Frodin Reaches First Pro Circuit Final at W35 Arcadia; Wolf Advances to M15 Final in Naples; Stearns Aims for Third WTA Title in Austin; No. 1 Georgia Women Beat No. 9 LSU; CMS vs Chicago in D-III Women's Indoor Final; USTA Brewer Cup Underway

For the second consecutive week, two teenagers will meet in a USTA Pro Circuit W35 final, but it's not either of last week's finalists. Qualifier Thea Frodin ended the winning streak of 16-year-old Kristinia Liutova today in Arcadia California, defeating the Las Vegas W35 champion 6-4, 6-4. Liutova, who had beaten 17-year-old wild card Melije Clarke in last week's final, was facing Frodin for the first time today. The 17-year-old Frodin, who reached the Australian Open girls semifinals last month, was broken only once in the match, in the first set, while Liutova dropped serve three times.

In her first Pro Circuit singles final Sunday, Frodin will face top seed Akasha Urhobo, who won her fourth consecutive three-set match today with a 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 win over No. 3 seed Lea Ma(Georgia). Urhobo, a 19-year-old from Florida, won a W35 last month in her home state. The two have not played in juniors or on the Pro Circuit. Urhobo is scheduled to compete in the qualifying for the BNP Paribas Open, which begins tomorrow for women.

Top seeds Eryn Cayetano(USC) and Haley Giavara(Cal) won the doubles title, beating No. 2 seeds Jaeda Daniel(Auburn, NC State) and Anita Sahdiieva(Baylor, LSU) of Ukraine 6-1, 6-1 in today's final.

JJ Wolf's comeback from injury has gone smoothly this week at the M15 in Naples Florida, with the former Ohio State All-American advancing to Sunday's final without losing more than three games in any set. Today the 27-year-old wild card defeated 18-year-old USC freshman Max Exsted 6-3, 6-3 to set up a meeting with 19-year-old Miguel Tobon of Colombia. The fourth-seeded Tobon defeated unseeded John Halquist Lithen(Ole Miss) of Sweden 6-2, 6-2 to reach his first ITF men's World Tennis Tour final. 

Exsted and Tobon, the top seeds in doubles, lost to unseeded Adam Jones and Toby Martin of Great Britain 6-4, 6-2 in today's final.

Peyton Stearns has advanced to her third WTA final and her first in almost two years in her collegiate home town of Austin Texas. The 2022 NCAA singles champion, seeded No. 4 this week, has had to win three three-setters, including today, when the 24-year-old from Ohio beat Kimberly Birrell of Australia 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 at the WTA ATX Open. Stearns will play unseeded wild card Taylor Townsend, who won her first career semifinal on the WTA Tour today, beating Ashlyn Krueger 7-6(6), 6-3. 

Women's Division I Team Indoor champions Georgia took out No. 9 LSU today 4-0 in Athens, although four matches went to three sets. The top-ranked Bulldogs had also blanked LSU in the quarterfinals of the Team Indoor earlier this month, but the Tigers did not have their No. 2, Kayla Cross, for that match. The box score is here.

No. 5 seed Claremont-Mudd-Scripps took out top seed Washington-St. Louis 4-3 today to reach the ITA Women's Division III Team Indoor final in Tennessee. CMS will face No. 2 seed Chicago, who won their second straight 4-3 decision, beating No. 6 seed Middlebury to set up a rematch of last year's final. CMS and Chicago have met in the last four ITF Team Indoor finals, with Chicago winning in 2023 and 2025; CMS won in 2024.

The USTA Level 1 Spring Team Championships, now known as the Brewer Cup, are underway, with the 12s in Tucson Arizona and the 14s, 16s, and 18s in Mobile Alabama. The teams are created via a waterfall draw, with the teams then playing a college format to determine a winner, with a compass draw ensuring at least three matches for every player. 

My Article on Junior Practice Partners at ATP Dallas Open; Zheng, Jodar Receive BNP Paribas Open Main Draw Wild Cards; Exsted Faces Wolf at Naples M15; Three Teens Advance to W35 Arcadia Semis; Easter Bowl Entry Lists

As I mentioned earlier this month, when I wrote about attending the Dallas Open while I was there for the ITA Men's Team Indoor, I don't see much professional tennis live. I catch a game here and there at Wimbledon and the US Open, but I'm usually too busy with the juniors to see much more than that, so mostly I see pro tennis at ATP Challenger or WTA 125 level.

Although I enjoyed my day at the Dallas Open and wrote about two of the matches I saw here, but I was also preparing an article focusing on the local juniors who were serving as practice partners for the pros. I enjoyed talking with both Eliot Spizzirri and Ethan Quinn about their experiences in that role as juniors, and with four of the juniors who were on site that day warming up and practicing with the pros. I'm not sure I grasped what a rite of passage such a role is for juniors, but I hope this Tennis Recruiting Network article conveys the importance of that apprenticeship. 

The full list of wild cards for the BNP Paribas Open was announced today, with two-time NCAA champion Michael Zheng,  in his senior year at Columbia, receiving a main draw wild card. He is joined by Gael Monfils of France, Rafael Jodar(Virginia) of Spain, Martin Damm and Zachary Svajda.

The women's main draw wild cards were awarded to Venus Williams, Bianca Andreescu of Canada, Donna Vekic of Croatia, Jennifer Brady(UCLA), Sloane Stephens, Alycia Parks, Katie Volynets and 2025 Roland Garros girls champion Lilli Tagger of Austria. 

The men's qualifying wild cards feature five teenagers, with the oldest 19-year-old SMU junior Trevor Svajda. Stanford freshman Jagger Leach, 18,  received a qualifying wild card for winning the ITF J300 Indian Wells title last March; he is joined by reigning Kalamazoo champion Darwin Blanch, 18, 16-year-old Andy Johnson and 15-year-old Izyan Ahmad, who is part of the BNP Paribas-sponsored high performance group at the John McEnroe Tennis Academy.

In contrast, the women's qualifying wild cards were given to an older group: Elli Mandlik, 24, Elvina Kalieva, 22, Mary Stoiana(Texas A&M), 22, and teens Akasha Urhobo, 19, Julieta Pareja, 17 and Emerson Jones of Australia, 17. Pareja, like Leach, earned her qualifying wild card as the 2025 ITF J300 Indian Wells champion.

Eighteen-year-old Max Exsted, a freshman at USC, is through to his second M15 semifinal this week in Naples Florida, beating No. 8 seed Kaylan Bigun(UCLA) 6-3, 6-3 in their first meeting. Exsted, who reached his first M15 semifinal in December, played for over four hours yesterday, but that didn't translate to any advantage for the 19-year-old Bigun. Exsted will play wild card JJ Wolf(Ohio State), who has had no trouble at this level in his first competitive matches in over a year. Wolf defeated unseeded Evan Bynoe 6-2, 6-1 in today's quarterfinal. The top half semifinal will feature No. 4 seed Miguel Tobon of Colombia and unseeded John Hallquist Lithen(Ole Miss) of Sweden.

Exsted and Tobon, the top seeds, will play for the doubles title Saturday against unseeded Adam Jones and Toby Martin of Great Britain.

For the second week in a row, three teenagers have advance to the semifinals of a USTA Pro Circuit W35. One of them, 16-year-old Kristina Liutova, won the title last week in Las Vegas; this week in Arcadia California, Liutova has added to her winning streak, beating No. 7 seed Haley Giavara(Cal) 7-5, 6-0 today. 

Liutova will play 17-year-old qualifier Thea Frodin, who beat No. 4 seed Hanna Chang today 6-4, 6-1. They have not played in juniors or on the Pro Circuit. Frodin, an Australian Open girls semifinalist, reached the semifinals of a USTA Pro Circuit W15 last fall, but will be playing in her first semifinal at the W35 level Saturday.

Top seed Akasha Urhobo defeated No. 5 seed Eryn Cayetano(USC) 6-7(5), 6-0, 6-1 and will play No. 3 seed Lea Ma(Georgia), who defeated No. 6 seed Julieta Pareja, a semifinalist last week, 6-4, 7-6(6).

The selections for next month's USTA National Level 1 Easter Bowl have been published for all four age divisions, with the 12s and 14s scheduled to play from Saturday March 21st through Thursday March 26th and the 16s and 18s competing from Tuesday March 24th through Sunday March 29th.

Winter Nationals champion Dimitriy Flyam tops the boys 12s acceptance list, with Summer Yang, the Winter Nationals doubles champion, at the top of the girls 12s list.

Les Petits As quarterfinalist Nadia Poznick, Bolton and National Indoor champion Anna Kapanadze and recent ITF J60 Claremont champion Isha Manchala lead a strong girls 14s field, with National Indoor champion Ishaan Marla topping the boys 14s list. 

Lennart Hammargren and National Indoor champion Eli Kaminski are 1 and 2 on the boys 16s acceptance list, with National Indoor champion Sylvana Jalbert and Winter National champion Shristi Selvan the top two on the girls 16s list.

Omar Rhazali and Yashwin Krishnakumar led the boys 18s field, with Kalamazoo 16s champion and last year's Easter Bowl 16s champion Marcel Latak also entering. Tristan Stratton, who Latak beat in the Easter Bowl 16s final is also on the acceptance list.

Calla McGill and Ellery Mendell are the top two entrants in the girls 18s, with Easter Bowl 16s champion Armira Kockinis looking to add another Easter Bowl title to her resumé. 

