Pepperdine Men Shock No. 7 Seed LSU to Reach NCAA Division I Sweet 16; Urhobo and Basavareddy Claim USTA Roland Garros Wild Cards; Newman and Hazelitt Win Boca Raton W35 Doubles Title, Honer Reaches Second Straight W35 Final

Saturday featured a head-spinning number of matches in the NCAA Division I Team Championships, with 15 of the men's Sweet 16 and eight of the women's Sweet 16 decided today.

The biggest upset of the day came this evening, when the Pepperdine men, ranked 27, defeated No. 7 seed LSU 4-3 in Baton Rouge. LSU took the doubles point, but the Waves won five first sets in singles. LSU got the point at line 2, where they had won the first set, for a 2-0 lead, but Pepperdine responded with wins at lines 5 and 6. LSU retook the lead with a three-set win at line 1, but Pepperdine was up in the third sets at lines 3 and 4, and after freshman Gustavo Almeida tied it with a win at 4, sophomore Aleksa Pisaric clinched the Waves first Sweet 16 appearance since 2013 with a 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 win over Andrej Loncarevic.

With a Top 8 seed eliminated, a new Super Regional host is needed, with No. 10 Baylor now welcoming Pepperdine next weekend, rather than the Bears traveling to Baton Rouge.

At 11:30 p.m. Saturday night, in a match moved indoors at the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona, No. 16 seed UCF, down 3-0 to Florida, came all the way back to beat Florida, with senior Yassine Dlimi saving two match points at line 1 to clinch the 4-3 victory in a third set tiebreaker. Dlimi was serving to Florida's Adhithya Ganesan at 4-5 30-40 in the third set, but hit a good first serve to earn a deuce point, then another to set up a forehand Ganesan couldn't handle to keep UCF alive. After two holds, Dlimi and Ganesan traded mini-breaks early in the tiebreaker, but Dlimi kept his errors to a minimum and rode the home crowd support to a 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(4) victory.

The Texas A&M men's regional was postponed Friday due to rain, so those two matches were played today.

Men's Saturday Round 1

Texas A&M Regional

Stanford[2] d. Penn[3] 4-1

Texas A&M[1] d. Wagner[4] 4-0

Men's Regional Finals/Super Regional Matchups

*Wake Forest[1] d. Old Dominion[2] 4-0

Florida[2] d. UCF[1]  

Oklahoma[1] d. Southern Cal[2] 4-0

*Arizona[1] d. Clemson[3] 4-2

*Mississippi State[1] d. Wisconsin[2] 4-0

Georgia[1] d. NC State[2] 4-0

South Carolina[1] d. Michigan State[2] 4-1

*Virginia[1] d. Columbia[2] 4-2

*Ohio State[1] d. Cal[3] 4-0

Illinois[1] d. Vanderbilt[3] 4-0

Texas A&M[1] v. Stanford[2]

*TCU[1] d. Cornell[2] 4-0

Pepperdine[2] d. LSU[1] 4-3

*Baylor[1] d. Auburn[2] 4-1

San Diego[1] d. UCLA[2] 4-0

*Texas[1] d. SMU[2] 4-0

*Host Super Regional

The only seeded women's team that failed to advance today was No. 16 Arizona State, who lost to UCLA in Tempe 4-3. It was the second consecutive day that UCLA had won a thriller, with Olivia Center clinching 6-3 in the third against San Diego State at line 5 on Friday and Ahmani Guichard clinching 6-4 in the third at line 6 against the Sun Devils today. UCLA will most likely travel to Georgia for the Super Regional, although the Bulldogs need to get by Charlotte in Athens Sunday. Other than Arizona State, no women's seed lost more than one point in their second round matches today.

Women's first round results

Saturday May 2:

(1)Georgia Regional

Charlotte[2] d. Elon[3] 4-0

Georgia[1] d. Alabama State[4] 4-0

(3)Ohio State Regional

Notre Dame[3] d. Arizona[2] 4-3

Ohio State[1] d. Youngstown State[4] 4-0

(4)Texas A&M Regional

Baylor[3] d. Wisconsin[2] 4-3

Texas A&M[1] d. Quinnipiac[4] 4-0

(6)Oklahoma Regional

SMU[2] d. Wichita State[3] 4-1

Oklahoma[1] d. Kansas[4] 4-0

(7)Virginia Regional

Washington[2] d. Liberty[3] 4-0

Virginia[1] d. St. Francis[4] 4-0

(9)Texas Regional

Texas Tech[2] d. Yale[3] 4-1

Texas[1] d. Tarleton State 5-1

(10)LSU Regional

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

LSU[1] d. Stephen F. Austin[4] 4-0

(12)Michigan Regional

Florida[2] d. Toledo[3] 4-0

Michigan[1] d. Illinois State[4] 5-0

Women's Regional Finals/Super Regional Matchups

*Georgia[1] v Charlotte[2]

UCLA[2] d. Arizona State[1] 4-3

Texas[1] v Texas Tech[2]

*NC State[1] d. UCF[2] 4-0

*North Carolina[1] d. South Carolina 4-0

Michigan[1] v Florida[2]

Southern Cal[1] d. Cal[2] 4-1

**Texas A&M[1] v Baylor[3]

Vanderbilt[1] d. Clemson[2] 4-1

**Ohio State[1] v. Notre Dame[3]

Pepperdine[1] d. Stanford[2] 4-0

**Oklahoma[1] v SMU[2]

**Virginia[1] v Washington[2]

LSU[1] v Rice[3]

*Auburn[1] d. Miami[2] 4-0

Duke[1] d. Tennessee[2] 4-1

*Host Super Regional

**Host Super Regional if they win Sunday

See the ITA's  men's regional viewing page and a women's regional viewing page for times for Sunday's matches and the scores of all of Friday's first round matches.

Cracked Racquets will have multiple feeds of action from the remaining regionals at their YouTube Channel.

The USTA's men's Roland Garros wild card race was decided today, with Darwin Blanch, the only player remaining with a chance to catch Nishesh Basavareddy, falling in the semifinals of the Challenger 100 in Austria. Former Stanford All-American Basavareddy, who won the USTA's 2025 Australian Open wild card, finishes with 112 points after earning 75 as champion of the Savannah Challenger last Sunday.

The USTA's women's Roland Garros wild card will go to 19-year-old Akasha Urhobo, who defeated qualifier Madison Brengle 7-6(3), 6-3 in today's semifinals at the W100 in Bonita Springs Florida. With that win she clinched the wild card, with No. 6 seed Mary Stoiana(Texas A&M) needing a win today and a loss by Urhobo to stay in the race. Stoiana lost to unseeded Angela Fita Boluda of Spain 6-3, 6-2. 

At the W35 in Boca Raton, 16-year-olds Welles Newman and Jordyn Hazelitt won their first Pro Circuit doubles title, with the wild cards defeating unseeded Kailey Evans(Texas Tech, San Diego) and Mexico's Jessica Hinojosa Gomez 7-6(8), 6-3 in the final.

Amelia Honer, the recent UC-Santa Barbara All-American, advanced to the singles final in Boca Raton, with last week's Charlotte W35 champion beating No. 3 seed Hibah Shaikh(Virginia) 6-3, 6-3. To win her second straight title, Honer will need to again beat the top seed in the final, as she did in Charlotte. No. 1 Julia Riera of Argentina beat unseeded Justina Maria Gonzalez Daniele of Argentina 7-6(5), 6-2 today to advance to the final.

