My Article on Texas A&M Women's NCAA Title; Perez and Dietrich Finish No. 1 in D-I Singles Rankings; CMS and Chicago Reach D-III Men's Final; Seven Americans Make Roland Garros Qualifying Final Round; Three US Boys Advance to ITF J500 Milan Round Three

My recap of Sunday's NCAA Division I women's final, featuring Texas A&M collecting their second title in program history with a 4-1 win over Auburn, is available now at the Tennis Recruiting Network. What the Aggies did over those three days was a remarkable accomplishment; battling through the physical and mental hurdles of back-to-back 4-3 victories, the second over top seed Georgia in front of the Bulldogs massive fan base, then recovering in time for a 4-1 victory over No. 2 Auburn, is not something we're likely to see again in college tennis.

The final Division I rankings of 2025-26 were published today, with NCAA champions Virginia and Texas A&M at the top spots. Their No. 1  singles players finished No. 1 in the final singles rankings, ensuring that undefeated Lucciana Perez and once-beaten Dylan Dietrich will be named ITA Player of the Year when those awards are announced.

All-American status is earned by a Top 20 ranking, so I've included that extended list here. About half of the Top 20 will have already earned All-American status by reaching the round of 16  at the NCAA last fall, but the other half have received the accolade by final rankings.  The A-A criteria for doubles is quarterfinals at the NCAAs and Top 10 in the final ranking. 

Top 20 is also an important achievement for the ATP Accelerator program; for women, a Top 5 ranking is necessary for ITF Accelerator wild cards. The details of the Accelerator Programs are here.

Final 2025-2026 ITA Rankings, May 20, 2026

WOMEN:

Team Top 10

1. Texas A&M

2. Auburn

3. Georgia

4. Ohio State

5. North Carolina

6. Oklahoma

7. Virginia

8. NC State

9. Pepperdine

10. LSU

Singles Top 20

1. Lucciana Perez, Texas A&M*

2. Reese Brantmeier, North Carolina

3. Carmen Herea, Texas

4. Luciana Perry, Ohio State

5. Teah Chavez, Ohio State*

6. Aysegul Mert, Georgia*

7. Ange Oby Kajuru, North Carolina*

8. Piper Charney, Michigan

9. Irina Balus, Duke

10. Cadence Brace, LSU*

11. Katrina Scott, Tennessee*

12. Evialina Laskevich, Oklahoma*

13. Anastasia Abbagnato, Texas*

14. Bridget Stammel, Vanderbilt*

15. Anastasiia Lopata, Georgia*

16. DJ Bennett, Auburn*

17. Maria Sholokhova, Wisconsin*

18. Savannah Dada-Mascoll, Appalachian State

19. Lily Jones, Michigan

20. Mia Slama, NC State

*named All-America due to this final Top 20 ranking

Doubles Top 10

1. Roisin Gilheany and Gloriana Nahum, Oklahoma

2. Gabriella Broadfoot and Victoria Osuigwe, NC State

3. Ava Esposito and DJ Bennett, Auburn*

4. Reese Brantmeier and Alanis Hamilton, North Carolina

5. Denis Dilek and Aysegul Mert, Georgia*

6. Anastasiia Lopata and Patricija Paykstyte, Georgia*

7. Angella Okutoyi and Merna Refaat, Auburn*

8. Flora Johnson and Luciana Perry, Ohio State*

9. Melodie Collard and Vivian Yang, Virginia*

10. Ange Oby Kajuru and Susanna Maltby, North Carolina

*named All-America due to this final Top 10 ranking

MEN:

Team Top 10
1. Virginia
2. Texas
3. Wake Forest
4. TCU
5. Ohio State
6. Mississippi State
7. Arizona
8. LSU
9. Oklahoma
10. Baylor

