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Sunday, February 16, 2025

Italy's Vasami and Sweden's Wallberg Claim J500 Titles in Egypt; Dussault Earns J200 Title, Three More US Juniors Capture ITF Singles Titles; Johns Takes Naples $15K; Ngounoue Wins W50 in Great Britain; Anisimova Earns WTA 1000 Doha Title

I spent most of today's off-day for the main draw ITA Division I Men's Team Indoor Championships watching consolation matches and catching up with some of the freshmen from Stanford and TCU who had arrived in SMU after winning their quarterfinal matches in Baylor on Saturday, but I won't be providing any reporting on Virginia's 4-1 win over North Carolina State or Texas A&M's 4-2 win over Kentucky, so that I can review the week on the ITF Junior Circuit, USTA Pro Circuit, the ITF Women's WTT and the pros, before I return to detailed coverage of the Men's Team Indoor semifinals and finals the next two days. Streaming of the semifinals Monday, beginning at 3:30 pm Central time will be available at the Cracked Racquet YouTube channel. Wake Forest plays Texas first, with the semifinal between TCU and Stanford to follow.

The first ITF J500 tournament of 2025, contested in Cairo Egypt this week, concluded with titles No. 3 seed Jacopo Vasami of Italy and No. 10 seed Nellie Taraba Wallberg of Sweden, both 17-year-olds in their final year of junior eligibility.

Taraba Wallberg defeated No. 11 seed Rada Zolotareva of Russian 7-6(5), 1-6, 6-3 in the final, while Vasami won his first J500 singles title in just his second appearance at that level, claiming a 6-2, 6-2 victory over unseeded Savva Rybkin of Russia in the championship match.

Vasami swept the titles in Cairo, partnering with Alan Wazny of Poland to take the doubles championship. The top seeds defeated unseeded Alvaro Jimenez of Spain and Ziga Sesko of Slovenia 6-3, 6-4 in the final.

No. 7 seeds Charo Esquiva Banuls of Spain and Flora Johnson of Great Britain won the girls doubles title, beating No. 6 seed Dora Miskovic of Croatia and Sonja Zhenikhova of Germany 6-2, 6-1 in the final. 

It was a banner week for Americans on the ITF Junior Circuit, and although both Keaton Hance[6] and Noah Johnston[5] lost in the singles semifinals of the J300 Asuncion Bowl in Paraguay, Thea Frodin did capture the doubles title there with Yoana Konstantinova of Bulgaria. The top seeds defeated Ana Maria Fedotova of the Dominican Republic and Sol Ailin Larraya Guidi of Argentina 6-2, 6-2 in the final. Tops seeds Hance and Valentin Garay of Argentina lost the boys final via a walkover, given to Thomas Miranda and Leornardo Storck Franca of Brazil.

At the J200 in the Dominican Republic, American boys swept the titles, with Maximus Dussault, the top seed, defeating Gavin Goode, the No. 12 seed 7-5, 6-3 in the all-US final. It's Dussault's second ITF Junior Circuit singles title, with the other coming at a J60 in the Dominican Republic in 2023. The boys doubles title was also decided among Americans, with unseeded Ford McColllum and Nischal Spurling defeating No. 4 seed Simon Caldwell and Zachary Cohen 7-6(2), 6-4 in the final.  

2024 USTA National 16s champion Ishika Ashar, the No. 2 seed, lost in the girls singles final to top seed Nadia Lagaev of Canada 7-6(3), 5-7, 6-2. Lagaev and Daniela Piani of Great Britain took the girls doubles title, beating Sabrina Lin and Serbia's Masa Jankovic, the No. 7 seeds, 6-2, 7-5 in the final.

At the J100 in South Africa, 15-year-old Navneet Raghuram won his first ITF Junior Circuit singles title, with the No. 8 seed defeating No. 5 seed Xavier Massotte of Canada 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the final. He also reached the doubles final, with Canadian partner Finn Muller. The No. 4 seeds lost to the unseeded British team of Rhys Lawlor and Eric Lorimer 6-3, 3-6, 10-7 in the championship match. 

JoAnna Kennedy took the title this week at the J60 in Medford New Jersey, one of two ITF Indoor tournaments in the United States in February. The unseeded 17-year-old from Colorado, didn't drop a set during the week, beating No. 2 seed Anastasia Pleskun 6-2, 6-4 in the all-US final. Unseeded Shristi Selvan and Kendall Smith won the girls doubles title, beating top seeds Aurora Lugo of Puerto Rico and Arina Vansovich of Belarus 7-6(2), 6-3 in the final.  

An unseeded team also won the boys doubles title in an all-US final, with Kayden Colombo and Anthony Dry defeating Jack Dermenjyan and Muyang Yi 6-2, 3-6, 11-9 in the final.

The fourth singles title for an American junior came at the J60 in Guatemala, with 14-year-old Jordyn Hazelitt, the No. 3 seed, winning her second singles title on the ITF Junior Circuit with a 7-6(5), 4-6, 7-5 win over unseeded compatriot Scarlett Fagan, also 14.

Hazelitt also took the doubles title, with Canadian partner Elicia Lin, with the top seeds defeating Camille Allegre and Olivia Allegre 6-2, 4-6, 10-7 in the final.

At the J60 in Mexico, Joseph Hernandez won the boys doubles title with Miguel Daiha of Brazil, with the No. 6 seeds beating No. 8 seeds Nicolas Dagda Mireles and Guillermo Narcio of Mexico 5-7, 7-6(4), 10-7 in the final. Sophia Cedeno, who reached the girls singles final, won the doubles title with partner Zoe Levresse Zavala of Mexico. The top seeds defeated No. 2 seed Emanuela Lares and Maria Isabel Suarez of Colombia 6-3, 6-1 in the championship match.

And at the J30 in Bahrain, Muaz Malik won the boys doubles title with Kaushik Arunkumar of India. The No. 4 seeds defeated No. 3 seeds Amir Jaber and Talai Shatara of Jordan 6-2, 6-3 in the final.

At the USTA Pro Circuit men's $15,000 tournament in Naples Florida, former Duke All-American Garrett Johns won his second title in the last three weeks on the green clay. The 24-year-old from Georgia, seeded No. 8, defeated No. 7 seed Lorenzo Joaquin Rodrigues of Argentina 6-4, 6-4 in today's final. 

Former Georgia Tech teammates Keshav Chopra and Andres Martin won the doubles title, with the No. 4 seeds beating No. 3 seeds Rodriguez and Ignacio Monzon of Argentina 7-6(5), 6-4 in the final. 

Eighteen-year-old Clervie Ngounoue, the 2023 Wimbledon girls and USTA National 18s champion, won the W50 this week in Birmingham England, her fourth ITF women's World Tennis Tour singles title. Unseeded, Ngounoue defeated the No. 3 and No. 2 seeds en route to the final, where she beat No. 5 seed Viktoria Hruncakova of Slovakia 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. Ngounoue, who will rise to around 250 in the WTA ranking when the points are added, is just a few good results away from earning entry into the women's singles qualifying at Roland Garros and Wimbledon this year.

At the ATP 250 in Delray Beach, Alex Michelsen advanced to the semifinals in singles, but it was Brandon Nakashima(Virginia) earning the American title this week. Partnering with singles champion Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia, Nakashima and Kecmanovic defeated Dallas Open champions Christian Harrison and Evan King(Michigan) 7-6(3), 1-6, 10-3 in the final. It's the first ATP doubles title for Nakashima. For more on the doubles final, see this article from the ATP website.

Amanda Anisimova won the WTA 1000 in Doha, beating Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-4, 6-3 in the final. It's the third and biggest title for the 23-year-old, who will move into the WTA Top 20 for the first time. For more on the final, see this article from the WTA website.

And at the ATP 250 in Buenos Aires, ATP Next Gen Finals champion Joao Fonseca of Brazil won his first title, with the unseeded 18-year-old defeating Francisco Cerundolo(South Carolina) of Argentina 6-4, 7-6(1). The 2023 US Open champion is the youngest South American champion in the ATP Tour era, which dates to 1990. For more on the final, see this article from the ATP website.

Saturday, February 15, 2025

Remarkable Finish Propels Texas Past Virginia and into ITA D-I Men's Team Indoor Semifinals; Wake Forest Survives Another Test to Stay Undefeated; TCU and Stanford Join Texas and Wake Forest in Dallas for Monday's Semifinals

©Colette Lewis 2025--
Dallas Texas--



The last time Texas and Virginia met, less than two weeks ago in Charlottesville, Texas took the doubles point and five first sets in singles, before the Cavaliers mounted an improbable comeback, with freshman Rafael Jodar saving three team match points en route before he and Stiles Brockett at line 6 put up the third and fourth point for Virginia.

Texas's 4-1 win today over Virginia in the quarterfinals of the ITA Men's Team Indoor Championships was, if possible in a neutral setting, even more exciting, and certainly more rare, with the final three singles matches in third-set tiebreakers when Texas's Jonah Braswell secured a 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(5) victory over Keegan Rice at line 4.

In all my years of covering college tennis, I've never seen three matches in lockstep like the contests at line 1, between Jodar and Timo Legout, at line 2, between Sebastian Gorzny and Virginia's Dylan Dietrich and the Braswell and Rice battle. No one, including coaches and officials who have decades of experience with thousands of collegiate matches, could recall anything remotely similar, and the hundreds of fans at the Styslinger/Altec Tennis Complex were treated to a rare spectacle that was unimaginable from the 4-1 score.

Virginia started out well in doubles, taking a 1-0 lead with 6-3 victories at lines 1 and 2, positions that are usually the strength of the Longhorns doubles point. That the Cavaliers could not mange to take another point, after getting four singles points in Charlottesville, demonstrated just what a struggle every game was in every match.

Texas pulled even in the only straight-sets singles match, with freshman Sebastian Eriksson beating fellow freshman Jungjin Kim 6-4, 6-1 at line 6. Eriksson, who lost to Kim 6-3, 6-3 in that previous match, had not been feeling well that day, so Texas head coach Bruce Berque had no doubts that he could reverse that loss today.

"He didn't lose because it was a bad matchup," Berque said of Eriksson's loss in Charlottesville, which came at line 5. "Sometimes it might be, but we just thought it was an execution thing, and sometimes there might be extra motivation from losing. But we were committed to having all of them play (Eriksson, Oliver Ojakaar and Lucas Brown) and whoever did not play yesterday was going to play today."

Each team won three first sets, but in a 30-minute stretch the five remaining singles matches all went to a third set. Shortly after Gorzny and Dietrich split at line 2, Ojakaar put Texas up 2-1 with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 win at line 5. 

Texas looked in good shape when Pierre-Yves Bailly had taken a 4-0 third set lead over James Hopper at line 3, but Hopper got both breaks back and was serving at 3-4 before dropping a deciding point. Bailly was up 40-15 serving for the match at 5-3 but Hopper forced a deciding point, which Bailly won with a brave volley that Hopper had to call out in order to challenge. The Play Replay electronic line calling system confirmed the ball was good, giving Texas their third point with a 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 victory.

The remaining three matches were at 4-4, at line 1 and 2 and 5-4 at line 4, then 5-4, 5-4 and 5-5. Dietrich broke Gorzny to serve for the match at 6-5, but lost his serve, while Jodar held on a deciding point to go up 6-5 and was up 0-30 with Legout serving, but Jodar appeared to suffer a cramp during that game and Legout held.