Keaton Hance's run at M15s in Florida came to an end today in Orange Park, with the 18-year-old Southern Californian dropping a 6-3, 6-2 decision to No. 3 seed Nick Hardt of the Dominican Republic. Hardt will face No. 7 seed Andreja Petrovic(North Dakota, Florida State, Duke) of Norway, who beat top seed Raphael Perot(Texas A&M) of France 6-2, 6-3.

Former Illinois teammates Hunter Heck and Great Britain's Oliver Okonkwo won their first title as a pair, with the No. 3 seeds defeating unseeded Dakotah Bobo(LSU, Southern Miss) and Benjamin Koch(LSU) 7-5, 6-3 in the final. 

Few Upsets in First Round of NCAA D-I Championships; ELC Rolls Out for All USTA Pro Circuit Hard Court Events This Summer; Hance Reaches M15 Orange Park Semifinals; Lee and Ayrault Claim ITF J200 Titles in Sumter SC

The first day of the Division I NCAA Team Championships produced several minor upsets, with No. 3 seeds beating No. 2 seeds and a few 4-3 battles, but the host, the No. 1 seeds in their regionals cruised through their first round matches. The only exception was the San Diego men, who are hosting the consensus choice for the toughest field in the regionals. The No. 15 seeds defeated No. 4 seed UC-Santa Barbara, No. 35 in the country, 4-2 this afternoon.

Texas A&M, without indoor backup, had to postpone their first round men's matches until Saturday, with the women's first round matches also scheduled for Saturday.

See the ITA's  men's regional viewing page and a women's regional viewing page for times for Saturday's matches.

Cracked Racquets will have multiple feeds of action from most of the regionals at their YouTube Channel.

The men's draw is here; the women's draw is here.

D-I Men's first round regional results

(1)Wake Forest Regional:
Old Dominion[2] d. Gardner-Webb[3] 4-0
Wake Forest[1] d. Navy[4] 4-0

(2)Texas Regional

SMU[2] d. Princeton[3] 4-2

Texas[1] d. Texas A&M-Corpus[4] Christi 4-0

(3)Ohio State Regional

Cal[3] d. Kentucky[2] 4-3

Ohio State[1] d. Buffalo[4] 4-0

(4)Virginia Regional

Columbia[2] d. St. John's[3] 4-0

Virginia[1] d. Rider 4-0

(5)Mississippi State Regional

Wisconsin[2] d. Samford[3] 4-1

Mississippi State[1] d. Tennessee Tech[4] 4-0

(6)TCU Regional

Cornell[2] d. Arkansas[3] 4-3

TCU[1] d. Denver[4] 4-0

(7)LSU Regional

Pepperdine[2] d. Michigan[3] 4-2

LSU[1] d. Alabama State[4] 4-0

(8)Arizona Regional

Clemson[3] d. Ole Miss[2] 4-3

Arizona[1] d. Northern Arizona[4] 4-0

(9)Oklahoma Regional

Southern California[2] d. Duke[3] 4-2

Oklahoma[1] d. Utah State[4] 4-0

(10)Baylor Regional

Auburn[2] d. Santa Clara[3] 4-3

Baylor[1] d. Tulsa[4] 4-0

(11)Texas A&M Regional

Postponed until Saturday

Stanford[2] v Penn[3]

Texas A&M[1] v Wagner[4]

(12)Georgia Regional

NC State[2] d. Middle Tennessee[3] 4-2

Georgia[1] d. Elon[4] 4-0

(13)South Carolina Regional

Michigan State[2] d. North Carolina[3] 4-1

South Carolina[1] d. Richmond[4] 4-0

(14)Illinois Regional

Vanderbilt[3] d. Notre Dame[2] 4-1

Illinois[1] d. Yale[4] 4-0

(15)San Diego Regional

UCLA[2] d. Arizona State[3] 4-0

San Diego[1] d. UC-Santa Barbara 4-2

(16)UCF Regional

Florida[2] d. Stetson[3] 5-0

UCF[1] d. South Carolina State[4] 4-0

D-I Women's first round regional results

(1)Auburn Regional

Miami[2] d. North Florida[3] 4-0

Auburn[1] d. Bryant[4] 4-0

(5)North Carolina Regional

South Carolina[2] d. Maryland[3] 4-0

North Carolina[1] d. Charleston Southern[4] 4-0

(8)NC State Regional

UCF[2] d. Navy[3] 4-1

NC State[1] d. Morgan State[4] 5-0

(11)Pepperdine Regional

Stanford[2] d. BYU[3] 4-2

Pepperdine[1] d. UC-Santa Barbara 4-0

(13)Southern California Regional

Cal[2] d. Utah[3] 4-1

Southern California[1] d. Sacramento State[4] 4-0

(14)Vanderbilt Regional

Clemson[2] d. E Tennessee St[3] 4-1

Vanderbilt[1] d. Xavier[4] 4-0

(15)Duke Regional

Tennessee[2] d. Old Dominion[3] 4-2

Duke[1] d. VCU[4] 4-0

(16)Arizona State Regional

UCLA[2] d. San Diego State[3] 4-3

Arizona State[1] v Denver[4] 4-0

Play/Replay, the Electronic Line Calling System that has been in use for collegiate matches for the past year, has signed a five-year agreement with the USTA to provide ELC for all hard court events on the USTA Pro Circuit, beginning immediately.

Although the USTA Pro Circuit tournaments scheduled for most of this month are on clay and therefore not effected, there is a women's W35 in Wichita in the last week of this month that will be using this ELC system, and the men's and women's USTA SoCal Pro Series(see the dates on the banner to the left) are also hard court events that will have the system. From yesterday's release:

USTA to Feature PlayReplay Electronic Line-Calling at all USTA Pro Circuit Men’s

and Women’s ITF World Tennis Tour Hard-Court Events over the Next Five Years

ORLANDO, Fla., April 30, 2026  

The USTA today announced that all men’s and women’s hard-

court ITF World Tennis Tour tournaments on the USTA Pro Circuit will feature electronic line-

calling (ELC) for the first time ever. The USTA will utilize the ELC system developed by tennis

technology company PlayReplay – the first company invested in by USTA Ventures -- on every

match court of a USTA Pro Circuit hard-court ITF World Tennis Tour event for the next five years.

The USTA Pro Circuit currently stages 67 men’s and women’s ITF World Tennis Tour hard-court

events amid its 133 total tournaments in 2026. The USTA plans to grow the USTA Pro Circuit

calendar to 165 total events in 2028 as part of its multi-year investment strategy geared toward

fortifying and maximizing the American competitive pathway.

“This investment marks a commitment to elevating the competition experience and providing an

enhanced level of service at the Pro Circuit level for all players,” said Tracy Davies, General

Manager, USA Tennis. “PlayReplay has proven to be a tremendous solution to ELC at high-level

competition at the junior and collegiate levels, and now we’re excited to see the positive benefit

to the Pro Circuit come to fruition.”

Hans Lundstam, CEO and Co-Founder of PlayReplay, remarks, "We are exceptionally proud to

help thousands of players on their journey to becoming professionals across the North American

continent. It’s magic to work with USTA. We share the same vision, and the combination of their

reach and our technology is truly transformative for the sport."

Keaton Hance continues to pile up wins at the M15 level, with the 2026 Australian Open boys finalist reaching the semifinals of this week's tournament in Orange Park Florida. The 18-year-old from Southern California, who won the M15 last week in Orlando, defeated qualifier Matthew Segura 6-4, 6-0 in today's quarterfinals. Hance will face No. 3 seed Nick Hardt of the Dominican Republic, who beat qualifier James Connel(Florida State) of Great Britain 6-4, 7-5. 

