ITA All-American Fields Feature Top Ten Talent; Stolarczyk and Malacek Replay Kalamazoo 16s Final in J200 Montreal Semis; Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury Retire; Gorzny Beats Basavareddy at Tiburon Challenger

The first major tournament of the ITA Division I fall season is coming up, with the long-running All-American Championships set to begin with pre-qualifying this weekend. The locations remain the same as in years past, with the the women in Cary North Carolina and the men in Tulsa Oklahoma.

Preseason No. 1 Lucciana Perez of Texas A&M did not enter, suggesting she will again skip the fall season, although she will still have an opportunity to play events that would qualify her for November's NCAA championships later this fall.

The top eight players in the preseason rankings who have entered are:

Carmen Herea[2], Texas

Luciana Perry[3], Ohio State

Teah Chavez[4], Ohio State

Piper Charney[6], Michigan

Irina Balus[7], Duke

Mia Slama[10], NC State

Jana Hossam[11], Florida

Amelie Van Impe[12], SMU

The four women from the preseason Top 10 preseason who are not on the women's list are: 

Lucciana Perez[1], Texas A&M

Aysegul Mert[5], Georgia

Cadence Brace[8], LSU

Evialina Laskevich[9], Oklahoma

Main draw wild cards were given to Mimi Xu of Duke and Emma Dong of Georgia, who received the ITA wild cards, and Tori Osuigwe of NC State, who received the host wild card. Katie Rolls of Virginia apparently did not need the wild card she earned as the women's ITA National Summer champion.

Except for Xu, none of those on the preseason newcomer list received main draw entry, but most are in qualifying, or at the bottom of the main draw alternate list.

Qualifying wild cards were given to Amara Brahmbhatt of Michigan State, who received the ITA wild card; host wild cards went to Claire An of Duke and Alanis Hamilton of North Carolina.

Duke and Ohio State are tied for the most players in the main draw before qualifying with four. 

The men's list is also missing the preseason No. 1, with Virginia's Dylan Dietrich not entered.

The top eight men from the preseason rankings who have entered are:

Paul Inchauspe[2], Princeton

Devin Badenhorst[5], Baylor

Keegan Rice[6], Virginia

Aidan Kim[7], Ohio State

Theo Papamalamis[8], Texas A&M

Gabriel Debru[9], Texas

Matthew Forbes[10], Ohio State

Jakub Vrba[11], Arkansas

Dietrich, TCU's Duncan Chan[3] and Michigan's Max Dahlin[4] are the only Top 10 players not entered.

The wild cards are Baylor's Louis Bowden, who won the ITA National Summer Championships, TCU's Roger Pascual, and host wild card Alvaro Frutos of Tulsa.

As with the women, many of those on the newcomer list are in qualifying, including No. 1 Luca Preda of Virginia, although No. 4 newcomer Jamie Mackenzie of TCU is notably absent.

Ohio State has six players in the main draw, no other school has more than three.

At the J200 in Montreal, both Kalamazoo 16s champion Kamil Stolarczyk and finalist Daniel Malacek won their quarterfinal matches, with No. 5 seed Stolarczyk beating top seed Joshua Adamson of Canada 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 and No. 4 seed Malacek beating No. 7 seed Caden Colburne of Canada 6-3, 7-6(6). The Kalamazoo 16s doubles champions will meet in the semifinals, with Malacek hoping to avenge his 6-4, 6-2 loss to Stolarczyk last month in Kalamazoo.

An article on Stolarczyk's US Open Junior Championships debut by Zootennis contributor Michael Lewis can be found at the Long Island Press.

No. 3 seed Erik Schinnerer also advanced to the semifinals, beating No. 8 seed Antoine Clavel of Canada 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 in today's quarterfinals. He will play No. 2 seed Antoine Genereux of Canada, who has beaten him twice in WT junior competition.

Two US girls have advanced to the semifinals, with No. 3 Ellery Mendell set to face top seed Avery Alexander of Canada and No. 4 seed Reiley Rhodes playing No. 2 seed Clemence Mercier of Canada.

Rajeev Ram, who won the 2003 NCAA doubles title as a freshman at Illinois, announced his retirement from professional tennis after he and Joe Salisbury lost in the semifinals of the men's doubles at the US Open last week. Today, Salisbury announced his retirement, at age 34, eight years younger than Ram. I was fortunate to be able to see them play the Ohio State team of Brandon Carpico and Nikita Filin in the third round of the US Open, and also was able to watch them compete on Louis Armstrong in 2023, when they went on to win their third straight US Open men's doubles title, after winning the Australian Open title in 2020.

Both are former ATP No. 1s, with two ATP Finals titles. Salisbury, who played his college tennis at Memphis, won 17 ATP titles, Ram 32. From 2020 to 2023, they were at the very top of the sport and although they have had success with other partners, it's difficult to think of one without the other given all their success over the past decade.

The ATP article on Ram's retirement ceremony at his last match is here; their coverage of Salisbury's retirement announcement today is here.

The first four quarterfinalists at the ATP Challenger 125 in Tiburon California have been determined after play today, with two wild cards advancing with wins over seeds.

This afternoon, JJ Wolf(Ohio State) continued his comeback with a 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-4 win over No. 8 seed Braden Shick(NC State); tonight Sebastian Gorzny(TCU, Texas) continued his summer of impressive results, beating No. 2 seed Nishesh Basavareddy(Stanford) 6-2, 6-4, by claiming the last four games of the match.

Gorzny and Wolf will play Friday in the quarterfinals.

The 2025 NCAA singles final will be played again Thursday, less than a year later, with top seed Michael Zheng(Columbia) facing Trevor Svajda(SMU). Zheng, who won his second NCAA singles title with a 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 win over Svajda at Baylor last November, advanced to the second round with a 6-1, 4-6, 7-5 win over qualifier Evan Zhu(UCLA) yesterday. Svajda defeated Blaise Bicknell(Florida, Tennessee) 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 to earn a rematch with Zheng. 

Top Seed Miguel Saves Match Point to Escape Qualifier Malacek's Challenge; Wild Card Annika Penickova Takes Out No. 4 Seed Barros; Reddy Upsets Reisach; Ohio State Team Makes History by Advancing to Third Round

©Colette Lewis and Michael Lewis 2026--

Flushing Meadows NY--

Top seed Guto Miguel may not have expected to need over two hours and the support of the always raucous Brazil fans in his first round match today at the US Open Junior Championships, but the 17-year-old Brazilian came to the realization early that qualifier Daniel Malacek wasn't intimidated by facing the Roland Garros champion in his junior slam debut. Malacek, the Kalamazoo 16s finalist last month, was a big serve and forehand plus-one winner away from a colossal upset on Court 7, with Miguel serving at 5-6 in the third set, ultimately dropping a 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(4) decision.

After a rocky and error-filled first set, Miguel found his form after trailing 2-0 in the second set, but he couldn't shake Malacek, who was in every rally with the Brazilian until the tiebreaker.

Deep in the third set both players were subjected to dueling chants of “USA! USA!” and “Ole, Ole, Ole Ole, Guto!” from the crowd.

“It was a survival match, to be sure,” Miguel said. “The crowd really helped pull me through, the Brazilian fan support was amazing.”

Miguel said he expected a tough match from Malacek, who needed a wild card to get into the qualifying, because “it’s a Grand Slam, everybody’s good and everybody can beat you.”

No. 2 seed Jamie Mackenzie, a freshman at TCU had his hands full with wild card Matias Reyniak, the 2025 Orange Bowl 16s champion, who, despite several medical timeouts, forced a third set with a courageous tiebreaker before falling 7-6(2), 6-7(7), 6-3.

The American boys who won the Junior Davis Cup last fall are all seeded at this year's US Open Junior Championships, all three won their first round men's qualifying matches, and all three won their first round matches today.

No. 3 seed Michael Antonius had decidedly fewer fans watching his first round match Sunday than watched him during his second round qualifying match on August 26.

But Antonius, who pushed U.S. Open finalist Nishikori that day in a 6-4, 6-4 loss, didn’t mind the relative anonymity Sunday, as he easily dispatched Brazil’s Leonardo Storck Franca, 6-4, 6-1.

“It was definitely less nervous for me in terms of just like the people watching and the atmosphere,” Antonius said. " The courts are fast, so I was already prepared for the speed of how the ball would bounce. And in the second set I started to play better.”

Antonius knows that because of his success this year, other players are hunting him.

