Dates and Automatic Qualifiers for USTA American Collegiate US Open Wild Card Competition Announced; Babson Surprises Chicago in Division III Women's Semifinals; Rain Pushes Back First Round Singles Monday at ITF J500 in Milan
After covering the NCAA D-I Team Championships in Athens, which was equal parts exhilarating and exhausting, I'm going to need to get some sleep over the next few days, but I'm planning to do a thoughts and observations post in coming days, so stay tuned for that.
I missed a lot that went on in the rest of the tennis world, but as far as results of Americans last week--and there were plenty-- make sure you sign up for the free Substack newsletter Inside American Tennis, introduced by the USTA last month.
This afternoon the USTA announced the dates of its second American Collegiate US Open Wild Card Playoff. Three singles competitors have already earned their spots by their performances at last November's NCAA individual championships: Reese Brantmaier, Michael Zheng, Trevor Svajda in singles and Brandon Carpico and Nikita Filin in doubles. The other two men's and three women's singles participants, as well as three of the men's doubles and all four of the women's doubles participants, will be announced May 27. The full release is below.
American Collegiate Player Wildcard Playoffs Return to USTA National Campus June 16-18
Top American Collegiate Players to Compete
for US Open Singles and Doubles Wild Cards
ORLANDO, Fla., May 18, 2026 – The USTA today announced that the second annual American Collegiate Player Wildcard Playoffs – featuring the best American men’s and women’s college tennis players competing for six total wild card entries into the US Open – will be played June 16-18 at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla.
The winners of a four-player men’s and women’s singles playoff and a four-team men’s and women’s doubles playoff will earn US Open main draw singles and doubles wild cards, while the men’s and women’s singles finalists will earn US Open Qualifying wild cards.
All matches will be played at the USTA National Campus’ Collegiate Center each night of the event (Tuesday–Thursday), with start times to be confirmed. Admission is free. Cracked Racquets will provide streaming coverage.
The full player fields will be selected on Wednesday, May 27. Player selections will be determined by a committee made up of USTA staff, college tennis coaches and an ITA representative. This season’s American NCAA singles and doubles champions and finalists earned automatic entry on both sides: men’s singles champion Michael Zheng (Columbia) and finalist Trevor Svajda (SMU); women’s singles champion Reese Brantmeier (North Carolina); and men’s doubles finalists Nikita Filin and Brandon Carpico (Ohio State).
The remaining slots will be filled based on a number of factors, including 2025-26 match record, ITA ranking, ATP/WTA ranking, professional and head-to-head results, and more.
The second-year playoff is part of an expanded NCAA-linked wild card pilot program that guarantees at least six US Open wild cards to American collegiate players each year, coinciding with the NCAA DI Individual Championships shifting to the fall. Last year, both winning doubles teams – Brantmeier and Alanis Hamilton (UNC) and Cooper Williams and Theo Winegar (Duke) – reached the second round at the US Open.
American NCAA champions that have previously benefited from the US Open wild card as way to jumpstart their professional careers include Danielle Collins (Virginia – 2014, ‘16); Mackenzie McDonald (UCLA – 2016); Emma Navarro (Virginia – 2021); Ben Shelton (Florida – 2022); and Peyton Stearns (Texas – 2022).
The NCAA women's Division III quarterfinals were played today in Chattanooga Tennessee, with No. 1 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps defeating No. 11 Bowdoin 4-0; No. 4 Wesleyan beating No. 14 Washington and Lee 4-0; and No. 3 and defending champion Washington St. Louis defeating No. 8 Carnegie Mellon 4-1. The big upset was No. 5 Babson's 4-0 win over No. 2 Chicago, the 2024 D-III champions.
The men's quarterfinals are Tuesday, also in Chattanooga. All times are Central.
Cracked Racquets' Alex Gruskin is on the call at NCAA.com.Denison[4] v Case Western Reserve[5] 10:00 a.m.
Tufts[3] v Swarthmore[8] 1:00 p.m.
Bowdoin[7] v Chicago[1] 1:00 p.m.
Rain kept the first round singles matches from being completed at the ITF J500 Trofeo Bonfiglio in Milan Italy, but several unseeded Americans did pick up wins: Jack Secord, Gavin Goode, Lani Chang and Welles Newman. Seeded Americans Thea Frodin[13], Janae Preston[11, Andy Johnson[5] and Michael Antonius received byes. The other unseeded Americans yet to play their first round matches are qualifier Jordan Lee, Tanishk Konduri, Jordyn Hazelitt and Melije Clarke.
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