Michael Antonius lost to No. 7 seed Andreja Petrovic(North Dakota, Florida State, Duke) of Norway 6-3, 6-2. Petrovic will face top seed Raphael Perot(Texas A&M) of France, who beat Jonathan Mridha of Sweden 6-2, 6-0.

Amelia Honer(UC-Santa Barbara) and Hibah Shaikh(Virginia) are through to face each other the semifinals of the W35 in Boca Raton. The unseeded Honer, who won last week's W35 in Charlotte NC, beat No. 6 seed Antonia Vergara Rivera of Chile 7-6(5), 6-4, while Shaikh beat Oklahoma State freshman Luca Udvardy of Hungary 2-6, 6-3, 6-3. The winner of that match will face the winner of the all-Argentina semifinal between top seed Julia Riera and unseeded Justina Maria Gonzalez Daniele.

The wild card team of Welles Newman and Jordyn Hazelitt have advanced to Saturday morning's doubles final against unseeded Kailey Evans(Texas Tech, San Diego) and Jessica Hinojosa Gomez of Mexico.

The USTA Roland Garros wild card race is still undecided going into the final two days for both the men and women. Darwin Blanch can still pass Nishesh Basavareddy(Stanford) if he wins the title at the Challenger 100 in Austria, where he has reached the semifinals.

Akasha Urhobo and Mary Stoiana are still alive in the women's race. Stoiana, the No. 6 seed at the W100 in Bonita Springs, beat Maria Carle(Georgia) of Argentina 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 and will play unseeded Angela Fita Boluda of Spain, who eliminated Kayla Day, the No. 5 seed, 7-6(4), 6-4.  The unseeded Urhobo beat No. 7 seed Leyre Romero Gormaz of Spain 6-3, 1-6, 7-6(4) and will face qualifier Madison Brengle, who defeated No. 8 seed Jazmin Ortenzi of Argentina 7-6(2), 6-2.

If my math is correct(and it may not be), Urhobo will clinch the wild card if she beats Brengle, even if Stoiana goes on to beat Urhobo in the final. 

At the ITF J200 in Sumter South Carolina, No. 8 seed Jordan Lee beat fellow 15-year-old Teodor Davidov 6-3, 6-1 to win his first tournament since the J300 in Bradenton last December. It's good to see Lee healthy and playing well again after not competing in the West Coast ITF junior swing in March and this result should put him back in the ITF Junior Top 100.

Fifteen-year-old Hannah Ayrault won her first ITF Junior Circuit title, with the No. 2 seed beating No. 5 seed Emery Combs 6-4, 0-6, 6-3 in the girls final. Ayrault should break into the ITF Junior Top 100 for the first time with this title. 

Neither Lee nor Ayrault is on the acceptance list for next week's ITF J200 in Tennessee.

D-I Roundtable Part II; Final D-I Rankings Before Tomorrow's NCAA First Round; North Dakota Adds to List of Programs Cut; Big 12 and Ivy League Conference Awards; Hance and Antonius Advance to M15 Quarterfinals; Sumter ITF J200 Finals Set

Part II of the Tennis Recruiting Network's NCAA D-I Roundtable is now up, with play beginning across the country tomorrow with all 32 first round matches in the men's draw and 16 first round matches in the women's draw. Alongside Alex Gruskin of Cracked Racquets and Chris Halioris of CollegeTennisRanks.com, I give my list of dark horses and possible upsets and pick my champions. I got both right last year; not expecting to be as lucky this year.

The final ITA team rankings before the tournament were released today, confirming that the NCAA tennis committee made several changes via their formula to elevate Georgia and Wake Forest to the top spots despite their rankings of 2 and 4 respectively. 

Below are the rankings of the Top 16 teams as well as the top 10 rankings in singles and top 5 rankings in doubles. Below that is the list of seeds in the NCAAs for comparison. Headings go to the full ranking lists and the brackets.

WOMEN:

Team:
(previous week's ranking in parentheses)
1. Auburn (1)
2. Georgia (2)
3. Texas A&M (3)
4. Ohio State (5)
5. North Carolina (6)
6. Oklahoma (4)
7. Virginia (7)
8. NC State (10)
9. Texas (8)
10. LSU (9)
11. Pepperdine (11)
12. Michigan (18)
13. Southern California (12)
14. Vanderbilt (13)
15. Duke (16)
16. Arizona State (15)

Singles:

1. Lucciana Perez, Texas A&M

2. Reese Brantmeier, North Carolina

3. Carmen Herea, Texas

4. Luciana Perry, Ohio State

5. Teah Chavez, Ohio State

6. Anastasia Abbagnato, Texas

7. Aysegul Mert, Georgia

8. Piper Charney, Michigan

9. Cadence Brace, LSU

10. Evialina Laskevich, Oklahoma

Doubles:

1. Roisin Gilheany and Gloriana Nahum, Oklahoma

2. Ava Esposito and DJ Bennett, Auburn

3. Gabriella Broadfoot and Victoria Osuigwe, NC State

4. Deniz Dilek and Aysegul Mert, Georgia

5. Ange Oby Kajuru and Susanna Maltby, North Carolina

MEN:

Team:

1. Texas (1)

2. TCU (2)

3. Ohio State (3)

4. Wake Forest (4)

5. Virginia (5)

6. Mississippi State (6)

7. LSU (7)

8. Arizona (8)

9. Oklahoma (9)

10. Texas A&M (10)

11. Baylor (11)

12. Georgia (12)

13. South Carolina (13)

14. Illinois (14)

15. UCF (15)

16. Michigan State (25)

Singles:

1. Dylan Dietrich, Virginia

2. Trevor Svajda, SMU

3. Sebastian Gorzny, Texas

4. Jay Friend, Arizona

5. Michael Zheng, Columbia

6. Paul Inchauspe, Princeton

7. Max Dahlin, Michigan

8. Duncan Chan, TCU

9. Benito Sanchez Martinez, Mississippi State

10. Devin Badenhorst, Baylor

Doubles:

1. DK Suresh and Andrew Delgado, Wake Forest

2. Theo Papamalamis and Togan Tokac, Texas A&M

3. Arda Azkara and Santiago Giamichelle, Georgia

4. Cosme Rolland De Ravel and Duncan Chan, TCU

5. Bruno Nhavene and Luis Alvarez, Oklahoma

D-I NCAA Men's seeds:

1. Wake Forest

2. Texas

3. Ohio State

4. Virginia

5. Mississippi State

6. TCU

7. LSU

8. Arizona

9. Oklahoma

10. Baylor

11. Texas A&M

12. Georgia

13. South Carolina

14. Illinois

15. San Diego

16. UCF

D-I NCAA Women's seeds:

1. Georgia

2. Auburn

3. Ohio State

4. Texas A&M

5. North Carolina

6. Oklahoma

7. Virginia

8. NC State

9. Texas

10. LSU

11. Pepperdine

12. Michigan

13. Southern California

14. Vanderbilt

15. Duke

16. Arizona State

The ITA has a men's regional viewing page and a women's regional viewing page with links to streaming and live scoring for the 16 host sites. It's looks as if Cracked Racquets will be providing four separate feeds for their coverage of the first round at their YouTube channel.

If you read this before 10 a.m. Friday, you still have time to enter the Bracket Challenge at collegetennisranks.com.

Another Division I program announced today the elimination of their tennis programs, with North Dakota joining the growing list of schools that will no longer sponsor tennis. This week alone, the men's program at Illinois State has been cut and both programs at St. Louis were eliminated. Two Division II schools also announced program cuts. The Arkansas news last Friday appears to have opened the floodgates, although this is traditionally the time of year you would expect decisions to be made for the next academic year.

