Filing Now Open for NCAA Tennis Class Action Settlement Claims; Liutova Beats Zarazua, Faces Stephens for W100 Edmond Title; Connie Ma Makes W35 Redding Final; Gray Ends Mosejczuk's Winning Streak in Austin; Anthrop vs Papamalamis in M15 Lexington Final

The settlement announced in the case Reese Brantmeier(UNC) and others brought against the NCAA for restricting prize money has been out there for some time, but only now has the process for filing claims been established. The NCAA has set aside two million dollars to compensate student-athletes or prospective student-athletes who gave up money to retain their eligibility. The deadline for filing a claim is February 8, 2027; there will be a fairness hearing on January 8 in Greensboro North Carolina to determine if the settlement adequate. For more details on who is considered part of the Class seeking compensation, see this announcement, which has links to additional information.

Speaking of Brantmeier, the 2025 NCAA singles champion lost today in the semifinals of the W50 in Quebec, with No. 4 seed Kajsa Rinaldo Persson of Sweden posting a 7-5, 7-6(4) win. Rinaldo Persson will play unseeded Duke freshman Mimi Xu of Great Britain, who beat Ariana Arseneault(Auburn) of Canada 7-5, 6-2 to reach her first WTT women's final since last fall.

Brantmeier and Xu teamed up for the doubles title, with the unseeded pair defeating top seeds Arseneault and Raphaelle Lacasse(Kansas, Nebraska) of Canada 6-2, 6-7(5), 10-7. It's the fifth pro doubles title for Brantmeier and the seventh for Xu.

Sixteen-year-old Kristina Liutova has lost one match since July, to Qinwen Zheng of China in the first round of the US Open, and she is getting ever so close to the WTA Top 100 after reaching the final of the W100 in Edmond Oklahoma. In today's semifinal, the fourth-seeded Liutova earned her fourth WTA Top 100 win, beating No. 2 seed and WTA No. 85 Renata Zarazua of Mexico 6-1, 6-3.

Next up for Liutova, now 110 in the live rankings, is No. 5 Sloane Stephens, who prevented an all-teen final with a 2-6, 6-1, 7-6(5) win over 17-year-old Julieta Pareja. Pareja, who had advanced to semifinals earlier in the day with a 57-minute 6-1, 6-0 win over Kristina Penickova, served for the match at both 5-4 and 6-5, but only won one point in each of those service games.

At 33, Stephens is more than twice as old as Liutova, which is demonstrated by the disparity in their records on the pro tour. Stephens has played more than 700 matches, going 410-311, while Liutova has played just 83, with a record of 66-17.

In the W35 in Redding California, 2022 NCAA singles finalist Connie Ma is into her first ever pro final after beating No. 2 seed Lea Ma(Georgia) 1-6, 6-3, 7-6(3) this evening. The 23-year-old Ma, who had not played a pro event in five years, at the beginning of her freshman year at Stanford, qualified into the Berkeley 50 last month and reached the second round; she was awarded a wild card into the main draw this week. She will play the winner of tonight's match between No. 8 seed Annika Penickova and Ohio State junior Nao Nishino of Japan.

Ma is also through to the doubles final, with former Cal standout Berta Passola of Spain.

The M25 in Austin concludes Sunday with the singles final between French qualifier Cosme Rolland de Ravel, who played for TCU last year and top seed Alastair Gray of Great Britain, whose career at TCU lasted from 2017-21. Rolland de Ravel defeated No. 8 seed Lui Maxted of Great Britain, who graduated from TCU in 2025; Gray ended the 10-match USTA Pro Circuit winning streak of qualifier Dominick Mosejczuk, a sophomore at Wake Forest, with a 6-3, 7-5 win today.

The doubles title went to University of Texas teammates Gabriel Debru and Lucas Marionneau of France, who beat former Texas A&M teammates JC Roddick and Turkey's Togan Tokac 6-7(3), 6-4, 10-1 in the final.

Texas A&M junior Theo Papamalamis of France will face former Ohio State All-American Jack Anthrop in the final of the M15 in Lexington Kentucky Sunday.

Papamalamis, seeded fifth, defeated unseeded Nikola Slavic(Ole Miss) of Sweden 6-1, 7-6(4) in today's semifinals, with Anthrop getting by qualifier Eli Stephenson, a senior at Kentucky, 6-1, 3-6, 6-4. 

LSU sophomores Erik Arutiunian of Belarus and Olaf Pieczkowski of Poland won the doubles title, with the unseeded pair beating top seeds Slavic and Denmark's Oskar Brostrom Poulsen(Middle Tennessee, Baylor) 6-4, 3-6, 10-7 in the final.