Braswell was serving from behind throughout the third set, but said he managed to cope with that pressure.

"It was tough," said the junior from Florida, who lost the deciding match in the NCAA final against TCU last May. "It was definitely a lot of pressure. Props to Keegan Rice, a freshman, a Canadian, I think he played really, really well and I think he likes these indoor courts. I felt the pressure, he was coming after me really good but I was able to stay calm, use my experience a little bit, use that to my advantage. I wasn't playing my best tennis today, but Bruce was able to keep me calm, give me some good advice and it was a team win."

Braswell had a 4-1 lead in the tiebreaker, but gave won of those mini-breaks back, as the baseline rallies went to the server in the next four points. That made it 6-4 Braswell, who lost his second mini-break and first match point, but was able to coax a backhand error from Rice at 5-6 to take the victory and end the Longhorns' 10-match losing streak to the Cavaliers.

At the time the match was clinched, Dietrich led Gorzny 5-2 and Legout led Jodar 3-1 in their third set tiebreakers.

"They are a great team," Berque said. "I was really impressed with Virginia today. They came out great in doubles, and they were really determined. And the singles, as you saw, was a battle."

Quarterfinal:


Doubles:
1. Keegan Rice and James Hopper(UVA) d. Lucas Brown and Timo Legout(TEX) 6-3
2. Mans Dahlberg and Dylan Dietrich(UVA) d. Pierre-Yves Bailly and Sebastian Gorzny(TEX) 6-3
3. Jangjun Kim and Rafael Jodar(UVA) v Jonah Braswell and Oliver Ojakaar(TEX) 4-3, unf.

Order of finish: 2, 1

Singles:
1. Rafael Jodar(UVA) v Timo Legout((TEX) 6-4, 4-6, 6-6(1-3) unf.
2. Dylan Dietrich(UVA) v Sebastian Gorzny(TEX) 6-7(6), 6-3, 6-6 (5-2) unf.
3. Pierre-Yves Bailly(TEX) d. James Hopper(UVA) 4-6, 6-1, 6-3
4. Jonah Braswell(TEX) d. Keegan Rice(UVA) 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(5)
5. Oliver Ojakaar(TEX) d. Mans Dahlberg(UVA) 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 
6. Sebastian Eriksson(TEX) d. Jangjun Kim(UVA) 6-4, 6-1

Order of finish: 6, 5, 3, 4



The fans barely had time to catch their collective breath before the second quarterfinal of the day, featuring top seed Wake Forest and No. 5 seed NC State, began moving toward an only slightly less tense conclusion, with Wake Forest again surviving a stern challenge, this time by a 4-2 score.

Wake took the doubles point, although NC State did take No. 1 doubles before the Demon Deacons closed out the point at lines 2 and 3.

The teams split first sets, so NC State needed to find a split, which they got, at line 5, with Wolfpack newcomer Nikolay Nedelchev forcing a third with Luciano Tacchi. They also earned a split on 2, with Martin Borisiouk taking the second from DK Suresh, while Wake Forest countered with a split on 6 with Luca Pow taking the second from Jules Leroux and Ioannis Xilas forcing a third from Fons Van Sambeek at line 4.

The matches that were decided in straight sets took two hours to finish, and they too were split, with NC State's Luca Stahaeli beating Charlie Robertson at line 3 6-3, 7-6(5) to make it 1-1 and a minute later, Wake's Stefan Dostanic defeating Braden Shick 7-6(4), 7-6(3) to immediately put the Deacons back in front. 

Tacchi made it 3-1 with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 win over Nedelchev, after dropping the first two games of the third set, but Borisiouk had taken a big lead over Suresh in their third set. Von Sambeek was up a break in the third for NC State, but the Wolfpack needed to win the remaining three matches, which was certainly possible, given how close they were.

Borisiouk needed nine match points, having 15-40 leads in the final three games of the third set, before finally closing out Suresh 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 to make it 3-2.  Pow had a 5-2 lead and had served for the match before Borisiouk could close out Suresh, but Leroux broke at love, which is not how Pow had envisioned that final game.

"I came out at 5-2 and told coach, I've got this, and got broke to love" said the sophomore from England. "And then we sat down at 5-4 and I said again, I've got this. Because I kind of like having the pressure on me. I don't shy away from that. I had to serve for it in doubles with Tacchi and that went great. But it was key getting that first point after losing four points in the previous game on my serve. But I like the pressure and I was ready for it."

Up 30-0, Pow was fortunate that Leroux missed a routine overhead, but Leroux saved the first match point by making another overhead for 40-15. But Pow's good fortune continued with a Leroux's shot clipping the tape and sitting up for him, and he made no mistake on the finish.

Wake Forest head coach Tony Bresky acknowledged that luck has played a role in his team's best start to the season since their NCAA championship in 2018, but he also credited his team's physical condition and their experience with coming through so many close matches.

"Knock on wood, I think we're in incredible shape," Bresky said. We work really hard on our fitness, thinking that's one variable we can take out of the equation. And guys who have been in moment. Obviously, a guy like Luca, losing the first set and doesn't panic, or Tacchi, who's been in that moment now. I think he had a super valuable experience against Ohio State (a 4-3 win for Wake) where he was up in the third and kind of lost his focus and ended up losing. And sometimes a little luck doesn't hurt."

Quarterfinal:


Doubles:
1. Braden Shick and Fons Van Sambeek(NCST) d. Stefan Dostanic and DK Suresh(WAKE) 6-3
2. Luca Pow and Luciano Tacchi(WAKE) d. Jules Leroux and Luca Staeheli(NCST) 6-4
3. Ioannis Xilas and Franco Capalbo(WAKE) d. William Manning and Nikolay Nedelchev(NCST) 6-3

Order of finish: 1, 3, 2

Singles:
1. Stefan Dostanic(WAKE) d. Braden Shick(NCST) 7-6(4), 7-6(3)
2. Martin Borisiouk(NCST) d. DK Suresh(WAKE) 3-6, 6-4, 6-3
3. Luca Staeheli(NCST) d. Charlie Robertson(WAKE) 6-3, 7-6(5)
4. Fons Van Sambeek(NCST) v Ioannis Xilas(WAKE) 6-4, 4-6, 5-2, unf.
5. Luciano Tacchi(WAKE) d. Nikolay Nedelchev(NCST) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
6. Luca Pow(WAKE) d. Jules Leroux(NCST) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4

Order of finish: 3, 1, 5, 2, 6

The last main draw matches at the Baylor University site were completed today, with No. 6 seed Stanford ending the Cinderella story of Central Florida by a 4-0 score, and top seed TCU, the 2022 and 2023 National Indoor Champions and 2024 finalist, now able to return closer to home, after claiming a hard-fought 4-2 win over No. 5 seed San Diego, who suffered its first loss of the season.

Quarterfinal:


Doubles:
1. Liam Branger and Paul Colin(UCF) d. Kyle Kang and Max Basing(STAN) 6-4
2. Samir Banerjee and Alexander Razeghi(STAN) d. Mehdi Benchakroun and Santiago Giamichelle(UCF) 7-5
3. Nicholas Godsick and Henry Von Der Schulenburg (STAN) d. Yassine Dlimi and Emilio Sanchez(UCF) 6-4

Order of finish: 3, 1, 2

Singles:
1. Samir Banerjee(STAN) v Yassine Dlimi(UCF) 6-1, 3-6, 2-1 unf.
2. Max Basing(STAN) d.  Paul Colin(UCF) 6-0, 6-4
3. Mehdi Benchakroun(UCF) v Kyle Kang(STAN) 6-4, 3-3, unf.
4. Henry Von Der Schulenburg(STAN) d. Liam Branger(UCF) 6-3, 6-2
5. Hudson Rivera(STAN) v Santiago Giamichelle(UCF) 7-6(2), 3-2, unf.
6. Alexander Razeghi(STAN) d. Nicolas Oliveira(UCF) 6-1, 6-1

Order of finish: 6, 2, 4


Doubles:
1. Lui Maxted and Pedro Vives(TCU) d. Stian Klaassen and Oliver Tarvet(USD) 6-3
2. Jack Pinnington Jones and Cooper Woestendick(TCU) d. Savriyan Danilov and Iiro Vasa(USD) 6-3
3. Adrien Berrut and Nikhil Niranjan(USD) v Duncan Chan and Albert Pedrico(TCU) 5-5, unf.

Order of finish: 2, 1

Singles:
1. Oliver Tarvet(USD) d. Jack Pinnington Jones(TCU) 6-4, 6-2
2. Pedro Vives(TCU) d. Savriyan Danilov(USD) 6-1, 7-6(7)
3. Lui Maxted(TCU) d. Iiro Vasa(USD) 6-4, 3-6, 6-1
4. Stian Klaassen(USD) d. Duncan Chan(TCU) 6-4, 6-2
5. Adrien Berrut(USD) v Cooper Woestendick(TCU) 4-6, 6-4, 4-3, unf.
6. Albert Pedrico(TCU) d. Neo Niedner(USD) 3-6, 6-4, 6-2

Order of finish: 4, 1, 2, 3, 6


Sunday is an off-day for the semifinalists this year, with the four teams returning to action on Monday at 3:30 pm and 6:30 pm  at SMU. The final is scheduled for 6:30 pm on Tuesday. (All times Central).

Cracked Racquets will continue their coverage then at their YouTube Channel.

Friday, February 14, 2025

No. 2 Seed Ohio State, No. 3 Seed Columbia Fall in Opening Round of ITA Division I Men's Team Indoor; San Diego Tops No. 4 Seed Duke in Thriller; Texas and Virginia Rematch Set for Saturday

©Colette Lewis 2025--
Dallas, Texas--


The first day of the ITA Men's Division I Team Indoor Championships was uneventful at the SMU site, where I'm located for the duration of the tournament, but at the second venue on the Baylor campus, the first round was a St. Valentine's Day massacre for the favored teams. Although Waco's No. 1 seed, TCU, did take out host Baylor 4-1 in the nightcap, the No. 2, 3 and 4 seeds were all eliminated, with Central Florida's 4-2 win over second seed and defending champion Ohio State the result that had all the teams in Dallas talking.

Because I wasn't there, I won't be attempting a recap of the match, but the box score is below, along with a link to the Central Florida website's coverage here.

Central Florida[7] 4, Ohio State[2] 2
Doubles:
1. Aidan Kim and Will Jansen(OSU) d. Liam Branger and Paul Colin(UCF) 6-1
2. Preston Stearns and Bryce Nakashima(OSU) v Mehdi Benchakroun and Santiago Giamichelle(UCF) 3-3, unf.
3. Brandon Caprico and Nikita Filin(OSU) d. Yassine Dlimi and Emilio Sanchez(UCF) 6-1

Order of finish 3, 1

Singles:
1. Yassine Dlimi(UCF) d.  Aidan Kim(OSU) 6-3, 6-4
2. Alexander Bernard(OSU) d.  Paul Dolin(UCF) 6-4, 7-5
3. Mehdi Benchakroun(UCF) d. Will Jansen(OSU) 6-2, 1-6, 6-4
4. Liam Branger(UCF) d. Jack Anthrop(OSU) 7-5, 3-6, 6-4
5. Bryce Nakashima(OSU) v Santiago Giamichelle(UCF) 6-7(3), 6-4, 3-3  unf.
6. Nicolas Oliveira(UCF) d. Christopher Li(OSU) 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-1

Order of finish: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6

No. 6 seed Stanford defeated No. 3 seed Columbia 4-1, with the Stanford recap here.