The final major conference awards have been released, with the Big 12 and Ivy League's announcements coming this week. For a look at the ACC, SEC and Big 10 awards and links to the announcements of all-conference teams, see my post from last Thursday.

Big 12 Awards:

Men:

Co-Players of the Year: Jay Friend, Arizona; Devin Badenhorst, Baylor; Duncan Chan, TCU

Freshman of the Year: Oliver Bonding, TCU

Co-Newcomers of the Year: Ofek Shimanov, Arizona State and Cosme Rolland De Ravel, TCU

Coach of the Year: David Roditi, TCU

Women:

Player of the Year: Emilija Tverijonaite, Arizona State

Freshman of the Year: Jennifer Jackson, TCU

Newcomer of the Year: Vivian Ovrootsky, Arizona State

Coach of the Year: Lee Taylor Walker, TCU

Ivy League women:

Player of the Year: Peyton Capuano, Dartmouth

Rookie of the Year: Leena Friedman, Yale

Coaching Staff of the Year: Yale

Ivy League men:

Player of the Year: Michael Zheng, Columbia

Rookie of the Year: Nathan Blokhin, Harvard

Coaching Staff of the Year: Cornell

The quarterfinals at the USTA Pro Circuit M15 in Orange Park Florida will feature two American teens: Michael Antonius and Keaton Hance, who are in separate halves of the draw.

Hance, who won the M15 in Orlando last week, defeated qualifier Davide Tortora of Italy 7-5, 6-4 and will face another qualifier in Matthew Segura. Segura beat Joao Vitor Goncalves Ceolin of Brazil, who had beated No. 2 seed Christian Langmo(Miami) in the first round. 

Antonius defeated No. 4 seed Kaylan Bigun 6-4, 6-2 and will face No. 7 seed Andreja Petrovic(North Dakota, Florida State, Duke) of Norway next. Petrovic beat Andy Johnson 6-4, 6-2 to prevent a second meeting at the M15 level between the USA Junior Davis Cup teammates. 

All the juniors are out of the W35 in Boca Raton Florida, although Jordyn Hazelitt and Welles Newman are through to the doubles semifinals. Last week's Charlotte NC W35 winner Amelia Honer(UC-Santa Barbara) and No. 3 seed Hibah Sahikh(Virginia) have advanced to the quarterfinals and will play each other if they win Friday.

At the W100 in Bonita Springs Florida, unseeded 19-year-old Akasha Urhobo beat No. 3 seed Elvina Kalieva 6-2, 7-5, eliminating Kalieva from the USTA's Roland Garros Wild Card race. But Kayla Day and Mary Stoiana(Texas A&M) have also advanced to the quarterfinals and can still catch Urhobo with a title unless Urhobo reaches the final. 

The singles finals at the ITF J200 in Sumter South Carolina are set for Friday, with No. 8 seed Jordan Lee facing Teodor Davidov in the boys final and No. 2 seed Hannah Ayrault playing No. 5 seed Emery Combs for the girls title.

The 15-year-old Lee, who has played only three ITF Junior events and two ITF Pro Circuit events this year, beat unseeded Kamil Stolarczyk 6-2, 6-2 in the semifinals, while Davidov ended the impressive streak of Kayden Colombo 3-6, 6-4, 6-2. Colombo had won the J60 and J100 tournaments the two weeks prior to this one.

Lee has beaten Davidov, also 15, both times they've played on the ITF Junior Circuit and also in the semifinals of the Eddie Herr 16s in 2024. Davidov won their meeting in the 12s final of the 2021 Eddie Herr.

Ayrault, the reigning USTA National 16s champion, defeated No. 4 seed Londyn McCord 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 in today's semifinal. Combs received a walkover from No. 3 seed Adla Lopez to advance to the final.

Ayrault and Combs, both 15, have not played, but she now has a win over Ayrault in the girls doubles final this afternoon. Combs and Olivia De Los Reyes, the Orange Bowl 16s doubles champions, defeated top seeds Ayrault and Kennedy Drenser-Hagmann 6-2, 6-2 for their sixth ITF Junior Circuit doubles title as a pair and their second at the J200 level. 

De Los Reyes and Combs were the No. 4 seeds and so were the boys doubles champions, with Theo Hegarty and Erik Schinnerer defeating No. 2 seeds Zavier Augustin and Japan's Koki Nara 7-5, 6-2 in the final. It's their first title as a team.

NCAA D-I Roundtable Part I; Adamovic Takes Over at Oklahoma State; Brantmeier Settlement Allows Pre-Enrollment Prize Money; Milan, Roland Garros Junior Acceptances; Akli Beats Zarazua at Bonita Springs W100

Part I of Tennis Recruiting Network's annual NCAA Division I Roundtable went up today, with Cracked Racquets' Alex Gruskin, CollegeTennisRanks' Chris Halioris and me offering our thoughts on the storylines from the regular season and what Super Regionals matchups we're looking forward to.  Part II, when we name our dark horses and predict the champions, will be out Thursday afternoon.

Halioris is again offering his Division I Bracket Challenge for both men and women at collegetennisranks.com. 

In other college news, former Oklahoma State All-American Katarina Adamovic will be returning to her alma mater as the head coach of the women's program. After the departure of Chris Young in the wake of NCAA recruiting violations, the Cowgirls have had two interim coaches, but with Adamovic, who had great success in two-year stints at Grand Canyon and, most recently, Houston, the program now can begin to look to the future. The Oklahoma State announcement is here.

Details of the settlement in the Reese Brantmeier have been announced, with, as was obviously from a recent NCAA rule change, prize money earned prior to enrollment no longer prohibited.  Although Brantmeier's suit was tennis-related, the NCAA decided to lift that restriction on prize money for all potential student-athletes in all sports. The settlement provides for payments to players who were forced to decline money earned prior to enrollment with damages set at over two million dollars. 

While this is a significant settlement that will lead to reduced anxiety among top juniors contemplating college, with their amateur status no longer jeopardized by accepting prize money greater than expenses, it does not solve the issue that has generated most of the headlines recently: current student-athletes unable to accept their prize money at major events.

North Carolina's Fiona Crawley made news for her decision to turn down $81,000 in prize money after qualifying for the US Open in 2023 and San Diego senior Oliver Tarvet did the same for his second-round prize money at Wimbledon last year.  This year, if Michigan State's Matt Forbes, who turned down first round prize money at the US Open after receiving a wild card as the Kalamazoo 18s champion in 2024, has a run in qualifying there this year, he will have to decline that prize money again to retain his eligibility. 

Half a loaf is better than none, but that such a big issue remains is disappointing.

The acceptances lists are out for the J500 in Milan Italy May 18-24 and the Roland Garros Junior Championships in Paris May 31-June 6.

The news from Milan is that the draws have been decreased from 64 to 48 this year, so the cutoffs for direct entry are even higher than those for Roland Garros.

The top US junior boys are all entered in both events:

Jack Kennedy

Keaton Hance

Michael Antonius

Andy Johnson

Ryan Cozad

Gavin Goode 

Jack Secord

Tanishk Konduri

Secord and Konduri are currently in qualifying for Milan, with the boys cutoff 38.

Kristina Penickova, still No. 7 in the ITF junior rankings, has been out with an injury for months and has not entered either. Julieta Pareja is not entered in Milan, but is on the Roland Garros acceptance list. 

