Cozad, Yoshida Win ITF J200 Las Vegas Titles; Goode Takes ITF J300 Tucson Wild Card, Liutova a Late Withdrawal; Auburn Women Beat LSU, Texas Men Fall to LSU; Zheng Keeps AO Earnings

Ryan Cozad won his first ITF Junior Circuit singles title in more than year today at the J200 in Las Vegas, with the top seed defeating doubles partner Ford McCollum, the No. 10 seed, 6-0, 6-1. The University of Virginia recruit, who had claimed his ninth ITF Junior Circuit doubles title Friday, partnering with McCollum, dropped just one set in his six singles victories. Cozad now has three career singles title on the ITF Junior Circuit.

No. 5 seed Riyo Yoshida of Japan won the girls singles title, beating No. 2 seed Hollie Smart of Great Britain 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 in today's final. It's Yoshida's second ITF J200 title, and her seventh overall.

All four finalists are expected to compete in next week's ITF J300 in Tucson, but there was a late withdrawal, with Kristina Liutova pulling out today. That leaves Melije Clarke as the only current ITF Top 50 girl in the draw.

The girls draw in Tucson lost a top 50 player in Liutova, but the boys gained one with the notice that Gavin Goode has accepted a wild card into the main draw. The ITF Junior No. 23 was not entered in Tucson, although he did enter the San Diego J300 the following week.

The other main draw wild cards went to Justin Riley Anson, Dhakshish Aryan Basavaraju, Daniela Del Mastro, Julia Seversen and Tanvi Pandey.

The qualifying began today in Tucson, but there were very few matches, with the boys unable to fill a 24-player draw, with the five players with byes needing to win only one match to qualify for the main draw.

The girls did have enough qualifying entries for the standard 48 draw, but 21 players received byes into the second round. The second round winners will play two qualifying matches Sunday with those six winners playing another match in the main draw Monday.

At the J300 in Paraguay, No. 5 seed Damir Zhalgasbay of Kazakhstan won the boys title, beating No. 2 seed Yannik Alvarez of Puerto Rico 6-4, 6-4 for his first ITF J300 singles title.

Top seed Sol Ailin Larraya Guidi of Argentina won the girls singles title, her first at the J300 level, beating unseeded Camila Rodero of Chile 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Qualifying is underway for the ITF J300 in Porto Alegre Brazil, with Londyn McCord, the No. 1 seed, the only American in qualifying. 

Thara Gowda lost in the semifinals of the W15 in Canada, with top seed Ariana Arseneault(Georgia, Auburn) of Canada beating the 17-year-old qualifier from Michigan 6-3, 6-2. Arseneault will face No. 4 seed Dasha Ivanova in Sunday's final.

Last night in Austin, second-ranked Texas lost to No. 6 LSU 4-3 in SEC play, adding to the chaos atop the men's rankings, after No. 1 Ohio State fell to Baylor on Thursday night. LSU's Olaf Pieczkowski, a 21-year-old from Poland new to the Tigers roster, came from 5-2 down in the third set to beat Sebastian Gorzny 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 at line 1, clinching the fourth point for LSU. LSU won the doubles point and got wins at 2, 4 and 1 to pull off the upset. Texas is right back out there tonight, hosting No. 7 TCU.

The fourth-ranked LSU women hosted fifth-ranked Auburn today in Baton Rouge, with Auburn claiming a 4-2 victory. Auburn won the doubles point, but lost four first sets in singles. LSU quickly tied the match with a win at line 6, but victories for Auburn and lines 4 and 5, the two matches where they had won the first sets, put them back in the lead. And in the three remaining matches, Auburn had forced third sets, losing at No. 2, but getting a win at line 3 from Angella Okutoyi to clinch it, with line 1 unfinished.

Auburn is now 21-1, with their sole loss coming in the semifinals of the Team Indoor, to champion Georgia. 

Front Office Sports (thanks to Courtney Nguyen for highlighting the article in her Daily Bagel newsletter) has followed up on the issues of NCAA compliance regarding Michael Zheng's Australian Open earnings, with Zheng able to accept the money without jeopardizing his eligibility this spring because the money can be used for expenses throughout the calendar year, not the academic year in which it was earned. Whether the Reese Brantmeier settlement, yet to be announced, will affect this rule is unknown right now, but Zheng can fund the start of his pro career without any worries about the NCAA rules. 

The Universal Tennis Foundation's Hurd Award for American collegians was scheduled to be selected on Friday, with the announcement of the men's and women's winners and finalists expected Sunday, when Tennis Channel airs a special segment on  Zheng will have another source of funds for his pro career expenses when he receives that $100,000, which he does not have to use during this year. 