See the Easter Bowl website for more on the upcoming tournament.

Brantmeier and NCAA Agree to Settlement; Quartet of Teens Reach Quarterfinals at W35 Arcadia; Exsted vs Bigun Friday at M15 Naples; D-III Women's Team Indoor Begins Friday in Tennessee

Last month, in my annual Eight Intriguing Questions post for the Tennis Recruiting Network, I raised the prospect that Reese Brantmeier and the NCAA could settle the lawsuit Brantmeier brought before the November trial date. According to reports today, a settlement has been reached, with the parties agreeing to a 60-day pause of deadlines as they work toward finalizing the terms. Terms of the settlement were not revealed, so it's unwise to speculate, but it's likely Division I college tennis student-athletes come out of this much less restricted by prize money prohibitions than they are now.

The USTA Pro Circuit W35 in Arcadia California featured four second round matches that were three hours in duration, with top seed Akasha Urhobo, No. 4 seed Hanna Chang, No. 5 seed Eryn Cayetano(USC) and No. 7 seed Haley Giavara(Cal) all managing to get through. Qualifier Thea Frodin, 17, needed two hours and 40 minutes to overcome Martina Okalova(Tulsa) of Slovakia 6-7(4), 6-0, 7-5 , while the other two teenagers younger than Urhobo, who is 19, had more straightforward wins. No. 6 seed Julieta Pareja, 17, beat qualifier Savannah Broadus(Pepperdine) 6-4, 6-4 and 15-year-old Kristina Liutova, the only non-American in the quarterfinals, beating qualifier Snow Han(USC) 6-2, 6-4 to extend her W35 winning streak to seven matches.

Eighteen-year-old qualifier Maya Iyengar could make it five teenagers in the quarterfinals, as she has split sets tonight with No. 3 seed Lea Ma(Georgia) in the final singles match of the day.

At the M15 in Naples Florida, five Americans are through to the quarterfinals, including 23-year-old qualifier Gianluca Brunkow, who beat top seed Robert Cid Subervi(South Florida) of the Dominican Republic 5-7, 6-4, 6-1. Brunkow, who played his collegiate tennis at UC-Santa Barbara, is starting his first full year on the Pro Circuit. He will play unseeded former Ole Miss standout John Hallquist Lithen of Sweden, who beat No. 7 seed Karue Sell(UCLA) of Brazil 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(4).

Fifteen-year-old wild card Teodor Davidov lost to No. 4 seed Miguel Tobon of Colombia 6-2, 6-2 and 16-year-old Michael Antonius lost to No. 5 seed Louis Wessels of Germany 6-2, 6-4 to fill out the top two quarterfinals.

The bottom half features four Americans, with wild Card JJ Wolf(Ohio State) beating 17-year-old Jack Secord 6-1, 6-3 to continue his comeback from a year-long injury layoff. Wolf will face unseeded Evan Bynoe, who beat qualifier Dakotah Bobo(LSU, Southern Miss) 6-4, 6-1.

The quarterfinal at the bottom of the draw will feature two teenagers, who are surprisingly playing for the first time. No. 8 seed Kaylan Bigun, 19, will play unseeded Maxwell Exsted, who turns 19 next month, after 2024 Roland Garros boys champion Bigun beat qualifier Toby Martin of Great Brtain 6-1, 6-1 and Exsted defeated Ignacio Monzon of Argentina 7-5, 6-7(3), 6-4. If Exsted really was on court for four hours and 43 minutes, which is what the ITF live scoring page gives as the match time, the advantage for tomorrow's match definitely goes to Bigun, who was off the court in 66 minutes. 

Tobon and Exsted, who were occasional double partners on the ITF Junior Circuit, are the top seeds in doubles this week and have reached the semifinals.

The final ITA Team Indoor Championships are this weekend for the Division III women. Washington-St. Louis is the top seed, with Chicago, Pomona-Pitzer and Emory rounding out the top four seeds. 

Sewanee is the host school and the main site is the new club in College Grove: Farm and Forge. This club will host a new ITF J200 on red clay in May, and is expected to be the site of several high profile tournaments going forward.

Pareja and Antonius Lead Fields for ITF J300 in San Diego; Wolf Returns, Exsted and Davidov Advance at M15 Naples; Frodin, Liutova Reach Second Round at W35 Arcadia; Hurd Award Announced March 6, UTR Collegiate Event Returns to BNP Second Week

The acceptances are out for the ITF J300 San Diego North American Regional Championships, which begin March 16 at the Barnes Tennis Center. 

Because the San Diego event, unlike the Tucson J300 a week earlier, is limited to players from the United States and Canada, the fields are not as strong, with the boys cutoff 251 (vs 195 for Tucson) and the girls cutoff 202 (vs 187 for Tucson).

Many of the same American juniors are entered both events, but Gavin Goode, who is not on the Tucson list, has entered San Diego, as has ITF No. 4 Julieta Pareja, who has not played a junior event since leading the USA's Billie Jean King Cup team to the title in November. Pareja won the ITF J300 last March in Indian Wells, but did not enter this year in Tucson, where that event was moved. She did not play the San Diego J300, near her home in Carlsbad, last year, so she is looking to defend those Indian Wells points a week later this year.

The Top 50 girls entered in San Diego are Julieta Pareja[4], Janae Preston[21], Nadia Lagaev(CAN)[39], Melije Clarke[47]

and Jordyn Hazelitt[49]. Notable absences are the Penickova twins, with Kristina winning the San Diego singles and claiming the doubles title last year with sister Annika, and Thea Frodin, Australian Open girls semifinalist.

The Top 50 boys entered in San Diego are Michael Antonius[11], Andrew Johnson [16], Gavin Goode [23], Tanishk Konduri [28], Ryan Cozad [39], Xavier Massotte(CAN)[40], Benjamin Azar(CAN)[43] and Vihaan Reddy[50]. 

Jordan Lee is not entered; Jack Secord[24] is entered in the J300 in Brazil the week of Tucson and the J500 in Brazil the week of San Diego, as is Welles Newman[35]. Many players are entered in the J500 in Brazil and San Diego which are the same week this year,, so until the withdrawal deadline next Tuesday, we won't know which one they'll decide to play. Antonius and Preston, who would have been the top seeds, have withdrawn from Tucson, but are entered in both the J500 in Brazil and the J300 in San Diego.

Both Antonius and Pareja are playing USTA Pro Circuit tournaments this week and both posted wins today. Antonius, using an ITF junior reserved entry, defeated qualifier Kian Vakili(Penn) 6-4, 3-0 retired in the first round of the M15 in Naples Florida today. Fifteen-year-old wild card Teodor Davidov defeated qualifier Ivan Dreycopp of Argentina 6-1, 6-1 and will play No. 4 seed Miguel Tobon of Colombia, who beat wild card Jordan Lee yesterday 7-5, 7-5, preventing a rematch of the 2024 IMG International 16s final in Thursday's second round. 

Former Ohio State All-American JJ Wolf, out for more than a year with injury, is making his return to competition this week in Naples as a wild card. The former ATP No. 39 defeated Fermin Tenti of Argentina 6-1, 6-3 today and will face Jack Secord, who beat No. 3 seed Bruno Kuzuhara by that same score yesterday.

USC freshman Max Exsted, the last direct acceptance in the main draw, defeated No. 2 seed Tristan McCormick(Notre Dame, Georgia) 7-5, 6-4 in the first round today. The 18-year-old from Minnesota will play Ignacio Monzon of Argentina Thursday.

At the other USTA Pro Circuit tournament this week, the W35 in Arcadia California, Pareja, seeded No. 6, defeated qualifier Nadia Lagaev of Canada 6-0, 6-1 in the first round today, and will play qualifier Savannah Broadus(Pepperdine) Thursday.  Last week's W35 Las Vegas champion Kristina Liutova defeated wild card Nicole Went 6-0, 7-5 today and will face qualifier Snow Han(USC) of China, who advanced when No. 2 seed Vivian Wolff(Georgia, UCLA) retired trailing 6-2, 3-1.  US teen qualifiers Maya Iyengar and Thea Frodin also reached the second round, with Iyengar beating wild card Salma Ewing(USC, Texas A&M) 6-3, 6-3 and Frodin defeating Oklahoma State freshman Luca Udvardy of Hungary 4-6, 6-1, 6-2.

The Universal Tennis Foundation and UTR Sports today announced two events related to college tennis at next month's BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.

On March 6, the 2026 Hurd Award recipients will be named, with $100,000 going to one American collegiate man and one American collegiate woman, with a $40,000 grant going to the runners-up. Last year Mary Stoiana of Texas A&M and Colton Smith of Arizona received the top prize, with Eliot Spizzirri of Texas and Amelia Honer of UC-Santa Barbara receiving $40,000. 

I would be surprised if this year's awards don't go to NCAA champions Reese Brantmeier of North Carolina and Michael Zheng of Columbia.

The UTR Sports College Championships will again be held on the final weekend of the BNP Paribas Open, with the four men's teams competing this year Arizona State, Pepperdine, Baylor and Memphis. The latter is the only newcomer, replacing Princeton from last year's lineup.