“My mindset is always to have a chip on my shoulder,” said the usually-smiling off-the-court Antonius. “Just work in the dark, and bring it when you’re out there (on the court.)”

Antonius’ former doubles partner, who he teamed with to reach Wimbledon boys finals in July, Andy Johnson, also had a successful start to his Open.

A boys quarterfinalist here last year, Johnson dispatched India’s Arnav Paparkar, 6-4, 6-1.

Much like Antonius, Johnson had the advantage of having played in the men’s qualifying here at the Open two weeks ago, and he also had a thrilling moment: coming back from 1-4 down in the third set to beat world No. 160 Taro Daniel.

“Probably the biggest win of my life, yeah,” Johnson said Sunday. “I just started calming down more, and my cramps in my calf started feeling better and the crowd got into it, and in those moments I’m not really thinking about anything. I had nothing to lose and just went for it.”

Johnson will next play Israel’s Dan Brand, who got his first U.S. Open win by beating Australian Daniel Jovanoski, 1-6, 6-3, 6-1.

“I tried to be only positive in my mind, telling myself I can do it, trying to do my best,” Brand said. “He was serving well on the fast courts, so on the return I went a little (further) back, and when I opened the points I won most of the points. I tried to be aggressive. I’m very excited.”

Wimbledon champ Jordan Lee also had no trouble in his opening round Sunday, defeating Raffaele Ciurnelli of Italy, 6-2, 6-2.

Lee said that despite the sudden fame of winning at the All England Club, not much has changed for him.

“It was fun signing some autographs the other day, but I understand that’s what comes with being a little more known,” Lee said. “I’m always going to be the same and stay the same.”

Although there were the close calls for top two boys seeds, only  three were eliminated today, No. 16 seed Nicolas Baena of Peru, who lost to Dante Pagani of Argentina 6-4, 6-3, No. 15 seed Kuan-Shou Chen of Taiwan, who fell to Peter Ogunsakin of Nigeria 5-7, 6-3, 7-5 and College Park J300 finalist and No. 11 seed Vincent Reisach of Germany, who was beaten by Vihaan Reddy 7-5, 2-6, 6-3.

Reddy said he hasn't been playing well lately, but was able to return Reisach's big first serve, which helped him get to neutral quickly, before turning to offense.

"It was definitely part of the strategy," the 16-year-old said when asked about his regular forays to the net today, which were occasionally reminiscent of Pat Rafter. "But I think that's kind of where my game has been heading. Hopefully not completely like Pat Rafter but my coach would definitely be happy with that comparison."

The big upset of the day in the girls draw was courtesy of wild card Annika Penickova, who won a W35 and made the final of another prior to reaching the quarterfinals of the USTA 18s National Championships in San Diego last month. Penickova was too powerful for No. 4 seed Victoria Barros of Brazil in her 6-3, 6-4 victory.

Penickova has been battling injuries the last few years, so when she was asked how she was feeling after being out earlier this year, she laughed and said “well, which injury do you want to know about?”

The 16-year-old twin sister of Kristina Penickova seems to be healthy now and played a terrific match Sunday on Court 5, beating No. 4 seed Brazilian Victoria Luiza Barros, 6-3, 6-4. It was her third win in three meetings against Barros.

Penickova attacked the net frequently, winning eight of nine net points, including knocking off a pretty backhand volley winner as she held for 5-4 in the second set.

The Floridian, coached by USTA’s Jermaine Jenkins, then played a terrific final game, drilling a forehand down-the-line winner to set up two match points, then winning when Barros double faulted.

“I think I brought a little bit of the confidence from the pros and everything that I've been playing into that match and I think that helped me a lot,” said Penickova, who lost in the first round of women’s qualifying here.”

Penickova said coming to net more is something her coaches have emphasized.

“I think especially for me, having a complete game style, being comfortable coming to the net, is super important, especially transitioning to the pros.”

Barros was the only girls seed to lose today.

The last eight first round singles matches and eight second round singles matches in each draw are on Monday's schedule, along with the bottom half of draw playing their first round of doubles.

Defending champions Keaton Hance and Jack Kennedy are the No. 2 seeds, with Miguel and Ziga Sesko of Slovenia the No. 1 seeds.

Mariia Makarova of Russia and Xinran Sun of China are the top seeds in the girls doubles, with Barros and Nauhany Leme Da Silva of Brazil the No. 2 seeds. Jana Kovackova and Katerina Zajickova of Czechia, who have won the last two girls doubles title at junior slams, are the No. 5 seeds.

There are no seeded teams from the United States in the girls doubles draw, although the Penickova twins are dangerous floaters who could play the Brazilians in the second round.

Sunday's US Open Juniors matches featuring Americans

Thilo Behrmann[7](AUT) d. Ryan Cozad 7-6(5), 6-1

Connor Doig(RSA) d. Teodor Davidov[WC] 7-6(4), 6-3

Guto Miguel[1](BRA) d. Daniel Malacek[[Q] 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(4) 

Lanta Watanabe(JPN) d. Jerrid Gaines Jr.[WC] 6-3, 6-3

Kai Thompson{HKG) d. Navneet Raghuram[WC] 7-6(1), 1-6, 6-4

Matei Victor Cheleman[Q](ROU) d. Kayden Colombo[WC] 6-4, 6-3

Andy Johnson[12] d. Arnav Paparkar(IND) 6-4, 6-1

Jack Kennedy[5] d. Ryo Tabata(JPN) 6-3, 6-3

Michael Antonius[3] d. Leonardo Storck Franca(BRA) 6-4, 6-1

Jordan Lee[8] d. Raffaele Ciurnelli(ITA) 6-2, 6-2

Tanishk Konduri d. Jakub Kusy(CZE) 6-4, 6-3

Vihaan Reddy d. Vincent Reisach[11](GER) 7-5, 2-6, 6-3

Jamie Mackenzie[2](GER) d. Matias Reyniak[WC] 7-6(2), 6-7(7), 6-3

Daniel Jade(FRA) d. Mason Vaughan[WC] 2-6, 6-3, 2-0 ret. 

Jack Secord d. Damir Zhalgasbay(KAZ) 6-3, 6-4

Thara Gowda[WC] d. Emily Eigelsbach(GER) 6-2, 6-4

Kristina Penickova[WC][14] d. Renee Alame(AUS) 6-1, 6-1

Annika Penickova[WC] d. Victoria Barros[4](BRA) 6-3, 6-4

Hannah Ayrault[WC] d. Ui Su Jeong(KOR) 6-3, 6-3

Jordyn Hazelitt[16] d. Lujza Beviz(HUN) 7-6(4), 7-5

Mariia Makarova[7](RUS) d. Allison Wang[WC] 6-1, 7-5

Maya Rajeshwaran Revathi[15](IND) d. Emery Combs[WC] 6-2, 6-2

Sol Ailin Larraya Guidi[12](ARG) d. Natalie Kha[Q] 5-7, 6-3, 6-4

Yael Saffar[Q] d. Maia Burcescu(ROU) 6-1, 6-2

Ksenia Efremova[3](FRA) d. Scarlett Fagan[Q] 6-4, 6-1

Clemence Mercier[Q](CAN) d. Anita Tu 2-6, 6-1, 6-2

Melije Clarke d. Polina Berezina(RUS) 6-4, 6-0

Lani Chang(withdrew) v Jana Kovackova[2](CZE)

Anna Pushkareva[5](RUS) d. Shristi Selvan[WC] 6-2, 6-4

Monday's first round junior matches featuring Americans:

Keaton Hance[4] v Pedro Chabalgoity(BRA)

Gavin Goode v Tito Chavez(ESP)

Marcel Latak v Ziga Sesko[6](SLO)

Safir Azam v Dimitar Kisimov[10](BUL)

Kamil Stolarczyk[WC] v Kirill Filaretov(RUS)

Janae Preston[6] v Fleur De Bresser(NED)

Thea Frodin v Katerina Zajickova(CZE)

Olivia Traynor v Nauhany Leme Da Silva[8]

Isha Manchala[WC] v Alexandra Malova(RUS)

Monday's second round junior matches featuring Americans:

Jordan Lee[8] v Valentin Gonzalez-Galino(ESP)

Michael Antonius[3] v Simone Massellani(ITA)

Andy Johnson[12] v Dan Brand(ISR)

Vihaan Reddy v Daniel Jade(FRA)

Tanishk Konduri v Mathys Domenc[14](FRA)

Jordyn Hazelitt[16] v Ekaterina Dotsenko(RUS)

Thara Gowda[WC] v Xinran Sun[1](CHN)

Yael Safar[Q] v Paola Pinera Celorio[10(ESP)

Kristina Penickova[WC][14] v Antonina Sushkova(UKR)

Annika Penickova[WC] Yu Jun Lin(CHN)

USTA Collegiate Playoff champions Nikita Filin and Brandon Carpico of Ohio State won their second round men's doubles match today, with a bit of deja vu, beating John Peers(Middle Tennessee, Baylor) of Australia and Marcelo Melo of Brazil 3-6, 7-6(7), 6-4. Filin and Carpico had won their first round match Friday over No. 8 seeds Orlando Luz and Rafael Matos of Brazil 4-6, 7-6(5), 7-5, so the confidence they have in their own ability to find their way through a match has grown with each set won.