February Aces; Doubles Champions Meet in Singles Final at ITF J200 Las Vegas; Alvarez Reaches J300 Paraguay Final; Gowda Advances to W15 Semifinal in Canada; Easter Bowl Finds New Presenting Sponsor; Top-Ranked Ohio State Men, Georgia Women Fall

My monthly column for the Tennis Recruiting Network is up today, highlighting the top performances from juniors, collegians and former collegians. An unlikely double from the 2022 NCAA singles champion, lots of memorable moments for Wake Forest players, past and present, and first pro titles here in the US for two 16-year-olds. 

Qualifying for the ITF J300 in Tucson begins Saturday, and the main draw wild cards, revealed today, include ITF junior No. 23 Gavin Goode. Goode has not played a junior event since the Australian Open.

The finals are set for the ITF J200 in Las Vegas, with doubles champions Ryan Cozad and Ford McCollum facing off in the singles final. Top seed Cozad defeated No. 11 seed Felix Roussell 6-1, 3-6, 7-6(5), while No. 10 seed McCollum beat unseeded Justin Riley Anson 6-3, 7-5. Cozad and McCollum, the top seeds in doubles, defeated Andrej Markovic and Kahven Singh 6-2, 6-2 in the all-USA final.

The girls final will feature No. 2 seed Hollie Smart of Great Britain and No. 5 seed Riyo Yoshia of Japan. Yoshida beat unseeded Armira Kockinis 6-1, 6-4 and Smart defeated unseeded Carlota Moreno 6-2, 6-4 to reach the final.  Moreno will travel to Tucson with a trophy however, with she and Sophia Bedacsek, seeded eighth, beating No. 5 seeds Capucine Jauffret and Canada's Charlize Celebrini 6-3, 6-3 in the girls doubles final.

At the ITF J300 in Paraguay, Puerto Rico's Yannik Alvarez won the doubles title and is through to the singles final, his first at the J300 level. Alvarez, the No. 2 seed, defeated unseeded Alvaro Ariel Frutos Alonso of Paraguay 6-3, 6-1 and will face No. 5 seed Damir Zhalgasbay of Kazakhstan in the final. Zhalgasbay, who had beaten top seed Jack Secord in the quarterfinals 3-6, 7-5, 6-0, took out No. 3 seed Emilio Comacho of Ecuador 6-0, 6-4 in today's semifinal.

Alvarez and John Bothma of South Africa won the doubles title, their first as a team, but the 11th on the ITF Junior Circuit for Alvarez. The No. 3 seeds defeated unseeded Ignacio De Armas of Venezuela and Felipe Vazquez of Uruguay 6-3, 6-4 in today's final.

The girls singles final will feature top seed Sol Ailin Larraya Guidi of Argentina and unseeded Camila Rodero of Chile. In the girls doubles final, No. 2 seeds Maia Ilinca Burcescu of Romania and Alyssa James of Jamaica beat the unseeded team of Ophelia Korpanec Davies and Pavla Sviglerova of Czechia 6-3, 6-3.

Thara Gowda is warming up for the Tucson J300 with a stellar week at the W15 in Trois-Rivieres Canada. After qualifying for her first ITF women's World Tennis Tour main draw, she is through to the semifinals after beating Canada's Nadia Lagaev 6-4, 2-6, 6-0. Gowda will face top seed Ariana Arseneault(Georgia, Auburn) of Canada in Saturday's semifinals. In the bottom half semifinal, No. 4 seed Dasha Ivanova will play No. 7 seed Ana Grubor of Canada.

The Easter Bowl, which begins March 21 in Indian Wells, has announced that adidas will serve as a presenting sponsor this year. FILA took over for adidas in 2022 and was the title sponsor for the past four years, but they bowed out when the company left the US market. Both companies put together a fantastic player party every year; I'll be interested to see if that will continue this year. A pre-tournament release from Steve Pratt, the longtime Easter Bowl press liaison, is below.

Future of American Junior Tennis Will Once Again Be On

Display During 58th Annual Easter Bowl USTA Spring Nationals

March 21-29, 2026, At Indian Wells Tennis Garden

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. (March 6, 2026) – The future of American tennis will once again be on display at the 58th Annual Easter Bowl USTA Spring Nationals Presented by adidas and taking place March 21-29 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, home to the BNP Paribas Open Masters 1000 event.

One of the nation’s largest and most prestigious junior tennis tournaments, the Easter Bowl is a USTA Level 1 Spring National Championship in the 18s, 16s, 14s and 12s for both boys and girls with gold, silver and bronze balls handed out for top finishers in all eight singles and doubles divisions.

Current world-ranked No. 27, Irvine’s Learner Tien, played the prestigious Easter Bowl seven times as a junior, dating back to his debut in 2015. In 2019, Tien advanced to the Boys’ 14s singles semifinals and in 2021, he made it to the Boys’ 16s final as a 15-year-old. In his final Easter Bowl match as a 16-year-old playing in the 18s in 2022, Tien competed in the quarterfinals and fell to good friend and training partner Alex Michelsen, who went on to win the title.

