Georgia and Texas A&M Meet Again for NCAA Women's Title; Wake Forest Reaches Men's Final; Kennedy Claims ITF J300 Singles and Doubles Championships in Italy; Penickovas Win Second Straight W15 Title; Akli Advances to Another USTA Pro Circuit Final

For the first time since Stanford and Florida met in 2010 and 2011, the same two women's teams have advanced to the NCAA Division I Championships in back-to-back years, with No. 2 seed Texas A&M set to defend the title they won last year over this year's top seed Georgia.

Georgia took the first step in their quest to do what Florida did in 2011 in denying Stanford back-to-back titles, when they breezed past No. 5 seed North Carolina 4-0 in the morning semifinal. The Bulldogs had lost to the Tar Heels back in February, at home, but a North Carolina team without its No. 1 Reese Brantmeier, who had clinched the 4-3 win in Athens, was a decided underdog.  With Brantmeier out due to an injury she suffered in the first set of UNC's win over LSU in the quarterfinals, every Tar Heel was playing out of position, and a healthy and remarkably stable Georgia singles lineup took full advantage.

Georgia took the doubles point, with wins at lines 1 and 2, with North Carolina's top team broken up due to Brantmeier's absence. Alanis Hamilton, Brantmeier's partner, moved down to line 3, to play with Lindsay Zink, who had competed in doubles in the first round of the NCAA tournament but not since. They did have a lead at the clinch, but Georgia's top two teams were too solid.

Georgia won five first sets in singles, and UNC's Carson Tanguilig had her storied career as a Tar Heel end before she could grab the second set to earn a point. Georgia got wins from Mell Reasco at line 3, Guillermina Grant at line 5 and Dasha Vidmanova at line 1 to close out the match in just over two hours after it began.

Georgia[1] d. North Carolina[5] 4-0

Doubles:

1. Dasha Vidmanova and Mell Reasco(UGA) d. Susanna Maltby and Carson Tanguilig(UND) 6-3

2. Guillermina Grant and Anastasiia Lopata(UGA) d. Theadora Rabman and Tatum Evans(UNC) 6-2

3. Alanis Hamilton and Lindsay Zink(UNC) v Aysegul Mert and Haydeb Mulberry(UGA) 5-3, unf.

Order of finish: 1,2

Singles:

1. Dasha Vidmanova(UGA) d Theadora Rabman(UNC) 6-0, 6-4

2. Anastasiia Lopata(UGA) v Tatum Evans(UNC) v 6-3, 5-1, unf.

3. Mell Reasco(UGA) d. Alanis Hamilton(UNC) 6-2, 6-3

4. Carson Tanguilig(UNC) v Aysegul Mert(UGA) 6-4, 4-4, unf.

5. Guillermina Grant(UGA) d. Claire Hill(UNC) 6-4, 6-1

6. Sofia Rojas(UGA) v Alana Boyce(UNC) 6-4, 3-5 unf.

Order of finish: 3,5,1

Texas A&M's 4-1 victory over No. 3 Michigan was not quite as dominant, with the Wolverines taking four first sets in singles. The Aggies had secured the doubles point after Michigan had been up 4-2 at lines 1 and line 3; Texas A&M did lose at 1, but took No. 2 and came back to take five of the last six games to clinch at line 3.

The Aggies slow start in singles gave Michigan a path, but protecting all four of those first sets seemed unlikely, especially with Texas A&M's Mary Stoiana and Nicole Khirin, the No. 1 and No. 13 players in the country, two of the players trailing by a set. Both forced third sets, as did Daria Smetannikov at line 5, while Emily Sartz-Lunde of Michigan got their only point at line 4. 

It took over three-and-a-half hours, but Texas A&M will get another shot at Georgia this year, after losing to them in the Team Indoor final in February, and splitting their two meetings at the end of the season.

As college tennis fans, we can only hope that Sunday's final, at 5 pm Eastern, is as exciting as that Florida win over Stanford at Stanford in 2011. Gator legend Lauren Embree came from 4-0 down in the final set against Mallory Burdette to clinch Florida's 4-3 victory, one of the most memorable finals I've witnessed in my years of covering college tennis.

Texas A&M[2] d. Michigan[3] 4-1

Doubles:

1. Lily Jones and Jessica Bernales(MICH) d. Mary Stoiana and Mia Kupres(TAMU) 6-4

2. Lexington Reed and Daria Smetannikov(TAMU) d. Reese Miller and Julia Fliegner 6-4

3. Nicole Khirin and Lucciana Perez(TAMU) d, Piper Charney and Emily Sartz-Lunde(MICH) 7-5

Order of finish: 1,2,3

Singles:

1. Mary Stoiana(TAMU) v Julia Fliegner(MICH) 4-6, 6-3, 5-1 unf.

2. Nicole Khirin(TAMU) d. Piper Charney(MICH) 5-7, 6-3, 6-1

3. Mia Kupres(TAMU) d. Lily Jones(MICH) 6-4, 7-6(3)

4. Emily Sartz-Lunde(MICH) d. Lucciana Perez(TAMU) 6-2, 6-4

5. Daria Smetannikov(TAMU) v Reese Miller(MICH) 3-6, 7-6(5), 2-1 unf.

6. Lexington Reed(TAMU) d. Jessica Bernales(MICH) 7-5, 6-0

Order of finish: 6,4,3,2

The women's final is scheduled for 5 p.m. Eastern time Sunday and will be available for streaming at ESPN+.