Singles Top 20

1. Dylan Dietrich, Virginia

2. Sebastian Gorzny, Texas*

3. Jay Friend, Arizona

4. Trevor Svajda, SMU

5. Paul Inchauspe, Princeton

6. Michael Zheng, Columbia

7. Duncan Chan, TCU*

8. Benito Sanchez-Martinez, Mississippi State*

9. Max Dahlin, Michigan

10. Devin Badenhorst, Baylor*

11. Petar Jovanovic, Mississippi State

12. Keegan Rice, Virginia

13. Lucas Andrade Da Silva, South Carolina*

14. Aidan Kim, Ohio State*

15. Oliver Tarvet, San Diego*

16. Theo Papamalamis, Texas A&M*

17. Kenta Miyoshi, Illinois

18. Gabriel Debru, Illinois*

19. Matthew Forbes, Michigan State

20. Jakub Vrba, Arkansas*

*named All-America due to this final Top 20 ranking

Doubles Top 10

1. DK Suresh and Andrew Delgado, Wake Forest

2. Theo Papamalamis and Togan Tokac, Texas A&M*

3. Cosme Rolland De Ravel and Duncan Chan, TCU*

4. Brno Nhavene and Luis Alvarez, Oklahoma*

5. Arda Azkara and Santiago Giamichelle, Georgia*

6. Brandon Carpico and Nikita Filin, Ohio State

7. Paul Barbier Gazeu and Lucas Andrade Da Silva, South Carolina*

8. Benito Sanchez Martinez and Petar Jovanovic, Mississippi State*

9. Mans Dahlberg and Dylan Dietrich, Virginia

10. Billy Blades and Freddy Blades, Auburn*

*named All-America due to this final Top 10 ranking

The Division III men's final is set for Friday, with top-ranked Chicago facing No. 2 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. Chicago defeated No. 3 Tufts 4-1 in today's semifinal and CMS beat No. 5 Case Western Reserve 4-2.

The D-III women's final between defending champion Washington-St. Louis, ranked third, and fourth-ranked Wesleyan is tomorrow at 11 a.m. EDT. Live streaming can be found here.

Seven Americans have reached the final round of qualifying at Roland Garros, with four playing their matches Thursday.

Sloane Stephens v Leyre Romero Gormaz(ESP)

Ashlyn Krueger[3] v Mary Stoiana(USA)

Michael Zheng v Jesper De Jong[1](NED)

The other three play their final round qualifying matches on Friday.

Emilio Nava[3] v Pedro Martinez[24](ESP)

Darwin Blanch v Luka Pavlovic(FRA)

Claire Liu v Lulu Sun[3](NZL)

The second round of the ITF J500 Trofeo Bonfiglio in Milan was completed today, with three US boys advancing to the third round: Jack Secord, Andy Johnson[5] and Gavin Goode.

Secord's round of 16 opponent is unseeded Juan Miguel Bolivar Idarraga of Colombia; Johnson faces No. 9 seed Yannik Alvarez of Puerto Rico and Goode will play J500 Offenbach champion and No. 2 seed Jamie Mackenzie of Germany. Live scoring is here.

USA Teams Continue Dominance at Junior Davis Cup and Junior BJK Cup; Newman, Sohns, Chang Advance at Orlando W35; ITA D-I Conference Masters, Sectionals Begin Thursday with Final NCAA Entrants Decided

The United States teams came into this week's ITF Junior Davis Cup and Junior Billie Jean King Cup 16-and-under World Finals as the defending champions and No. 1 seeds, and both teams have lived up to those expectations after the completion of group play today in Santiago Chile.

The US girls posted their third straight 3-0 victory, this time over No. 6 seed Poland, with Kristina Penickova defeating Antonina Snochowska 6-3, 6-3 at No. 2 singles.

Julieta Pareja followed with a 6-0, 6-3 win over Barbara Kostecka at No. 1 singles to clinch the tie and first place in the group. 

Penickova and Pareja were both on last year's Junior BJK Cup championship team.

Pareja and Annika Penickova won the doubles match, beating Oliwia Sybicka and Snochowska 7-6(3), 6-1

The girls quarterfinals, which will be played Friday, with Thursday a day off:

USA[1] v Japan
Great Britain[7] v Czech Republic[4]

France[3] v Taiwan[8]
Poland[6] v Romania[2]

The US boys also earned a third consecutive 3-0 win, beating No. 5 seed Brazil today. Andrew Johnson beat Livas Eduardo De Carvalho Damazio 6-1, 6-0 in 55 minutes at No. 2 singles for a 1-0 lead. 

Michael Antonius lost the opening set to Leonardo Storck Franca at No. 1 singles, but rebounded for a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 win, which clinched the tie and eliminated Brazil from the quarterfinals.

Johnson and Jordan Lee won the doubles match over De Carvalho Damazio and Carlos Eduard Lino 6-2, 7-5.

Two of the seeded boys teams--No. 5 Brazil and No. 6 Canada-- did not advance to the quarterfinals.

USA[1] v Spain

Korea[7] v Turkey[8]

Czech Republic[3] v Japan[4]

Germany v France[2]

While the 16-year-old girls are competing in Chile, three girls a year younger are having notable results at the W35 in Orlando.

Qualifier Welles Newman and wild card Maggie Sohns, who were on the 2024 ITF World Junior Tennis team that finished second to the Czech Republic in the 14U team competition, moved into the second round with wins today.

Newman defeated fellow qualifier Panna Bartha of Hungary 6-0, 7-5 and will face No. 5 seed Victoria Hu(Princeton) in Thursday's second round.

Sohns defeated qualifier Sophia Biolay(Central Florida) of France 7-5, 1-6, 6-4 and will face No. 3 seed Katarina Jokic(Georgia) of Serbia in the second round.

Qualifier Lani Chang, who doesn't turn 15 until next month, also advanced to the second round, beating Lan Mi(Cal) of China 6-0, 5-7. 6-2. Chang, the daughter of Michael Chang and Amber Liu, often travels with her father, who serves as her primary coach, but he is in France this week with Learner Tien(USC), who he is now coaching. Tien reached the quarterfinals of the ATP 250 in Metz with a win today.