Nearly every American men’s and women’s Grand Slam champion since the first tournament began in 1968 has competed in the Easter Bowl, a true pipeline to the professional ranks, including past winners and International Tennis Hall of Famers John McEnroe, Tracy Austin, Pam Shriver and Jennifer Capriati. Recent past Easter Bowl champions include current pro stars, Fritz, Jenson Brooksby, Frances Tiafoe, Marcos Giron, Brandon Nakashima, Sofia Kenin, Taylor Townsend, Tommy Paul, Alex Michelsen, Emma Navarro and Iva Jovic, to name a few. Recent Australian Open winner Madison Keys and two-time 2025 Grand Slam finalist Amanda Anismova are also counted among Easter Bowl alumni.

Easter Bowl matches will once again be live-streamed on www.EasterBowl.com with more information to come. To keep up with all the Easter Bowl news, visit the website at www.easterbowl.com.

The iconic junior tournament started by Seena Hamilton in 1968 is considered the Super Bowl of junior tennis. Longtime Easter Bowl Chairman Emeritus Lornie Kuhle took over the event 14 years ago and was responsible for moving it to the Tennis Garden. There are few other junior tennis tournaments in the United States that possess the same rich history as the Easter Bowl. The tournament started in New York City and has been played in Florida, Arizona and California.

The college tennis weekend started out with a bang last night in Waco, with the tenth-ranked Baylor men taking out top-ranked Ohio State 4-2. The Buckeyes took the doubles point, but Baylor got points at lines 3, 1, 4 and 6 to hand the Buckeyes their second loss of the season. For more on the match and the box score, see this article from baylorbears.com.

And 24 hours later, women's No. 1 Georgia lost a conference match on the road, falling to No. 35 Vanderbilt 4-2. Vanderbilt won the doubles point, then got straight-sets wins at lines 1, 3 and 6, with Georgia getting points at 4 and 5, with only line 2 going three sets. The iOnCourt box score is here.

Gowda Reaches Quarterfinals at W15 in Canada; Three Unseeded Semifinalists at ITF J200 Las Vegas; Antonius, Pareja Withdraw From San Diego J300; Qualifiers Day, Townsend Advance at BNP Paribas Open

Although there are no USTA Pro Circuit tournaments these first two weeks in March, Canada is hosting an M15 and a W15 this week, both of which have drawn many Americans. The men's tournament in Sherbrooke features two Canadian juniors, but mostly former collegians have advanced; in Trois-Rivieres three teens have reached the quarterfinals.

Thara Gowda, a 17-year-old from Michigan, is playing in just her second ITF women's World Tennis Tour tournament. Gowda, just outside the ITF Junior Circuit Top 100, qualified for her first pro circuit main draw and today defeated No. 5 seed Jada Robinson to reach the quarterfinals. 

Gowda, who is entered in both the Tucson and San Diego J300s,  will play unseeded 18-year-old Nadia Lagaev of Canada Friday. Lagaev, a Georgia recruit, is not entered in Tucson, but has entered San Diego.

The third teen is 17-year-old Anna Tabunshchyk of Canada, who hasn't played a junior event since 2024. Seventeen-year-old Kaya Moe qualified and won her first round match, but lost to top seed Ariana Arseneault(Georgia, Auburn) of Canada today.

The semifinals are set at the ITF J200 in Las Vegas, with three of the eight competitors unseeded, two of them in the girls draw.

Armira Kockinis defeated No. 14 seed Caroline Shao 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, avenging her loss to Shao at the J200 in Corpus Christi last fall. Kockinis will play No. 5 seed Riyo Yoshida of Japan, who beat Charlize Celebrini 7-5, 6-3.

Carlota Moreno, a semifinalist two weeks ago at the W15 in Florida defeated unseeded Yilin Chen 6-4, 6-4 and will play No. 2 seed Hollie Smart of Great Britain. Smart defeated Tanvi Pandey 6-2, 6-2 to advance.

Top seed Ryan Cozad is through to Friday's semifinals with a 6-2, 6-3 win over No. 12 seed Kamil Stolarczyk. He will play No. 11 seed Felix Roussel of Canada, who beat Mason Vaughan 7-6(6), 6-2. 

In the bottom half, No. 10 seed Ford McCollum will play unseeded Justin Riley Anson, with McCollum ending the winning streak of Dhakshish Aryan Basavaraju with a 6-3, 6-1 quarterfinal victory. Aryan Basavaraju had won 13 straight matches on the ITF Junior Circuit in the past month. Anson defeated No. 13 seed Daniel Malacek 7-6(3), 6-3 in today's quarterfinal.