Shortly after the completion of the women's semifinals, lightning storms delayed the start of the first men's semifinal between top seed Wake Forest and No. 4 seed Stanford.  After it was clear the delays would push consecutive matches too late, the Wake-Stanford match was sent indoors, with the TCU-Texas match starting outdoors 80 minutes later, if the weather passed out of the area.

Wake Forest took the doubles point with their No. 3 team of Luca Pow and Luciano Tacchi and No. 2 team of Charlie Robertson and Stefan Dostanic getting wins, while Stanford's Hudson Rivera and Nicholas Godsick took the match at line 1.

Wake Forest took three first sets in singles and posted the first two singles points, with Tacchi beating Godsick at line 5 and Pow defeating Alexander Razeghi at line 6. But up 3-0, where the fourth point would come from wasn't clear, particularly when Stanford's Kyle Kang forced a third set against Suresh at line 2 after Henry von der Schulenburg had put the Cardinal on the board. Stanford's Max Basing, the hero of the 4-3 win over Mississippi State on Friday, made it 3-2, only to watch as Dostanic gave Wake Forest a backup plan when he forced a third set at line 1 against Samir Banerjee. Kang and Banerjee both needed to win for the Cardinal to advance, but Dostanic and Suresh built big leads in the third sets and began a race to the clinch. Kang and Banerjee hung tough, saving five match points between them, but Suresh finally finished the task to send Wake Forest to its third NCAA team final, after back-to-back appearances in 2018 and 2019. 

Wake Forest won the title in 2018, the same year they won the ITA National Team Indoor Championship, which they also did this year. The Demon Deacons lost in the 2019 final to Texas.

Wake Forest[1] d. Stanford[4] 4-2

Doubles:

1. Nicholas Godsick and Hudson Rivera(STAN) v DK Suresh and Ioannis Xilas(WAKE) 6-3

2. Stefan Dostanic and Charlie Robertson(WAKE) d. Kyle Kang and Henry von der Schulenburg(STAN) 6-3

3. Luca Pow and Luciano Tacchi(WAKE) d. Samir Banerjee and Alexander Razeghi(STAN) 6-4

Order of finish: 2,1,3

Singles:

1. Stefan Dostanic(WAKE) v Samir Banerjee(STAN) 4-6, 7-6(3), 5-4, unf.

2. DK Suresh(WAKE) d. Kyle Kang(STAN) 6-1, 5-7, 6-3

3. Max Basing(STAN) d. Ioannis Silas(WAKE) 7-6(2), 6-0

4. Henry von der Schulenburg(STAN) d. Charlie Robertson(WAKE) 6-2, 6-3

5. Luciano Tacchi(WAKE) d. Nicholas Godsick(STAN) 6-2, 6-4 

6. Luca Pow(WAKE) d. Alexander Razeghi(STAN) 6-1, 6-4

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

TCU will defend their title Sunday, with the No. 2 seeds winning the rubber match of their in-state rivalry this year with Texas 4-2. 

TCU took the doubles point, and when the teams split first sets in singles, the prospect of another long night loomed. 

Lui Maxted, who has been the most reliable point for the Horned Frogs in the past several months, made it 2-0 with a shockingly easy 6-3, 6-0 win over Pierre-Yves Bailly of Texas, who had been the Longhorns most reliable point all season. Sebastian Eriksson got Texas on the board with a 6-4, 6-0 victory over Cooper Woestendick at line 4, but three of the remaining four matches were headed for third sets. TCU's Jack Pinnington Jones, the Most Outstanding Player of last year's NCAA championships, gave his team a huge boost by forcing a third set with the country's No. 1 player Timo Legout at line 1. 

Lucas Brown had buoyed the Longhorns' hopes by forcing a third set at line 6, taking eight straight games from Roger Pascual after dropping the first set for a 2-0 lead in the third.

At line 5, Albert Pedrico, who had saved four set points in the first set, put away Texas's Jonah Braswell 7-5, 6-2 to make it 3-1, meaning Texas needed to win the remaining three matches to advance to another final. Former Horned Frog Sebastian Gorzny closed the gap with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-0 win over Pedro Vives at line 2, but Pascual had suddenly come alive at line 6. Down 3-1 in the third, Pascual got back to even, while Pinnington Jones took a 4-1 lead over Legout at line 1. Jones, serving at 4-1, had his momentum stalled, with Legout breaking and holding, but Pascual never looked back, taking the final five games of the match with error-free tennis to clinch the match and another final for TCU.