Julieta Pareja (RG only)

Janae Preston

Thea Frodin

Jordyn Hazelitt

Welles Newman

Melije Clarke

Clarke is currently one out of the main draw in Milan, with the cutoff 46.

The Roland Garros main draw cutoff for boys is 47, with Connor Roig of South Africa, at 51, receives direct entry as the top player from Africa. 

The girls main draw cutoff is 49, with Alisa Oktiabreva of Russia receiving main draw entry via her WTA ranking of 281. She has not played a junior event since 2023. 

The US boys in Roland Garros qualifying are Safir Azam, Marcel Latak and Vihaan Reddy, with the cutoff 74. The US girls in Roland Garros qualifying are Lani Chang, Oliva Traynor and Nancy Lee, with the cutoff 75.

World No. 1 junior Ivan Ivanov of Bulgaria is not entered in either event, but 2026 Australian Open boys champion Ziga Sesko of Slovenia has entered both, and 2026 Australian Open girls champion Ksenia Efremova of France is entered in Paris. Orange Bowl champion Xinran Sun of China, who has not played since Australia, is back on the ITF Junior Circuit this week in Bulgaria, and she has entered both tournaments. Orange Bowl champion Thijs Boogaard of the Netherlands is not entered in either tournament.

The withdrawal date for Milan is next Tuesday, but the withdrawal date for Roland Garros isn't until May 19, so these lists are likely to change.

In the first round of the W100 in Bonita Springs Florida today, former University of South Carolina All-American Ayana Akli took out top seed and last week's W100 Charlottesville champion Renata Zarazua of Mexico 6-3, 3-6, 6-1. It's the first WTA Top 100 win for the 24-year-old from Maryland. 

Akasha Urhobo defeated Thea Frodin 6-4, 6-4 for her fourth win this year over the 17-year-old qualifier. Urhobo will meet No. 3 seed Elvina Kalieva, who beat qualifier Eryn Cayetano(USC) 6-4, 6-2, with Kalieva needing to win that second round match to stay in the USTA's Roland Garros Wild Card race.

Basavareddy and Urhobo Lead USTA Roland Garros WC Race with One Week Remaining; Frodin Qualifies for W100 in Bonita Springs; Top Juniors Competing in M15 Orange Park and W35 in Boca Raton; Baptiste Beats Sabalenka; Illinois' Clark Retires

The USTA released the latest rankings in its annual Roland Garros Wild Card Challenge, with Savannah Challenger champion Nishesh Basavareddy overtaking Emilio Nava and W100 Charlottesville semifinalist Akasha Urhobo maintaining her lead.

I had thought Basavareddy would still be a few points short of catching Nava, but I had double counted his points from reaching the third round of Madrid. Basavareddy withdrew from the Challenger 100 in Austria this week after winning in Savannah; Nava is playing the Challenger 175 in Italy, with his first round match tomorrow. The USTA says that Nava will pass Basavareddy by making the quarterfinals this week.

With three of the contenders for the women's wild card competing this week at the W100 in Bonita Springs Florida--Urhobo, Kayla Day and Elvina Kalieva--how that draw plays out will matter. Kalieva and Urhobo could play in the second round.

The top of the standings after Week 4 of 5: 

 

Women's Standings

(Player's current ranking in parentheses)

 

1. Akasha Urhobo (239) -- 131

T2. Kayla Day (152) -- 81
T2. Sloane Stephens (396) -- 81
4. Whitney Osuigwe (180) -- 79
5. Elvina Kalieva (134) -- 75

6. Varvara Lepchenko (157) -- 69

 

Men's Standings

(Player's current ranking in parentheses)

 

1. Nishesh Basavareddy (177) -- 112
2. Emilio Nava (116) -- 103
3. Jack Kennedy (582) -- 66
T4. Stefan Dostanic (268) -- 50
T4. Martin Damm (126) -- 50

Urhobo's first round opponent will be 17-year-old Thea Frodin, who qualified for the main draw today with a 6-3, 6-3 win over No. 2 qualifying seed Gabriela Lee(Texas Tech) of Romania. Frodin and Urhobo have played three times since the end of February with Urhobo winning all three matches. Urhobo is playing in her fifth consecutive week.

Other American qualifiers in Bonita Springs are Haley Giavara(Cal), Madison Brengle, Eryn Cayetano(USC), Adriana Reami(NC State) and Madison Sieg(USC).

Wild cards were awarded to Lea Ma(Georgia), Victoria Hu (Princeton), 16-year-old Annika Penickova and June Bjork(SMU, Florida Gulf Coast) of Sweden. Penickova lost to Maria Carle(Georgia) of Argentina 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 in the first round today.

Renata Zarazua of Mexico, the champion last week at the Charlottesville W100, is the top seed, with 2024 NCAA champion Dasha Vidmanova(Georgia) of Czechia the No. 2 seed. Vidmanova won her first round match today over Ana Sofia Sanchez of Mexico 6-1, 6-3; Anna Rogers(NC State) defeated No. 4 seed Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands 6-3, 6-2. Mary Stoiana(Texas A&M), the No. 6 seed, defeated 37-year-old Olga Govortsova of Belarus, who hadn't played since 2023, 6-1, 6-1.

The second women's USTA Pro Circuit event this week is a W35 in Boca Raton Florida, with five Americans qualifying for the main draw today: 18-year-old Alexis Nguyen, 16-year-old Sarah Ye, Emma Jackson(Duke), Jada Robinson and Kailey Evans(Texas Tech, San Diego).

Wild cards were given to Jordyn Hazelitt, 18-year-old University of Illinois signee Shravani Chennamsetty, and last week's finalists at the W15 in Orlando: champion Welles Newman and finalist Janae Preston. Chennamsetty lost to No. 4 seed Alicia Herrero Linana(Baylor) of Spain 6-3, 6-0 in the first round today. 

Julia Riera of Argentina is the top seed and Nguyen's first round opponent, Charlottesville finalist Martina Capurro Taborda (Oklahoma) of Argentina is the No. 2 seed. Last week's Charlotte M35 champion Amelia Honer(UC-Santa Barbara) is unseeded and faces 17-year-old Luna Cinalli of Argentina, the ITF junior No. 47, in Wednesday's first round. 

With the southeastern green clay Challenger swing concluding last week in Savannah, the only men's tournament this week is an M15 in Orange Park Florida.

Only two Americans reached the main draw via qualifying: Jake Fellows and Matthew Segura. The three ITF Junior Reserved entries went to Oklahoma freshman Luka Talan Lopatic of Slovenia, M15 Orlando champion Keaton Hance and Gavin Goode.

Michael Antonius and Andy Johnson received entry on their own rankings and Nick Stoot received a wild card. Goode and Johnson will meet in the first round Wednesday, with Johnson holding a 3-1 edge in the head-to-head, with their last meeting in the first round at the Sunrise M15 in February. Johnson won that match in three sets and went on to claim the title. Hance and Ryan Colby(USC, Georgia) will play for the second time in an M15, with Colby winning their semifinal meeting in Orlando last November 7-5, 6-4. Antonius will play Evan Bynoe in his first round match Wednesday.

In addition to Stoot, who will face No. 4 seed Kaylan Bigun in the first round, the other three wild cards went to Oren Vasser(William & Mary, Miami), Youssef Kadiri Hassani (Nevada) of Morocco and Kian Vakili(Penn). Kadiri Hassani lost to No. 8 seed Hunter Heck(Illinois) 7-5, 6-4 and Vasser lost to No. 3 seed Nick Hardt of the Dominican Republic 6-1, 6-1. 