"I think we both don't see it ending here," said Carpico. "I think we both know we're capable of making a really deep run in this tournament, and while we've played well in these two matches, we've got another gear we can still get to. I think the confidence is really high. It's two hard fought wins, but both of us know we can still play a little better, clean things up, so if we do that, what's to say we couldn't keep going."

"It's exciting, we're beating these great teams, but like Brandon said, we know we have a better gear," Filin said. "And once it clicks, we could take off. We're enjoying the moment, but we have to put a little pressure on ourselves, knowing we're good enough, better than these guys, and we're just here to prove it."

Filin and Carpico, who are the only NCAA wild card team to win two rounds since the ATP began tracking wild cards in the 1990s, will play three-time US Open men's doubles champions Rajeev Ram(Illinois) and Joe Salisbury(Memphis) in the third round.

After several disappointing results yesterday, Americans rebounded with five wins at the US Open Sunday, with three US men and two US women advancing to the quarterfinals today. 

Sunday's fourth round results of Americans:

Carlos Alcaraz[2](ESP) d. Tommy Paul[20] 6-4, 6-3, 6-4

Frances Tiafoe[11] d. Daniil Medvedev[7] 7-6(1), 6-4, 7-6(6)

Alex Michelsen d. Tomas Martin Etcheverry[27](ARG) 7-6(6), 6-4, 6-4

Ben Shelton[8] d. Stefanos Tsitsipas(GRE) 6-2, 6-3, 6-4

Aryna Sabelenka[1](BLR) d. Taylor Townsend 6-4, 6-3

Emma Navarro[26] d. Anna Kalinskaya[21](RUS) 6-4, 6-2

Jessica Pegula[3] d. Sorana Cirstea[16](ROU) 6-3, 6-4

Mondays fourth round matches featuring Americans:
Iva Jovic[14] v Coco Gauff[4]
Learner Tien[14] v Karen Khachanov(RUS)

Gaines Ousts No. 3 Seed, Qualifier Gowda Beats No. 4 Seed in Second Round of College Park J300; Antonius, Johnson and Penickova Advance in US Open Qualifying; Kennedy Defers Enrollment at UVA Until January

©Colette Lewis 2026--
College Park MD--

Tuesday was the first day of action for the seeds at the World Tennis J300 in College Park and ten of them did not survive, with five boys seeds and five girls seeds falling to unseeded players on another perfect weather day at the Junior Tennis Champions Center.

And the upsets weren't confined to lower seeds, with Jerrid Gaines Jr. defeating No. 3 seed Arnav Paparkar of India 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 and qualifier Thara Gowda eliminating No. 4 seed Ailina Sol Larraya Guidi of Argentina 6-4, 6-1.

Gaines, who had lost to Paparkar in three set May's J300 in Belgium on clay, didn't change his strategy, but did approach the match with a different mindset.

"I had to adjust a couple of things in terms of the mental," said the 17-year-old from Florida. "Just trusting myself, having that confidence. Sometimes I would lack confidence, but the key for me is to have that deep belief in those hard moments, because I do put in the work, and deserve to believe I can do whatever I put my mind to."

Gaines, a wild card, said he thought the court speed favored him more in this match than in their previous one, although he does like clay.

"I felt my ball was doing a little bit more on him," Gaines said. "So I was able to dictate the points a little bit more."

Gaines showed signs of frustration during the match, including several racquet tosses that went unnoticed by the roving officials, which he said was more physical than mental.

"I was playing great, but I was just a little bit worried because my knee started to hurt," Gaines said. "It was oh no, not now."

Gaines will face No. 15 seed Safir Azam in the only all-USA boys match in the third round. Azam, who defeated Rihards Neimanis of Latvia 6-4, 6-1 today, beat Gaines more than a year ago in their previous meeting in the third round of a J100 in the Dominican Republic, but Gaines is ready to extend his run this week.

"Obviously the tournament has a lot of great players," Gaines said. "But I think I could go deep in the tournament. You just have to put your head down and work, and just see what happens."

Gowda has had a much tougher journey to the third round, as the top seed in the qualifying tournament. She did receive a bye, but in the second round, her first match, she trailed Anastasia Pleskun 5-2 and 6-2 in the match tiebreaker before coming back for a 3-6, 6-3, 10-8 win.

"I was unusually calm in that tiebreaker to be honest," said Gowda, a 17-year-old from Michigan. "I don't really know why. But my dad just told me to make the balls, deep middle, huge margins, and that helped a lot. She was missing more than I was, and I should probably do that more often."

Gowda won her final round qualifying match with the loss of just four games, but had a three-set battle with Tea Kovacevic of Bosnia in the first round yesterday. It looked as if she was headed to another three-setter today, when she fell behind 3-0, but she rebounded to win six of the last seven games.

"In the first set I was just playing so solid, some of the best tennis I've played in a while, I wasn't really doing anything wrong," said Gowda, who has verbally committed to the University of Michigan for 2027. "In the second set, I have no idea what happened, I started shaking so much, and I wasn't moving my feet enough. How do you go from playing so good, to missing every ball? And then my dad coached me and said, get it in, move your feet, use bigger margins. And I gained some confidence, started playing better and I got back on serve. From there, she just started making more mistakes, and I pulled it out."

Gowda said her win today was her best in World Tennis junior circuit competition, with Larraya Guidi currently No. 14 in the world. 

"I don't know if I've played anyone in the Top 20 before, so she's the best player I've beaten," said Gowda, who was a quarterfinalist at the USTA National Championships in San Diego two weeks ago. "It's good to know I can be at that level."

Gowda acknowledges that the pressure she felt in qualifying is much different from what she felt today or in the USTA Pro Circuit events she has played. 

"In these higher level tournaments, I'm definitely the lower ranked player against whoever I play, so I just go out there, swing freely, with nothing to lose," said Gowda, who has a WTA ranking of 989. "I don't feel as nervous as playing qualifying, when I'm supposed to win; it's more relaxed than qualifying or a lower level tournament."

The other qualifier to advance to the third round is Antoine Genereux of Canada, who beat No. 11 seed Kirill Filaretov of Russia 7-6(5), 6-4.

Maggie Sohns defeated No. 8 seed Yihan Qu of China 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(1), while Adla Lopez's 6-0, 6-1 win over No. 13 seed Renee Alame of Australia was more than an hour shorter. Wild card Reiley Rhodes defeated No. 16 seed Olivia Traynor 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, but it was Kennedy Drenser-Hagmann's three-hour and 32-minute 6-4, 5-7, 7-6(3) win over No. 12 seed Maria Pop of Romania that drew the crowds to Court 17, with the other second round matches concluding and the first round of boys doubles occupying most of the other courts.

Pop served for the match at 5-3 in the third, but couldn't finish off Drenser-Hagmann. In the tiebreaker, Pop took a 3-1 lead, but Drenser-Hagmann began to construct points to get the backhands she wanted, while also hitting a drop shot winner and an overhead winner as she claimed the last six points of the match.

Australian Open champion and top seed Ksenia Efremova of France defeated USTA National 16s champion Shristi Selvan, a wild card, 6-2, 7-5 and No. 2 seed and Wimbledon champion Anna Pushkareva of Russia survived a bruising first set before defeating Canadian wild card Clemence Mercier 7-6(10), 6-0.

In addition to Paparkar and Filaretov, the other boys seeds to fall on Tuesday were No. 5 seed Ryan Cozad, who lost to Felix Roussel of Canada 6-2, 3-6, 6-1; No. 12 seed Savva Rybkin of Russia, who retired against wild card Joseph Lee at 1-6, 7-5; and No. 16 seed Benjamin Azar of Canada, who was beaten by Teodor Davidov 4-6, 6-1, 6-4.