TCU[2] d. Texas[3] 4-2

Doubles:

1. Pedro Vives and Lui Maxted(TCU) d. Timo Legout and Lucas Brown(TEX) 6-3

2. Sebastian Gorzny and Jonah Braswell(TEX) v Jack Pinnington Jones and Cooper Woestendick(TCU) 5-4, unf.

3. Duncan Chan and Albert Pedrico(TCU) d. Pierre-Yves Bailly and Sebastian Eriksson(TEX) 6-3

Order of finish: 3,1

Singles:

1. Jack Pinnington Jones(TCU) v Timo Legout(TEX) 4-6, 6-3, 4-3, unf.

2. Sebastian Gorzny(TEX) d. Pedro Vives(TCU) 6-2, 3-6, 6-0

3. Lui Maxted(TCU) d. Pierre-Yves Bailly(TEX) 6-3, 6-0

4. Sebastian Eriksson(TEX) d. Cooper Woestendick(TCU) 6-4, 6-0

5. Albert Pedrico(TCU) d. Jonah Braswell(TEX) 7-5, 6-2

6. Roger Pascual(TCU) d. Lucas Brown(TEX) 6-4, 0-6, 6-3

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

As with Georgia and Texas A&M, Wake Forest and TCU met in the final of the ITA Team Indoor Championships in February, and that was an absolute barn burner, with Wake Forest taking it 4-3, when Dostanic beat Pinnington Jones in a third set at No. 1. 

The men's final is scheduled for 8 p.m. Eastern on Sunday, streaming on ESPN+, with Sam Gore and Luke Jensen providing the commentary.

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At the ITF J300 in Santa Croce Italy, Jack Kennedy swept the titles. Kennedy and Hance had won the doubles title on Friday, with the No. 2 seeds beating top seeds Oskari Paldanius of Finland and Alan Wazny of Poland 6-0, 7-6(4). Also the No. 2 seed in singles, Kennedy defeated unseeded Nikita Bilozertsev of Ukraine 6-2, 6-2 to capture his third J300 singles title.

The girls singles title went to unseeded Anastasija Cvetkovic of Serbia, who ended the run of 15-year-old Russian qualifier Mariia Makarova 6-4, 6-4 in the final.

Fifteen-year-old twins Annika and Kristina Penickova are not playing junior tournaments prior to Roland Garros, but are in Tunisia competing in W15 events. They earned their second straight doubles title today in Monastir, after winning last week's tournament, also unseeded. After beating the top seeds in the second round, the Penickovas defeated the No. 4 seeds in the semifinals and No. 3 seeds Lamis Alhussein Abdel Aziz of Egypt and Kateryna Lazarenko of Ukraine 7-5, 6-2 in the final. They have now won eight doubles matches in a row, all in straight sets.

At the USTA Pro Circuit W35 in Bethany Beach Delaware, former South Carolina All-American Ayana Akli is through to another final, her third in the last five weeks. Akli, playing in her fifth consecutive week, reached the quarterfinals in the first of those five, a W50, then has gone, in W35s, final, semifinal, final and now final again. The 23-year-old from Maryland, who has been unseeded throughout this run, defeated unseeded Fiona Crawley, the former North Carolina All-American, 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-3 in today's semifinals and will face No. 3 seed Ana Sofia Sanchez of Mexico in the final, still looking for her first title in the midst of all this success. Sanchez defeated unseeded Jada Robinson 6-3, 6-3 to reach the final.

The doubles title was won by No. 3 seeds Ivana Corley (Oklahoma) and Jaeda Daniel(Auburn, NC State), who beat No. 4 seeds Haruna Arakawa of Japan and Haley Giavara(Cal) 6-4, 7-5 in today's final.

At the USTA Pro Circuit M25 in Pensacola Florida, top seed Andres Andrade(Florida) of Ecuador will play No. 4 seed Alex Rybakov(TCU) in Sunday's final after Andrade defeated No. 3 seed Tyler Zink(Georgia, Oklahoma State) 6-4, 6-2 and Rybakov beat No. 2 seed Garrett Johns(Duke) 6-3, 6-2. 

Top seeds Charles Barry(Tulane, Memphis) of Ireland and Joshua Charlton(Oregon) of Australia won the doubles title, beating No. 2 seeds Johns and William Woodall(Virginia) 7-6(3), 6-7(4), 10-8 in today's final.

Coco Gauff lost in the final of the Italian Open today in Rome, with Italy's Jasmine Paolini taking the WTA Masters 1000 title by a score of 6-4, 6-2.