Stanford[6] 4, Columbia[3] 1
Doubles:
1. Max Basing and Kyle Kang(STAN) d. Michael Zheng and Nicolas Kotzen(COL) 6-3
2. Samir Banerjee and Alexander Razeghi(STAN) v Max Westphal and Sachin Palta(COL) 5-4, unfinished
3. Nicolas Godsick and Henry Von Der Schulenburg(STAN) d. Hugo Hasimoto and Jayden Templeman(COL) 6-3

Order of finish: 3, 1

Singles:
1. Samir Banerjee(STAN) d. Michael Zheng(COL) 6-3, 7-6(4)
2. Max Basing(STAN) d. Nicolas Kotzen(COL) 7-6(5), 7-5
3. Max Westphal(COL) d. Henry Von Der Schulenburg(STAN) 6-2, 6-3
4. Hugo Hashimoto(COL) v Hudson Rivera(STAN) 6-4, 3-6, 3-2, unf.
5. Nicholas Godsick(STAN) v Sachin Palta(COL) 2-6, 6-2, 5-3, unf.
6. Alexander Razeghi(STAN) d. Thanapat Boosarawongse(COL) 6-2, 7-5

Order of finish:
3, 1  6, 2

No. 5 seed San Diego's 4-3 win over No. 4 seed Duke came down to No. 5 singles, with Adrien Berrut defeating Gerard Planelles Ripoll 7-5, 6-7(5), 7-5 in a three-hour match that featured one huge deciding point after another in the third set, and with both players trying to finish points quickly, all the volleys, overheads and passing shots made for an entertaining battle, which was ultimately decided in a wild final point, with an Electronic Line Call challenge by Berrut overturning Ripoll's call on match point. The Duke recap of the match is here. The San Diego recap of the match is here.

San Diego[5] 4, Duke[4] 3 
Doubles:
1. Stian Klaassen and Oliver Tarvet(USD) d. Pedro Rodenas and Theo Winegar(DUKE) 6-1
2. Cooper Williams and Andreja Petrovic(DUKE) d. Savriyan Danilov and Iiro Vasa(USD) 6-3
3. Nikhil Niranjan and Adrien Berrut(USD) d. Connor Krug and Teddy Truwit(DUKE) 6-3

Order of finish: 2, 1, 3

Singles:
1. Oliver Tarvet(USD) d. Cooper Williams(DUKE) 6-2, 6-4
2. Pedro Rodenas(DUKE) d. Savriyan Danilov(USD) 6-2, 6-2
3. Iiro Vasa(USD) d. Andreja Petrovic(DUKE) 6-2, 6-3
4. Connor Krug(DUKE) d. Stian Klaassen(USD) 3-6, 6-3, 7-5
5. Adrien Berrut(USD) d. Gerard Planelles Ripoll(DUKE) 7-5, 6-7(5), 7-5
6. Remi Dugardin(DUKE) d. Neo Niedner(USD) 6-2, 6-0

Order of finish: 3, 6, 2, 1, 4, 5

Doubles:
1. Lui Maxted and Pedro Vives(TCU) d. Marko Miladinovic and Oskar Brostrom Poulsen(BAY) 6-3
2. Luc Koenig and Deven Badenhorst(BAY) d. Jack Pinnington Jones and Cooper Woestendick(TCU) 6-3
3. Duncan Chan and Albert Pedrico(TCU) d. Ioan Chirita and Zsombor Velcz(BAY) 6-4

Singles:
1. Jack Pinnington Jones(TCU) v Devin Badenhorst(BAY) 7-6(3), 3-6, 5-1, unf.
2. Pedro Vives(TCU) d; Oskar Brostrom Poulsen(BAY) 7-6(6), 7-5
3. Lui Maxted(TCU) d. Zsombor Velcz(BAY) 6-2, 7-5
4. Duncan Chan(TCU) d. Luc Koenig(BAY) 6-4, 4-6, 6-1
5. Albert Pedrico(TCU) v Ioan Chirita(BAY) 6-3, 6-7(4), 4-3, unf.
6. Marko Miladinovic(BAY) d. Filip Apltauer(TCU) 6-1, 6-0

Order of finish: 6, 3, 4, 2

Central Florida will play Stanford at noon Central Saturday, with San Diego taking on TCU at 3:30 pm.


The action at the SMU venue was more predictable, with No. 2 seed Virginia starting the day off with a 4-2 win over No. 7 seed Michigan. The Cavaliers dropped the doubles point, and the Wolverines had their No. 1, Gavin Young, back in the lineup, but it wasn't enough, with Virginia getting points from singles lines 1, 2, 5 and 6, with Mans Dahlberg clinching at line 5 after dropping the opening set.

"I'm really happy with Mans Dahlberg fighting back," said Virginia head coach Andres Pedroso, who acknowledged that he wasn't suprised by Michigan's strength in doubles. "I don't think he played that great in the first set, and he just fought back and found ways, as he's done the last two and a half years...I'm happy and grateful for the fight of my guys."

Doubles:
1. Benjamin Kittay and Will Cooksey(MICH) d. Keegan Rice and James Hopper(UVA) 6-2
2. Alex Cairo and Gavin Young(MICH) d. Mans Dahlberg and Dylan Dietrich(UVA) 7-6(4)
3. Bjorn Swenson and Mert Oral(MICH) d. Jangjun Kim and Rafael Jodar(UVA) 7-5

Order of finish: 1, 2, 3

Singles
1. Rafael Jodar(UVA) d.  Gavin Young(MICH) 6-3, 6-2
2. Dylan Dietrich(UVA) d. Benjamin Kittay(MICH) 6-1, 6-3
3. James Hopper(UVA) v Will Cooksey(MICH) 7-6(8), 5-2 unf.
4. Bjorn Swenson(MICH) d. Keegan Rice(UVA) 6-2, 6-3
5. Mans Dahlberg(UVA) d. Patorn Hanchaikul(MICH) 2-6 6-1, 6-3
6. Jangjun Kim(UVA) d. Nicholas Steiglehner(MICH) 6-2, 7-6(2)

Order of finish: 2, 4, 1, 6


Next up was the battle between two Texas schools, with the Aggies and Longhorns drawing an excellent afternoon crowd to the Styslinger/Altec Tennis Complex on the SMU campus. A close doubles point went to Texas, and the Longhorns got points from lines 1 and 3 before Lucas Brown clinched at line 6. The contest at the top spot between two French freshmen, Texas's Timo Legout and A&M's Theo Papamalamis, produced some mind-boggling points, with the most notable one at 4-4 in the first set. The speed, defense, volleys, lobs, and angles had the crowd breaking into premature applause on three of four occasions before Legout finally managed to end the lengthy rally with a winner. Papamalamis was a bit discouraged after that, and wasn't able to maintain that level in the second set, as Legout gave no indication his own level would drop.

The Texas win sets up a rematch of one of the most memorable early season matches of the year, when Texas went to Charlottesville, went up 3-1 and then could not hold on, with Virginia saving three team match points and taking an improbable 4-3 victory.

"No matter who we play in this tournament, the guys are going to be motivated," said Texas head coach Bruce Berque. "But our guys are competitors and last time, Virginia did a great job of stepping up when they had their backs against the wall. I'm sure Virginia's going to come into the match with confidence, our guys will come into the match with hunger. I'm sure these guys will love to have the opportunity to close it out this time."

That match is scheduled for noon Central time.


Doubles:
1. Togan Tokas and Theo Papamalamis(TAMU) d. Lucas Brown and Timo Legout(TEX) 6-3
2. Pierre-Yves Bailly and Sebastian Gorzny(TEX) d. Luke Casper and JC Roddick(TAMU) 6-4
3. Jonah Braswell and Oliver Ojakaar(TEX) d. Ritesh Patil and Tiago Pires(TAMU) 6-4

Order of finish: 1, 2, 3 

Singles
1. Timo Legout(TEX) d. Theo Papmalamis(TAMU) 6-4, 6-1
2. JC Roddick(TAMU) Sebastian Gorzny(TEX) 6-4, 7-5
3. Pierre-Yves Bailly(TEX) d. Luke Casper(TAMU) 6-0, 6-1
4. Tiago Pires(TAMU) v Jonah Braswell(TEX) v 6-3, 5-6, unf.
5. Sebastian Eriksson(TEX) v Togan Tokac(TAMU) 7-5, 5-5, unf.
6. Lucas Brown(TEX) d. Ritesh Patil(TAMU) 7-6(4), 6-3

Order of finish: 3, 1, 2, 6


The 3:30 p.m. match at SMU Saturday will feature to ACC rivals with North Carolina State, playing in its first Team Indoor quarterfinal against top seed Wake Forest.

Wake Forest took out host SMU 4-0,  but the Mustangs had chances to put some pressure on the undefeated Demon Deacons, with the matches at lines 1 and 3 both at 6-6, 6-5 in the tiebreakers before Wake's Stefan Dostanic and Charlie Robertson took those points to give their team five first sets.

"I think we've done a great job playing a really tough schedule," said Wake Forest head coach Tony Bresky. "Baylor on the road, Columbia at Columbia, they had an incredible crowd, Ohio State at home, Georgia at home, Tennessee at home. We've had some tough matches against some really good teams so far. So maybe in those breakers, at the end of those sets, that showed a little bit; our guys were more comfortable in those moments, you figure out what your plays are in those moments and I think that really helped us there."

Doubles:
1. Stefan Dostanic and DK Suresh(WAKE) d. Maks Silagy and Georgi Georgiev(SMU) 6-3
2. Trevor Svajda and Louis Cloud(SMU v Luca Pow and Luciano Tacchi(WAKE) 6-6, unf.
3. Franco Capalbo and Ioannis Xilas(WAKE) d. Vikas Deo and Xavier Calvelo(SMU) 6-3

Order of finish: 1, 2

Singles:
1. Stefan Dostanic(WAKE) v. Trevor Svajda(SMU) 7-6(5), 3-1, unf.
2. DK Suresh(WAKE) d. Jerry Barton(SMU) 6-4, 6-4 
3. Charlie Robertson(WAKE) v Ofek Shimanov(SMU) 7-6(5), 4-1, unf.
4. Georgi Georgiev(SMU) v Ioannis Xilas(WAKE) 6-4, 2-3, unf.
5. Luciano Tacchi(WAKE) d. Maks Silagy(SMU) 7-5, 6-0
6. Luca Pow(WAKE) d. Noah McDonald(SMU) 6-2, 6-1

Order of finish: 6, 2, 5 


No. 5 seed North Carolina State pulled off the only minor upset of the day at SMU, beating No. 4 Kentucky 4-1. The Wolfpack took the doubles point and got three quick first sets at lines 2, 4, and 6, and although those were the positions that ended up delivering the three singles points necessary, it wasn't straightforward, as Fons Van Sambeek needed a third set to get the clincher at line 4.

"With three seniors and a junior on the team, it's really great to see the culmination of their hard work," said head coach Kyle Spencer. "Not only did we have to go on the road to get here, we were facing a really good Kentucky team, but we did a lot of positive things out there to force the action of the match, and in the end I think it was a little too much for them."

Spencer said there's very little they don't know about Wake Forest.

"We know them well, down the street, so to speak," Spencer said. "It'll be an absolute battle and we're excited to play them. We play them at money tournaments, play them at Futures, in the Regionals, there's no real surprises and vice versa."