Top seed Vincent Reisach of Germany defeated wild card Mason Vaughan 6-2, 6-2 and No. 2 seed Yannik Alvarez beat qualifier Kahven Singh 6-1, 6-0.

Singles will begin at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, with the second round of both boys and girls doubles in the afternoon, with the seeded teams playing for the first time.

Live scoring is available at iOnCourt; live streaming links and links to the order of play and draws are here.

The first round of qualifying at the US Open is now complete and five of the nine US teens given wild cards have advanced to the second round.

In addition to Jordan Lee and Julieta Pareja, who won their first round matches Monday, Michael Antonius, Andy Johnson and Kristina Penickova picked up wins today. Antonius started the day with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Great Britain's Henry Searle, with Penickova following with a 7-5, 6-2 victory over Elli Mandlik. Andy Johnson closed out the evening for Americans with an improbably third set comeback on Court 17, beating ATP No. 160 Taro Daniel of Japan 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 after trailing 4-1 in the final set. Johnson, who turned 17 on Sunday, hit 35 winners to Daniel's 10, with most of those coming in the final five games, when he could do no wrong, riding the support of the crowd to the second round. All three boys on the USA's champion Junior Davis Cup team last fall have posted victories in their first US Open men's qualifying competition.

Tuesday's results of US teens:

Michael Antonius d. Henry Searle(GBR) 6-1, 6-2

Tristan Schoolkate(AUS) d. Jack Secord 6-3, 6-2 

Andy Johnson d. Taro Daniel(JPN) 2-6, 6-2, 6-4

Kristina Penickova d. Elli Mandlik 7-5, 6-2

Nao Hibino d. Janae Preston 7-6(4), 6-1

Harriet Dart[29](GBR) d. Jordyn Hazelitt 6-0, 6-7(1), 6-1

Martyna Kubka(POL) d. Annika Penickova 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-2

Wednesday's second round matches for US teens:

Michael Antonius v Kei Nishikori[WC](JPN)

Andy Johnson v Liam Draxl(CAN)

Jordan Lee v Daniel Rincon(ESP)

Julieta Pareja v Iryna Shymanovich(BLR)

Kristina Penickova v Harriet Dart[29](GBR)

The ITA released its preseason and newcomer rankings today (men here; women here) and when Kalamazoo 18s champion Jack Kennedy didn't appear on the newcomers list for men, the speculation as to why began. I reached out to Jack Kennedy and this is his statement:

"I can confirm that I have deferred my enrollment to UVA until January. My decision is about wanting to utilize as many wild cards that I have earned and finish this year with a focus on playing as many main draw Challengers as possible. I started the year at 975 and I'm now 386. I want to see how I can finish the year playing mostly a pro schedule." 

Although there is no reference to it in his statement, the $140,000 prize money he'll earn in a first round appearance at the US Open, money he could not accept if he were enrolled this fall at Virginia, was also certainly a factor in his decision. 

My Recap of Kalamazoo 18 Championships; College Park J300 Qualifying Begins Saturday; NCAA Wins Stay of Ruling Extending Eligibility; Nakashima Beats Fritz, Faces Tiafoe in Cincinnati Open Semifinal; Blanch Receives Winston-Salem and US Open Main Draw Wild Cards

The last two recaps of National Championships week at Tennis Recruiting Network were published today, with my article on the titles for Jack Kennedy in singles and Noah Johnston and Yannik Alvarez in doubles going up this morning, and Rhiannon Potkey's article on Thea Frodin and Bella Payne and Sara Shumate's titles in San Diego following this afternoon.

As I mentioned yesterday, because the 18s final lasted only three games, there will be no videos this year on my YouTube channel. There is a recording of what did transpire at the livestream page.

Michael J. Lewis (no relation) is a New York-based journalist who follows the local juniors, and he had plenty to write about this week, with the National titles for Kamil Stolarczyk, Kennedy and Gabby Villegas.

His Long Island Press article on Kennedy is here, and his article of 14s champion Villegas is here. Look for one on Stolarczyk next month.

I'll be covering the ITF J300 in College Park Maryland for the 12th year beginning on Sunday, but the qualifying will begin Saturday and is scheduled for six indoor courts at the Junior Tennis Champions Center due to expected rain. The 48-player draw for the boys is full; the girls has only two byes, and all eight of the seeds in both girls and boys draws are in the World Tennis Top 200. Kai Thompson of Hong Kong, No. 34 in the WT junior rankings, is the top seed in boys qualifying. Thara Gowda, a quarterfinalist at last week's USTA 18s Nationals in San Diego, is the top seed; she and Carlota Moreno have the first round byes.

There was an important ruling today in the NCAA's Wisne case, in which a Colorado judge approved a fifth year of eligibility for those who completed their eligibility in 2026 before the adoption of a five-for-five standard set to begin in 2027. This is not likely to be the end of the court battles, but the NCAA provided this statement on X after the ruling.

There is no other statement from the NCAA that I can find, but some college tennis rosters for this fall may look different than they did a week ago with this stay.

Brandon Nakashima and Frances Tiafoe will face off in Saturday's semifinals of the ATP Masters 1000 Cincinnati Open after No. 27 seed Nakashima, a finalist at the Montreal 1000 two weeks ago, defeated No. 6 seed Taylor Fritz 7-6(9), 4-6, 6-3 this afternoon, and No. 17 seed Frances Tiafoe beat No. 10 seed Lorenzo Musetti of Italy 7-6(2), 7-5 tonight. The winner of that match will play the winner of Saturday's other semifinal between No. 7 seed Flavio Cobolli of Italy and No. 21 seed Arthur Fils of France in Sunday's final

Jessica Pegula[3] will face Iga Swiatek[7] of Poland in one of Saturday's semifinals; the winner of the Coco Gauff[4] and Marta Kostyuk[7] quarterfinal tonight will play Sara Bejlek of Czechia, who beat Madison Keys[20] 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(5) this afternoon.

2025 Kalamazoo 18s champion Darwin Blanch received a US Open main draw wild card according to today's USTA announcement; Martin Damm moved into the main draw on his own ranking after the withdrawals of Ethan Quinn(Georgia) and Canadian Gabriel Diallo(Kentucky), and Blanch was given Damm's previously announced wild card. There is still one men's main draw wild card to be announced.

Blanch also received a wild card into next week's Winston-Salem Open ATP 250, which he could not have used if he were playing in US Open qualifying. Damm also received a Winston-Salem wild card, as did Wimbledon boys finalist Cruz Hewitt, who will not be competing in New York.

Qualifying for Winston-Salem begins tomorrow, with Wake Forest's DK Suresh, Luca Pow and Mees Rottgering in the 16-player field, with Pow and US Open Collegiate playoff winner Sebastian Gorzny(TCU, Texas) receiving qualifying wild cards. TCU's rising junior Roger Pascual of Spain is also in the qualifying field. 

UTR Pro Tennis Tour Update; Auburn's Moe and UNC's Mayew Win UTR Summer Slam National Championships; Baylor's Bowden and Virginia's Rolls Claim Titles and A-A Wild Cards at ITA Summer Championships

As is often the case during the busy summer season of junior tennis, I've fallen behind updating the UTR Pro Tennis Tour results, where many collegians spend the bulk of their off season competing. Juniors also use the events to help prepare for the USTA National Championships because so many are played on outdoor hard courts.

Men's results: (previous results from 2026 can be found here,  here, and here).

June 8 Newport Beach CA
Maciej Rajski d. Xavier Calvelo 6-3, 7-5

June 9 Boston MA*
Cornelius Shalmi d. Alberto Altur Fernandez 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(5)

June 15 Boca Raton FL
Daniel Rakhmatullayev d. Sebastian Sec 6-2, 6-4

June 16 Seattle WA*
Nikola Plavsic d. Denny Bao 6-3, 4-6, 7-5

une 22 Newport Beach CA

Charlie Underwood d. JP Day 4-6, 0-1 ret.