The doubles finals are set for Friday in Las Vegas, with top seeds Cozad and McCollum facing the unseeded team of Andrej Markovic and Kahven Singh for the boys title; No. 5 seeds Celebrini and Capucine Jauffret will play No. 8 seeds Moreno an Sophia Budacsek for the girls doubles championship.

March is an extremely busy month for junior events, with the two J300s here in the United States and two J300s and a J500 in South America. It's difficult to keep track of who is playing where, but with Tuesday's withdrawal deadline now past, there is some clarity.  ITF No. 11 Michael Antonius, who was entered in San Diego J300 and in the J500 Banana Bowl in Brazil, has withdrawn from both. With his two ITF J300 titles already this year, he should be set for the junior slams this summer. 

Julieta Pareja, who is from nearby Carlsbad, withdrew from San Diego, so she will not be defending her 300 points from the California swing this month, after winning the ITF J300 in Indian Wells last year.

Janae Preston, who has won three consecutive J300s, was entered in both San Diego and Brazil; she withdrew from San Diego, but is still entered in the Banana Bowl. 

The seeded players take the court for the first time Friday at the BNP Paribas Open, with Wednesday's and Thursday's first round still underway to determine their opponents. Two of the American qualifiers, Kayla Day and Taylor Townsend, advanced with straight-sets wins today.  Day, who breezed through qualifying, had no trouble again today, beating Francesca Jones of Great Britain 6-3, 6-1. She will face No. 2 seed Iga Swiatek in the second round. Townsend defeated Marie Bouzkova of Czechia 6-2, 6-1 to set up a meeting with No. 28 seed Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine.

Other unseeded Americans advancing to the second round are Ashlyn Krueger, Marcos Giron(UCLA), Reilly Opelka, Jenson Brooksby, wild card Zachary Svajda, Aleks Kovacevic(Illinois) and Alex Michelsen.

Wild card Lilli Tagger of Austria, the reigning girls Roland Garros champion, won her first round match 6-2, 6-4 over Varvara Gracheva of France. She will play No. 32 seed Maria Sakkari of Greece in the second round.

Shao Beats Top Seed Lee; Malacek Defeats No. 2 Seed Massotte at Las Vegas J200; Secord Advances to Quarterfinals at J300 in Paraguay; Brewer Cup Champions; CMS Men and Women Top D-III Rankings; Barry and West Alabama No. 1 in Latest D-II Rankings

Fourteen-year-old Caroline Shao didn't play either of the Florida tournaments in Bradenton and Ft. Lauderdale, but returned to the ITF Junior Circuit in January at the J300 in Costa Rica. Today she posted her best result of the year, with the No. 14 seed beating top seed Nancy Lee 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-2 to advance to the quarterfinals of the ITF J200 in Las Vegas.  Shao will play unseeded 2025 Easter Bowl 16s champion Armira Kockinis next.

Shao, No. 5 seed Riyo Yoshida of Japan and No. 2 seed Hollie Smart of Great Britain are the only seeded girls remaining.

No. 13 seed Daniel Malacek, the Orange Bowl 16s finalist, defeated No. 2 seed Xavier Massotte of Canada 6-4, 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals, where he will face unseeded Justin Riley Anson. Anson defeated No. 6 seed Jerrid Gaines Jr. 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. 

Boys top seed Ryan Cozad defeated Orange Bowl 16s champion Matias Reyniak, the No. 15 seed 6-4, 6-3 and will play No. 12 seed Kamil Stolarczyk in the quarterfinals. 

The only non-American in the boys quarterfinals is No. 11 seed Felix Roussel of Canada, who will play unseeded Mason Vaughan in the quarterfinals.

At the J300 in Paraguay, top seed Jack Secord is the only American who advanced to the quarterfinals, with all five US girls, including No. 2 seed Welles Newman, falling in the second round. 

The Brewer Cup, the USTA Level I National Spring Team Championships, ended Tuesday in Mobile and Tucson. Below are the teams that won the events, with two players from the 14s, 16s and 18s age groups combining to form a team in Mobile, while the 12s teams in Tucson consist only of players in that age group. I am not certain I have the correct champions for the 12s, with the USTA's Playtennis site difficult to navigate for a tournament like this, so please correct me if I've read it wrong.

14s, 16s, 18s champions in Mobile:

Boys

Vikings

Coach Matt Boughton

B18 James Quattro

B18 John Gentek

B16 Joshua Dolinsky

B16 Aryan Ponugoti

B14 Nathan Lee

B14 Bryan Parker

Girls

Stingrays

Coach Donald Widener

G18 Gabriella Davydov

G18 Jensen Diianni

G16 Alexa Mendoza

G16 Adelyn Gross

G14 Emma Li

G14 Harshitha Thirugnanam

12s champions Tucson

Boys

Roadrunners

Keanu Agbulos

Jesse Goldman

Leonardo Bigan

Allen Hou

Doruk Comakci

Bence Leber

Girls

Rattlesnakes

Alara Buyukuncu

Eloise Forrest

Ghillian Harper

Nicole Zhang

Annie Jiang

Mia Lurigio

Now that the ITA Division III Team Indoor Championships are over, a new set of rankings has been published, the first thre weeks. Both the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men and women won the Team Indoor Championships and both are No. 1 in the rankings. 