Raphael Perot(Texas A&M) of France is the top seed, with Christian Langmo(Miami) the second seed.

At the WTA 1000 in Madrid today, 24-year-old Hailey Baptiste defeated world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus 2-6, 6-2, 7-6(6) to advance to the semifinals. Baptiste, the No. 30 seed, saved six match points to get her first career Top 5 win. Now up to 24 in the WTA live rankings, Baptiste will face No. 9 seed Mirra Andreeva of Russia in the semifinals. For more on her win today, see this article from the WTA website.

The University of Illinois announced today that women's head coach Evan Clark was retiring after leading the program for the past 11 years. It's clear from the announcement that Clark's retirement is his choice, with Illinois AD Josh Whitman saying "Despite my efforts to convince him otherwise, Evan has elected to transition into his next chapter." Clark will stay on until a successor is named.

Defending Champions Georgia and Wake Forest Receive Top Seeds for D-I NCAA Team Championships Beginning This Weekend; Gowda Sweeps ITF J100 Titles in Canada; Jodar Wins Battle of Recent US Open Boys Champions in Madrid

The NCAA announced the fields for the 2026 Division I Team Championships this afternoon, with women's defending champion Georgia and men's defending champion Wake Forest the number one seeds.

When the latest rankings come out Thursday however, neither will be No. 1, with Georgia at No. 2 moving ahead of Auburn, who has earned the No. 1 ranking. Wake Forest will be No. 4, so the NCAA committee's formula, which they do not, ever, deviate from, has them jumping No. 3 Ohio State, No. 2 TCU and No. 1 Texas. TCU fell all the way to 6, and San Diego, who will be ranked 17, jumped No. 16 Michigan State, with the Big Ten tournament champions sent to South Carolina for the first two matches this weekend. The men's bracket is here.

Except for Georgia moving to No. 1, the women's switches the committee makes based on strength of schedule, records against common opponents, records versus Top 50 opponents and head-to-head, were not significant. The women's bracket is here.

The list of seeds are below, with all 16 hosting the first two rounds this weekend. Because the men play first at the final site in Athens this year, they must start Friday; women have the option of starting Friday or Saturday, which frequently depends on whether both the men's and women's teams are hosting. This year joint regionals are Georgia, Ohio State, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Virginia, Texas and LSU. 

Submitted lineups, pre-challenge, can be accessed here: women and men. Post-challenge lineups will be available Thursday afternoon.

I will have more of my thoughts on this year's team tournament Thursday and Friday in the annual Tennis Recruiting Network Roundtable.

D-I NCAA Women's seeds:
1. Georgia
2. Auburn
3. Ohio State
4. Texas A&M
5. North Carolina
6. Oklahoma
7. Virginia
8. NC State
9. Texas
10. LSU
11. Pepperdine
12. Michigan
13. Southern California
14. Vanderbilt
15. Duke
16. Arizona State

D-I NCAA Men's seeds:
1. Wake Forest
2. Texas
3. Ohio State
4. Virginia
5. Mississippi State
6. TCU
7. LSU
8. Arizona
9. Oklahoma
10. Baylor
11. Texas A&M
12. Georgia
13. South Carolina
14. Illinois
15. San Diego
16. UCF

Last week was a busy one on the ITF Junior Circuit, with my coverage of the results from the new J100 in Mount Pleasant South Carolina in Friday's post. Armira Kockinis wasn't the only US girls to sweep J100s titles last week however, with 17-year-old Thara Gowda matching that at the J100 in Kingston Ontario.

Gowda, the top seed, defended her title from last year, defeating No. 6 seed Isabella Ruyu Yan of Canada 6-3, 6-2 in the final. Gowda had a different partner in defending her 2025 doubles title, partnering with Karlin Schock. The top seeds defeated No. 2 seed Romy Gravenor and Eve Thibault of Canada 6-4, 6-0 in the final.

Felix Roussel of Canada, who won the J200 in Canada earlier this month, took his fifth career singles title, with the top seed defeating No. 2 seed Dani Szabo of Canada 3-6, 7-6(6), 6-3 in the final.

The other American singles titles on the ITF Junior Circuit last year were at the J30 level.

In Curico Chile, 14-year-old Indra Vergne won his second ITF Junior Circuit singles title, going undefeated in his round robin group and claiming three wins in the knockout round. He defeated Naximo Cataldi of Argentina 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 in the final.

In Hong Kong, 17-year-old Aiden Phoebus won his first ITF Junior Circuit title, winning all three of his round robin matches in straight sets to reach the quarterfinals and finishing it off with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over China's Haoyuan Li of China in the final.

Top seed Jack Secord fell in the final of the ITF J200 in Great Britain to No. 2 seed Mark Ceban, the recent crowned British National 18s champion, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. 

The girls British National 16s and 18s champion this year, Daniella Britton, won the girls title, beating top seed Melije Clarke in the quarterfinals, but Clarke and Isabelle DeLuccia got revenge in the doubles final, with the top seeds beating Britton and Maggie Sohns, the No. 2 seeds, 6-3, 6-1 for the title. 

The other three titles for Americans on the ITF Junior Circuit came in doubles at J30s.

In Kingston Jamaica, No. 3 seeds Camelot Carnello and Israel's Kai Lev defeated top seeds Andrew Lam Jun Bart of Hong Kong and Sean Peng 6-3, 2-6, 11-9 in the final.

In Binh Duong Vietnam, No. 4 seeds Brian Duan and Indonesia's M Alfaradu Sumirat defeated No. 2 seeds Haqim Kamal of Great Britain and Darren Yann Junn Lew of Australia 6-4, 6-4 for the title.

In Kigali Rwanda, Eaden-Zack Harron, who reached the singles final, won the doubles title with Legan Thomas. The top-seeded Americans won by default over Angelo Chiappero of Italy and Dan Arch Muteramuhwe of Burundi

This week's ITF tournament in the United States is a J200 on the red clay in Sumter South Carolina, and Mount Pleasant boys champion Kayden Colombo has already had a major impact, taking out top seed Takahiro Kawaguchi of Japan 6-2, 6-0. No. 8 seed Jordan Lee, the M15 doubles champion last week in Lake Nona, returns to US junior competition for the first time since December's Orange Bowl.

Las month's San Diego J300 finalist Avery Alexander of Canada is the top seed, with Hannah Ayrault the No. 2 seed. Mount Pleasant girls champion Armira Kockinis lost in the first round today to 13-year-old qualifier Capri Butera. 

In the third round of the ATP Masters 1000 in Madrid last night, two recent US Open boys champions, both 19, met for the first time as professionals. 2025 University of Virginia All-American Rafael Jodar of Spain, the 2024 US Open boys champion, defeated No. 27 seed Joao Fonseca of Brazil, the 2023 US Open boys champion, 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-1. Fonseca also was signed to play at the University of Virginia, but unlike Jodar, he never enrolled, turning pro instead. Wild card Jodar, now up to 34 in the ATP live rankings less than a year after competing at the NCAAs for Cavaliers, faces unseeded Vit Kopriva of Czechia Tuesday. For more on the Jodar-Fonseca match, see this article from the ATP.

Newman, Hance Claim Orlando $15K Titles; Basavareddy Wins Savannah Challenger 75; Honer Earns Title at W35 Charlotte; Michigan State Men, Michigan Women Capture Big Ten Tournament Titles; Easter Bowl Photo Gallery

Sixteen-year-old Welles Newman and 18-year-old Keaton Hance won their first USTA Pro Circuit singles titles in contrasting fashion today at the W15 and M15 events at the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona Florida.