Doubles:
1. Braden Shick and Fons Van Sambeek(NC State) d. Jaden Weekes and Martin Breysach(KEN) 7-5
2. Jules Leroux and Luca Stadheli(NC State) d. Eli Stephenson and Jack Loutit(KEN) 6-4
3. Nikolay Nedelchev and William Manning(NC State) v Antoine Ghibaudo and Charlelie Cosnet 5-5, unf.

Order of finish: 2, 1

Singles:
1. Antoine Ghibaudo(KEN) d. Braden Shick(NC State) 7-6(4), 6-3
2. Martin Borisiouk(NC State) d. Jaden Weekes(KEN) 6-3, 7-6(4)
3. Luca Staeheli(NC State) v Jack Loutit(KEN) 7-6(5), 3-3, unf.
4. Fons Van Sambeek(NC State) d. Charlelie Cosnet(KEN) 6-3, 3-6, 6-1
5. Eli Stephenson(KEN) v Nikolay Nedelchev(NC State) 6-3, 6-7(1), 2-0 unf.
6. Jules Leroux(NC State) d. Matthew Rankin(KEN) 6-4, 6-2

Order of finish: 6, 1, 2, 4

The main draw matches at both sites will be streamed by Cracked Racquets.

Thursday, February 13, 2025

ITA Division I Men's Team Indoor Championships Begin Friday at SMU and Baylor; Women Team Indoor All-Tournament Team Announced; Hance and Johnston Reach ITF J300 Paraguay Semifinals; Upsets Galore at J500 in Cairo

The above photo is from the elevator door of the Styslinger/Altec Tennis Complex on the campus of SMU, one of the many details that the Mustangs head coach Grant Chen has introduced to increase the visibility of the ITA Men's Team Indoor, one of Division I's two major team championships. SMU is one of two sites for this year's tournament, with first round and quarterfinal matches also being played at Baylor, before those two teams move to SMU for the semifinals and finals.

Today was media day, and due to the winter storm in the midwest, I decided to move up my arrival date, which allowed me to spend most of the day at the beautiful Ruth & Ken Altshuler indoor courts. The six Turpin Stadium outdoor courts were rarely in use; with temperatures in the low 40s all day, even the abundant sunshine made a hit outside uncomfortable.

All eight teams practiced indoors for two hours, then were escorted to the third level, which features a lounge and suites, where the ITA staff took head shots, produced video introductions to use in the Cracked Racquets streaming and asked the "dating game" style questions to pairs of teammates for use on CR and social media. The coaches also did their interviews, the officials began to filter in, and the Electronic Line Calling company Play Replay also has staff onsite to assist in that addition to the competition. 

Friday's schedule for SMU, with Mark Bey providing commentary on the Cracked Racquets YouTube channel. All times Central:

Virginia[2] v Michigan[7] 9 am
Texas[3] v Texas A&M[6] noon
Wake Forest[1] v SMU[8] 3:30 pm
Kentucky[4] v NC State[5] 6:30 pm

Friday's schedule for Baylor, with Alex Gruskin providing commentary on the Cracked Racquets YouTube channel.

Ohio State[2] v Central Florida[7] 9 am
Columbia[3] v Stanford[6] noon
Duke[4] v San Diego[5] 3:30 pm
TCU[1] v Baylor[8] 6:30 pm

Links to live streams and live scoring for all eight matches can be found at the ITA's tournament page.

The women's ITA Team Indoor Championships All-Tournament Team was announced today, with champion Georgia getting the nod in four singles of the six singles spot and two doubles of the three doubles spots. Click on the link above to see their results in the tournament.

Women's D-I Team Indoor All Tournament Team:
Singles:
1. Dasha Vidmanova, Georgia
2. Nicole Khirin, Texas A&M
3. Angella Okutoyi, Auburn
4. Aysegul Mert, Georgia
5. Guillermina Grant, Georgia
6. Sofia Rojas, Georgia

Doubles:
1. Dasha Vidmanova and Mell Reasco, Georgia
2. Susanna Maltby and Carson Tanguilig, North Carolina
3. Aysegul Mert and Hayden Mulberry, Georgia

I'll be completely occupied with men's Team Indoor coverage tomorrow, so here's the latest from two important ITF junior circuit events, which are into their semifinal stages.

At the ITF J300 Asuncion Bowl in Paraguay, Keaton Hance and Noah Johnston are through to the semifinals. Johnston, the No. 5 seed, advanced when Ivan Ivanov of Bulgaria retired down 1-0 in the first set. He will play No. 4 seed Yannick Theodor Alexandrescu of Romania, who beat No. 8 seed Yannik Alvarez of Puerto Rico 6-1, 6-4.

No. 6 Hance, who is now 12-1 in the last three J300 he's played in South America, defeated doubles partner Valentin Garay of Argentina, the No. 3 seed, 6-0, 6-2 to set up a meeting with wild card Romeo Arcuschin of Argentina. Arcuschin beat No. 2 seed and last week's Inka Bowl J300 champion Alejandro Arcila of Colombia 7-5, 6-2.

Hance is also through to the doubles finals, with Garay. The top seeds will face unseeded Thomas Miranda and Leonardo Storck Franca of Brazil for the title.

Thea Frodin, the No. 2 seed, lost in the quarterfinals today to unseeded Maia Ilinca Burcescu of Romania 6-2, 7-6(4), but is through to the doubles final, with partner Yoana Konstantinova of Bulgaria. The top seeds will face No. 4 seeds Anna Maria Fedotova of the Dominican Republic and Sol Ailin Larraya Guidi of Argentina in the final.

The highest seed still remaining at the J500 in Cairo is No. 3 seed Jacopo Vasami of Italy, with No. 7 seed Ludvig Hede of Sweden taking out top seed and J300 Cairo champion Alan Wazny of Poland 7-6(2), 0-6, 7-6(7) in today's quarterfinals to advance to a meeting with Vasami. In the bottom half, No. 9 seed Pierre Luigi Basile of Italy will play unseeded Savva Rybkin of Russia.

The four girls seeds in the semifinals are Nos. 9, 10, 11 and 12.
No. 9 seed Petra Konjikusic of Serbia defeated No. 1 seed Jana Kovackova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-4 to advance against No. 10 seed Nellie Taraba Wallberg of Sweden. No. 11 seed Rada Zolotareva of Russia will face No. 12 seed Charo Esquiva Banuls of Spain in the bottom half semifinal.




Wednesday, February 12, 2025

ITF Junior Rule Changes for 2025, UTR Joins USTA's Connect Initiative


The ITF always posts the rule changes for the Junior Circuit in  December, and it always takes me several weeks to find the time to study them. I posted a link to the 2025 rule change document in December as it related to the final ITF Junior rankings and the junior Accelerator Programs, but did not have an opportunity to dive in beyond that. 

While the changes are helpfully underlined in the complete version of  the ITF WTT Junior Rules, what the changes replace isn't always so clear, so it helps to have the previous year's rules available for comparison.

One of the big changes for 2025 was in entry fees, which increased dramatically, rising by 50% for the J500, J300 and J200 main draws: from $100 to $150. Given that these tournaments provide hospitality, it's not an outrageous amount (USTA Level 1 tournaments are more than that now and do not provide hospitality), but the justification, which I missed on the first read, is interesting.

Every effort is made to keep entry fees for all tournament levels at a reasonable rate, but an increase is needed in 2025 to enable the ITF to continue to maintain existing Tour systems; to provide improved player support services; and importantly to allow us to explore new technology which has potential to benefit players going forward. 

Not all players travel with a coach and so we are working with partners to see if it will be possible to introduce live streaming across certain tournaments, as well as capturing and sharing match analysis data, tools which have potential to be beneficial for players as they develop their game. 

To assist us with maximising the impact of new technology, tournaments have been requested to increase the number of matches featuring Chair Umpires and matches with live scoring and/or live streaming in 2025. We will issue progress updates over the course of the year. 

Because off court coaching has been introduced for this year at all ITF levels, but only when a chair umpire is present, the ITF appears to be addressing that issue in requesting more chair umpires and more live scoring and live streaming. That's a noble goal, but one I haven't seen implemented so far this year, including at this week's J500 in Cairo. The problem with the ITF's "requests" and "recommendations" is that they are not binding. It's been several years now that the ITF has recommended that tournaments with 32-player main draws and 32-player qualifying draws change to 48 and 24, respectively, but that has not been adopted, with all the J300s in Central and South America, and the J300 in Egypt last week, using the 32 draws. Many reduced draw sizes in the immediate aftermath of the pandemic, but they haven't returned in the normal years since.

There is now what is called a Junior Grand Slam Regional Reserved Exempt, which allows slams to formally designate a spot for a regional wild card playoff winner. Roland Garros has been doing this for several years with a South American qualifying tournament, using one of their wild cards; that is now a part of the ITF acceptance criteria.

Other changes:
  • Electronic line calling is now possible within the new ITF junior guidelines
  • players are now required to complete two additional ITF Academy courses to compete
  • there are again more changes to the always complicated nationality/country representation rules
  • clarification regarding lucky loser sign-ins the day after the qualifying has been completed
  • permission to withdraw from one J30 or J60 and sign in as on-site alternate to another the same week
  • scrapping of the 16 & Under Team feed up initiative
  • new 16 & under regional reserved project for Tennis Europe and COSAT
  • Safeguarding course required for Tournament Directors
There are many new requirements for Tournament Organizers at the higher level events; players should read these carefully and ask about them at the tournament desk if they do not see them being implemented. In my experience, some of the older requirements have not been provided, so I envision the possibility that the new ones will be adopted slowly, if at all.  These include, depending on the level of tournament:
  • ITF branding on show court
  • Live streaming, live scoring encouraged
  • Spectator seating at J300 and above, 250-person seating at J500s
  • J500 indoor building a MUST for Player Lounge 
  • recommended for J300 tournaments
  • required number of stringers
  • Reasonable gym space and equipment a MUST at J300 and J500 tournaments
  • Ball persons recommended from semis at J300 and J500
  • Four balls per match, new balls for 3rd J300 a MUST, recommended ball changes at 11 and 13 for chaired matches
  • J500 4 balls, change after 11 and 13 a MUST, recommended at 9 and 11 games
  • Free sport drinks a MUST at J500 tournament desks, recommended at J300
  • Transportation at least every 90 minutes a MUST if tournament hotel more than a 15-min walk
There are also changes to the ITF Junior Team Competition rules and regulations, but as these pertain to so few players, I will not go into those changes here.

This is not a comprehensive look at the 2025 ITF WTT Junior Rules and Regulations or all the changes for 2025, but rather my annual plea for players, parents and coaches to review the changes and read through the entire set of regulations at least once each year so you can address issues that arise at tournaments in an informed and confident manner. 

The USTA announced today that UTR is one of four organizations joining its USTA Connect initiative. Although the USTA has not been using UTR at all, having opted to implement the ITF's World Tennis Number as an adjunct, UTR has been using USTA data in calculating its ratings; now this data sharing will go in both directions.

From Wednesday's USTA release:

Included in this group of USTA Connect partners is UTR Sports. As a result of this agreement, results from a wide range of tournaments and leagues on the UTR Sports platform will be provided to the USTA, while USTA tournament and league match results will remain part of the UTR Rating system. The shift to bidirectional data sharing will yield more comprehensive analytics and insights for American tennis. The ITF World Tennis Number, along with the NTRP Rating System, will continue to be the exclusive ratings for use in USTA play.

