoff.

In one sense, this is an improvement, as it guarantees a US Open wild card to an American collegian every year. But there is no obvious advantage to winning the NCAAs if you are already one of the top Americans in college tennis. Knowing what was on the line in the NCAA final always added drama to the event; stakes still exist, but they aren't nearly as high as they were when the individual tournament was held in May. An American NCAA champion losing in the semifinals of the playoff will have nothing to show for his/her NCAA title in November, in the realm of wild cards anyway.

Below is a screenshot of the basic format. See this google document for other details, including the selection criteria and the makeup of the selection committee.

The ITF J500 in Osaka Japan produced two first-time J500 champions. Mika Buchnik of Israel, the No. 9 seed, defeated No. 10 seed Alana Subasic of Australia 6-3, 6-7(1), 6-2 in the final to become the first Israeli, girl or boy, to win a J500 title.

Hoyoung Roh of Korea, the No. 8 seed, defeated No. 7 seed Oliver Bonding of Great Britain, his doubles partner, 7-6(2), 7-6(3) to claim the boys title.

The girls doubles title went to unseeded sisters Renee Alame and Rianna Alame of Australia, who defeated No. 6 seeds Lidia Podgorichani and Kamonwan Yodpetch of Thailand 6-3, 5-7, 10-8 in the final. 

No. 3 seeds Timofei Derepasko of Russia and Naoya Honda of Japan won the boys doubles title, defeating No. 4 seeds Roh and Bonding 6-1, 3-6, 10-6.

The European Championships are now complete, with the 16s division concluding yesterday in Parma Italy. No. 2 seed Yannick Alexandrescou of Romania defeated unseeded Tito Chavez of Spain 6-2, 6-1 for the boys singles title. No. 7 seed Carla Giambelli of Italy won the girls title, beating unseeded Sona Depesova of Slovakia 7-6(4), 7-6(6).

Giambelli won the doubles title as well, with partner Fabiola Marino. The No. 5 seeds defeated the top-seeded Romanian team of Maia Burcescu and Giulia Popa 6-4, 5-7, 12-10.

The boys doubles title went to No. 10 seeds Chavez and Eudaid Gonzalez of Spain, who defeated No. 11 seeds Hryhorii Artavenko and Dmytro Vterkowskyi of Ukraine 6-2, 3-6, 10-7 in the championship match.

For more on the finals, see the Tennis Europe website.

It was a quiet week for Americans on the ITF Junior Circuit, with three boys singles titles at J30s, and three doubles titles. 

Sixteen-year-old William Zhang won his second straight J30 title in Taiwan. The No. 4 seed, Zhang beat No. 2 seed Gyeom Do of Korea 6-2, 6-1 in the final. 

At the Punta Cana J30, Matias Reyniak received a special exemption into the main draw after reaching the final of the previous week's J30 in Punta Cana and came away with the title, his first on the ITF Junior Circuit. The 15-year-old New Yorker defeated unseeded Anthony Dry in an all-US final 6-2, 5-7, 7-5. Dry and partner Vincent Weaver won the doubles title, with the unseeded pair defeating the unseeded Canadian pair of Antoine Clavel and Maxim Yevdayev 6-3, 6-4.

At the J30 in Nicaragua, 16-year-old Austin Taco won his first two titles on the ITF Junior Circuit. Taco, the No. 3 seed, defeated No. 7 seed Nick Mertgens of Germany 6-2, 6-2 in the singles final. Seeded No. 1 with partner Juan Carlos Portilla Morales of the United States, Taco won the doubles with a 5-4(4), 0-4, 10-7 win over No. 2 seeds Jose Argenal and Adriano Pezzarossi of Guatemala in the final.

Sena Yoon won the girls doubles title at the J100 in Korea with her partner Suha Lee of Korea. The unseeded pair defeated No. 3 seeds Elizabeth Ivanov and Sarah Mildren of Australia 4-6, 6-3, 10-3 in the final.

The ITF Junior Circuit returns to the United States this week at the J60 in Corpus Christi Texas, with the J300 Pan Am Closed next week in Houston. I will be covering the latter tournament again this year in person.