Newman came back against 15-year-old Janae Preston, a fellow ITF Junior Reserved entry, winning a two-hour and 43-minute battle 3-6, 7-6(7), 6-0 for her first USTA Pro Circuit title. 

Hance, who had won his first USTA Pro Circuit title with doubles partner Jordan Lee Saturday, did not have to hit a ball to earn the singles championship, when top seed Cannon Kingsley(Ohio State) withdrew befor the start of the match due to an injury.

Prior to this week, Newman's best showing in her previous five Pro Circuit tournaments was the quarterfinals at a W35 in Orlando last fall, also on green clay.  Hance has reached the semifinals at an M15 in Orlando last fall for his best previous showing before these titles.

Nishesh Basavareddy won his first Challenger title since November of 2024, cruising past Jack Kennedy 6-3, 6-0 in today's final at the ATP Challenger 75 in Savannah Georgia. The former Stanford All-American started his week with a nearly three-hour battle with 16-year-old qualifier Andy Johnson but improved his efficiency in each subsequent match and peaked in today's final, needing just 66 minutes to beat the 17-year-old from New York. Kennedy held serve just once in the match.

At the W100 in Charlottesville Virginia, top seed Renata Zarazua of Mexico took the title, beating Martina Capurro Taborda(Oklahoma) of Argentina 6-1, 1-6, 7-5 in this afternoon's final.

Amelia Honer won her third W35 title today in Charlotte North Carolina, with the recent UC-Santa Barbara All-American defeating top seed Eva Vedder of the Netherlands 3-6, 6-2, 6-3. Honer retired from her second round qualifying match at the US Open last August and was out until January 2026, then retired from her qualifying match in Bradenton in January and didn't return to competition until she played two W15s in Tunisia late last month. She now has won a W35 in 2024, 2025 and 2026. 

The final Power 4 conference championships were decided this weekend, with the Michigan State men and Michigan women claiming the tournament titles over their opponents from the Buckeye State.

Michigan State proved their win over Ohio State in Columbus earlier this year was no fluke, with the top-seeded Spartans getting a second 4-3 victory over the No. 2 seeds. This one wasn't decided until close to midnight local time Saturday in Ojai California after several rain delays. The Spartans took the doubles point and got wins from Ozan Baris at line 3 and Tayem Alazmeh at line 5, with Matt Forbes clinching at line 2.

This is the first Big 10 conference title for Michigan State since 1967. For more on the final, see this article from msuspartans.com.

The Michigan women had lost twice to Ohio State this year, both by 4-1 scores, first in Columbus and then, earlier this month in a non-conference match in Ann Arbor. But the Wolverines won the doubles point and then got wins at the three most reliable points for the Buckeyes all season, with Piper Charney at line 1, Lily Jones at line 2 and Emily Sartz-Lunde at line 5 delivering a 4-2 victory over the hosts.

Michigan had entered the tournament ranked 18, but with the title should easily move into position to host the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament next week.  For more on today's final, see this article from mgoblue.com.

A reminder that the NCAA Division I selection show is tomorrow, Monday, at 4 p.m. Eastern for the men and 4:30 p.m. Eastern for the women.

The last media from me from the Easter Bowl is the Photo Gallery that went up today at Tennis Recruiting Network, featuring most of the quarterfinalists in all eight divisions.

If you missed them earlier this month, videos of all eight Easter Bowl finals can be viewed at the tenniskalamazoo YouTube Channel.

Kennedy Reaches First Challenger Final in Savannah; Hance Goes for Sweep Sunday at M15 Orlando; Newman vs Preston for W15 Orlando Title; Honer Advances to W35 Charlotte Final

The M15 title Jack Kennedy won in Boca Raton early this month was just the start of his success the past three weeks, with a semifinal last week at the Tallahassee Challenger 75 and now an appearance in the final of the Challenger 75 in Savannah Georgia tomorrow.

The 17-year-old from New York, who has committed to Virginia for this fall, defeated qualifier Kilian Feldbausch of Switzerland 7-6(2), 6-3 this afternoon to become the first player born in 2008 to reach a Challenger final. As has been the case all week, Kennedy has been the steadier player when it mattered, and he did not let the disappointment of failing to serve out the first set affect his performance in the tiebreaker, where he took the final six points.

In the second set, Kennedy rebounded from giving back his break serving at 4-2, but he immediately broke Feldbaush to get an opportunity to serve for the match. Kennedy fell behind 15-40, but stayed solid and continued to use his drop shot and capitalized on the 20-year-old Feldbausch's errors. 

Kennedy will face No. 2 seed Nishesh Basavareddy, a former Stanford All-American, who defeated Daniel Galan of Colombia 7-5, 6-4 in this evening's semifinal. Basavareddy, who turns 21 next month, will be playing in his first Challenger final since November of 2024. The winner will gain 75 points in the USTA's Roland Garros wild card Challenge, but that isn't is enough for to move past Emilio Nava, who has added 80 50 points this week in Madrid. Next week is the final week of the race.

The doubles title in Savannah was won by top seeds Cleve Harper(Texas) of Canada and David Stevenson(Memphis) of Great Britain, who defeated unseeded Luis Martinez of Venezuela and Cristian Rodriguez of Colombia 7-6(4), 6-2 in today's final.

Kennedy's friend and frequent doubles partner Keaton Hance will play for his first Pro Circuit singles title tomorrow at the M15 in Orlando after the 18-year-old Southern Californian defeated 19-year-old qualifier Daniel Uta of Romania 6-4, 5-7, 6-1 to reach his first singles final on the Pro Circuit. The 2026 Australian Open boys finalist will face top seed Cannon Kingsley, the former Ohio State All-American, who defeated Justin Roberts(USF, Arizona State) of the Bahamas 7-6(8), 7-5 today.

Keaton Hance, Jordan Lee, Izyan Ahmad, Tomas Laukys

Hance earned his first USTA Pro Circuit doubles title today after his semifinal victory in singles. Partnering with 15-year-old Jordan Lee, the unseeded pair defeated wild cards Izyan Ahmad and Tomas Laukys, both 15, 6-3, 6-3 in the final. All four teams in the semifinals of the M15 in Orlando consisted of American juniors.

A US teen is guaranteed her first Pro Circuit title when Junior Billie Jean King Cup teammates Janae Preston, 15, and Welles Newman, 16,  meet in the Orlando W15 singles final. Preston reached her first Pro Circuit final with a 6-4, 6-1 win over No. 5 seed Justina Gonzalez Daniele of Argentina, while Newman came from 4-1 down in the third set to beat qualifier Annika Penickova 1-6, 6-2, 6-4.

The doubles title went to Oklahoma State sophomore Rose Marie Nijkamp of the Netherlands and Anita Sahdiieva(Baylor, LSU) of Ukraine. The No. 2 seeds defeated the unseeded team of Midori Castillo Meza of Mexico and Brandelyn Fulgenzi(Incarnate Word, Arizona) 6-7(4), 6-4, 10-6 in today's final.

In Charlotte North Carolina, unseeded Amelia Honer will play for her third USTA Pro Circuit W35 title Sunday against top seed Eva Vedder of the Netherlands. Honer, an All-American at UC-Santa Barbara in 2024 and 2025, defeated wild card Emma Jackson(Duke) 6-2, 6-7(4), 6-2. Honer, who was a finalist for the Hurd Award last year, did not play from last August to this January, with this just her fifth tournament of the year. Vedder defeated unseeded Shilin Xu of China 6-0, 6-4 to reach her first final of the year.