Any new connection between UTR and the USTA is welcome, given the USTA's mission of growing the game through as many avenues as possible. It's obvious that UTR, particularly with its expansion of its Pro Tennis Tour and its role as a trusted reference point for college coaches, is now a vital part of the tennis landscape in the United States and will add valuable input to the USTA.

More on USTA Connect, including a list of its current partners, can be found here.

Tuesday, February 11, 2025

Georgia Avenges NCAA Final Loss, Wins ITA Women's Division I Team Indoor Title Over Texas A&M; Draws for Men's D-I Team Indoor Feature Wake Forest and TCU as Top Seeds; US Open Radically Alters Mixed Doubles Event for 2025

The University of Georgia women got their revenge Tuesday night at the ITA Women's National Team Indoor Championships in Evanston Illinois, turning the tables on Texas A&M in the second consecutive major team championship played between the teams. 

Georgia had lost to Texas A&M 4-1 in last May's NCAA final in Stillwater, in a match moved indoors due to rain. Nine months later the Bulldogs prevailed by the same score, with 2024 fall NCAA champion Dasha Vidmanova clinching over Mary Stoiana at line 1.

Vidmanova had lost to Stoiana 6-1, 7-6(4) in the NCAA team final, but had won both the NCAA doubles title in May and the singles title in November since. There was no question that match would be pivotal to the outcome, and Vidmanova's 6-1, 7-6(5) victory provided some additional symmetry to the rematch.

Georgia had taken the doubles points with a quick 6-1 win at line 2 for Anastasiia Lopata and Guillermina Grant over Daria Smetannikov and Mia Kupres, and then a late break at line 1 that gave Vidmanova and Mell Reasco a 7-5 victory over Lucciana Perez and Stoiana.

Georgia took three first sets in singles, giving them a straight-sets path to four points and they got them, although with the requisite twists and turns that accompany most collegiate dual matches. 

Sofia Rojas, a transfer from Oklahoma State who was not on the team that made the NCAA final, gave Georgia a quick singles point, beating Lexington Reed 6-2, 6-2 at line 6 to record her fourth straight-sets win of the tournament.

Texas A&M's Kupres, who had clinched the Aggies 4-2 semifinal victory over Oklahoma last night, was serving for her match with Reasco at 5-3 shortly after Rojas posted her point, but Kupres was unable to close it out at line 3. Reasco then seized the momentum and served for the set at 6-5, but lost a deciding point to send it to a tiebreaker.

Stoiana had buoyed the hopes of Aggie fans with a break of Vidmanova at 5-all in the second set, putting herself in the position of getting into the third set that Texas A&M needed to extend the match. But serving at 6-5, she was broken at love, and once Mert closed out Perez 6-2, 7-5 at line 4 to give Georgia a 3-0 lead, that tiebreaker was the focus.

Kupres did win her tiebreaker with Reasco to get Texas A&M on the board, but Smetannikov dropped her second set to Georgia's Grant, providing Georgia with a little more breathing room.

Vidmanova took a 4-2 lead in the tiebreaker and extended it to 6-2, but she needed all four match points to seal the championship. Stoiana's return at 6-2 forced an error from Vidmanova and Stoiana came up with a dazzling drop volley-lob combination on the next match point. A confident Stoiana overhead made it 6-5, with Vidmanova getting her second match point on her serve, and unlike the first match point, she got her first serve in and blasted a forehand winner, putting that NCAA loss in the rearview mirror for all Georgia fans, and picking up a fifth National Indoor title for the trophy case.

Georgia[1] 4, Texas A&M[1] 1

Doubles:
1. Dasha Vidmanova and Mell Reasco(UGA) v Mary Stoiana and Lucciana Perez(TAMU) 7-5
2. Anastasiia Lopata and Guillermina Grant(UGA) d. Daria Smetannikov and Mia Kupres(TAMU) 6-1
3. Jeanette Mireles and Nicole Khirin(TAMU) v Ayesegul Mert and Hayden Mulberry(UGA) 5-4, unf

Order of finish: 2, 1

Singles:
1. Dasha Vidmanova(UGA) d. Mary Stoiana(TAMU) 6-1, 7-6(5)
2. Nicole Khirin(TAMU) v Anastasiia Lopata(UGA) 7-6(2), 4-4, unf.
3. Mia Kupres(TAMU) d. Mell Reasco(UGA) 6-1, 7-6(1)
4. Aysegul Mert(UGA) d. Lucciana Perez(TAMU) 6-2, 7-5
5. Guillermina Grant(UGA) v Daria Smetannikov(TAMU) 2-6, 6-4, unf.
6. Sofia Rojas(UGA) d. Lexington Reed(TAMU) 6-2, 6-4

Order of finish: 6, 4, 3, 1

The ITA Division I Men's Team Indoor Championships begin Friday, February 14th, and as with the women, will be playing the first three days at two different sites. The top two seeds at SMU, which is also the semifinals and final site, are Wake Forest and Virginia, leaving preseason No. 1 Texas as the likely quarterfinal opponent for the Cavaliers.  The top two seeds at Baylor are TCU and Ohio State, both of whom have recently lost to Texas and Wake Forest, respectively. Ohio State is the defending champion, having beaten TCU in a 4-3 nail-biter for the title.

Friday's first round matches at SMU:
(all times Central)
Virginia[2] v Michigan[7] 9 am
Texas[3] v Texas A&M[6] noon
Wake Forest[1] v SMU[8] 3:30 pm
Kentucky[4] v NC State[5] 6:30 pm

Friday's first round matches at Baylor:
Ohio State[2] v Central Florida[7] 9 am
Columbia[3] v Stanford[6] noon
Duke[4] v San Diego[5] 3:30 pm
TCU[1] v Baylor[8] 6:30 pm

I'll be on site at SMU covering the tournament beginning Friday (weather here in the Midwest permitting) and will be there throughout the tournament. Cracked Racquets will again be providing coverage from both sites at their YouTube channel.

The USTA announced today a major change to the mixed doubles competition this year, moving it to two days during qualifying week, reducing the draw size from 32 to 16 and prioritizing singles rankings in the selection of eight teams, while retaining eight wild cards. The tournament will also change formats introducing four-game sets prior to the final. The USTA's release on these changes can be found here. Prize money will increase substantially, with a million dollars going to the team that claims the championship.

Since this early morning announcement the reaction on social media has been mostly negative, with the consensus that this is changing a traditional major championship into an exhibition, and despite the monetary rewards, devaluing the title, opinions I share. 

For reactions from some of the top doubles players, including last year's US Open mixed champions Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori of Italy, see this article from Australia's Channel 7.

Monday, February 10, 2025

Texas A&M and Georgia Meet for Women's Division I Team Indoor Championship in Tuesday's Rematch of 2024 NCAA Final; Brantmeier Attorneys File Amendment to Include All College Tennis Players in Suit Against NCAA

Monday's semifinals at the ITA Women's Division Team Indoor Championships didn't have a promising start, with the Georgia Bulldogs cruising past Virginia 4-0 in just two hours. Georgia, the top seed at the Northwestern site, went up quick breaks in all three doubles matches and never looked back, with Virginia unable to get anything going once singles began. Playing once again without Elaine Chervinsky, normally at No. 1 doubles and No. 2 singles, the Cavaliers managed just one first set, at line three, and by that time it was already 3-0 Georgia. It was a race to the clinch for the Bulldogs, with Aysegul Mert beating Martina Genis Salas 6-3, 6-2 at line 4 before Dasha Vidmanova could close out Annabelle Xu at line 1.

Georgia reached the final in 2023, losing to North Carolina; their last Indoor title came in 2019, with the team led by Katarina Jokic and featuring freshman Maria Carle, now in the WTA Top 100.

Georgia[1] 4, Virginia[3] 0

Doubles:
1. Dasha Vidmanova and Mell Reasco(UGA) d. Karolina Kozakova and Melodie Collard(UVA) 6-0
2. Anastasiia Lopata and Guillermina Grant(UGA) d. Martina Genis Salas and Annabelle Xu(UVA) 6-2
3. Ayesegul Mert and Hayden Mulberry(UGA) v Margaret Navarro and Sara Ziodato(UVA) 4-4, unf.

Order of finish: 1, 2

Singles:
1. Dasha Vidmanova(UGA) Annabelle Xu(UVA) 6-1, 5-2 unf.
2. Anastasiia Lopata(UGA) v Sara Ziodato(UVA) 6-4, 2-2 unf.
3. Isabelle Lacy(UVA) v Mell Reasco(UGA) 7-6(5), 2-1 unf.
4. Aysegul Mert(UGA) c Martina Genis Salas(UVA) 6-3, 6-2
5. Guillermina Grant(UGA) d. Melodie Collard(UVA) 6-0, 6-3
6. Sofia Rojas(UGA) d. Blanca Pico Navarro(UVA) 6-2, 6-0

Order of finish: 6, 5, 4

The nightcap was everything the first semifinal was not, it started out in similar fashion. Texas A&M, the No. 1 seed at the Illinois site, transitioned to the Northwestern site with no discernible problems, and had early breaks in doubles that they held on to to take a routine doubles point from No. 6 seed Oklahoma.

But Oklahoma immediately took control in the singles, with two quick wins by Emma Staker, the hero of the Sooners 4-3 quarterfinal win over Michigan on Saturday, at line 4 and Ava Catanzarite at line 6 putting them up 2-1. That didn't last, with Texas A&M taking lines 1 and 2 with Mary Stoiana and Nicole Khirin getting straight set wins to put the Aggies back in front 3-2 a little over two hours into the match. 

But although Texas A&M led, they were far from a victory, with both Mia Kupres at 3 and Daria Smetannikov at 5 having lost the first sets of their matches with Sooner freshmen Salakthip Ounmang and Gloriana Nahum respectively.

Smetannikov had to save a match point serving at 4-5 in the second, after losing the first set 6-3 to Nahum, but she went on to take the set 7-5, giving Kupres a partner to shoulder the pressure. Kupres had just earned a third set, winning four straight games at one stretch in the second set after going down 2-0 at its start.

That same scenario played out in the third set, with Kupres coming back from 2-0 down again. At 4-all in that match, with Ounmang serving, Nahum went down with a cramp with Smetannikov leading 1-0, 30-all and received treatment throughout the game on the adjacent court. Kupres had two break points at 30-40, with Ounmang saving the first with a forehand winner, but on the deciding point, after a tense rally, she sent a forehand long, giving Kupres the chance to serve for the match.

The drama didn't end there, with Kupres falling behind 15-30, before taking the next two points to earn two match points. She only needed one, with a first serve getting a return error from Ounmang to send the Aggies to their first National Team Indoor Championship final.

Texas A&M[1] 4, Oklahoma[6] 2

Doubles:
1. Mary Stoiana and Lucciana Perez(TAMU) d. Cara Mester and Alina Shcherbinina(OU) 6-4
2. Daria Smetannikov and Mia Kupres(TAMU) d. Julia Garcia Ruiz and Chloe Noel(OU) 6-4
3. Salakthip Ounmang and Gloriana Nahum(OU) v. Jeanette Mireles and Nicole Khirin(TAMU) 5-4, unf.