June 23 Knoxville TN*

Jose Garcia d. Mitchell Sheldon 6-7(4), 6-3, 7-6(4)

June 23 Waco TX*

Cole Stelse d. Tomas Jirousek 6-4, 6-3

June 29 Boca Raton FL

Corey Craig d. Sebastian Sec 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-4

June 30 Newport Beach CA*

Constantinos Djakouris d. Maciej Rajski 7-6(1), 6-4

July 7 Winston Salem NC*

Ian Mayew d. Andrew Delgado 6-2, 6-3

July 13 Newport Beach CA

Xavier Calvelo d. Douglas Yaffa 7-6(4), 1-6, 7-5

July 14 Knoxville TN*

Jose Garcia d. Cassius Chinlund 6-2, 6-7(7), 6-3

July 20 Newport Beach CA

Rishvanth Krishna d. Douglas Yaffa 6-3, 6-1

July 21 Tallahassee FL*

Filip Aplteur d. Jacob Lee 3-6, 6-3, 6-2

July 21 Waco TX*

Tomas Jirousek d. Radek Chodora 6-1, 6-4

July 28 Auburn AL*

Enzo Aguiard d. David Krasner 6-0, 6-3

July 28 Columbus OH*

Preston Stearns d. Simon Caldwell 6-1, 6-3

August 3 Newport Beach CA

Robert Yang d. David Duong 6-7(6), 6-4, 6-2

August 4 Auburn AL*

Enzo Aguiard d. Stewart Aronson 6-4, 6-4

Summer Slam Championships $25K prize money

August 11 Tallahassee FL

Ian Mayew d. Aleksa Ciric 6-2, 4-6, 6-1

*$12.5K prize money

Women's results:

June 8 Newport Beach CA

Alexia Harmon d. Anastasiia Grechkina 3-6, 6-1, 6-2

June 8 Boca Raton FL

Malwina Rowinska d. Brooklyn Olson 6-4, 7-5

June 9 Boston MA*

Mariana Manyoma d. Amina Salibayeva 7-5, 6-3

June 13 Rome GA

Alicia Herrero Linana d. Nadia Valdez 6-4, 6-2

June 16 Seattle WA*

Emma Dong d. Alexia Jacobs 6-1, 6-1

June 22 Newport Beach CA

Anastasiia Grechkina d. Alina Shcherbinina 6-1, 6-4

June 23 Knoxville TN*

Sydney Jara d. Reese Frank 6-4, 6-0

June 23 Waco TX*

Zuzanna Kubacha d. Ishika Ashar 6-3, 6-0

June 30 Newport Beach CA*

Nicole Weng d. Daniela Borruel 6-2, 6-2

July 7 Winston Salem NC*

Catherine Rennard d. Lexie Weir 6-0, 1-6, 6-3

July 13 Newport Beach CA

Veronika Miroshnichenko d. Salma Ewing 6-3, 4-6, 6-1

July 14 Knoxville TN*

Riley Crowder d Catherine Rennard 7-5, 7-6(5)

July 20 Newport Beach CA

Daniela Borruel d. Shakhnoza Khatamova 7-5, 6-1

July 21 Tallahassee FL*

Sabritt Dozier d. Isabella Camacho 6-3, 6-3

July 21 Waco TX*

Zuzanna Kubacha d. Kira Matushkina 6-1, 6-2

July 28 Auburn AL*

Ava Esposito d. Lexie Weir 7-5, 6-3

July 28 Columbus OH*

Nao Nishino d. Ekaterina Ivanova 6-1, 6-2

August 3 Newport Beach CA

Veronika Miroshnichenko d. Shakhnoza Khatamova 6-1, 6-2

August 4 Auburn AL*

Ekaterina Khayrutdinova d. Ava Esposito 6-3, 7-5

August 4 Tallahassee FL

Summer Slam Championships $25K prize money

Kaya Moe d. Ava Esposito 6-4, 6-2

*$12.5 Prize Money

Ian Mayew, a rising sophomore at North Carolina, and Kaya Moe, a rising freshman at Auburn. won the $25,000 UTR Summer Slam Championships, which were played indoors at Florida State last week. 

The men's event page is here and the women's event page is here.

The ITA National Summer Championships are always during Kalamazoo, so I am not able to follow them; this year they were held in Waco Texas, with the Baylor men sweeping the titles. Rising senior Louis Bowden defeated Virginia's Stiles Brockett 6-1, 5-7, 10-7 in the final and partnered with rising freshman  August Brostrom Poulsen for the doubles title.

For more on the Baylor titles, see this article from baylorbears.com. 

In the women's tournament, Virginia's rising sophomore Katie Rolls won the title, defeated Alian Zack of Baylor 6-0, 7-5 in the final. Furman's Lillie Murphy and Elle Warren won the doubles title. 

Full draws are here.

For more on Rolls victory, see this article from virginiasports.com. 

The champions receive wild cards into the main draw of the ITA All-American Championships, in Tulsa Oklahoma(men) and Cary North Carolina(women) September 19-27. The finalists receive qualifying wild cards.

Kalamazoo Seeds; Sixteen-year-old Qualifier Liutova Wins WTA Memphis 250; Penickova and Gogineni Claim Pro Circuit Titles; Wolf Wins ATP Challenger 125 in Canada; Eligibility Ruling Produces NCAA Chaos

The seeds have been posted for the USTA 18s and 16s National Championships, which begin this Friday, August 7, at Western Michigan University and Stowe Stadium at Kalamazoo College. As is always the case for Kalamazoo, with the different competitive environments of the top players in the field,ATP and World Tennis Junior rankings are considered, as are collegiate records, USTA rankings and World Tennis Numbers. Seeds 33-64 can be viewed via the Players tab via the link above.

Kalamazoo B18s Top 32 Seeds:

1. Jack Kennedy
2. Michael Antonius
3. Andy Johnson
4. Keaton Hance
5. Ronit Karki
6. Jordan Lee
7. Noah Johnston
8. Yannik Alvarez
9. Jack Secord
10. Ryan Cozad
11. Tanishk Konduri
12. Vihaan Reddy
13. Gavin Goode
14. Nikolas Stoot
15. Gus Grumet
16. Marcel Latak
17. Jerrid Gaines Jr
18. Rishvanth Krishna
19. Teodor Davidov
20. Safir Azam
21. Navneet Raghuram
22. Carel Ngounoue
23. Agassi Rusher (withdrew)
24. Roshan Santhosh
25. Peter Jorniak
26. Alexander Suhanitski
27. Jesse Yang
28. Arin Pallegar
29. James Quattro
30. Tyler Lee
31. Noble Renfrow
32. Mason Taube

B16s Top 32 Seeds:

1. Kamil Stolarczyk
2. Sulaiman Syed
3. Daniel Malacek
4. Tristan Stratton
5. Kahven Singh
6. Colter Amey
7. Eli Kaminski
8. Gadin Arun
9. Daniil Berezin
10. Adrian Sharma
11. Anay Kulkarni
12. Piotr Gradzki
13. Ethan Turunen
14. Mikaeel Alibaig
15. Advay Singh
16. Ivan Rybak
17. Michael Chervenkov
18. Gurbaaz Narang
19. Rafael Pawar
20. Joshua Dolinksy
21. Aayush Vartak
22. Lennart Hammargren
23. Alexander Totoian
24. Tabb Tuck
25. Connor Feehan
26. Tristan Ascenzo
27. Arjun Krishnan
28. Griffin Goode
29. Antanas Daugis
30. Ishaan Marla
31. Louden Muha
32. Johnny Wolf

When you are in the same conversation as Coco Gauff, you are in good company, and Kristina Liutova now finds herself officially a phenom after winning the WTA 250 in Memphis this afternoon. The 16-year-old Moscow-born Seattle resident won her sixth match since last Sunday, coming from a set down for the second time this week in her 1-6, 6-1, 6-3 win over the University of Georgia's 2024 fall NCAA singles champion Dasha Vidmanova of Czechia.

Liutova's slow start was nothing new for her this week, but as before, she never panicked, using her depth, consistency and defense to get herself back into the match, while Vidmanova's level dropped as Liutova's rose. When Liutova served for the match at 5-2 in the third, Vidmanova came up with three winners on Liutova's three championship points and eventually broke, but again Liutova never expressed any frustration or doubt and she broke Vidmanova in the next game to secure the title.

Liutova, up to 126 in the WTA live rankings after starting the year at 714, is the first player 16-and-under to win a WTA tournament since Coco Gauff won the WTA 250 in Linz as a 15-year-old in 2019.

As it happens, one of Liutova's wins in last December's run to the Orange Bowl final was over Annika Penickova, who won her first singles title on the Pro Circuit today at the W35 in Florence South Carolina. The 16-year-old left-hander, playing in her first singles final, defeated 21-year-old qualifier Piper Charney, a rising senior at Michigan, 6-3, 6-4 in this morning's final. 