Craig Tiley Officially Named CEO of USTA; Georgia Women, Ohio State Men Remain No. 1 in Latest ITA Rankings; Tulane Debuts New Tennis Facility; Michael Zheng Pens First Journal Entry for Tennis.com; Eubanks Signs with Tennis Channel

Craig Tiley
photo courtesy of USTA

After several months of speculation, the official announcement came today: Craig Tiley will be returning to the United States as the Chief Executive Officer of the United States Tennis Association after his 20 years of serving as Australian Open tournament director and 13 years as the CEO of Tennis Australia.

Tiley, 64, coached the University of Illinois men's team when I began covering college tennis, although his teams' three national titles (two Indoor, one NCAA) came in 2003 and 2004, before my first college tournament in 2005. I had no doubt he would succeed in his new role when he left Champaign for Melbourne, after the 2005 season, but I could never have imagined the heights that he would lead that tournament to. 

When Gordon Smith retired as CEO of the USTA in 2019, Tiley's name of course came up as a replacement, but I don't think he was ready to wrestle with the always problematic USTA governing structure. That hasn't changed, with the USTA board holding the ultimate power in the organization and the chairman and president cycling in and out in two-year terms. The USTA has had two CEOs since Smith's retirement, Michael Dowse, who lasted two years, and Lew Sherr, who left to join the NY Mets after three years. It's safe to say that Tiley has a much broader background in tennis than either of them and has a firm grasp on how the organization functions, or doesn't, from his many years as a slam tournament director and a federation's CEO.

What the release doesn't say is when Tiley will start, making a vague reference to "the coming months." There are rumors that he has a non-compete clause in his TA contract that may push his start date out to much closer to the US Open than the USTA would like, so I wouldn't expect to hear much from him in the coming months. The Tennis Australia announcement on his departure is here.

My interest is in his plans for Player Development and for college tennis, with his predecessor making a huge commitment just over a year ago to collegiate tennis with the 10-year NCAA Division I team contract that begins in 2028. Again, I don't think we'll know those plans for a some time, but I'm optimistic that he'll give those realms the appropriate attention when the time comes.

Ben Rothenberg has an expansive overview of the highlights and lowlights of Tiley's more than three decades in tennis in this article at Bounces.

It's only been less than a week since the last rankings release, but there are new ITA Division I team rankings out today, the second edition that were determined by the computer algorithm. The top spots didn't change, with the Georgia women and Ohio State men at No. 1, but there were three new Top 10 women's teams: Arizona State, Cal and Pepperdine. LSU's loss to unranked Ole Miss dropped them from 4 to 9, while Southern Cal, Oklahoma and Texas exited the Top 10.  

The Top 10 men are the same 10 programs, but rearranged, with Mississippi State, who barely got past Vanderbilt 4-3 Saturday at home, moving from 10 to 5. Click on the heading to see the full list of the 75 teams with rankings.

Top 10 ITA Division I Men's Team Rankings, computer, February 24, 2026 (last week's ranking in parentheses):

1. Ohio State (1)
2. Virginia (2)
3. Wake Forest(4)
4. Texas (3)
5. Mississippi State (10)
6. TCU (7)
7. LSU (5)
8. Baylor (6)
9. San Diego (9)
10. Central Florida (8)

Top 10 ITA Division I Women's Team Rankings, computer, February 24, 2026

1. Georgia (1)

2. Ohio State (2)

3. North Carolina (3)

4. Texas A&M (5)

5. UCLA (8)

6. Arizona State (11)

7. Cal (12)

8. USC (6)

9. LSU (4)

10. Pepperdine (14)

Tulane has opened its new tennis facility, which sounds from this article like a huge improvement over what they had been using for competition. I'm a little surprised that it includes pickleball courts, which is not the norm for a college tennis facility, but the fact that the facility will be open to the public probably explains that addition.

Two-time NCAA champion Michael Zheng's first entry in an ongoing journal of his spring season as a senior at Columbia was posted today at tennis.com. Although I've been covering his career since 2019, I learned several things I didn't know, and I look forward to his future posts on juggling academics, pro tennis and collegiate competition. Zheng has lost two collegiate matches at No. 1 singles since returning from his second round appearance at the Australian Open as a qualifier, if you are wondering if he is getting high level competition in his final semester before graduation.

Former Georgia Tech All-American Christopher Eubanks, who retired last November, has signed a three-year contract with Tennis Channel as a commentator and host. He will continue to work with ESPN on the three slams they broadcast.

Eleven Singles Titles for Americans on ITF Junior Circuit; USTA Announces Dates for Roland Garros Wild Card Challege; Features on Jack Pinnington Jones and Matt Forbes; Sik to Represent Australia?

On Saturday I covered the titles for Safir Azam and Adla Lopez at the ITF J200 in the Dominican Republic, but that was just the tip of the iceberg, with US juniors claiming nine additional singles titles on the ITF Junior Circuit last week. 

Tomas Laukys won his biggest title at the J100 in Trnava Slovakia, with the unseeded 15-year-old defeating No. 2 seed Dominik Macej of Slovakia 7-6(5), 6-2, with all five of his victories coming in straight sets, including a second round win over top seed Marko Bekeni of Slovakia.

At the J200 in Lithuania, No. 8 seed Michael Savano, 17, lost in the final to No. 7 seed Vincent Reisach of Germany 4-6, 7-5, 6-3. Savano's only other titles on the ITF Junior Circuit were also in Europe, in 2024. He defeated top seed Rhys Lawler of Great Britain 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in the quarterfinals.

At the J60 in Claremont California, 17-year-old Ryan Bedwick, seeded No. 4, claimed his first ITF Junior Circuit singles title, beating qualifier Peter Jorniak 6-1, 6-1 in the final. Bedwick also reached the doubles final, with partner Rafael Bote of Canada, but the No. 1 seeds gave a walkover to unseeded Jaidyn Finley and Joseph Nau in the final.

Thirteen-year-old Isha Manchala won her second ITF Junior Circuit J60 title in Claremont, beating top seed Alison Wang 6-3, 7-6(3) in the final. Unseeded Rose Biria and Japan's Yui Watanabe won the girls doubles title, beating No. 2 seeds Aishi Bisht of India and Emery June Martin 6-4, 6-4 in the final.

Unseeded 16-year-olds Ellery Mendell and Dhakshish Aryan Basavaraju went back-to-back, winning a J60 in Guatemala for the second week in a row. Mendell beat unseeded Amina Nurmakhan of Kazakhstan 6-2, 6-0 in the final, while Aryan Basavaraju defeated No. 3 seed and doubles partner Colter Amey 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 in an all-USA boys final.

Amey and Aryan Basavaraju, seeded No. 4, won the doubles title, beating No. 3 seeds Mikaeel Ali Baig of Pakistan and Nicolas Bellas of Spain 6-4, 4-6, 11-9 in the final. Top seeds Sasha Miroshnichenko and Mexico's Romina Dominguez Garcia won the girls doubles title, beating Taylor Burke of Australia and Julia Ionescu of Canada 6-2, 6-1 in the final.

There was also a US sweep at the J60 in Mexico, with 16-year-old Sebastian Godoy and 15-year-old Aarini Bhattacharya taking the singles titles.

Godoy, the No. 6 seed defeated unseeded Pedro Queiroz of Brazil 6-0, 6-2 in the final for his fourth ITF Junior Circuit title and his second in singles. Bhattacharya, the No. 5 seed, now has three singles titles on the ITF Junior Circuit after beating unseeded Rachel Wu of Canada 6-3, 6-1 in the final.  Bhattacharya picked up her fourth ITF Junior Circuit doubles title, with Elisabeth Djabourian of Canada. The No. 3 seeds defeated top seeds Abril Cardenas Olivares and Zoe Levresse Zavala of Mexico 6-4, 3-6, 10-7 in the final.

Londyn McCord, who reached the semifinal of the J300 in Peru two weeks ago, dropped back down to the J30 level in that country and took her second title at that level, beating unseeded Silvana Farjado of Peru 6-3, 6-2 in the final of the round robin/knockout tournament.

At the J30 in Nigeria, also a round/robin to knockout tournament, 16-year-old David Beckles swept the titles. He defeated Logan Thomas 6-2, 6-4 in the all-USA singles final for his first ITF Junior Circuit singles title. Seeded No. 2 in doubles with Musa Mamud of Nigeria, Beckles added his fourth doubles title on the ITF Junior Circuit, beating unseeded Kingsley Amenuveve Alormenu of Ghana and Ho Wan Yeung of Hong Kong 7-5, 4-6, 10-8 in the final. 

The USTA announced the annual Roland Garros Wild Card Challenge, which will begin March 30 and run through May 3rd.

From the USTA press release:

The USTA's 2026 Roland Garros Wild Card Challenge, which utilizes clay-court professional tournaments to award an American man and woman a main draw wild card into this year's French Open, will begin the week of March 30 and run through May 3 for both the men and the women. 

 

Both the men's and women's wild cards will be awarded to the American players with the most ranking points earned -- including qualifying and main draw points -- at a maximum of three clay-court tournaments during the Challenge's five-week window. All red-clay and Har-Tru events at the W35 level and above for the women and the M25 level and above for the men, including WTA and ATP Tour events, will be included in the Challenge.

Two articles I ran across over the weekend are a Times of London feature on former TCU All-American Jack Pinnington Jones, who recently raised his professional profile with a quarterfinal appearance as a qualifier at the ATP 500 Dallas Open, and a tennis.com feature on 2024 Kalamazoo 18s champion and Michigan State sophomore Matt Forbes, with his older sister Abbey Forbes(UCLA, UNC) a significant contributor to the piece.