Order of finish: 2, 1

Singles:
1. Mary Stoiana(TAMU) d. Julia Garcia(OU) 6-4, 6-0
2. Nicole Khirin(TAMU) d, Alina Shcherbinina(OU) 6-4, 6-3
3. Mia Kupres(TAMU) d. Salakthip Ounmang(OU) 5-7, 6-3, 6-4
4. Emma Staker(OU) d. Lucciana Perez(TAMU) 6-2, 6-2
5. Daria Smetannikov(TAMU) v Gloriana Nahum(OU) 3-6, 7-5, 2-0, unf.
6. Ava Catanzarite(OU) d. Lexington Reed(TAMU) 6-2, 6-2

Order of finish: 6, 4, 1, 2, 3

Tuesday's final, which will be broadcast at Cracked Racquets' YouTube Channel beginning at 7 p.m. Eastern time, is a rematch of last May's NCAA team final, which Texas A&M won 4-1. It's the first Indoor final for the same two teams from the previous year's NCAA final since Stanford beat Florida in both finals in 2010 and 2011.

Although there is unlikely to be any decision on this case for many, many months, there have been periodic developments in the lawsuit filed by North Carolina's Reese Brantmeier early last year against the NCAA's enforcement of its rules prohibiting tennis players from collecting prize money. Today, attorneys for Brantmeier and co-plaintiff Maya Joint have filed to include all college tennis student-athetes since March 2020 as plaintiffs. For more details, see this article from The Carolina Journal.

Sunday, February 9, 2025

Orange Bowl 16s Gallery; Saffar Claims First ITF Singles Title at J60 in Mexico; ITF J500 Cairo Begins Monday; Kuzuhara Wins Sunrise $15K; King and Harrison Capture Dallas Doubles Title; ATP 250 Delray Beach Qualifying Complete

With the semifinalists at the ITA Women's Team Indoor Championships getting the day off today, I'll take a day off from college tennis results to catch up on several junior and pro events.

My gallery of the round of 16 singles players in both the boys and girls Orange Bowl 16s Championships back in December is up today at the Tennis Recruiting Network. The backdrops and the light in south Florida that time of year produce some stunning photos, thanks to my photographer Paul Ballard, who works tirelessly that week to photograph hundreds of players for the Zootennis library. 

One of the players in that gallery, Yael Saffar, won her first ITF Junior Circuit singles title this past week at the J60 in Mexico. The 16-year-old from Plantation Florida, the home of the Orange Bowl, didn't drop a set in her five victories. The No. 6 seed, Saffar defeated No. 16 seed Carla Guerrero Calvo of Spain 6-4, 6-1 in the final. No. 2 seeds Shaya Jovanovic and Reagan Levine lost in the doubles final to top seeds Zoe Levresse Zavala and Natalia Varela Herrera of Mexico 6-4, 6-2.

The only other title last week for an American junior came in Australia, with Noble Renfrow taking the boys doubles title at the J100 in Launceston. Renfrow and his Australian partner Luca Connaughton, seeded No. 5, defeated No. 4 seeds Nikolas Baker and Cooper Kose of Australia 6-1, 6-0 in the final. 

The first ITF J500 of the year begins Monday in Cairo Egypt, with just one American entered: Maya Iyengar.  Iyengar, who was the top seed at the J300 this week in Cairo, lost in the quarterfinals; No. 4 seed Neus Torner Sensano of Spain won the title, beating unseeded Antonia Stoyanov of the Netherlands 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(2) in the final. Torner Sensano is the No. 7 seed in the J500, with Iyengar seeded No. 3. Jana Kovackova of the Czech Republic and Luna Vujovic are the top two seeds; they did not play the warmup event.

The top seed in the boys draw is Alan Wazny of Poland, who won the J300 warmup event. Ognjen Milic of Serbia, who did not play the warmup tournament, is the No. 2 seed.

The qualifying draws for J500s are generally quite strong, or at least full with local players, but that wasn't the case for this one, with just 36 boys entered in a 64-player qualifying draw and only 13 girls. Only three of those girls, all from Egypt, had to win a qualifying match to reach the main draw. The other five were directly into the main draw just for signing into qualifying.

Twenty-year-old Bruno Kuzuhara won his fourth ITF men's World Tennis Tour singles title and his first since 2023 today at the $15,000 tournament in Sunrise Florida. The unseeded Floridian, a former ITF Junior No. 1, ended the winning streak of No. 8 seed Garrett Johns(Duke), who had won the $15K last week in Palm Coast. Kuzuhara had a come-from-behind three-set win in the second round over No. 6 seed Juan Carlos Aguilar(Texas A&M, TCU), but was impressively efficient after that, beating No. 4 seed Ernesto Escobedo of Mexico and No. 5 seed Tyler Zink(Georgia, Oklahoma State) in straight sets before closing out Johns 6-1, 6-2 in just over an hour.

The ATP 500 Dallas Open concluded today with unseeded Denis Shapovalov of Canada winning the biggest title of his career with a 7-6(5), 6-3 win over No. 2 seed Casper Ruud of Norway. Shapovalov, who has struggled to find his ATP Top 10 form after returning from a 2023 injury layoff, beating three Top 10 players this week in Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul and Ruud. 

The doubles title in Dallas went to Evan King(Michigan) and Christian Harrison, who had to qualify just to get into the tournament. The 32-year-old King and the 30-year-old Harrison didn't drop a set however, in a strong field, beating unseeded Ariel Behar of Uruguay and Robert Galloway(Wofford) 7-6(4), 7-6(4) in the final. It's the first title for both King and Harrison, who were playing as a team for the second time. For more on the final, see this article from the ATP website.

2024 spring NCAA doubles champions Robert Cash and JJ Tracy(Ohio State) received a wild card and beat No. 4 seeds and Olympic silver medalists Austin Krajicek(Texas A&M) and Rajeev Ram(Illinois) 6-3, 3-6, 10-5 in the quarterfinals before falling to Behar and Galloway.

Delray Beach Florida ATP 250

With Dallas complete, the ATP Tour in the United States heads to the 250 in Delray Beach, Florida. Many of the same players are in the field, although Tommy Paul withdrew.  Taylor Fritz is the top seed and is defending champion; with Paul out, there is no No. 2 seed; Marcos Giron, the No. 5 seed, will take his place at the bottom of the draw. Alex Michelsen is the No. 3 seed.

Wild cards were awarded to Learner Tien, who will be playing for the first time since reaching the fourth round at the Australian Open last month, Mackenzie McDonald and Reilly Opelka. 

Three Americans qualified: Tristan Boyer(Stanford), Michael Mmoh and Zachary Svajda. Ethan Quinn(Georgia), who lost to Svajda 7-6(1), 6-3 today, got Paul's spot in the main draw as the lucky loser. James Trotter(Ohio State) of Japan is the fourth qualifier. 

Saturday, February 8, 2025

Oklahoma, Virginia Knock Out No. 2 Seeds in 4-3 Quarterfinal Thrillers at Women's D-I National Team Indoor Championships; Wake Forest Men Beat Columbia; Hance, Pareja Fall in ITF J300 Finals in Peru; Johns Reaches Second Straight $15K Final

Friday, the first day of the ITA Division I Women's Team Indoor Championships featured several close matches, but no 4-3 matches, which set the standard for drama in the dual match season. 

The first two quarterfinals Saturday made up for that and then some, with both upsets decided not just in the last match on, but in third set tiebreakers in those matches.

Virginia's Sara Ziodato and Oklahoma's Emma Staker delivered the victories that put their teams in Monday's semifinals, with each saving match points before ultimately prevailing.

No. 6 seed Oklahoma's victory over No. 2 seed Michigan would not have been possible without the doubles point, which the Sooners took with wins at lines 1 and 3. 

The teams split the first sets in singles, meaning Michigan needed to hold on to their advantage and win a third set somewhere to advance, and it was sophomore Reese Miller, at line 4, who got to a third set, the only one of the match.

Michigan got wins and 1, 3 and 5, while Oklahoma took the matches at 2 and 6, with the Sooners' Alina Shcherbinina pulling her team even with a win over Piper Charney at line 2, turning all the attention to Staker and Miller at line 4. Miller had held a 2-0 third set lead, but Staker got the break back and then earned another break with Miller serving at 3-4. Serving for the match at 5-3, Staker, a senior, went up 30-0, but Miller won the next four points to stay alive, only to face a deciding point/match point in her 4-5 service game. She won that, with a forehand winner, then broke Staker at 15-40 to get her opportunity to serve out the match, which she was unable to do. Down 15-40 after an overrule by the Electronic Line Calling system, Miller, a sophomore, earned a match point at deuce, but netted a forehand to send the match to a tiebreaker.

Staker went up 4-1, but Miller got the mini-break back to make it 4-all. Staker then came up big, putting away a volley at the net for 5-4, then smacking a forehand winner for 6-4. Miller continued to hit out, but it was Staker that took a chance coming forehand, and a reflex lob she struck on the passing shot was perfect, safely over Miller's head for the win.

Oklahoma[6] 4, Michigan[2] 3

Doubles:
1. Piper Charney and Jessica Bernales(MICH) d. Cara Mester and Alina Shcherbinina(OU) 6-2
2. Julia Garcia Ruiz and Chloe Noel(OU) d. Julia Fliegner and Reese Miller(MICH) 6-0
3. Salakthip Ounmang and Gloriana Nahum(OU) d. Ava Bruno and Lily Jones(MICH) 6-4

Order of finish: 2, 1, 3

Singles:
1. Julia Fliegner(MICH) d. Julia Garcia Ruiz(OU) 6-4, 6-2 
2. Alina Shcherbinina(OU) d. Piper Charney(MICH) 7-5, 6-4
3. Lily Jones(MICH) d. Salakthip Ounmang(OU) 6-2, 6-3
4. Emma Staker(OU) d. Reese Miller(MICH) 6-1, 3-6, 7-6(4)
5. Emily Sartz-Lunde(MICH) d. Gloriana Nahum(OU) 6-1, 7-5
6. Ava Catanzarite(OU) d. Jessica Bernales(MICH) 6-3, 6-4

Order of finish: 3, 6, 1, 5, 2, 4


While that thriller was playing out in Champaign, the match between No. 3 Virginia and No. 2 North Carolina in Evanston was heading for an eerily similar conclusion. It was not quite as far along as the Michigan - Oklahoma match however because it had been delayed by Tennessee's 4-3 win over Pepperdine in the preceding consolation match. North Carolina, who had lost 4-3 to Virginia last month in Charlottesville, again claimed the doubles point, but again was unable to find three singles points against the Cavaliers, although they had six team match points that they could not convert in the last two matches on court. Virginia was also playing, for the second day in a row, without their No. 1 doubles and No. 2 singles player Elaine Chervinsky, who was on the sidelines.

After Tatum Evans had given the Tar Heels a 3-2 lead, the matches that remained were tossups, with Ziodato and Theadora Rabman at 2-2 in the third set at line 2, and Karolina Kozakova of Virginia and Alanis Hamilton at 4-4 in the third at line 4.

Hamilton had to save two break points serving at 4-all, but she survived, and had three team match points when Kozakova went down 15-40 serving at 4-5. Hamilton called a first serve out that was overruled by the ELC system on appeal from Kozakova to save the first match point, then put away a forehand to get to a deciding point. The freshman from Switzerland then hit a good first serve that Hamilton couldn't get back to take the deciding point.

Hamilton was broken on a deciding point in the next game and Kozakova served out the final game to make the team score 3-3.

Rabman had just won a deciding point to take a 5-3 lead over Ziodato, but she was unable to convert her first match point at 40-30, with Ziodato coming up with a forehand winner to save the first, then taking the deciding point with an overhead winner.