Vedder lost in today's double final with Venezuelan partner Sofia Cabezas(Iowa State, Tennessee), with the top seeds beaten by the fourth-seeded Brazilian team of Luiza Fullana and Thaisa Pedretti 6-4, 6-2.

Both Americans in the semifinals of the W100 in Charlottesville Virginia lost today. Top seed Renata Zarazua of Mexico defeated No. 5 seed Eli Mandlik 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 and qualifier Martina Capurro Taborda(Oklahoma) beat Akasha Urhobo 7-5, 6-7(5), 6-3.

In the doubles final, No. 4 seeds Alicia Herrero Linana(Baylor) of Spain and Anna Rogers(NC State) won their second title as a pair, beating unseeded Eryn Cayetano(USC) and Allura Zamarippa(Texas) 6-1, 6-3 for the title. It's the biggest title of the 28-year-old Rogers' career and she is now at a career-high of 133 in the WTA live doubles rankings; Herrero Linana, 27, has been Top 100 in the WTA doubles rankings and will return there with this title.

Arkansas Drops Men's and Women Tennis Programs; Kennedy Reaches Second Straight Challenger Semifinal; Four Teens Advance to Semifinals of Orlando $15Ks; Kockinis and Colombo Win J100 Titles

For the first time since 2020, a Power 4/5 conference school has cut a tennis program, and today the University of Arkansas exceeded this decade's cuts to the men's programs at Minnesota, Iowa and Connecticut by eliminating both the men's and women's programs at the end of this season.

This is obviously terrible news for college tennis, which has regularly seen cuts to non-Power 4/5 Division I, Division II and Division III schools, with the first wave happening in wake of the pandemic, and a second wave following the House Settlement. But an SEC school eliminating both tennis programs is an unmitigated disaster and any optimism that Olympic sports could somehow be salvaged at all Power 4 schools is now extinguished. 

For more on this shocking announcement, see this article from Tennis Recruiting Network.

For the second time in consecutive weeks, Jack Kennedy has reached the semifinals of an ATP Challenger 75. The 17-year-old from New York advanced to the final four at the Savannah Challenger this afternoon, beating qualifier Nick Hardt of the Dominican Republic 7-5, 7-5.  Hardt served for the set at 5-4 and had two set points at 40-15, but Kennedy saved them and went on to break Hardt for the first set. The second set featured five straight breaks, with Kennedy unable to serve out the match at 5-3, but he saved a break point at 5-all and again broke Hardt to end the match.

Kennedy will face another qualifier tomorrow, Kilian Feldbausch of Switzerland, who beat last week's Challenger champion, No. 6 seed Clement Tabur of France, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(4) this afternoon. No. 2 seed Nishesh Basavareddy(Stanford) is through to the semifinals after beating No. 8 seed Andy Andrade(Florida) of Ecuador 6-3, 6-2. He will play the winner of tonight's match between Mitchell Krueger and Daniel Galan of Colombia.

Akasha Urhobo has reached the semifinals of the W100 in Charlottesville Virginia after defeating No. 8 seed Kayla Cross(LSU) of Canada 6-2, 6-3. The 19-year-old from Florida, who came from 5-2 down in the third set yesterday to defeat No. 2 seed Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands 6-0, 5-7, 7-5, faces qualifier Martina Capurro Taborda(Oklahoma) of Argentina next. Capurro Taborda beat No. 3 seed Kayla Day 6-4, 6-1 today. 

Urhobo, playing in her fourth consecutive week, will continue to build her lead in the USTA's Roland Garros wild card race, with Day and Mary Stoiana(Texas A&M), two of her primary rivals, losing today. Stoiana, the No. 4 seed, lost to No. 5 seed Eli Mandlik 6-1, 2-6, 6-4; Mandlik will face top seed Renata Zarazua in the other semifinal.

Emilio Nava has also added another 50 points to his wild card leading total, beating No. 14 seed Valentin Vacherot(Texas A&M) of Monaco 6-7(5), 7-6(1), 6-3 today in Madrid. Although there is another week of Challengers left, it's unlikely anyone can catch him.

Three US junior girls and one US junior boy are through to the semifinals of the W15 and M15 in Orlando this week. Fifteen-year-old Janae Preston, who is 24-2 this year (including qualifying and ITF juniors) continued her impressive play, beating Maria Jose Portillo Ramirez of Mexico 6-4, 6-0 in today's quarterfinals. She will play No. 5 seed Justina Gonzalez Daniele of Argentina with the aim of reaching her first Pro Circuit final.

In the bottom half, it will be two 16-year-old Americans facing off, with Welles Newman playing qualifier Annika Penickova. Newman, who like Preston received entry via the ITF Junior Reserved program and was on the Junior Billie Jean King Cup team that qualified last week for the world finals, beat Oklahoma State sophomore Rose Maria Nijkamp of the Netherlands 6-3, 6-4, while Penickova defeated Carolina Bohrer Martins of Brazil 6-0, 6-2.

Eighteen-year-old Keaton Hance, another ITF Junior Reserved entry, advanced to the semifinals in Orlando with a 7-5, 6-1 win over Benjamin Thomas George(Western Michigan) of Canada and will face qualifier Daniel Uta of Romania Saturday. Uta defeated qualifier Gus Grumet, the 2024 Kalamazoo 16s champion, 6-4 ,6-2. In the top half, No. 1 seed Cannon Kingsley(Ohio State) will face last week's finalist Justin Roberts(USF, Arizona State) of the Bahamas. Kingsley defeated No. 6 seed Felix Corwin(Minnesota) 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 and Roberts beat qualifier Bastian Malla of Chile 7-5, retired.

Hance is also through to the doubles final, with 15-year-old partner Jordan Lee, who hasn't played singles since the beginning of March. Hance and Lee advanced over another unseeded all-teen pair, beating Vihan Reddy and Noble Renfrow 6-4, 6-2 in today's semifinals. They will face 15-year-olds Izyan Ahmad and Tomas Laukys, who beat another teenaged wild card team, Safir Azam and Kamil Stolarczyk, 7-5, 6-0 in the other semifinal.

At the W35 in Charlotte North Carolina, former collegians Emma Jackson(Duke) and Amelia Honer(UC-Santa Barbara) will play for a spot in the final.  Jackson, a wild card, defeated Maya Iyengar 6-1, 6-3 in today's quarterfinals, while Honer beat Ava Markham(Wisconsin) 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.

In the top half semifinal, No. 1 seed Eva Vedder of the Netherlands will play unseeded Shilin Xu of China. Vedder defeated Duke sophomore Irina Balus of Slovakia 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, while Xu defeated 18-year-old Bella Payne 6-2, 6-0.

The ITF J100 in Mount Pleasant South Carolina concluded today, with 16-year-old Armira Kockinis sweeping the girls titles, and Kayden Colombo earning his second straight singles title on the new ITF clay swing in the United States.

Armira, the No. 3 seed, beat top seed Adla Lopez 7-5, 6-4 in today's singles final, then partnered with Puerto Rico's Aurora Lugo for the doubles title. The No. 2 seeds defeated unseeded Frances Pate and Julia Seversen 6-2, 5-7, 12-10. 

The unseeded Colombo, who swept the titles last week at the J60 in Atlanta, defeated No. 4 seed Theo Hegarty 6-4, 7-6(6) for his 11th straight singles win. He had beaten top seed Mason Taube 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 in the semifinals Thursday. 

The boys doubles title was won by top seed Erik Schinnerer and Tyler Lee, who beat the unseeded team of Hegarty and Noah Bayon 6-4, 6-2 in this afternoon's final.