Also of interest is this recent Sydney Morning Herald article on a potential country representation change for ITF junior No. 61 Mustafa Ege Sik of Turkey.

Liutova Wins First Pro Event at W35 Las Vegas; Korda Captures Delray Beach ATP 250; CMS Repeats as Men's Division III Indoor Champions; Barry Continues Dominance of D-II Women's Indoor; No. 2 Ohio State Women Hang On, No. 4 LSU Falls

Last week all four pro tournaments in the United States were won by Americans; this year it was just the ATP 250 in Delray Beach that featured a champion from the United States, with the four other tournaments going to international players.

Sixteen-year-old Kristina Liutova, who was born in Moscow but has lived in the United States for many years, captured her first pro title, beating wild card Melije Clarke of Texas 6-2, 6-4 in today's final at the W35 in Las Vegas. The unseeded Liutova, who did not drop a set all week, is 9-1 on the USTA Pro Circuit this year, (including qualifying), with her only loss to Eli Mandlik 7-5 in the third in the quarterfinals of W100 in San Diego late last month.

Liutova, No. 34 in the ITF junior rankings, should move into the WTA Top 500 when the points are added. She is entered in the Tucson ITF J300, which begins in two weeks.

Unseeded Sebastian Korda won his third ATP title this afternoon at the 250 in Delray Beach, defeating No. 5 seed Tommy Paul 6-4, 6-3 in the final. Korda was 2-7 in ATP finals entering today's championship match. For more on the final, see this article from the ATP website.

No. 2 seeds Nikola Mektic and Austin Krajicek(Texas A&M) won the doubles title, beating wild cards Benjamin Kittay(UNC, Michigan) and Ryan Seggerman(Princeton, UNC) 6-7(3), 6-3, 11-9. Kittay and Seggerman had a match point at 9-8 in the tiebreaker.

At the WTA 125 Dow Tennis Classic in Midland Michigan, 23-year-old Alina Charaeva of Russia, the No. 5 seed, won the biggest title of her career, although she lost a two-break lead in the second set before squeezing by unseeded Hanyu Guo of China 6-4, 7-6(4).

In doubles, top seeds Sabrina Santamaria(USC) and Qianhui Tang of China took the title via walkover from unseeded Alana Smith(NC State) and Mary Stoiana(Texas A&M).

Wild card Hunter Heck(Illinois) fell in the final of the M15 in Naples Florida, losing to No. 2 seed Tommaso Compagnucci of Italy 6-4, 6-3. 

At the W15 in Palm Coast Florida, former Old Dominion All-American Sofia Johnson of Great Britain, a qualifier, defeated top seed Thaisa Pedretti of Brazil 6-4, 6-2 to win her first ITF women's World Tennis Tour title. Johnson dropped just one set, to Georgia recruit Bella Payne in the semifinals, in her seven victories.

No. 2 seed Claremont-Mudd-Scripps defended their ITA Men's Division III National Team Indoor title today in Minnesota, defeating No. 4 seed Chicago 4-1. Warren Pham, who had also clinched CMS's first ever Men's Indoor title last year, clinched again at line 2 this year. The box score is here; the CMS release is here.

The top-seeded Barry women won their sixth Division II National Team Indoor title today in Indianapolis, beating No. 6 seed West Florida 4-0. Barry has won every Team Indoor title they have competed in, with the event beginning for D-II in 2020; the only year they did not win, 2021, they did not play. 

Three notable results from Top 5 women's Division I teams who were in action today, with No. 2 Ohio State surviving a trip to Stillwater, where the Cowgirls were short-handed. No. 25 Oklahoma State had to forfeit No. 3 doubles, but still took the point with wins at lines 1 and 2. They also had to forfeit No. 6 singles, even with Melisa Ercan making her first appearance of the season. Their usual No. 6 Marcela Lopez, was out, and Lucia Peyre, back this spring after her torn ACL, suffered a torn Achilles and is out for the season. Ohio State got wins from Luciana Perry at 1, Teah Chavez at 2 and Audrey Spencer at 4, with Perry clinching a 4-2 win, with Rose Marie Nijkamp of Oklahoma State getting a three-set win at line 3 after the clinch. For the full box score, see this article from the Ohio State website.

No. 4 LSU, playing without their No. 1 Cadence Brace, who qualified for the WTA 500 in Merida Mexico this weekend, and their No. 2 Kayla Cross, who lost in qualifying, fell to unranked Ole Miss 5-2 in Oxford. Again the match was played out, after Ole Miss had secured the clinch with the doubles point and victories at lines 1, 4 and 6.  The full box score is available in this article from the Ole Miss website.

No. 5 Texas A&M got by No. 10 Texas in College Station, with the Aggies clinching it 4-2 with the doubles point and singles victories at lines 2, 5 and 3. Again the match was played out, with Texas taking the final point at line 1. See this article from the Texas A&M website for the details.

Americans Sweep ITF J200 Titles in Dominican Republic; 16-Year-Olds Clarke and Liutova Meet for W35 Las Vegas Title; Heck Advances to M15 Naples Final; Pegula Triumphs at WTA 1000 in Dubai

Americans won all four titles at the ITF J200 in Punta Cana Dominican Republic, with Safir Azam sweeping the boys titles and Adla Lopez winning her first ITF Junior Circuit singles title.

Azam, the No. 3 seed, defeated unseeded Mauricio Schtulmann Gasca of Mexico 6-4, 6-1 in the final to earn his second ITF Junior Circuit singles title, with the first coming last year at a J100, also in the Dominican Republic. Schtulmann Gasca had beaten top seed Agassi Rusher in the semifinals to reach the final.  Azam did not drop a set in singles en route to the final.

Yesterday Azam won his second ITF Junior Circuit doubles title, with his first last month at the J300 in Costa Rica. The 16-year from Washington, partnering this week with Mason Taube, won an all-USA final, with the top seeds beating unseeded Theo Hegarty and William McEwan 6-2, 6-4 for the title.

Lopez, the No. 7 seed, defeated No. 4 seed Ireland O'Brien 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 for her first singles title, with the 17-year-old left-hander from Florida winning her first ITF Junior Circuit title since a doubles victory at a J5 in 2022.

In the girls doubles final, unseeded 14-year-olds Emery Combs and Olivia Traynor began a new winning streak, beating unseeded Elicia Lin of Canada and Olivia Traynor 6-3, 6-4 in the final. Traynor and Combs had won three consecutive ITF girls doubles titles, as well as the Orange Bowl 16s doubles title before losing in the opening round of the J200 last week in the Dominican Republic.

Two juniors will play for the title of the USTA Pro Circuit W35 in Las Vegas, with 16-year-olds Kristina Liutova and Melije Clarke each seeking their first professional title in their first professional final.

Liutova, who trains in Washington, beat No. 3 seed Julieta Pareja 6-4, 6-4, the second straight-sets win for Liutova this year over the former ITF junior No. 1, with the first coming at the W100 in San Diego.  

Wild card Clarke defeated unseeded Salma Ewing(USC, Texas A&M) 6-3, 6-3 in today's semifinals. 

Liutova won two J300s(College Park and Bradenton) last year; Clarke won one(Houston). They have not met in junior or pro competition.

In the doubles final in Las Vegas, top seeds Haley Giavara(Cal) and Texas freshman Anastasia Abbagnato of Italy won the title, beating unseeded Jessica Hinojosa Gomez of Mexico and Mell Reasco(Georgia) of Ecuador 6-3, 4-6, 10-8.

Hunter Heck(Illinois), who was 1-2 on the M15 Florida clay swing this year, is through to his first Pro Circuit final after beating fellow wild card David Tortora of Italy 6-4, 6-2 today in Naples. The 23-year-old from Minnesota will face No. 2 seed Tomas Compagnucci of Italy, who won the M15 in Palm Coast two weeks ago.

No. 2 seeds Dakotah Bobo(LSU, Southern Mississippi) and Oliver Johansson(Drake) of Sweden won the doubles title, beating No. 3 seeds Joao Victor Couto Loureiro and Tsz Fu Wong(Holy Cross) of Hong Kong 6-0, 6-1 in the final.

Both teenagers lost in the semifinals of the W15 in Palm Coast, with 17-year-old wild card Carlota Morena dropping a 6-3, 6-0 decision to top seed Thaisa Pedretti of Brazil and No. 6 seed Bella Payne losing to qualifier Sofia Johnson(Old Dominion) of Great Britain 3-6, 7-5, 6-1. No. 3 seeds Pedretti and Carolina Bohrer Martins of Brazil won the doubles title, beating No. 2 seeds Kolie Allen(Ohio State) and Sabastiani Leon(San Jose State) 7-6(4), 6-7(5), 10-4 in the final.

Neither No. 8 seed Mary Stoiana(Texas A&M) nor No. 2 Dasha Vidmanova(Georgia) of Czechia managed to advance to the final of the WTA 125 Dow Tennis Classic in Midland Michigan. Stoiana saw a 5-2 third set lead slip away to Hanyu Guo of China in a 7-6(4), 6-7(2), 7-5 semifinal that spanned more than three hours. Vidmanova lost to No. 5 seed Alina Charaeva of Russia. 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Jessica Pegula won the WTA 1000 in Dubai today, her fourth at that level, with the No. 4 seed beating No. 7 seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine 6-2, 6-4 in the final. Pegula now has ten titles on the WTA tour. For more on her win today, see this article from the WTA.