Rabman earned her third and final match point in the next game, the fourth straight game that had gone to a deciding point, with her forehand error requiring no heroics from Ziodato. Rabman was then broken at 15, but Ziodata couldn't close out the next game, with Rabman coming up with a forehand winner at 30-40. 

Ziodato took the first three points of the tiebreaker, Rabman rallied for the next three, but Ziodato took over from there, winning the last four points, the final three courtesy of unforced errors from Rabman. The Cavaliers will face top seed Georgia in Monday's semifinals.


Doubles:
1. Reese Brantmeier and Alanis Hamilton(UNC) v Karolina Kozakova and Melodie Collard(UVA) 5-3, unf.
2. Susanna Maltby and Carson Tanguilig(UNC) d. Martina Genis Salas and Annabelle Xu(UVA) 6-3
3. Tatum Evans and Theadora Rabman(UCN) d. Margaret Navarro and Sara Ziodato(UVA) 6-2

Order of finish: 3, 2

1. Reese Brantmeier(UNC) d. Annabelle Xu(UVA) 7-6(5), 6-4
2. Sara Ziodato(UVA) d. Theadora Rabman(UNC) 7-6(7), 2-6, 7-6(3) 
3. Isabelle Lacy(UVA) d. Carson Tanguilig(UNC) 6-2, 6-3
4. Karolina Kozakova(UVA) d. Alanis Hamilton(UNC) 2-6, 6-3, 7-5
5. Tatum Evans(UNC) d. Martina Genis Salas(UVA) 6-3, 7-5
6. Melodie Collard(UVA) d. Claire Hill(UNC) 7-5, 7-5

Order of finish: 3, 6, 1, 5, 4, 2

The No. 2 seeds at both sites failed to reach the semifinals, but the No. 1 seeds advanced this evening, with Texas A&M set to face Oklahoma after getting past a young and stubborn Texas team 4-2.


Doubles:
1. Ashton Bowers and Ariana Pursoo(TEX) d. Mary Stoiana and Lucciana Perez(TAMU) 6-2
2. Daria Smetannikov and Mia Kupres(TAMU) d. Slama Drugdovaa and Carmen Herea(TEX) 7-6(3)
3. Jeanette Mireles and Nicole Khirin(TAMU) d. Eszter Meri and Sabina Zeynalova(TEX) 7-5

Order of finish: 1, 3, 2

Singles:
1. Mary Stoiana(TAMU) d. Sabina Zeynalova(TEX) 1-6, 6-1, 6-2 
2. Nicole Khirin(TAMU) d. Eszter Meri(TEX) 6-2, 5-7, 6-2
3. Ashton Bowers(TEX) d. Mia Kupres(TAMU) 2-6, 6-3, 6-4
4. Lucciana Perez(TAMU) v Carmen Herea(TEX) 6-7(5), 7-5, unf.
5. Daria Smetannikov(TAMU) d. Salma Drugdova(TEX) 6-1, 6-3
6. Ariana Pursoo(TEX) d. Lexington Reed(TAMU) 7-6(4), 6-3

Order of finish: 5, 2, 1, 3, 2

Georgia, the No. 1 seed at Northwestern, defeated No. 5 seed Auburn 4-1,  with the bottom of the lineup and 2024 spring NCAA finalist Anastasia Lopata at line 2 getting the three singles points for the Bulldogs. The rematch of the 2024 fall singles final between Auburn's DJ Bennett and champion Dasha Vidmanova of Georgia went unfinished, with Bennett leading 7-6(4), 4-3 at the clinch.

Georgia will face Virginia in Monday's semifinal.


Doubles:
1. Dasha Vidmanova and Mell Reasco(UGA) d. Ava Hrastar and DJ Bennett(AUB) 6-3
2. Anastasiia Lopata and Guillermina Grant(UGA) v Angella Okutoyi and Merna Refaat(AUB) 5-5, unf.
3. Ayesegul Mert and Hayden Mulberry(UGA) d. Ava Esposito and Maria Garcia(AUB) 6-4

Order of finish: 3, 1

Singles:
1. DJ Bennett(AUB) v Dasha Vidmanova(UGA) 7-6(4), 4-3, unf.
2. Anastasiia Lopata(UGA) d. Ava Hrastar(AUB) 6-4, 6-3
3. Angella Okutoyi(AUB) d. Mell Reasco(UGA) 6-3, 7-5
4. Aysegul Mert(UGA) v Merna Refaat(AUB) 6-3, 1-6, 4-5, unf.
5. Guillermina Grant(UGA) d. Ava Esposito(AUB) 6-2, 6-3
6. Sofia Rojas(UGA) d. Alice Battesti(AUB) 6-3, 7-6(2)

Order of finish: 5, 2, 3, 6

Sunday is an off day for the semifinalists, with the only matches taking place tomorrow the third and final consolation matches of the tournament. For the schedule and all streaming and scoring links, see the ITA tournament page.

There was another Top 10 battle today in men's Division I, with No. 2 Wake Forest defeating No. 6 Columbia 5-2 in New York. After the Demon Deacons took a routine doubles point, which has been a strength all season, the singles were extraordinarily close, with five of the six singles matches going to three sets before DK Suresh clinched for Wake Forest with a 6-7(3), 6-2, 7-6(4) win over Nicolas Kotzen at line 2.  See this recap for the complete box score.

The finals of the ITF J300 Inka Bowl in Peru were played today, with both Americans participating seeing their winning streaks come to an end.  No. 3 seed Keaton Hance, the Barranquilla J300 champion who had won 12 matches in a row(including qualifying) at J300s in South America, lost to top seed Alejandro Arcila of Colombia 6-1, 6-3. Top seed Julieta Pareja, who had not lost a set in her nine consecutive J300 wins the past three weeks, fell to No. 4 seed Giulia Popa of Romania 6-3, 6-2. Pareja also lost in the girls doubles final Friday, with No. 3 seeds Popa and Dali Supova of Slovakia defeating top seeds Pareja and Allegra Korpanec Davies of Great Britain 6-0, 6-0.  No. 4 seeds Volodymyr Gurenko of Canada and Arturs Zagars of Latvia won the boys doubles title, beating unseeded Romeo Arcuschin of Argentina and Vito Darderi of Italy 6-2, 4-6, 10-7 in the final.

At the men's $15,000 USTA Pro Circuit tournament in Sunrise, Florida, Garrett Johns, last week's $15K champion in Palm Coast, has advanced to another final. The eighth-seeded Johns, an former All-American at Duke, defeated unseeded Lorenzo Joaquin Rodriguez of Argentina 6-3, 6-4 for his ninth consecutive victory. He will play unseeded Bruno Kuzuhara, the former ITF junior No. 1 and 2022 Australian Open boys champion, who reached his first Pro Circuit final since September of 2023 with a 6-3, 6-3 win over No. 5 seed Tyler Zink(Georgia, Oklahoma State).

The doubles title went to the third-seeded Canadian team of Juan Carlos Aguilar(Texas A&M, TCU) and Taha Baadi(Wake Forest, Kentucky). They defeated Alex and Miles Jones 4-6, 6-2, 10-4 in the final. It's the 16th Pro Circuit doubles title for Aguilar, the second for Baadi.

In WTA and ATP tournaments this weekend, Ashlyn Kreuger made her first WTA 500 final in Abu Dhabi, with the 20-year-old Texan, who won the USTA girls 18s title in 2021, falling to Belinda Bencic of Switzerland 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 in the final.

At the ATP 500 Dallas Open, which was stacked with top Americans, the final will be between Canadian Denis Shapovalov and Casper Ruud of Norway. The unseeded Shapovalov defeated No. 3 seed and defending champion Tommy Paul 7-5, 6-3 in today's semifinals. 

Friday, February 7, 2025

Tight Matches but Ultimately Few Surprises in Opening Round of ITA Division I Women's Indoor Championships; Texas Men Breeze Past No. 1 TCU in Austin

The top seeds at both sites of this year's ITA Women's Division I Team Indoor Championships are through to Saturday's quarterfinals, but there were a few anxious moments and some minor upsets at the University of Illinois and Northwestern University.

Michigan, the No. 2 seed at Illinos, began the day with an efficient 4-0 win over No. 7 seed LSU, which boasts two Canadian freshmen in the WTA Top 300: Cadence Brace and Kayla Cross. Once they lost the doubles point however, the Tigers' chances of an upset faded, and the lower part of Michigan's lineup delivered the three points they needed. Michigan, who made the final last year, losing to Oklahoma State, will face No. 6 seed Oklahoma in the quarterfinals Saturday at noon central time.

Michigan[2] 4, LSU[7] 0

Doubles:
1. Piper Charney and Jessica Bernales(MICH) v Cadence Brace and Kayla Cross(LSU) 6-5, unf.
2. Julia Fliegner and Reese Miller(MICH) d. Tilwith Di Girolami and Anita Saahdiieva(LSU) 6-1
3. Ava Bruno and Lily Jones(MICH) d. Kenna Erickson and Gaby Rivera(LSU) 7-5
Order of finish: 2,3

Singles:
1. Julia Fliegner(MICH) v Cadence Brace(LSU) 6-4, 0-6, unf.
2. Kayla Cross(LSU) v Piper Charney(MICH)  6-1, 5-5, unf.
3. Lily Jones(MICH) d. Tilwith Di Girolami(LSU) 6-2, 6-4
4. Anita Sahdiieva(LSU) v Emily Sartz-Lunde(MICH) 6-2, 3-3, unf.
5. Reese Miller(MICH) d. Kinaa Graham(LSU) 6-2, 6-1
6. Jessica Bernales(MICH) d. Gaby Rivera(LSU) 6-3, 6-2

Order of finish: 5, 3, 6

No. 6 seed Oklahoma pulled off the biggest upset by seeding today, defeating No. 3 seed UCLA 4-2 despite dropping the doubles point. That long and dramatic doubles point went to the Bruins in a tiebreaker at line 1, but Oklahoma, a Team Indoor finalist in 2022, dominated in singles with the top of the Sooners lineup delivering two key points and the bottom two spots finishing it off, without any third sets necessary.


Doubles:
1. Kimmi Hance and Elise Wagle(UCLA) d. Cara Mester and Aline Shcherbinina(OU) 7-6(3)
2. Kate Fakih and Olivia Center(UCLA) d. Julia Garcia Ruiz and Chloe Noel(OU) 6-2
3. Salakthip Ounmang and Gloriana Nahum(OU) d. Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer and Ahmani Guichard(UCLA) 6-3

Order of finish: 2, 3, 1

Singles:
1. Julia Garcia Ruiz(OU) d. Kimmi Hance(UCLA) 6-2, 6-2
2. Alina Shcherbinina(OU d. Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer(UCLA) 6-4, 6-2
3. Elise Wagle(UCLA) d.  Salakthip Ounmang(OU) 6-3, 6-3
4. Emma Staker(OU) v Kate Fakih(UCLA) 6-4, 6-6, unf.
5. Gloriana Nahum(OU) d. Ahmani Guichard(UCLA) 6-4, 6-4
6. Ava Catanzarite(OU) d. Olivia Center(UCLA) 7-6(5), 6-1 

Order of finish: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6

There will be a new champion this year, after defending champion Oklahoma State, the No. 4 seed, lost to No. 5 seed Texas 4-0. The Longhorns saved a match point at line 2 to take the doubles points in a tiebreaker, and that was the most dramatic stage of the match, with Texas dominating at the bottom of the lineup, sweeping 4, 5, and 6 while dropping just nine games in those three matches.


