Preston Beats Pushkareva, Connie Ma Reappears to Post Win Over No. 2 Seed Urhobo in Berkeley W50; Hance Earns First Challenger Victory in San Diego; Top Seed Badenhorst Falls in First Round of ITA All-American Championships; Ojai to Host WCC Championships

The women's USTA Pro Circuit is back this week after a six-week hiatus with a W50 in Berkeley California, and just four days in, it's already been an eventful tournament.

2022 NCAA singles finalist Connie Ma, who graduated from Stanford in 2025, never expressed any interest in pro tennis as a career, with medical school her next step after completing her eligibility. Ma played very little tennis, even back in her junior days, with academics always her main focus, and she didn't spend her college summers on the Pro Circuit either. So it was surprising to see her as a wild card in the qualifying draw in Berkeley, where she picked up two wins over current collegians, beating Auburn junior Merna Refaat, the No. 6 seed,  6-1, 5-7, 6-0 in the first round and No. 12 seed Duru Soke, a junior at Pepperdine, 6-2, 6-4 in the second and final round of qualifying.

Today Ma defeated No. 2 seed and WTA No. 174 Akasha Urhobo 6-1, 7-5 in the first round of the main draw, a result that certainly suggests the 23-year-old doesn't need much match play to locate her best tennis. It's unlikely this run will change Ma's ambitions, but it is, in the moment, a remarkable achievement.

In Thursday's second round, Ma will face 16-year-old Janae Preston, who also earned entry through qualifying. Preston, who retired from her US Open girls quarterfinal match due to illness, defeated 23-year-old Texas newcomer Arianna Zuchini of Italy 7-6(4), 6-7(5), 6-3 in the final round of qualifying Tuesday.

Today Preston defeated Wimbledon girls champion and US Open finalist Anna Pushkareva of Russia, also a qualifier, 6-3, 1-6, 6-1 in the first round; Preston is No. 6 is the current WT junior rankings, Pushkareva No. 3, and they could meet again soon in the Junior Finals in Chengdu next month.

Kayla Day, the top seed, is through to the second round with a 6-0, 6-1 win over qualifier Arina Bulatova of Russia, a Texas A&M newcomer.

The men's Pro Circuit event this week is an M15 in Columbia South Carolina, with four members of the University of South Carolina men's team advancing to the second round.

Wild cards Charlie Swaine of Great Britain, a sophomore, Gabe Avram, a junior,  and Sean Daryabeigi, a senior, posted victories, with Avram defeating No. 3 seed Dragos Cazacu(Tennessee, Oklahoma) of Romania 6-1, 6-4 today. The fourth Gamecock through to the second round is qualifier Antonin Witz of France, a freshman.

Gavin Goode, one of the three junior reserved entrants, defeated Micah Braswell(Texas) 6-2, 6-2 and will play Avram on Thursday.

Tito Chavez(Oklahoma) of Spain won today's first round battle of the Junior Reserves, beating Ryan Cozad 6-2, 3-6, 6-1.

Sweden's John Hallquist Lithen(Ole Miss), the top seed, beat qualifier Alex Bernard(Ohio State) 6-3, 6-2 and will play Swaine in the second round Thursday.

Late last night in San Diego, 18-year-old wild card Keaton Hance picked up his first win at the ATP Challenger level, defeating ATP No. 322 Andres Martin(Georgia Tech) 6-4, 7-5. Hance will face top seed Nishesh Basavareddy(Stanford) in the second round Thursday; Basavareddy beat Wake Forest sophomore Mees Rottgering of the Netherlands 6-3, 6-3 yesterday.

It didn't take long for the first upset of the men's ITA All-American Championships in Tulsa Oklahoma, with top seed Devin Badenhorst of Baylor losing to 23-year-old NC State newcomer Toby Kodat 6-3, 6-1. 

Six other seeds lost today in the men's draw: No. 6 Matthew Forbes(Ohio State), No. 7 Jakub Vrba(Arkansas), No. 9 Eli Stephenson(Kentucky, No. 12 Luca Pow(Wake Forest), No. 13 Cooper Woestendick(TCU) and No. 15 Alex Razeghi(Stanford).

The first round of doubles is going on now, with the seeds below:

Men's ITA All-American doubles seeds:

1. Brandon Carpico and Nikita Filin, Ohio State
2. Oliver Ojakaar and Tomasz Berkieta, Texas
3. Cooper Woestendick and Albert Pedrico, TCU
4. Bruno Kuzuhara and Romain Gales, Clemson
5. Luca Pow and Aryan Shah, Wake Forest
6. Nicolas Arseneault and Mikael Arseneault
7. Lucas Marionneau and Gabriel Debru, Texas
8. Charlie Robertson and Paul Barbier Bazeu, South Carolina

Men's draws are here.

The women's ITA All-American Championships in Cary North Carolina lost four singles seeds today, three of them in the top eight, with most of the first round action taking place indoors due to rain.

Zuzanna Kubacha, a senior at Baylor, defeated No. 3 seed Piper Charney of Michigan 6-2, 6-2; No. 6 seed Janna Hossam Salah of Florida lost to Mississippi State qualifier Gianna Oboniye 6-2, 6-4 and Aspen Schuman of Duke beat No. 8 seed Valeria Ray of Vanderbilt 6-1, 6-2. No. 12 seed Ziva Falkner of Pepperdine lost to Sophia Cisse-Ignatiev of Ohio State 7-6(4), 7-5. 

Women's ITA All-American doubles seeds:

1. none

2. Roisin Gilheany and Victoria Osuigwe, NC State

3. Luciana Perry and Flora Johnson, Ohio State

4. Alexia Jacobs and Anna-Marie Weissheim, Washington

5. Ava Esposito and Ashton Bowers, Auburn

6. Maddy Zampardo and Susanna Maltby, North CarolinaS

7. Caroline McGinley and Amelie Van Impe, SMU

8. Anna Frey and Alanis Hamilton, North Carolina

Women's draws are here.

The Ojai will not be hosting the Big Ten conference championships after doing so for the women in 2025 and the men in 2026, but there will be Division I conference play there next April, with the announcement that the West Coast Conference has agreed to play there in 2027. San Diego and Pepperdine are the most prominent tennis programs in the conference, with UC-Santa Barbara joining the conference next year.

For details on the WCC conference championship's agreement with the Ojai, see this press release.