Click on the headings to see all 40 ranked teams.

ITA Division III team rankings, March 4, 2026

MEN:

1. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps

2. Chicago

3. Case Western

4. Denison

5. Tufts

6. Johns Hopkins

7. Bowdoin

8. Emory

9. Swarthmore

10. Middlebury

WOMEN:

1. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps

2. Washington-St. Louis

3. Chicago

4. Wesleyan

5. Emory

6. Middlebury

7. Pomona-Pitzer

8. MIT

9. Babson

10. Bowdoin

Although both Barry teams won the Division II National Team Indoor Championships, only the men are No. 1 in the new rankings. Although the undefeated Barry women were No. 1 last week and didn't lose, they fell to No. 3, with West Alabama now No. 1.

Click on the headings to see all 50 ranked teams.

ITA Division II team rankings, March 4, 2026

MEN:

1. Barry

2. West Florida

3. Lubbock Christian

4. UT Tyler

5. Flagler

6. Wayne State

7. North Georgia

8. Washburn

9. UI-Indy

10. Wingate

WOMEN:

1. West Alabama

2. West Florida

3. Barry

4. North Georgia

5. Midwestern State

6. Washburn

7. Catawba

8. Mississippi College

9. Embry-Riddle

10. Augustana

The Division II singles and doubles rankings were also published today, with Natasha Sengphrachanh of Grand Valley State No. 1 in women's singles and Yan Kodjoed of Barry No. 1 in men's singles.

Day, Townsend, Vidmanova and McDonald Qualify for BNP Paribas Open; Herea, Dietrich Take Over Top Spots in ITA D-I Singles Rankings; No. 3 and 4 Seeds in Both Draws Lose at J200 Las Vegas; WTA Tournament Returns to Memphis This Summer

After three days of play, qualifying for the BNP Paribas Open is complete, with three Americans making it through to the main draw.

Kayla Day, who received a wild card into qualifying only when Elvina Kalieva did not need hers when she got in on her own ranking, defeated two seeds to advance. The 26-year-old left-hander beat No. 17 seed Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus 6-2, 7-5 in the first round and No. 9 seed Darja Semenistraja of Latvia 6-2, 6-1 in today's final round of qualifying. She will play Francesca Jones of Great Britain, whom she beat in the second round of the Wimbledon Junior Championships back in 2016.

Taylor Townsend won the battle of the players who competed in finals on Sunday, with the ATX Open finalist and doubles champion beating Arcadia W35 winner Akasha Urhobo 6-0, 7-6(5) this afternoon. 

2024 NCAA singles champion Dasha Vidmanova(Georgia), will make her Masters 1000 debut, with the 23-year-old Czech defeating Priscilla Hon of Australia 7-5, 7-6(4) to qualify. Vidmanova will face Cristina Bucsa of Spain, who won the WTA 500 last week in Mexico, in the first round.

Mackenzie McDonald(UCLA) and wild card Trevor Svajda(SMU) were the only two US men to advance to the final round of qualifying and they played each other tonight, with McDonald earning a 6-4, 6-2 victory. Svajda had beaten No. 12 seed and ATP No. 135 Luca Nardi of Italy 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-3 in the first round of qualifying Monday night. 

An even dozen Americans are seeded in Indian Wells:

7. Taylor Fritz

8. Ben Shelton

21. Frances Tiafoe

23. Tommy Paul

25. Learner Tien

28. Brandon Nakashima

4. Coco Gauff

5. Jessica Pegula

6. Amanda Anisimova

15. Madison Keys

18. Iva Jovic

20. Emma Navarro

The men's singles draw is here; the women's singles draw is here. The order of play for Wednesday is here.

The ITA Division I release today includes both team and individual rankings; the No. 1 teams remain the same, with the Georgia women and Ohio State men continuing to hold the top spot since the computer rankings took over three weeks ago. But with the previous singles No. 1s both losing on Sunday--North Carolina's Reese Brantmeier fell to Amelie Van Impe of SMU 6-1, 6-2 and SMU's Trevor Svajda was beaten by Dylan Dietrich of Virginia 3-6, 6-1, 6-3--they dropped to No. 2. Dietrich moved to No. 1, while Texas's Carmen Herea took over the top spot from Brantmeier.