Three Teens Reach Semifinals at W35 in Las Vegas; Tien Outlasts Tiafoe at Delray; Men's D-III and Women's D-II ITA Team Indoors Underway; Gardner-Webb Drops Tennis; D-I Indoor All-Tournament Teams

Seventeen-year-old Julieta Pareja and 16-year-olds Melije Clarke and Kristina Liutova are through to the all-USA semifinals of the USTA Pro Circuit W35 in Las Vegas, and while the temperatures were in the low 50s, it was sunny there today, allowing the tournament to finish the second round and play all four quarterfinals after a wet day Thursday.

Pareja, the No. 3 seed, got a retirement from LSU freshman Ella McDonald, the No. 8 seed, after Pareja won the first set 6-1. Pareja will face the unseeded Liutova, who beat Texas freshman Anastasia Abbagnato of Italy 6-3, 7-5 in the second round and got a retirement from top seed Vivian Wolff(Georgia, UCLA) with Liutova leading 7-5, 1-0.

Clarke beat fellow wild card Savannah Broadus(Pepperdine) 6-4, 7-5 and will play unseeded Salma Ewing(USC, Texas A&M) Saturday. 

At the M15 in Naples, both Michael Antonius and qualifier Teodor Davidov lost in the quarterfinals, with wild card Hunter Heck(Illinois) the only American to reach the semifinals. But at the W15 in Palm Coast, two teens have reached the semifinals: wild card Carlota Moreno, playing her first pro event, and No. 6 seed Bella Payne. 

At the WTA 125 Dow Tennis Classic in Midland, No. 2 seed Dasha Vidmanova(Georgia) of the Czech Republic beat UNC freshman Anna Frey 6-2, 6-2 to reach the semifinals. Vidmanova's college rival Mary Stoiana(Texas A&M), seeded eighth, beat Katherine Sebov of Canada 6-3, 6-4, but they'll renew that rivalry only if they both win Saturday.

Tonight at the ATP 250 in Delray Beach, No. 4 seed Learner Tien defeated No. 8 seed Frances Tiafoe 7-6(5), 3-6, 7-5 to avenge his 2023 US Open first round loss. It was a roller coaster of a match, with Tien up 3-0 in the first, then down 4-5, with Tiafoe serving for the set. He had two set points, but Tien broke, lost his serve, then broke Tiafoe again to force the tiebreaker. Up 2-0 in the second, Tien proceeded to lose six of the next seven games after Tiafoe took a medical timeout. Tiafoe's momentum continued at the start of the third set, with a 2-0 lead, but Tien saved three break points to keep from going down 5-2 and then broke Tiafoe when he served for the match at 5-4, winning nine of the last 10 points to finish the two-hour and 20 minute match. 

Tien will play the winner of tonight's quarterfinal between top seed Taylor Fritz and No. 5 seed Tommy Paul, a rematch of the 2015 Roland Garros and US Open boys finals.

Sebastian Korda, who beat No. 2 seed Casper Ruud of Norway 4-6, 6-2, 6-2, will face No. 3 seed Flavio Cobolli of Italy in the other semifinal.

While I was concentrating on the Division I Team Indoor Championships, both NAIA Indoor Championships and the Men's Division II Championships were decided this month. The Georgia Gwinnett men won their third straight NAIA Team Indoor title, defeating Tennessee Wesleyan 4-1 in the final. The Keiser women won their second straight NAIA Team Indoor title, beating Lindsey Wilson 4-1 in the championship match. Perennial D-II powerhouse Barry avenged the loss in the final last year to West Florida, beating them 4-0 in Sunday's final in Indianapolis. There has been no update on the ITA website, but the box score is here.

The Division II women's Team Indoor, also in Indianapolis, began today, with the Barry women, seeded No. 1, hoping to make it two titles for the Buccaneers this month.

The Division III Men's Team Indoor Championships are underway in Minnesota, with reigning NCAA champion Denison the top seed. Live scoring for both the current Team Indoor events is available at the iOnCourt site.

The Division III Women's Team Indoor Championships are next weekend in Tennessee, with Washington-St. Louis the top seeds.

College tennis lost another, actually two, programs this week, with Division I Gardner-Webb eliminating both its men's and women's tennis teams after this season. Tennis Recruiting Network has more on the athletic department's announcement.

Men's Division I Team Indoor All-tournament team:

Doubles:
1. Alex Chang and Alex Razeghi, Stanford
2. Duncan Chan and Cosme Rolland de Ravel, TCU
3. Filip Apltauer and Albert Pedrico, TCU

Singles:
1. Sebastian Gorzny, Texas
2. Kalin Ivanovski, Texas
3. Jack Anthrop, Ohio State
4. Sebastian Eriksson, Texas
5. Stiles Brockett, Virginia
6. Lucas Marionneau, Texas

Most Outstanding Player: Sebastian Gorzny, Texas

For the full release, including each player's results, see this article from the ITA.

Women's ITA Division I Team Indoor All-tournament team:

Doubles:

1. Deniz Dilek and Aysegul Mert, Georgia

2. Angella Okutoyi and Ava Esposito, Auburn

3. Ekaterina Khayrutdinova and Ashton Bowers, Auburn

Singles:

1. Luciana Perry, Ohio State

2. Teah Chavez, Ohio State

3. Deniz Dilek, Georgia

4. Anastasiia Gureva, Georgia

5. Audrey Spencer, Ohio State

6. Sofia Rojas, Georgia

Most Outstanding Player: Deniz Dilek, Georgia

For the full release, including each player's results, see this article from the ITA.

My Recap of Texas's Title at ITA D-I Men's Team Indoor; Ohio State Men, Georgia Women Top New Rankings; Ambidextrous Davidov, 15, Reaches Quarterfinals M15 in Naples; Clarke Advances at Las Vegas W35; Frey vs Vidmanova at WTA 125 Midland

If you weren't able to follow my daily coverage of the ITA Men's Division I Team Indoor Championships, my recap of the tournament for the Tennis Recruiting Network can fill that gap. It was an exciting event that I was fortunate to be able to cover in person and I look forward to seeing how the rest of the season plays out as we head to Athens in May for the NCAAs.

The conclusion of the Division I Team Indoor Championships marks the beginning of the computer rankings, with the coaches poll discontinued. There is a new method in place this year, with the coaches polls having no bearing on the initial computer rankings, resulting in some interesting placements right now.  Below are the rankings published today, with Ohio State at No. 1 despite their loss in the Team Indoor final to Texas, which is No. 3. Women's Team Indoor champion Georgia is No. 1, with Team Indoor finalist Ohio State at No. 2. Click on the heading of each ranking to view the full list.

Top 10 ITA Division I Men's Rankings, computer, February 19, 2026

TEAM:

1. Ohio State

2. Virginia

3. Texas

4. Wake Forest

5. LSU

6. Baylor

7. TCU

8. Central Florida

9. San Diego

10. Mississippi State

SINGLES:

1. Trevor Svajda, SMU

2. Dylan Dietrich, Virginia

3. Sebastian Gorzny, Texas

4. Paul Inchauspe, Princeton

5. Jay Friend, Arizona

6. Michael Zheng, Columbia

7. Max Dahlin, Michigan

8. Aidan Kim, Ohio State

9. Duncan Chan, TCU

10. Petar Jovanovic, Mississippi State

DOUBLES (Top 5):

1. Brandon Carpico and Nikita Filin, Ohio State

2. DK Suresh and Andrew Delgado, Wake Forest

3. Mans Dahlberg and Dylan Dietrich, Virginia

4. Benito Sanchez Martinez and Petar Jovanovic, Mississippi State

5. Paul Inchauspe and Landon Ardila, Princeton

Top 10 ITA Division I Women's Rankings, computer, February 19, 2026

TEAM:

1. Georgia

2. Ohio State

3. North Carolina

4. LSU

5. Texas A&M

6. Southern California

7. Oklahoma

8. UCLA

9. Tennessee

10. Texas

SINGLES:

1. Reese Brantmeier, North Carolina

2. Teah Chavez, Ohio State

3. Carmen Herea, Texas

4. Luciana Perry, Ohio State

5. Lucciana Perez, Texas A&M

6. Ange Oby Kajuru, North Carolina

7. Aysegul Mert, Georgia

8. Anastasiia Grechkina, Pepperdine

9. Savannah Dada-Mascoll, Appalachian State

10. Valerie Glozman, Stanford

DOUBLES (Top 5):

1. Roisin Gilheany and Gloriana Nahum, Oklahoma

2. Sophia Webster and Celia-Belle Mohr, Vanderbilt

3. Melodie Collard and Vivian Yang, Virginia

4. Gabriella Broadfoot and Victoria Osuigwe, NC State

5. Reese Brantmeier and Alanis Hamilton, North Carolina

There are three women's pro events this week in the United States: a W15 in Palm Coast Florida, a W35 in Las Vegas and the WTA 125 Dow Tennis Classic in Midland Michigan. There are two men's events, the ATP 250 in Delray Beach Florida and an M15 in Naples Florida.

In Naples, 15-year-old Teodor Davidov, who has been something of a celebrity in tennis circles for years now due to his forehand-only playing style, earned his first ATP point this week after qualifying, and has advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 6-4 win over No. 6 seed Karue Sell(UCLA) of Brazil. Sell had beaten Jack Kennedy in the first round. Fifteen-year-old Michael Antonius also has reached the quarterfinals, beating qualifier Louis Tessa of France 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 today.  Other Americans through to the quarterfinals are wild card Hunter Heck(Illinois), Evan Bynoe and Mwendwa Mbithi.