Doubles:
1. Anastasiya Komar and Rose Marie Nijkamp(OSU) d. Ashton Bowers and Ariana Pursoo(TEX) 6-2
2. Salma Drugdova and Carmen Herea(TEX) d. Kylie Collins and Alian Zack(OSU) 7-6(6)
3. Eszter Meri and Sabina Zeynalova(TEX) d. Gracie Epps and Marcela Lopez(OSU) 6-2

Order of finish: 3, 1, 2

Singles:
1. Sabina Zeynalova(TEX) v Kylie Collins(OSU) 6-2, 3-3, unf.
2. Eszter Meri(TEX) v Anastasiya Komar(OSU) 7-6(2), 2-1, unf.
3. Carmen Herea(TEX) v Gracie Epps(OSU) 6-4, 0-6, 2-2
4. Ashton Bowers(TEX) d. Rose Marie Nijkamp(OSU) 6-1, 6-3
5. Salma Drugdova(TEX) d.  Marcela Lopez(OSU) 6-0, 6-2
6. Vivian Ovrootsky(TEX) d. Alian Zack(OSU) 6-0 6-3

Order of finish: 5, 4, 6

Texas will play reigning NCAA champions Texas A&M, with the top-seeded Aggies defeating host Illinois, the No. 8 seeds, 4-0. Texas A&M won the doubles point, got points from No. 1 Mary Stoiana and No. 2 Nicole Khirin and freshman Lexington Reed at line 6 to claim the third 4-0 victory out of four matches played Friday at the Atkins Tennis Center in Champaign-Urbana. 


Doubles:
1. Mary Stoiana and Lucciana Perez(TAMU) d. Megan Heuser and Kida Ferrari(ILL) 6-3
2. Mia Kupres and Daria Smetannikov(TAMU) d. McKenna Schaefbauer and Kasia Treibert(ILL) 6-2
3. Jeanette Mireles and Nicole Khirin(TAMU) v Violeta Martinez and Alice Xu(ILL) 5-5, unf.

Order of finish: 2, 1

Singles:
1. Mary Stoiana(TAMU) d. McKenna Schaefbauer(ILL) 6-3, 6-3
2. Nicole Khirin(TAMU) d. Megan Heuser(ILL) 6-3, 7-5
3. Mia Kupres(TAMU) v Violeta Martinez(ILL) 4-6, 6-3, unf.
4. Lucciana Perez(TAMU) v Kida Ferrari(ILL) 1-6, 6-2, 1-1, unf.
5. Daria Smetannikov(TAMU) v Ariel Madatali(ILL) 6-1, 3-6, unf.
6. Lexington Reed(TAMU) d. Kasia Treibert(ILL) 6-2, 6-4

Order of finish: 6, 1, 2

The matches at the Northwestern site were much more complicated, starting with No. 3 seed Virginia's 4-2 win over No. 6 seed Tennessee.  Playing without their No. 1 doubles and No. 2 singles player Elaine Chervinsky, the Cavaliers did manage to earn the doubles point, but couldn't shake the Volunteers in singles. At 2-2, all three remaining matches were in the third set, with Virginia freshman Isabelle Lacy giving her team the lead with a win at line 3. Tennessee freshman Conley Raidt, who had put Tennessee in the Indoor Championships with a third-set tiebreaker win against Ohio State at Kickoff Weekend, served for the match against Blanca Pico Narvarro at line 6, but couldn't provide the heroics she displayed against the Buckeyes, losing in the subsequent tiebreaker, as the other match on court, at line 2, was at 5-all in the third, with Catherine Aulia of Tennessee fighting back from a 4-2 deficit in her match with Sara Ziodato.

Northwestern site

Doubles:
1. Karolina Kozakova and Melodie Collard(UVA) d. Elza Tomase and Elim Yan(TENN) 6-4
2. Catherine Aulia and Leyla Britez Risso(TENN) v Martine Genis Salas and Annabelle Xu(UVA) 6-5, unf.
3. Margaret Navarro and Sara Ziodato(UVA) d. Maeve Thornton and Vanesa Suarez(TENN) 6-3

Order of finish: 1, 3

Singles:
1. Elza Tomase(TENN) d. Annabelle Xu(UVA) 7-6(2), 6-4
2. Catherine Aulia(TENN) v Sara Ziodato(UVA) 7-6(8), 3-6, 5-5, unf.
3. Isabelle Lacy(UVA) d.  Maeve Thornton(TENN) 6-3, 3-6, 6-1
4. Leyla Britez Risso(TENN) d. Martina Genis Salas 6-1, 6-3
5. Melodie Collard(UVA) d. Vanesa Suarez(TENN) 7-6(1), 6-1
6. Blanca Pico Navarro(UVA) d. Conley Raidt(TENN) 6-3, 1-6, 7-6(3)

Order of finish: 4, 5, 1, 3, 6

Virginia's win set up a rematch with No. 2 seed North Carolina, who lost to the Cavaliers last month in Charlottesville 4-3.

The Tar Heels defeated Pepperdine, despite the loss of the doubles point, which came down to a tiebreaker at line 1, 4-1. 

It was far from easy however, as the other two singles matches were just beginning third sets when Claire Hill, on her sixth match point, finally ended it, beating Duru Soke 7-6(1), 7-5 at line 6. Hill, a freshman, had led 5-1 in the set. 


Doubles:
1. Savannah Broadus and Vivian Yang(PEPP) d. Reese Brantmeier and Alanis Hamilton(UNC) 7-6(2)
2. Susanna Maltby and Carson Tanguilig(UNC) d. Taylor Goetz and Duru Soke(PEPP) 6-4
3. Anastasiia Grechkina and Alexia Harmon(PEPP) d. Tatum Evans and Theadora Rabman(UNC) 6-1

Order of finish: 3. 2. 1

1. Reese Brantmeier(UNC) d. Savannah Braodus(PEPP) 6-3, 6-1 
2. Anastasiia Grechkina(PEPP) v Theadora Rabman(UNC) 6-3, 6-7(5), 1-0 unf.
3. Alanis Hamilton(UNC) d. Vivian Yang(PEPP) 6-4, 6-0
4. Carson Tanguilig(UNC) d. Liam Oved(PEPP) 6-3, 6-0
5. Alexia Harmon(PEPP) v Tatum Evans(UNC) 3-6, 7-5, 0-1, unf.
6. Claire Hill(UNC) d. Duru Soke(PEPP) 7-6(1), 7-5

Order of finish: 1, 3, 4, 6

The other No. 5 vs No. 4 seed match today, also resulted in a routine victory for the No. 5 seed, with Auburn defeating Stanford 4-1.

Stanford had a real chance to seize momentum when they came back from 5-1 down in the doubles match that decided the point at line 2, but Auburn's Angella Okutoyi and Merna Refaat managed to right the ship at the last possible moment to beat Valencia Xu and Chidimma Okpara 7-6(5), giving the Tigers a 1-0 lead. 

Stanford pulled even briefly, with Xu's win at line 4 over Refaat, but Auburn got wins from NCAA finalist DJ Bennett at line 1, Ava Esposito at line 5 and the clinch from Okutoyi at line 3 to put the Tigers in the quarterfinals of the Indoor Championships for the first time in program history.




1. Connie Ma and Valerie Glozman(STAN) d. Ava Hrastar and DJ Bennett(AUB) 6-2
2. Angella Okutoyi and Merna Refaat(AUB) d. Valencia Xu and Chidimma Okpara(STAN) 7-6(5)
3. Ava Esposito and Maria Garcia(AUB) d. Katherine Hui and Caroline Driscoll(STAN) 6-4

Order of finish: 3, 1, 2,

1. DJ Bennett(AUB) d. Valerie Glozman(STAN) 7-5, 6-1
2. Connie Ma(STAN) v Ava Hrastar(AUB) 6-4, 4-3, unf.
3. Angella Okutoyi(AUB) d. Katherine Hui(STAN) 7-6(1), 6-4
4. Valencia Xu(STAN) d. Merna Refaat(AUB) 6-3, 6-1
5. Ava Esposito(AUB) d.Chidimma Okpara(STAN) 6-3, 7-6(5)
6. Caroline Driscoll(STAN) v Alice Battesti(AUB) 6-4, 2-4, unf.

Order of finish: 4, 1, 5, 3

Auburn will play SEC rival Georgia, the No. 1 seed at Northwestern, who took out the hosts 4-0 in the night match in Evanston.


Doubles:
1. Dasha Vidmanova and Mell Reasco(UGA) d. Britany Lau and Mike Dagan Fruchtman(NU) 6-3
2. Sydney Pratt and Erica Jessel(NU) d. Guillermina Grant and Anastasiia Lopata(UGA) 6-2
3. Aysegul Mert and Hayden Mulberry(UGA) d. Neena Feldman and Kiley Rabjohns(NU) 7-5

Order of finish: 1, 2, 3

Singles:
1. Dasha Vidmanova(UGA) d. Mika Dagan Fruchtman(NU) 6-0, 6-0
2. Anastasiia Lopata(UGA) d. Erica Jessel(NU) 6-3, 6-2
3. Britany Lau(NU) d. Mell Reasco(UGA) 6-4, 4-4, unf.
4. Aysegul Mert(UGA) v Kiley Rabjohns(NU) 6-2, 5-3, unf.
5. Sydney Pratt(NU) v Guillermina Grant(UGA) 6-3, 3-4 
6. Sofia Rojas(UGA) d. Autumn Rabjohns(NU) 6-4, 6-1

Order of finish: 1, 6, 2

Michigan plays Oklahoma in Champaign and Virginia plays North Carolina in Evanston, both at noon central time.

The Texas - Texas A&M  and Georgia - Auburn quarterfinals will follow around 3: 30 pm central. 

The consolation match times and locations, as well as the live scoring and live streaming options can be found at the ITA tournament page.

The highly anticipated men's match tonight between No. 1 TCU and No. 3 Texas was short on drama, with the Longhorns dominating the reigning NCAA champions 4-0.  

An extremely close doubles point, with TCU failing to convert their early leads and late match points, went to Texas and they rolled through the Horned Frogs in singles, with the exception of line 2, where Pedro Vives picked up the sole point for TCU. The match was played indoors, with only five courts, but the late-starting contest at No. 6 singles had no bearing on the result.


Doubles:
1. Pedro Vives and Lui Maxted(TCU) d. Timo Legout and Lucas Brown(TEX) 7-5
2. Sebastian Gorzny and Pierre-Yves Bailly(TEX) d. Jack Pinnington Jones and Cooper Woestendick(TCU) 7-6(3)
3. Jonah Braswell and Oliver Ojakaar(TEX) d. Duncan Chan and Albert Pedrico 7-6(3)

order of finish: 1, 2, 3

Singles:
1. Timo Legout(TEX) d. Jack Pinnington Jones(TCU) 6-1, 6-1
2. Pedro Vives(TCU) d. Sebastian Gorzny(TEX) 6-4, 6-3
3. Pierre-Yves Bailly(TEX) d. Lui Maxted(TCU) 6-3, 6-3
4. Jonah Braswell(TEX) d. Cooper Woestendick(TCU) 6-4, 6-3
5. Oliver Ojakaar(TEX) v Duncan Chan(TCU) 5-7, 6-2, 2-1, unf.
6. Lucas Brown(TEX) v Albert Pedrico(TCU) 5-0, unf.

Order of finish: 1, 2, 3, 4