When the NCAA singles and doubles championships were in the spring, the rankings were important for entry into those events, but now the rankings are just to determine All-American status (a top 20 season-ending ranking) and the ATP and to a lesser extent, the ITF Accelerator programs. Of course they are also part of a player's legacy in their program, which is also significant.

ITA Division I Women's rankings, March 3, 2026

(previous week's ranking in parentheses, link to full lists in headings)

TEAM:

1. Georgia (1)

2. Ohio State (2)

3. North Carolina (3)

4. LSU (9)

5. Auburn (13)

6. UCLA (5)

7. Tennessee (14)

8. Texas A&M (4)

9. NC State (27)

10. Cal (7)

SINGLES:

1. Carmen Herea, Texas

2. Reese Brantmeier, North Carolina

3. Luciana Perry, Ohio State

4. Teah Chavez, Ohio State

5. Lucciana Perez, Texas A&M

6. Aysegul Mert, Georgia

7. Ange Oby Kajuru, North Carolina

8. Savannah Dada-Mascoll, Appalachian State

9. Valerie Glozman, Stanford

10. Anastasiia Grechkina, Pepperdine

DOUBLES:

1. Roisin Gilheany and Gloriana Nahum, Oklahoma

2. Gabriella Broadfoot and Victoria Osuigwe, NC State

3. Melodie Collard and Vivian Yang, Virginia

4. Reese Brantmeier and Alanis Hamilton, North Carolina

5. Sophia Webster and Celia-Belle Mohr, Vanderbilt

ITA Division I Men's rankings, March 3, 2026

TEAM:

1. Ohio State (1)

2. Texas (4)

3. Virginia (2)

4. Wake Forest (3)

5. Mississippi (5)

6. LSU (7)

7. TCU (6)

8. Georgia (13)

9. UCF (10)

10. Baylor (8)

SINGLES:

1. Dylan Dietrich, Virginia

2. Trevor Svajda, SMU

3. Jay Friend, Arizona

4. Sebastian Gorzny, Texas

5. Paul Inchauspe, Princeton

6. Aidan Kim, Ohio State

7. Michael Zheng, Columbia

8. Petar Jovanovic, Mississippi State

9. Duncan Chan, TCU

10. Max Dahlin, Michigan

DOUBLES:

1. Brandon Carpica and Nikita Filin, Ohio State

2. Manfredi Graziani and Aaron Sandler, Penn

3. Mans Dahlberg and Dylan Dietrich, Virginia

4. DK Suresh and Andrew Delgado, Wake Forest

5. Benito Sanchez Martinez and Petar Jovanovic, Mississippi State

While the top two seeds in the boys and girls draw have advanced to the round of 16 at the ITF J200 in Las Vegas, the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds have been eliminated.  No. 3 seed Roshan Santhosh lost to Dhakshish Aryan Basavaraju 6-4, 6-4; Aryan Basavaraju won back-to-back J60s last month in Guatemala. No. 4 seed Cooper Kose of Australia lost in the first round yesterday to Gadin Arun 6-4, 7-6(3).  Advay Singh defeated No. 5 seed Mauricio Schtulmann Gasca of Mexico 6-1, 7-6(4).

Girls No. 3 seed Olivia Traynor lost to Carlota Moreno, who made the semifinals of a W15 last month, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 today, while Charlize Celebrini of Canada defeated No. 4 seed Capucine Jauffret 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. Celebrini is the younger sister of the NHL San Jose Sharks star Macklin Celebrini, a member of the Canadian Olympic hockey team.

Girls top seed Nancy Lee defeated Ava Quincy Brewer 1-6, 6-3, 6-0 to advance to a meeting with No. 14 seed Caroline Shao. Boys top seed Ryan Cozad beat Ilhan Basar Senel of Turkey 7-6(3), 6-4 and will face 16s Orange Bowl champion Matias Reyniak, the No. 15 seed, in the round of 16.

The WTA announced Monday that its 250 tournament, which had been played in Cleveland in late August, would be moving to Memphis for 2026 and will take place in late July. The Leftwich Tennis Center, which opened in 2023, will host the tournament; the previous WTA event in Memphis was indoors; this will be outside, and I can tell you from when I attended the USTA Girls 18s National Clay Courts there in July, it will be uncomfortably  warm.

For more on this new event, see this article.

Bhattacharya Goes Back-to-Back at J60s in Mexico, Three Other Americans Claim ITF Junior Circuit Singles Titles; Cozad, Lee Top Seeds at Las Vegas ITF J200; Urhobo Earns BNP Paribas Opening Qualifying Win; USC Team Beats UCLA for Pacific Coast Doubles Championship

The ITF Junior Circuit returns to the United States this week with the J200 in Las Vegas, with the J300 in Tucson and the J300 in San Diego providing a great opportunity for Americans to improve their rankings and earn entry into this summer's junior slams.