In Palm Coast, 17-year-old wild card Carlota Moreno, playing in her first Pro Circuit event, is through to the quarterfinals after beating No. 3 seed Maria Fernanda Navarro in the first round and fellow junior Capucine Jauffret today 6-2, 6-7(1), 7-6(5) in match that lasted more than three hours. She will play unseeded Emily De Oliveira(Florida) next. No. 6 seed Bella Payne is the third American in the quarterfinals.

The weather has been bad in Las Vegas, cold and wet, with today's second round unfinished. But two teens have booked their spots in the quarterfinals, with 16-year-old wild card Melije Clarke taking out No. 2 seed Eryn Cayetano(USC) 6-3, 6-4 today to reach her first women's pro circuit quarterfinal above the W15 level. No. 3 seed Julieta Pareja, who turned 17 yesterday, defeated qualifier Snow Han(USC) of China 6-0, 6-3. Qualifier Kelly Keller(Arkansas) is also through to the quarterfinals.

I'm usually in Midland for the Dow Tennis Classic WTA 125, but it moved from November to February for this year, which conflicted with my coverage of the Men's Team Indoor. So I will not be seeing Friday's quarterfinal match between 18-year-old wild card Anna Frey and 2024 NCAA singles champion Dasha Vidmanova(Georgia) of the Czech Republic, the No. 2 seed. 

Frey, a freshman at North Carolina, defeated No. 6 seed Eli Mandlik 7-5, 6-2 in the first round and Kayla Day 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in the second round to reach her first pro circuit quarterfinal above the W15 level.

After No. 8 seed Frances Tiafoe beat two-time Kalamazoo 18s champion Zachary Svajda, a qualifier, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5, he will face another two-time Kalamazoo 18s champion in No. 4 seed Learner Tien(USC). Tien defeated defending champion Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia 6-4, 6-7(4), 7-6(5) to set up a rematch with Tiafoe, who won the Kalamazoo 18s title in 2015. They met in the first round of the US Open in 2023, after Tien had earned a wild card after winning Kalamazoo for the second time, with Tiafoe posting a 6-2, 7-5, 6-1 victory.

Tucson ITF J300 Acceptances; ITA Announces Host Sites for 2027 and 2028 Team Indoor Championships; Pro Connections at Men's Team Indoor; Confirmation of Tiley's Move to USTA CEO Position Expected Next Week

Acceptances for the ITF J300 in Tucson were posted today, with Janae Preston and Michael Antonius leading the fields. Tucson is the new site of this tournament, which had been during the second week of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells the past three years.

Preston, now up to 21 in the ITF junior rankings after her three straight J300 titles in Central and South America, is one of four Top 50 American girls on the acceptance list, with No. 39 Welles Newman, No. 49 Melije Clarke and No. 50 Jordyn Hazelitt entering.

No. 25 Mariella Thamm of Germany and Kristina Liutova are the other ITF Top 50 players in the draw. No. 34 Liutova, currently 601 in the WTA rankings, has, by far, the best World Tennis Number in the field.

Antonius, who won back-to-back J300 titles in South American recently, is joined by Junior Davis Cup teammate Andy Johnson, who won the M15 in Sunrise Florida last week. The third member of that JDC championship team, Jordan Lee, is not entered.

The Top 50 US boys, in addition to No. 11 Antonius and No. 16 Johnson, are No. 28 Tanishk Konduri, No. 39 Ryan Cozad and No. 49 Vihaan Reddy.

The initial main draw cutoff ranking was 195 for the boys and 187 for the girls.

I will be covering the event, which is March 9-14, to kick off my three-week trip, the San Diego J300 North American Closed and the Easter Bowl in weeks two and three respectively.

There's still some digesting to do on Texas's first ITA Men's Team Indoor Championships title, but planning for the next two years is already underway, with the ITA announcing today that the men's 2027 and 2028 events will be co-hosted by Clemson and South Carolina, with Clemson the final site in 2027, and the women's events in 2027 and 2028 co-hosted by Michigan and Ohio State, with Michigan the final site in 2027. 

Although I'm disappointed not to be returning to SMU, where head coach Grant Chen does an outstanding job hosting, I am pleased to be able to focus on the women's event next year, with Michigan just a couple of hours east on I-94 from me. Fingers crossed that the weather cooperates, because this is the first time two states will be involved as host sites, and Ann Arbor is a three-hour drive from Columbus in good weather.

For more from the four coaches who will be hosting, see this article from the ITA.

Mary Joe Fernandez and Lindsay Davenport at Men's Team Indoor

Greg Sharko, the former ATP stats guru, was in Dallas helping with the media at the men's Team Indoor and he wrote this article for tennis.com about the seven different familial relationships between ITA Men's Team Indoor competitors and current and former ATP and WTA pros. Mary Joe Fernandez and Lindsay Davenport and their sons, who are Stanford teammates and competing together in doubles, are the most well-known of the seven, but Sharko tracked down five other connections as well.

I also heard Sharko arrange a call with Texas head coach Bruce Berque and the Tennis Channel T2 hosts Brad Gilbert and Nick Monroe for Thursday afternoon, so check that out if you can.

There was plenty of chatter at the Men's Team Indoor about the likelihood of Tennis Australia's Craig Tiley joining the USTA as its new CEO, and that announcement is now expected next week according to this Australian source. I heard speculation that his start date may not be immediate given a non-compete clause in his TA contract, but I will be sure to pass along the official USTA announcement, in its entirety, when I receive it.

Texas Claims Program's First Title at ITA Men's Division I Team Indoor Championships with 4-2 Victory Over No. 1 Ohio State

©Colette Lewis 2026--

Dallas TX--

University of Texas head coach Bruce Berque didn't dream that his team would contend for a title at this year's ITA Men's National Team Indoor Championships, and when freshman Kalin Ivanovski delivered a 4-2 victory over top seed Ohio State Tuesday night at SMU's Styslinger/Altec Tennis Complex, securing the Longhorns first Team Indoor title, Berque still couldn't quite grasp what his team had accomplished.

"It's amazing," said Berque, who led Texas to its first NCAA team championship in 2019. "Truthfully, I'm surprised, particularly because I didn't think we would hold up physically. But the guys were super, super tough and I couldn't be more proud of them."

Texas showed that toughness in the doubles point, with all three matches decided in a tiebreaker. Ohio State's Alex Okonkwo and Alex Bernard had four match points in two separate games against Ivanovski and Abel Forger at line 1; at line 2 Buckeyes Nikita Filin and Brandon Carpico had a match point against Sebastian Gorzny and Lucas Marionneau at 4-5, and at line 3, Ohio State's Bryce Nakashima and Aidan Kim also had a match point at 4-5, against Oliver Ojakaar and Sebastian Eriksson.

But Texas saved all six, and went on to win the tiebreakers 7-6(5) at 2 and 7-6(3) at 3 to take the lead.

Texas, who had lost the doubles point when they dropped a 4-1 decision to Ohio State late last month in Columbus, knew the Buckeyes would immediately bounce back from the frustration of those missed opportunities in doubles.

"I wouldn't expect anything less from Ohio State," said Berque, who watched as his team dropped four first sets in singles. "And I also think that when your back is against the wall, you come out swinging."

The Buckeyes certainly did that, getting first sets from, in order, Nikita Filin at line 6, Bryce Nakashima at line 5, Jack Anthrop at line 3 and Alexander Okonkwo at line 4.

Okonkwo was making his debut in singles this tournament, but Ohio State head coach Ty Tucker liked his matchups at line 5 and line 6 with Okonkwo, who had been pulled from the No. 4 spot in the three previous matches, in tonight's lineup.

Whether Tucker expected a point from Okonkwo is anyone's guess, but the junior, a transfer from Tulsa, delivered one, beating Sebastian Eriksson 7-6(1), 6-2. That point tied the score at 2, with Jack Anthrop having beaten Forger 6-3, 6-2 at line 3 to put Ohio State on the board and Sebastian Gorzny giving Texas its second point with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Aidan Kim at line 1.

Meanwhile, Texas, which needed at least one split to have a path to four points, had earned two, with Marionneau taking the second set from Filin at line 6 and Ojakaar taking the second set from Nakashima at line 5. The third match remaining, on court 2, was still at 3-3 in the second set, with Kalinovski taking the first set from Preston Stearns in a tiebreaker. 

At line 6, Filin, who had not lost a dual match all season, fell behind 0-40 serving at 3-4, and although he forced a deciding point, Marionneau took it, and went up 40-0 serving for match at 5-3. Again Filin forced a deuce point, and again Marionneau won it, coming up with a good first serve and hitting his backhand approach behind Filin for a winner to put Texas up 3-2.

Ojakaar was up 3-2 in the third set at line 5, while Stearns was saving two break points at 3-4 in the second set to keep Ivanovski from serving for the match. But Ivanovski's huge first serve made his next hold a simple one, and serving at 4-5, Stearns found himself down 15-30. After netting a forehand to give Ivanovski three match points, Stearns saved the first, when Ivanovski sent his forehand pass long, but Ivanovski's second serve return forced another netted forehand from Stearns, and the Longhorns had their title.