Annika and twin sister Kristina won the doubles title yesterday, their second at a W35 in the past two weeks.

Another young American picked up a first USTA Pro Circuit title today, with unseeded Vignesh Gogineni ending the winning streak of No. 5 seed Ozan Baris(Michigan State) in the final of the M25 in Edwardsville Illinois. Gogineni, a recent Yale graduate who finished his career No. 25 in the ITA national rankings, handed the Louisville M25 champion a 6-4, 6-2 loss and will head into his Cincinnati Open qualifying appearance a week from Tuesday full of confidence. Baris received a wild card into the main draw of the Lexington Challenger 75 this coming week.

Unseeded Anastasia Kulikova of Finland won the W75 in Lexington Kentucky today, beating No. 3 seed Ayana Akli(Maryland, South Carolina) 7-5, 6-4 in this afternoon's final. 

Last night, Akli and Fiona Crawley won the doubles title, with the No. 2 seeds beating top seeds Savannah Broadus(Pepperdine) and Kylie Collins(Texas, LSU, Oklahoma State) 2-6, 7-6(3), 12-10. Akli defended her doubles title from last year, when she played with Eryn Cayetano(USC); she now has seven USTA Pro Circuit doubles titles, all at W35s and above, in the past two years. Crawley now has four doubles titles on the USTA Pro Circuit, with four different partners.

JJ Wolf, who reached the quarterfinals of the Bloomfield Hills Challenger 125 last week, headed west this week, receiving entry into the Vancouver Canada 125 via his protected ranking, after his long injury hiatus last year. After winning an M15 and an M25 in his comeback this year, Wolf broke through again on the Challenger level, winning his first Challenger title in five years last night with a 7-5, 6-1 win over No. 8 seed Mark Lajal of Estonia.

After several rain delays, the match was moved indoors, where the former Ohio State All-American was obviously more comfortable. Like fellow Cincinnati resident Gogineni, Wolf has received a qualifying wild card for the ATP Masters 1000 there; his ranking with the Vancouver title has jumped from 563 to 282.

Division I NCAA sports, including tennis, were thrown into chaos Friday with a ruling that granted a fifth year of eligibilty to those in the 2022 high school graduating class, who the NCAA had ruled completed their eligibility in 2026 when they adopted the new five-in-five plan, which is scheduled to begin in 2027.

For details of the initial ruling, see this USA Today article at Yahoo Sports.

The NCAA plans to appeal the decision, and today there were clarifications provided on the injunction issued Friday. Those can be found at this USA Today article at Yahoo Sports.

Liutova Advances to WTA Memphis 250 Quarterfinals; Talking Top Collegiate Newcomers on No-Ad No-Problem Podcast; Crossley Beats Top Seed, Nguyen and Penickova Reach Florence W35 Quarterfinals; Baris Overcomes 5-0 Third Set Deficit to Extend M25 Winning Streak

Sixteen-year-old qualifier Kristina Liutova, who won two USTA Pro Circuit W100s in May and June, has continued to reach new heights this week at the WTA 250 in Memphis Tennessee. After outlasting top seed Ekaterina Alexandrova, who retired with a heat-related illness on Tuesday after three hours and trailing 4-5 in the third set of the first round, Liutova won another three-setter in less debilitating conditions today, beating WTA No. 76 Maya Joint of Australian 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.

Liutova, who was born in Moscow but has lived in the United States since 2020, has now reach the WTA Top 200 in the live rankings, and will face No. 6 seed Caty McNally in Friday's quarterfinals. 

Seventeen-year-old qualifier Cruz Hewitt of Australia was not able to equal Liutova's feat today in his second round match against top seed Alex de Minaur. Hewitt, who picked up his first ATP main draw win against Marcos Giron(UCLA) at the ATP 500 Mubadala DC Open Tuesday, lost to de Minaur 6-2, 6-3. De Minaur, the defending champion, will next play Brandon Nakashima(Virginia), who beat No. 7 seed Jakub Mensik of Czechia 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-4 today. Taylor Fritz[3] and Bloomfield Hills Challenger champion Alex Michelsen will play in the other top half quarterfinal Friday.

I joined John Parsons on his No-Ad No-Problem podcast this week to discuss the top newcomers to collegiate tennis, with the fall season less than two months away. We discussed the players aged 20-and-under who are likely have the biggest impact on their teams and where they could fit into the lineups, with additional comments on how recruiting has changed in the new NIL landscape, with the urgency to sign top juniors decreasing for many top programs. Subscribe to John's indispensible podcast for all things college tennis; the newcomer episode is available here.

The three USTA Pro Circuit tournaments this week have survived the worst of the heat, and the quarterfinals are set for Friday.

At the W35 in Florence South Carolina, US teens Annika Penickova and No. 8 seed Alexis Nguyen(spoiler alert: she's featured in the podcast) have advanced to the quarterfinals, with Nguyen set to face UCLA rising sophomore Mayu Crossley of Japan, who took out top seed Antonia Vergara Rivera of Chile 6-3, 6-2.

Rising UNC freshman Nguyen advanced via a second consecutive retirement, with NC State rising senior Gabriella Broadfoot of South Africa retiring trailing 7-6(6), 2-0. 

Penickova defeated No. 5 seed and rising Texas junior Carmen Herea of Romania, who finished the year No. 3 in the ITA rankings, 6-3, 6-1 and will play No. 4 seed Ekaterina Khayrutdinova(FIU, Auburn) next.

A qualifier is guaranteed in the semifinals, with Jo-Yee Chan(Oregon, San Diego State) facing Piper Charney(Michigan). Chan defeated Annika's twin sister Kristina 7-6(6), 6-0, while Charney took out No. 7 seed Yiming Dang of China 6-0, 6-4.

The bottom quarterfinals will feature No. 2 seed Angelina Voloshchuk of Portugal and qualifier Krisha Mahendran(USC) of India. Mahendran, a rising sophomore at USC, defeated Amy Zhu(Michigan) 6-3, 4-6, 6-2; Voloshchuk defeated 16-year-old wild card Jordyn Hazelitt 6-3, 6-2.

Recent Michigan State graduate Ozan Baris needed over three-and-a-half hours and had to save five match points, but the No. 5 seed extended his M25 winning streak to seven matches today in Edwardsville Illinois. The 22-year-old from Michigan, the champion two weeks ago in Louisville, won the last seven games of the match after trailing TCU rising sophomore Oliver Bonding of Great Britain 5-7, 7-6(5), 5-0. Baris will face wild card Max Exsted(USC), who advanced with a second consecutive retirement, with No. 3 seed Samir Banerjee(Stanford) retiring trailing 6-4, 2-2.

Top seed Johannus Monday(Tennessee) of Great Britain defeated 18-year-old Keaton Hance 6-1, 6-4.

The other Americans through to the quarterfinals are Bruno Kuzuhara[7](Clemson) and Jack Anthrop(Ohio State), who play Friday, and recent Yale graduate Vignesh Gogineni, who face No. 2 seed Karim Bennani of Morocco.

Five Americans are through to the quarterfinals at the W75 in Lexington Kentucky, with four of them former collegians.

No. 2 seed Fiona Crawley(UNC), unseeded Kylie Collins(Texas, LSU, Oklahoma State), No. 7 seed Savannah Broadus(Pepperdine) and No. 3 seed Ayana Akli(Maryland, South Carolina), won their matches today, with Akli beating 15-year-old wild card Janae Preston 6-4, 6-2.

Akli will play the fifth American in the quarterfinals, No. 6 seed Hanna Chang, who is looking to add to her point total in the USTA US Open wild card race. Chang won the Dallas W35 in Week One and is currently in third place with those 35 points.

My Recap of Manchala's Title at Wimbledon 14U Tournament; Eight Questions with Bloomfield Hills Challenger Semifinalist Michael Zheng; Pareja Receives Qualifying Wild Card for WTA 500 in Washington DC

The European 14s championships are underway in Most Czechia this week, and after covering the Wimbledon 14-and-under event two weeks ago, I recognize quite a few of the names. Three of the four boys semifinalists competed at Wimbledon and are making a quick surface change back to clay, including champion Jonas Waelti of Switzerland.

The Wimbledon 14-and-under girls finalist Mariia Kocherzhenko of Ukraine is the No. 1 seed in Most, and she has advanced to the semifinals. For links to draws, live scoring and live streaming, see the Tennis Europe live blog page.