But other US juniors are in the early stages of their ITF junior careers, including 15-year-old Aarini Bhattacharya, who won two J30s in Jamaica last April and has now claimed back-to-back titles at J60s in San Luis Potosi Mexico. The blue chip from Virginia, seeded No. 5, defeated No. 8 seed Amy Shen of Canada 7-5, 6-3 to win her tenth straight singles match, and also claimed the doubles title with Canadian Elisabeth Djabourian for the second consecutive week. The No. 2 seeds again defeated top seeds Abril Cardena Olivares and Zoe Levresse Zavala in the final, this time by a 6-4, 7-5 score, to extend their doubles winning streak to eight matches. 

Fifteen-year-old Anay Kulkarni won his third ITF junior singles title, with the blue chip from Arizona, seeded No. 3, beating No. 6 seed Sebastian Inaki Godoy 6-4, 0-6, 6-3 in the all-USA final. 

At the J60 in Peru, 16-year-old Londyn McCord won her third ITF Junior Circuit singles title of the year and her second in as many weeks, in a tournament that was played in the ITF's new round robin/knockout format. McCord, a blue chip from Atlanta, didn't drop a set in capturing first place in her group and continued that form in her next three wins, beating Valeria Santander of Paraguay 6-0, 6-4 in the final.

The third American to go back-to-back last week on the ITF Junior Circuit was David Beckles, who won a second J30 in Abuja Nigeria. The 16-year-old five-star from Texas defeated Seyi Ebenezer Ogunsakin of Nigeria 6-3, 6-3 in the final. 

Fifteen-year-old Scarlett Fagan reached the final of the J100 in South Africa last week, falling to top seed Arina Malygina of Russia 6-3, 0-6, 6-4 in the final. 

There are two J300s this week that have US juniors competing. At the J300 in Thailand, Sarah Ye is the No. 12 seed and Carel Ngounoue is the No. 13 seed. At the J300 in Paraguay, Jack Secord is the top seed, while there are five US girls competing: No. 2 seed Welles Newman, No. 8 seed Maggie Sohns, Anita Tu, Ireland O'Brien and Yael Saffar.

In Las Vegas, top seed Ryan Cozad got past a tricky first round opponent in Tyler Lee, posting a 6-4, 6-3 victory today. Canadian Xavier Massotte of Canada, the No. 2 seed, also advanced to the second round in straight sets.

Nancy Lee, the top seed in the girls draw, beat qualifier Myna Medicetty 6-3, 6-0 today, with No. 2 seed Hollie Smart of Great Britain getting past Teaghan Jou An Keys 6-0, 2-6, 6-2 in the opening round. 

The wild cards in qualifying at the BNP Paribas Open have not had much success in the first round, with only Kayla Day winning in Sunday's action, and teens Izyan Ahmad, Andy Johnson and Darwin Blanch all falling in straight sets today, with Trevor Svjada(SMU) and Jagger Leach(Stanford) yet to take the court for their first round qualifying matches at Indian Wells.

But 19-year-old Akasha Urhobo, with just hours to recover from her title run at the W35 in Arcadia California yesterday, did post a victory this afternoon, although not over her previously drawn opponent, Kaja Juvan of Slovenia. Alternate Louisa Chirico replaced Juvan in the draw, with Urhobo defeating Chirico 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. Urhobo will face Taylor Townsend, fresh off her singles final and doubles championship at the WTA ATX Open in Austin yesterday, after Townsend beat Joanna Garland of Taiwan 6-4, 6-4 this afternoon.

USC's Andrin Casanova and Branko Djuric

Any tournament that has been played for more than 100 years will always get my attention, and Southern California has several of those, including next month's The Ojai, which will be hosting for its 124th year.

The Pacific Coast Men's Doubles Championship is even older, having just completed its 137th year, with the USC team of Branko Djuric and Andrin Casanova beating top seeds Spencer Johnson and Aadarsh Tripathi of UCLA 6-4, 6-4 to capture the title in La Jolla.  For more on the final, see the release below from J. Fred Sidhu. 

BRANKO DJURIC AND ANDRIN CASANOVA OF USC CROWNED PACIFIC COAST MEN’S      DOUBLES CHAMPIONS AT LA JOLLA BEACH & TENNIS CLUB

Trojan Duo Scores 6-4, 6-4 Win Over Top-Seed Spencer Johnson and Aadarsh Tripathi of UCLA

LA JOLLA, CALIF. – (March 1, 2026) – Playing inspired tennis from start to finish, second-seeded Branko Djuric and Andrin Casanova of USC shocked top-seeded Spencer Johnsonand Aadarsh Tripathi of UCLA 6-4, 6-4 in one-hour and 32 minutes to win the 137th Annual Pacific Coast Men’s Doubles Championship. 