Ivanovski, who joined the team this spring after nearly two years of battling hip and back injuries, celebrated his clinching victory by shedding his shirt and leading his teammates in a run around the courts, a scenario he couldn't imagine three months ago.

"The injuries are one of the reasons I chose college, and I'm very glad that I did, because this is one hell of an experience," said the 21-year-old from Macedonia, who has a career-high ATP ranking of 305. "I really love it, it's something very new to me."

Ohio State head coach Ty Tucker was impressed by Ivanovski's ability to get the ace or service winner when he most needed it.

"Ivanovski came up huge; it felt like eight or nine aces or service winners on eight or nine break points," Tucker said. "That was a high quality match, and the guy came up with it."

Ivanovski, who admits his fitness is not yet where it needs to be, said having the encouragement of his teammates helped when he needed a boost of energy.

"On the important points, when I felt tired, I just had a lot of positive talk," Ivanovski said. "The guys bring it out of me, because you're not just playing for yourself, you're playing for the whole team. I can't even explain the feeling, it's just incredible. It's nothing like playing on the pro tour. It's amazing and I'm very proud of the guys."

Berque, who had faith that improving health would allow his team to produce these kind of results, can raise his expectations now as they head into the SEC season this weekend.

"My goal was to win two matches at this tournament and not get hurt any worse than we were," Berque said. "We won four and they seem to be feeling ok, so we've got extra credit, I guess. It was a great competitive match."

After his team suffered its first defeat of the season after three close wins to reach the final, Tucker was philosophical in assessing the loss.

"It's the bee's nose here and the bee's nose there," Tucker said of the small margins in this era of college tennis. "We came out on the right side against SMU and Stanford, Virginia, and that's part of it. But we'll go back, get healthy and get ready to play some more tennis."

As the Longhorns posed for photos with NBA Hall of Famer and former Dallas Maverick Dirk Nowitski and Dallas resident John Isner, the first national indoor title in program history now has all the Burnt Orange fans in attendance and throughout the state and country dreaming of another national title in Athens in May.

ITA Men's Division I Team Indoor Championships

Finals, Tuesday February 17, 2026

Styslinger/Altec Tennis Complex, SMU

Texas[3] d. Ohio State[1] 4-2

Doubles:

1. Alex Okonkwo and Alexander Bernard(OSU) v Abel Forger and Kalin Ivanovski(TEX) 7-6(6-5), unf

2. Sebastian Gorzny and Lucas Marionneau(TEX) d. Brandon Carpico and Nikita Filin(OSU) 7-6(5)

3. Sebastian Eriksson and Oliver Ojakaar(TEX) d. Aidan Kim and Bryce Nakashima(OSU) 7-6(3) 

Order of finish: 2, 3,

Singles:

1. Sebastian Gorzny(TEX) d. Aidan Kim(OSU) 6-4, 6-4

2. Kalin Ivanovski(TEX) d. Preston Stearns(OSU) 7-5, 6-4

3. Jack Anthrop(OSU) d. Abel Forger(TEX) 6-3, 6-2

4. Alex Okonkwo(OSU) d. Sebastian Eriksson(TEX) 7-6(1), 6-2

5. Bryce Nakashima(OSU) v. Oliver Ojakaar(TEX) 6-3, 3-6, 2-2, unf.

6. Lucas Marionneau(TEX) d. Nikita Filin(OSU) 3-6, 6-3, 6-3

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

Ohio State Defeats Virginia, Texas Beats Baylor to Advance to Tuesday's Final of the ITA Men's Division I Team Indoor Championships

©Colette Lewis 2026--
Dallas TX--

Three-time ITA Men's Team Indoor champion Ohio State will face a Texas team seeking its first title Tuesday night at the Styslinger-Altec Tennis Complex at SMU after earning hard-fought wins over Virginia and Baylor in Monday's semifinals.

Top seed Ohio State avoided a third consecutive 4-3 decision, beating No. 2 seed Virginia 4-2 in the 3:30 pm match, with a crisply played doubles point going the way of the Buckeyes. Aidan Kim and Bryce Nakashima earned the point with a 6-3 win at line 3, beating Andres Santamarta and Keegan Rice, after the Cavaliers had won at line 1 and the Ohio State had taken line 2.

Four first sets in singles went to the Buckeyes, but a Virginia surge felt inevitable, despite senior Jack Anthrop's routine 6-2, 6-3 win over former ITF World No. 1 Andres Santamarta Roig, who is just weeks into his college career.

Three matches went to third sets, and in the two of those that were completed, the player who lost a first set, secured a point for his team.

After Jangjun Kim beat Nakashima 7-6(3), 6-4 at line to put Virginia on the board, with Ohio State taking a brief 3-1 lead when Nikita Filin claimed a 7-5, 7-5 victory over Mans Dahlberg at line 6. But a minute later, Stiles Brockett of Virginia completed his comeback, beating Loren Byers 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 to close the gap to 3-2.

That left two matches, both in third sets, with Kim trailing Dylan Dietrich 3-0 at line 1 and Preston Stearns and Keegan Rice, on serve early in their third set at line 2.

Kim, who had clinched Ohio State's 4-3 quarterfinal win over Stanford, said he couldn't allow himself get discouraged or passive despite the early deficit in the third set.

"I struggled to start that third set, and negative thoughts were going through my head," said the junior from Michigan. "I just had to shut them all off, and not really think too much, because those moments, knowing it's coming down to me or Stearns, I knew I had to just step it up, just believe and commit to my shots."

Kim did just that, breaking Dietrich on a deciding point to get the early break back, and holding for 3-all. Dietrich held at love to go up 4-3, but that was the last game he would win. Kim held for 4-all and then forced a deciding point with Dietrich serving, and when the senior from Switzerland double faulted with his second serve at least two feet long, Kim was suddenly serving for a trip to the finals.

Kim had served out the doubles point, making all five of his first serves in that game, and he continued that trend serving at 5-4, making his first three and swinging freely to go up 40-0. He sailed a backhand long on his first match point, but another first serve, a forehand approach and a backhand volley proved too much for Dietrich, whose defensive lob floated long, setting off another celebration that looked remarkably similar to Saturday's ending against Stanford.

"I try not to think too hard that I need this first serve," Kim said. "Again, I try to shut off my brain a little bit in those tighter moments, and I was happy I was able to commit and execute, trusting myself. I was down basically the whole match and I was being tentative, but talking to the coaches, switching up the game plan here and there and just believing."

Head coach Ty Tucker expressed his appreciation for Kim's ability to come up with first serves when closing out matches.

"You're looking for guys who hold serve the first time they serve for a set, when they serve for the match, that's what you need," Tucker said. "It's men's tennis, it's being played indoors and you've got to be able to hold serve."

Ohio State, who won Indoor titles in 2014, 2019 and 2024, will have three players on the 2024 team competing for a title again: Anthrop, Alex Bernard and Stearns, with Stearns not playing in the final.

Tucker doesn't think that provides much of an advantage for the Buckeyes.

"Anthrop, Bernard and Stearns were there," Tucker said. But when asked if that might be helpful, he replied, "I think it helps to hold serve. I think it helps to get the doubles point. But sure, obviously. But everybody's going to be nervous, everybody's going to be a little bit tight."

No. 3 seed Texas last played in an Team Indoor final in 2023, falling to TCU, but after beating No. 5 seed Baylor 4-0, the Longhorns are poised for another shot at their first Indoor title.

Although the 4-0 score looks routine, the Longhorns never really established any dominance over the Bears even after collecting the doubles point and four first sets in singles. Although Texas had more paths, they had no luck building on that 1-0 lead, while Baylor also could not close out either of the matches in which they took first sets.

Texas finally got their second point, with Sebastian Eriksson taking down Alexandru Chirita 6-4, 7-5 at line 4. Texas made it 3-0, with Kalin Ivanovski rebounding for a  3-6, 6-2, 6-3 win ove Zsombor Velcz at line 2, but Baylor's Devin Badenhorst had forced a third set by taking a tiebreaker over Sebastian Gorzny at line 1 and Texas's Lucas Marionneau had saved a set point serving at 4-5 against Louis Bowden at line 6. Had Marionneau lost that point, there was at least another 30 minutes of tennis to be played, but Marionneau broke Bowden on a second serve return winner on the deciding point to take a 6-5 lead.

Serving for the match Marionneau went down 30-40, but again he held his nerve, with the freshman from France taking his third straight game on a deciding point, with Bowden netting a backhand, to clinch the win.

"When I served for the match, I said I have to go for it," said Marionneau, who clinched the Longhorns' 4-2 win over Texas A&M in the round of 16, but did not play in the 4-3 quarterfinal win over TCU. "At 30-40, I hit a backhand line, super great shot, and then on the deuce point, I was a bit tight, to be honest, missed my first serve and then I was just grinding, and I'm really happy to bring this point for the team."

Texas head coach Bruce Berque said he hoped to leave with a couple of wins and a healthy team, not expecting a run to the program's second final.

"Truthfully, my goal coming into this tournament was to win two matches, and not get hurt any worse than we were," Berque said. "That was my goal. We don't seem too hurt, we didn't get any worse, and we've won three matches already, so I'm thrilled, and I know my guys aren't going to be content with that...I'm thrilled with the result, and thrilled that the guys seem to be holding up physically."

Oliver Ojakaar, who was injured last season and did not play after March, had a setback this fall, so Texas is being extremely cautious as he tries to return to competition for a second time. After clinching the 4-3 win over TCU in the quarterfinals, Ojakaar played doubles today, and is a match time decision for the finals.