My coverage of the Wimbledon tournament, which focuses on Isha Manchala capturing the first title for an American in the event's five-year history, can be found today at the Tennis Recruiting Network.

In my post Monday, I covered Michael Zheng's first round win and provided his comments on the grass court season and his Wimbledon third round appearance. Below is the rest of my interview with Columbia's two-time NCAA singles champion.

 Today at the Cranbrook Tennis Classic in Bloomfield Hills, the sixth-seeded Zheng advanced to his seventh semifinal at the Challenger level with a 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-3 win over No. 2 seed Adam Walton(Tennessee) of Australia. Zheng has advanced to the final five of the six times he has appeared in a Challenger semifinal. He will face No. 8 seed Jake Fearnley(TCU) of Great Britain, who beat JJ Wolf(Ohio State) 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-3.  In the top half, No. 1 seed Alex Michelsen defeated defending champion Mark Lajal 6-3, 6-4 and will face lucky loser DK Suresh(Wake Forest) of India, who beat 2025 CTC finalist Andres Martin(Georgia Tech) 3-6, 7-6(4), 7-6(6). Martin didn't face a break point in the match, yet still lost; Suresh saved two of the three break points he faced, and used some expert volleying in the second and third sets to eke out a win.

Eight Questions with Michael Zheng:

Colette Lewis: Did being in the final of the Wimbledon Junior Championships help you in your men's main draw debut this year?

Michael Zheng: Not a lot of players have had that experience, playing on grass, so even though it's my first real season playing on grass, I had in juniors, had the success in the juniors. So that's always in the back of your mind that you know you can play well on grass, so it definitely helped. Playing on grass, feeling the courts, knowing that I played really well there, really helped.

CL: What was behind your decision to skip this year's USTA American Collegiate US Open Wild Card Playoff?

MZ: I think the scheduling was just a little bit tough. It was between staying a little longer on the hard, and prepare for that, or go to Europe and try to give myself the best possible chance to do well at Wimbledon. I think it does take a couple of tournaments to get used to the grass, the movement is a little bit different, so we just decided, with the way it was scheduled, it would be tough. If I was in England, going back and forth and trying to make it back in time for Wimbledon(qualifying), it probably wouldn't give me the best chance to do well in qualies.

CL: Did the fact that you had qualified for the Australian Open and Roland Garros play into that scheduling decision?

MZ: Yes, I think that was definitely a factor, just the confidence against these guys at that level. My dad has always told me that grass suits my game, and I hadn't done that well on clay, hadn't played on it in two years, and am already qualifying in Paris, so on grass, a surface where I feel more comfortable, why not give myself that chance to qualify there?

CL: Do you have an agent?

MZ: I just signed with GSE a couple of days ago. They're not announcing it yet, but soon. 

CL: How do you look back on your final college season? I think a lot of people were surprised that you lost six matches. Were you surprised by that?

MZ: A little bit. I was expected to do well, I had just won NCAAs and I had a good run in Australia. I think the timing with everything was a little bit unfortunate. I went to Australia, did better than expected, but missed our (ITA) Kickoff(Weekend) match and when I got back from Australia I was hurt, so I was out for a couple of weeks actually, on the sidelines coaching. 

I think I was, I don't want to say de-motivated, because I wanted to win, but it was tough, with the injury, and guys were also playing really well against me. But I think I definitely underperformed a little bit during the season. I think I started playing better toward the end, and then we were a little bit unlucky that we drew UVA in the second round at NCAAs. I lost a tough match to (Dylan) Dietrich, who is playing really well, on their home courts. It was definitely a tough season, but you learn a lot.

CL: Were you able to attend your Columbia graduation?

MZ: I missed it unfortunately. I was in France. I think if I'd have lost in second round of qualies I could have made it. I ended up bringing my cap and gown there and took some pictures, but unfortunately I missed the walk.

CL: What are your thoughts about the Electronic Line Calling at ATP Challengers this year?

MZ: I think it's better, just in general. You aren't arguing calls with line judges; with Electronic Line Calling it's set. You can think that maybe it's wrong, but you can't really do anything about it and it saves a lot of time with the arguments and all that. It gives you peace of mind and it's probably more accurate than whatever you see. I think it's better.

CL: What's your schedule for the rest of the summer?

MZ: From here I'm going to Los Cabos (ATP 250), instead of DC. I think I'm eight out of qualifying for Montreal (ATP 1000), so if I can sneak in, I'll play there. I'm also signed for Lexington(ATP Challenger 75) so if I can't get in to Montreal, I'll play Lexington. I just signed for Cincinnati(ATP 1000) qualies, so maybe play that.

While Zheng won't be playing the Mubadala Open in Washington DC, tomorrow's first round of qualifying matches feature many other young Americans.

Wimbledon boys champion Jordan Lee, who received a wild card, will play No. 7 seed Moez Echargui(Nevada) of Morocco in Lee's ATP-level debut. Australian Cruz Hewitt, the Wimbledon boys finalist and wild card recipient, faces No. 8 seed Dusan Lajovic of Serbia.

2025 NCAA singles finalist Trevor Svajda received a wild card for qualifying and will play No. 12 seed Elias Ymer of Sweden. His brother Zachary is the top seed in qualifying and will face Stefan Kozlov. Kozlov and Lee received a men's doubles qualifying wild card. The fourth wild card in men's singles qualifying went to Aryan Shah of India, who joined Wake Forest in January.

Andres Martin, who lost in Bloomfield Hills late this afternoon, is on Saturday's schedule not before 3 p.m. in a first round qualifying match No. 5 seed Christopher O'Connell of Australia. The winner of that match plays the winner of the Lee-Echargui match for a spot in the main draw.

The men's qualifying draw is here.

There are only four qualifiers who receive entry into the women's main draw, versus six qualifiers on the men's side, so only two qualifying wild cards are awarded.  Seventeen-year-old Julieta Pareja received one of the and she will face No. 6 seed Polina Iatcenko of Russia in the first round tomorrow. The other wild card was given to 20-year-old Clervie Ngounoue, who is originally from the DC area; she will play No. 7 seed Varvara Lepchenko of the United States. The other Americans in qualifying are Carolyn Ansari(Auburn) and Lea Ma(Georgia).

The women's qualifying draw is here.

UCLA's Johnson Reaches Lincoln Challenger Quarterfinals; Qualifiers Advance to Quarterfinals in Dallas and Louisville; Bennett Joins Auburn's Coaching Staff, Kane to Lead Cal Women; Three US Girls Make J200 Bogota Semifinals

The 2026 version of my Wimbledon Thoughts and Observations will be out tomorrow as a stand-alone post, so tonight I'll focus on the USTA Pro Circuit, college news and notable US junior results (don't forget to check Tennis Recruiting Network each day for their National Clay Courts recaps).

Last night at the ATP Challenger 75 in Lincoln Nebraska, UCLA rising senior Spencer Johnson advanced to his first Challenger quarterfinal by winning the battle of the wild cards over JJ Wolf(Ohio State) 6-2, 6-4. Johnson, whose last loss was to 16-year-old Andy Johnson in the semifinals of the M15 in Los Angeles in early June, has now won 17 consecutive matches. He'll look to extend that streak on Friday against No. 3 seed Coleman Wong of Hong Kong. The other two Americans to reach the quarterfinals are No. 6 seed Colton Smith(Arizona) and qualifier Matt Forbes, who reached his first Challenger quarterfinal with a 6-7(3), 7-6(4), 6-3 win over Jie Cui of China. He will face No. 8 seed Bernard Tomic of Australia next.

At the W35 in Dallas, four Americans advanced to the quarterfinals in the bottom half: No. 7 seed Malaika Rapolu(Texas), qualifier Lexington Reed(Texas A&M), Christasha McNeil(Texas) and No. 2 seed Hanna Chang. Alina Shcherbinina(Baylor, Okalahoma) of Russia won her 23rd match in her last 24 matches today, defeated No. 4 seed Jia-Jing Lu of China 6-3, 5-7, 6-3. She will face Ekaterina Khayrutdinova(Florida International, Auburn) of Russia in the quarterfinals.