The championship match, which was contested under bright sunny skies on Court No. 1 at the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club, began with a large vocal crowd of UCLA and USC alumni and supporters in attendance. Spectators witnessed an entertaining final with all four players exchanging volleys at the net on numerous occasions. 

At 3-3 in the opening set, Djuric and Casanova came through with the first service break of the day as they broke Tripathi for a 4-3 lead. Three games later, Djuric slammed an ace to start the 10th game and proceeded to serve out the first set. 

In the second set, Djuric and Casanova once again broke Tripathi in the seventh game. After Djuric held in the next game for a 5-3 advantage, Johnson easily held serve in the ninth game to cut the lead to 5-4.

With USC fans cheering him on, Casanova served for the title in the 10th game. At 40-15, Johnson and Tripathi fought off one championship point, but at 40-30, Tripathi sent a forehand service return long as the Trojans clinched the match. 

“It’s pretty special. We are very happy to win it. We got our returns in play, that was the key. Winning match point was a pretty good feeling. We felt relief, we had a few nerves in the beginning. It felt really good to close it out,” Casanova said after winning the title.

“We came out and played very competitively the whole weekend. We played a really good match in the finals. There were a lot of nerves against our rivals, but we played really solid doubles,” Djuric said. “We were always there with our return games and hitting our spots with the serves and returns and it paid off with one break in each set.” 

Urhobo Ends Frodin's Run to Earn W35 Title in Arcadia; Wolf Comeback Begins with M15 Title in Naples; Stearns Wins ATX Open; CMS Beats Chicago to Claim Women's D-III Indoor Title

Nineteen-year-old Akasha Urhobo won her second W35 title in as many months, but in keeping with her pattern this week, she needed three sets to get past 17-year-old qualifier Thea Frodin in today's final in Arcadia California 6-2, 2-6, 6-2. Urhobo, who made two W35 titles at the end of last season and won the W35 in Westin Florida in January, will be close to her career-high WTA ranking of 282 when the points are added and can earn more beginning tomorrow at the BNP Paribas Open women's qualifying. After receiving a wild card, Urhobo will face No. 8 seed Kaja Juvan of Slovenia in the first round of qualifying.

Frodin more than doubled her WTA points total of 18, and when the 23 points she earned this week are added, the Australian Open girls finalist should move into the Top 800 of the WTA rankings.

JJ Wolf, out for over a year with injury, could not have asked for a better week when returning to competitive tennis. Playing in an M15 tournament for the first time since 2017, when he lost in the first round of the only two M15s he ever competed in on clay in Peru, the 27-year-old from Ohio won the title as a wild card in Naples Florida. The former Ohio State All-American, who reached an ATP ranking of 39 in 2023, didn't drop a set all week, defeating No. 4 seed Miguel Tobon of Colombia 6-2, 6-4 in the final. Although Wolf is eligible to use a protected ranking to get into bigger tournaments, I'm sure getting competitive matches was the first priority after such a long layoff and recovery. With no USTA Pro Circuit events the next two weeks due to the BNP Paribas Open, the next possible tournament in the US would be the ATP Challenger 175 beginning March 10th in Phoenix. 

Peyton Stearns is back in the WTA Top 50 after the 2022 NCAA singles and team champion while a sophomore at Texas claimed her second WTA title today at the 250 ATX Open in Austin. The fourth-seeded 24-year-old from Ohio, playing in her third WTA final, defeated unseeded Taylor Townsend, playing in her first WTA final, 7-6(8), 7-5 this afternoon. 

Stearns, who won her first WTA title at a 250 on clay in Morocco in May 2024, is up to 48 in the live rankings.

Townsend didn't leave Austin without a winner's trophy however. She and Storm Hunter of Australia won the doubles title, with the top seeds defeating No. 3 seeds Eudice Chong(Wesleyan) of Hong Kong and En-Shou Liang of Taiwan 6-3, 6-4 in the final played after the singles championship match.

Frances Tiafoe reached the final of the ATP 500 in Acapulco, with the No. 8 seed falling to No. 5 seed Flavio Cobolli of Italy 7-6(4), 6-4 in last night's championship match.

The men's qualifying begins Monday at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, with the draw available here.

No. 5 seed Claremont-Mudd-Scripps won the ITA Women's Division III Team Indoor Championships title today in Tennessee, beating No. 2 seed Chicago 4-1 to avenge their loss to the Maroon in the final last year. Chicago won the doubles point, but CMS got straight-sets wins in singles at lines 2, 4, 5 to take a 3-1 lead. That score didn't budge for an hour, with the other three matches going three sets, but CMS's Lindsay Eisenman, the 2025 NCAA D-III champion, earned the win at line 1 6-7, 6-3, 6-4 over Chicago's Sarena Biria to clinch the title. CMS and Chicago have kept each other from defending the title four years in a row now.

For more on today's final, see this article from the CMS website.