"We thought at most he could get two singles matches in this week, at most," Berque said. "Tonight didn't seem like the right night for it, but tomorrow, we'll see, depending on how he feels. But he's holding up really well, and after his long match(against TCU), he recovered well and we'll see if he's feeling good enough to do it."

 

Texas and Ohio State played in Columbus at the end of last month, with the Buckeyes claiming a 4-1 win.

"We were a little soft last time," Berque said. "You know they're not soft. Singles, doubles, every court they're going to compete their butts off. They're really good tennis players, but they're tough as nails and we're going to have to match that at least. We're going to have to play a high level of tennis, but what I saw out here today, I think we'll have a fighting chance, but anything less than our best competitive effort is going to result in a trip home with a 3-1 record."

The final is scheduled for 6:30 p.m Central time Tuesday, with the inaugural collegiate version of the famous "Taste of Tennis" event being held in conjunction with the final.

Cracked Racquets will be providing coverage at their YouTube Channel.

ITA Men's Division I Team Indoor Championships 

Semifinals, SMU, Monday February 16, 2026

Ohio State[1] d. Virginia[2] 4-2

1. Stiles Brockett and Dylan Dietrich(UVA) d. Alex Bernard and Alex Okonkwo 6-2

2. Brandon Carpico and Nikita Filin(OSU) d. Mans Dahlberg and Jangjun Kim(UVA) 6-1

3. Aidan Kim and Bryce Nakashima(OSU) d. Andres Santamarta and Keegan Rice(UVA) 6-3

Order of finish: 1, 2, 3

Singles:

1. Aidan Kim(OSU) d. Dylan Dietrich(UVA) 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-4

2. Preston Stearns(OSU) v Keegan Rice(UVA) 6-4, 6-7(3), 2-2, unf.

3. Jack Anthrop(OSU) d. Andres Santamarta(UVA) 6-2, 6-3

4. Jangjun Kim(UVA) d. Bryce Nakashima(OSU) 7-6(3), 6-4

5. Stiles Brockett(UVA) d. Loren Byers(OSU) 1-6, 7-5, 6-3

6. Nikita Filin(OSU) d. Mans Dahlberg(UVA) 7-5, 7-5

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

Texas[3] d. Baylor[5] 4-0

Doubles:

1. Abel Forger and Kalin Ivanovski(TEX) d. Connor Van Schalkwyk and Luc Koenig(BAY) 6-3

2. Sebastian Gorzny and Lucas Marionneau(TEX) d. Alexandru Chirita and Zsombor Velcz(BAY) 7-5

3. Sebastian Eriksson and Oliver Ojakaar(TEX) v Devin Badenhorst and Blake Anderson(BAY) 6-5, unf

Order of finish: 1, 2

Singles:

1. Sebastian Gorzny(TEX) v Devin Badenhorst(BAY) 6-4, 6-7(4), 1-1, unf.

2. Kalin Ivanovski(TEX) d. Zsombor Velcz(BAY) 3-6, 6-2, 6-3

3. Abel Forger(TEX) v Connor Van Schalkwyk(BAY) 3-6, 6-3, 4-2, unf

4. Sebastian Eriksson(TEX) d. Alexandru Chirita(BAY) 6-4, 7-5

5. Jonah Braswell(TEX) v Luc Koenig(BAY) 6-4, 4-6, 1-2, unf

6. Lucas Marionneau(TEX) d. Louis Bowden(BAY) 6-4, 7-5

Order of finish: 4, 2, 6

Sixteen-year-old Johnson Earns First USTA Pro Circuit Title at M15 Sunrise; Dostanic Claims First ATP Challenger Title; Former Collegians Shelton and Cerundolo Win ATP Titles; ITF Junior Circuit Update

©Colette Lewis 2026--

Dallas Texas--

Six consolation matches were on Sunday's schedule at the ITA Men's Division I Team Indoor Championships, and I watched Mississippi State's 4-3 win over Stanford and Florida's 4-1 win over SMU here in Dallas(John Isner was also in attendance for the latter), with the Clemson - Arizona State match yet to finish. They had another thriller in Waco today, with Wake Forest beating TCU 4-3 in a rematch of last year's Team Indoor and NCAA Team final. The match again came down to Wake's DK Suresh at No. 1, in a third set tiebreaker, and this time he came out on top, beating Duncan Chan 7-6(4), 6-7(2), 7-6(6) in a nearly three-hour contest.

All consolation results and individual scores can be found at iOnSport's live scoring app and page.

Monday's semifinals begin with Ohio State and Virginia at 3:30 pm Central, followed by Baylor and Texas, not before 6:30 pm. Cracked Racquets will provide the live stream, with commentary, at their YouTube channel.

American men won all three finals played today in the United States, and I'll start with the youngest champion, 16-year-old Southern Californian Andy Johnson. Johnson, who received an ITF junior reserved entry into the M15 in Sunrise Florida based on his year-end junior ranking of 29, defeated unseeded Dragos Nicolae Cazacu 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 in today's final.

Johnson led 5-0 in the third set but never managed another hold. He had match points on return at 5-0 and 5-2, but never had one on serve, breaking Cazacu at 4-5, on his sixth match point, for the win. Johnson now joins Moise Kouame of France as the only players born in 2009 with ITF Men's Pro Circuit singles titles.

Unseeded John Sperle of Germany and Louis Tessa of France won the doubles title in Sunrise, beating No. 4 seeds Joao Victor Couto Loureiro of Brazil and Tsz Fu Wong of Hong Kong 6-4, 6-1 in the final.

Twenty-four-year-old qualifier Stefan Dostanic, the Most Outstanding Player of last year's Men's Team Indoor here at SMU while at Wake Forest, earned his first ATP Challenger title today at the Baton Rouge 50, beating top seed Alexis Galarneau(NC State) of Canada 6-4, 6-1 in his first Challenger final.

Dostanic was no doubt helped by Galarneau's 34 unforced errors, but he served well, facing only one break point in the match while converting all four break opportunities he had. Dostanic, who spent four years at USC before joining Wake, is up to a career-high ATP ranking of 354 with this title.

At ATP 500 Nexo Dallas Open, just 40 minutes north of here, 2022 NCAA champion Ben Shelton(Florida) saved three match points in his 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 victory over Taylor Fritz to claim his fourth ATP title. For more on the 23-year-old's victory, see this article from the tournament website.

Another former collegian also earned his fourth ATP title today, this one at the 250 level, with Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina defeating Luciano Darderi of Italy 6-4, 6-2 at the IEB+ Argentina Open in Buenos Aires. The 27-year-old Cerundolo, who played briefly at South Carolina, is No. 19 in the ATP rankings. See the ATP's article for more on the final.

I usually review the ITF Junior Circuit results of Americans on Monday, but because the ITA Men's Team Indoor Championships semifinals will be occupying all of my attention, I'll post that information tonight instead.

In addition to Janae Preston's title at the ITF J300 in Peru, which I covered in Saturday's post, three other Americans claimed singles titles on the ITF Junior Circuit.

In 2026's first ITF Junior Circuit event in the United States, a J30 in Hawaii, 17-year-old Ashley Kurizaki won the title in her ITF Junior Circuit debut, beating Amara Ama 6-1, 6-2 in the all-USA final. Unseeded Lucy Graci and Ania Zabost won the doubles title, beating top seeds Quinn Sommer and Canada's Sophia Montemurro 5-7, 7-5, 10-6 in the final. Top seeds Grant Kleppinger and Peter Nistad won the boys doubles title, beating No. 4 seeds Luca Sevim and Luxembourg's Evan Palumbo  5-7, 7-6(5), 10-6.

At the J60 in Guatemala, unseeded 16-year-old Ellery Mendell won her second ITF Junior Circuit singles title, beating top seed and doubles partner Romina Dominguez Garcia of Mexico 6-1, 6-2 in the final. No. 2 seeds Dominguez Garcia and Mendell lost in the doubles final to top seeds London Evans and Italy's Asia Sundas 6-3, 6-7(3), 10-4.

Unseeded 16-year-old Dhakshish Aryan Basavaraju won his first ITF Junior Circuit title in boys singles, beating No. 2 seed Harold Cotom Hidalgo of Guatemala 3-6, 7-5, 6-0 in the final.  

At the ITF J200 in the Dominican Republic, unseeded 15-year-old Hannah Ayrault, the 2025 San Diego 16s champion, reached the final, where she lost to No. 2 seed Emily Eigelsbach of Germany 2-6, 6-4, 6-0. Ayrault had beaten top seed Sofiia Bielinska of Urkraine 7-6(3), 6-2 in the quarterfinals.

No. 2 seeds Ireland O'Brien and Canada's Andrea Cabio won the girls doubles title, beating top seeds Bielinska and Ophelia Korpanec Davies of Great Britain 6-2, 6-4 in the final.

No. 3 seeds Zavier Augustin and Germany's Eric Mueller won the boys doubles title, beating the fourth-seeded Canadian team of Joshua Adamson and Caden Colburne 6-4, 6-2 in the championship match.

Enya Hamilton and Autumn Xu won their second girls doubles title in as many weeks at J60s in Mexico, with the No. 6 seeds beating No. 7 seeds Valentina Galvan Solorzano and Mar Miramontes of Mexico 6-1, 6-1 in the final in Zapopan.