The quarterfinals at the M25 in Louisville Kentucky features two qualifiers, both current collegians. Texas A&M's rising junior Alex Frusina beat Great Britain's Will Jansen(UNC, Ohio State, Georgia) 7-6(8), 6-4 and will play former Texas All-American Timo Legout of France in Friday's quarterfinals. Legout defeated No. 6 seed Oliver Bonding(TCU) 6-2, 6-1 in today's second round.  Bonding's teammate Max Dussault, like Frusina a qualifier, defeated Vignesh Gogineni(Yale) 6-3, 7-5 and will face No. 4 seed Ozan Baris(Michigan State) Friday. Baris defeated 15-year-old qualifier Teodor Davidov 6-0, 6-1. Top seed Mees Rottgering(Wake Forest) of the Netherlands beat 18-year-old UCLA rising freshman Lev Seidman 6-1, 6-2 to advance to the quarterfinals.

At the M15 in Rochester New York, all second round matches were pushed back until this evening and all doubles postponed until Friday, I assume due to poor air quality due to the wildfire smoke, which we are also experiencing here in Michigan. Two matches have finished with top seed Tristan McCormick defeating 16-year-old wild card Sulaiman Syed 6-2, 6-4 and 17-year-old Jerrid Gaines Jr reaching his second M15 quarterfinals with a 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 win over wild card Drew Fishback(Virginia Tech). 

Auburn announced that 2024 NCAA singles finalist DJ Bennett, who graduated in May, has been hired as an assistant coach for the Tigers. Bennett explains in this article why, after she competes in the US Open women's doubles draw with the wild card she won at last month's USTA US Open Collegiate Playoffs with Ava Esposito, she will not pursue a career in pro tennis.

Many other associate and assistant coach positions have been filled in the past month; see Parsa Nemati's twitter feed (@ParsaBombs) for updates on those.

Few Division Power 4 conference head coaching positions were vacated this year, and technically, Cal was not one of them, as the school did not replace women's head coach Amanda Augustus when she announced her retirement this fall. After men's head coach Kris Kwinta served as interim coach this spring, Cal filled the position early this month, naming Maggie Kane, a former North Carolina player, as head coach. Kane, who served as an assistant at Oklahoma State last year and associate head coach at UC-Santa Barbara from 2022-2025, is the first coach to benefit from the endowed position of the Stacy Savides Director of Women's Tennis, which was announced last month.

With no World Tennis junior events in the United States this week, and the USTA National Clay Courts concluded, it's a quiet time for American juniors. But three US girls have had success on the South American red clay this week, with No. 3 seed Kennedy Drenser-Hagmann, No. 4 seed Olivia De Los Reyes and unseeded Ciara Harding through to the semifinals of the J200 in Bogota Colombia. De Los Reyes will face Harding, who beat No. 2 seed Ireland O'Brien today, while Drenser-Hagmann, who defeated Reiley Rhodes today, will play top seed Sofie Hettlerova of Czechia, who came through qualifying. Drenser-Hagmann and De Los Reyes, the No. 2 seeds, are into the doubles semifinals, while top seeds Scarlett Fagan and O'Brien have already secured their spot in the final.

Seven Americans Qualify for Wimbledon; Dudeney Prepares for Wimbledon Debut; Antonius Reaches Armani Invitational Final; Leach, Gowda Advance to M15 Claremont Quarterfinals; ITF Rebrands to World Tennis

Americans had their most successful Wimbledon final round of qualifying this century today at Roehampton, with four women and three men advancing to the main draw with victories today.

In 2021 six Americans reached the main draw via qualifying, but seven is the most since eight qualified in 1993, and it is the most at any major since eight qualified at the US Open in 2017.

Two-time NCAA champion Michael Zheng, a recent Columbia graduate, is now 9-0 this year in slam qualifying, with the 2022 boys finalist returning to the All-England Club for the first time since then with his three-set win over Colton Smith(Arizona)

Tristan Boyer(Stanford), who beat No. 7 seed Pablo Llamas Ruiz of Spain 7-5, 6-7(4), 7-6(2), 6-3, and Kayla Day, a 6-2, 7-5 winner over No. 14 seed Katarzyna Kawa of Poland, will also be making their main draw debuts at Wimbledon.

Mackenzie McDonald, Ashlyn Krueger, Robin Montgomery and Claire Liu, all of whom have played the main draw at one point in the past three years, booked their returns with victories today.

Other notable qualifiers are wild cards Max Basing(Stanford) and, for the second year in a row, Oliver Tarvet(San Diego). Basing, who received a last-minute wild card into qualifying despite failing to advance to the final of the LTA's playoff, defeated Remy Bertola of Switzerland 2-6, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5, 6-2. Tarvet, who returned to San Diego for his senior year despite winning a round in the main draw last year, didn't drop a set in his three victories this week, beating Stefanos Sakellaridis of Greece 6-4, 6-2, 7-5 in today's final round of qualifying. For more on their successful qualifying runs, see this article from wimbledon.com.

Eighteen-year-old Tyra Grant, who played for the United States until a year ago, when she switched her representation to her mother's country of Italy, will make her women's Wimbledon debut after qualifying; she won the Wimbledon girls doubles title with Iva Jovic in 2024.

Thursday's final round Wimbledon qualifying matches featuring Americans:

Ashlyn Krueger[2] d. Polina Iatcenko(RUS) 7-6(8), 6-1

Alina Korneeva[3](RUS) d. Fiona Crawley 6-2, 6-0 

Leolia Jeanjean[23](FRA) d, Katie Volynets[5] 6-3, 6-4

Kayla Day[32] d. Katarzyna Kawa[14](POL) 6-2, 7-5

Claire Liu d. Elena Pridankina(RUS) 6-2, 4-6, 6-1

Robin Montgomery d. Marina Bassols Ribera(ESP) 3-6, 6-1, 6-1

Tristan Boyer d. Pablo Llamas Ruiz[7](ESP) 7-5, 6-7(4), 7-6(2), 6-3

Mackenzie McDonald[13] d. Christopher O'Connell[32](AUS) 6-3, 6-4, 6-4

Michael Zheng[26] d. Colton Smith 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3

The draw is scheduled to be announced at 10 a.m. local time Friday in London, which is 5 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time. 

While collegians Tarvet and Basing were grinding through qualifying, Alice Dudeney was spared that ordeal, with the two-time doubles All-American at Florida receiving a main draw wild card. Dudeney was outside the WTA Top 1000 when she graduated from Florida last May, but in the past year has improved her ranking to a career-high of 246. In this article from the Independent, Dudeney explains why she chose the American college pathway, still not as prevalent for British girls as it has become for British boys, and how it prepared her for her steep climb in the past 12 months.

Michael Antonius is through to the final of the Giorgio Armani Junior Invitation at Hurlingham in London after defeating Yannick Alexandrescou of France today 7-6, 6-7(8), 10-5. Antonius will play Australian Cruz Hewitt, son of Lleyton Hewitt, who beat Kai Thompson of Hong Kong 6-3, 6-1.  The girls final will feature Ksenia Efremova of France and Nana Leme Da Silva of Brazil. Live streaming is available on YouTube.

Jagger Leach, who just completed his freshman year at Stanford, is playing his first non-collegiate event this week at the SoCal Pro Series M15 in Claremont California. The 19-year-old, who was out with an elbow injury for the second half of 2025, is through to the quarterfinals after defeating No. 6 seed Luca Pow(Wake Forest) of Great Britain 7-5, 6-3. Leach will face qualifier Oliver Ojakaar(Texas) of Estonia Friday.  Last week's Irvine M15 winner Spencer Johnson(UCLA), repeated his win over Bryce Nakashima(Ohio State) in that final today, by a 6-4, 6-3 score. Johnson will face another Buckeye in the quarterfinals in top seed Aidan Kim.

Recent Yale graduate Vignesh Gogineni is through to the quarterfinals after taking out No. 2 seed Kenta Miyoshi(Illinois) of Japan 6-2, 6-4.

In the SoCal Pro Series W15 in Claremont, 17-year-old lucky loser Thara Gowda has advanced to the quarterfinals, after beating No. 6 seed Anita Sahdiieva(Baylor, LSU) of Ukraine 6-3, 7-5 in the first round yesterday, Gowda defeated Caroline Driscoll(Denver, Stanford) 6-3, 7-6(3) today.

For more on Wednesday's first round action in Claremont, featuring comments from Leach, his mother Lindsay Davenport, 16-year-old qualifier Brooke Kwon and former Arizona standout Midori Castillo Meza, see this article from the USTA SoCal website.

The International Tennis Federation has changed its name, and will now be known as World Tennis. It will certainly take me some time to get used to this, as I've been using ITF to designate the organization for more than twenty years, but I'm going to try to use World Tennis in its place. If you see WT in a Zootennis headline, know that it refers to what was formerly known as the International Tennis Federation.