Kennedy Beats Top Seed at ITF J500 in Milan, Pareja Reaches Semifinals; Payne and Ganesan Advance in Orlando $25Ks; Denison Claims NCAA D-III Men's Title; Valdosta State and Washburn Meet Saturday for D-II Men's Title

Jack Kennedy began his lead-up to the Roland Garros Junior Championships last week by winning the singles and doubles titles at the ITF J300 in Santa Croce Italy and he has yet to taste defeat on this trip, reaching the semifinal of ITF J500 Trofeo Bonfiglio in Milan with a 6-2, 6-4 win over top seed Oskari Paldanius of Finland Paldanius had beaten Kennedy 7-6(6), 7-5 in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open Junior Championships this year.

No. 7 seed Kennedy will face No. 13 seed Ivan Ivanov of Bulgaria, who defeated No. 8 seed Timofei Derepasko of Russia 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 in today's quarterfinals. Kennedy and Ivanov met in the 2022 Junior Orange Bowl 14s final, with Ivanov winning that match 6-2, 6-3. Kennedy avenged that loss this year in the quarterfinals of the J500 in Brazil, beating Ivanov 6-3, 6-2. The other semifinal will feature unseeded Nikita Bilozertsev of Ukraine and No. 5 seed Jacopo Vasami of Italy.

Kennedy and Keaton Hance, who won the doubles title last week in Santa Croce, will go for their ninth straight win and a second straight title Saturday against the unseeded German team of Jamie Mackenzie and Niels McDonald. Seeded No. 5, Hance and Kennedy beat No. 2 seeds Derepasko and Vasami of Italy 1-6, 7-6(3), 10-4 in Friday's semifinals.

Julieta Pareja also has an ITF Junior Circuit winning streak going. The ITF J300 Indian Wells champion, seeded No. 11, beat unseeded Lilli Tagger of Austria 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 for her ninth straight win. She will face No. 3 seed and fellow 16-year-old Hannah Klugman of Great Britain in Saturday's semifinals.  The other girls semifinal will feature 15-year-old Luna Vujovic of Serbia, the No. 9 seed, and No. 16 seed Laima Vladson of Lithuania, who have split their last two meetings on the ITF Junior Circuit.

At the USTA Pro Circuit W35 in Orlando, 17-year-old wild card Bella Payne is through to the semifinals after defeating qualifier Jamilah Snells(Louisville) 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 today. Payne, playing in her second Pro Circuit main draw, will play No. 2 seed Katrina Scott, who avenged her loss to No. 6 seed Monika Ekstrand two weeks ago in Boca Raton with a 2-6, 7-5, 6-2 victory today.

The men's $25,000 tournament in Orlando features just one semifinalist from the United States, Adhithya Ganesan, a rising junior at the University of Florida. The unseeded 19-year-old defeated No. 4 seed Patrick Maloney(Michigan) 6-4, 6-4 to advance to his third ITF men's Pro Circuit semifinal.  Ganesan will play No. 8 seed Roberto Cid(South Florida) of the Dominican Republic for a spot in his first Pro Circuit final.

The NCAA Division III men's championship match was last night in Claremont California, with second-ranked Denison defeating fourth-ranked Case Western 4-2 for the program's first NCAA title.

Dave Schilling, who was a men's assistant coach at Ohio State for many years, took the reins at his alma mater five years ago and built the program into a national contender. Last year's appearance in the NCAA team quarterfinals was its first ever.

The first title didn't come easily however, as Big Red barely survived their quarterfinal meeting with Johns Hopkins, with freshman Nick Meyers saving four match points before prevailing in a third-set tiebreaker in the last match on in Denison's 4-3 win. Against 2023 NCAA champion Case Western last night, Denison blitzed through the doubles point, but lost five first sets in singles before turning matches around at lines 1,2 and 4 to ultimately post a 4-2 victory.  The box scores is here.

For more on Schilling's construction of a national championship team, see this denison.edu article.

The Division II men's team final is set for Saturday afternoon in Altamonte Springs Florida, with No. 1 seed and undefeated Valdosta State taking on No. 7 seed Washburn, making its first appearance in an NCAA final. Valdosta State defeated No. 4 seed Lubbock Christian 4-0, while Washburn upset No. 3 seed UT-Tyler 4-0.

The women's D-II semifinals are Saturday, with top seed Barry facing No.  5 seed Flagler and No. 2 and defending champion Nova Southeastern taking on No. 3 seed Midwestern State.

Live coverage of Saturday's action will be available at ncaa.com, with Cracked Racquets providing commentary.

The qualifying concluded today at Roland Garros, and although Taylor Townsend lost 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 to Daria Saville of Australia, she received entry as a lucky loser, becoming the 19th US woman in the main draw. Play begins Sunday in Paris.