Chang will play University of Georgia sophomore Anastasiia Gureva of Russia Thursday; Gureva defeated Stanford freshman Monika Ekstrand, the No. 4 seed, 6-0, 6-4 yesterday. Thea Frodin and Akasha Urhobo[8] are the other juniors through to the second round.

The last competitors in this month's NCAA individual championships will be decided this weekend with the ITA's Conference Masters tournament in San Diego, and eight Sectional Championships across the country.

The four semifinalists at the Conference Masters will earn entry into the NCAAs.  The top four men's seeds, all of whom have first round byes, are Michael Zheng(Columbia), Edward Winter(Pepperdine), Emon van Loben Sels(UCLA) and Martin Borisiouk(NC State).

The top four women's seeds, with the top two receiving first round byes, are Ayseguil Mert(Georgia), Mao Mushika(Cal), Vivian Ovrootsky(Arizona State) and Zoie Epps(Louisiana Tech). 

The draws are here. Streaming will be available at the ITA YouTube Channel.

Six singles players and three doubles teams will advance to the NCAAs from each of the Sectional tournaments. 

The top four seeds from each Sectional:

MEN:

East (North Carolina) 

1. Nicolas Kotzen, Columbia

2. Lucas Andrade da Silva, South Carolina

3. Manfredi Graziani, Penn

4. Noa Vukadin, Clemson

South (Georgia)

1. Jack Loutit, Kentucky

2. Arda Azkara, Georgia

3. Corey Craig, Florida State

4. Niccolo Baroni, Mississippi State

Central(Michigan)

1. Sebastian Dominko, Notre Dame

2. Cosme Rolland De Ravel, TCU

3. Jack Anthrop, Ohio State

4. Khololwam Montsi, Texas A&M

West(Cal)

1. Dominique Rolland, UC-Santa Barbara

2. Lasse Poertner, Pepperdine

3. Gustavo Ribeiro de Almeida, Pepperdine

4. Alex Chang, Stanford

WOMEN:

East(North Carolina)

1. Lavinia Tanasie, NC State

2. Kaitlyn Carnicella, South Carolina

3. Gabriella Broadfoot, NC State

4. Victoria Osuigwe, NC State

South(LSU)

1. Valeria Ray, Vanderbilt

2. DJ Bennett, Auburn

3. Leyla Britez Risso, Tennessee

4. Raquel Gonzalez, Miami

Central(Texas A&M)

1. Maria Sholokhova, Wisconsin

2. Lily Jones, Michigan

3. Daianne Hayashida, Iowa

4. Kyoka Kubo, Kansas

West(Washington)

1. Mayu Crossley, UCLA

2. Emilija Tverijonaite, Arizona State

3. Reese Carter, Washington

4. Krisha Mahendran, Southern Cal

Links to all eight draws can be found at the ITA tournament page.

April Aces; ITF J100 Titles for Phillips, Traynor, Payne and Rusher; Draws Out for NCAA D-III Team Championships; Jovic and Nava Officially Named Recipients of USTA's Roland Garros Main Draw Wild Cards

My monthly column for the Tennis Recruiting Network is out today, highlighting the top performances of juniors and former collegians in April. A couple of 14-year-olds and a former collegian twice their age are among those who won titles last month.

American juniors won seven singles titles on the ITF Junior Circuit last week, with four of those J100 titles. 

At the J100 in Coral Gables Florida, Americans swept all four titles. Easter Bowl 18s champion Bella Payne won the girls singles title, her first singles title on the ITF Junior Circuit. The 17-year-old left-hander, seeded No. 13, didn't drop a set all week, defeating 14-year-old Scarlett Fagan, the No. 15 seed 6-3, 6-2 in the final.

Sixteen-year-old Agassi Rusher, who won four ITF Junior Circuit singles title last year, won his biggest in Coral Gables, with the No. 3 seed defeating No. 15 seed Sean Grosman 7-5, 7-5 in the final.

Top seeds Zavier Augustin and Navneet Raghurman won the boys doubles title, beating No. 2 seeds Sasha Colleu of France and Nikolas Stoot 6-4, 6-2 in the final. No. 3 seeds Jodyn Hazelitt and Fagan won the girls doubles championship, defeated unseeded Katiana Gonzalez and Switzerland's Francesca Saroli 6-3, 6-2 in the final.

At the J100 in Costa Rica, 18-year-old Sklar Phillips swept the boys titles, earning his first career singles title on the ITF Junior Circuit and his second career doubles title.  Seeded No. 4, Phillips defeated No. 6 seed Benjamin Azar of Canada in the singles final 2-6, 6-1, 6-4. In doubles, Phillips and Erik Schinnerer, the top seeds, defeated Azar and Jacob Lee, the No. 2 seeds, 6-3, 5-7, 10-8 in the final. 

Seventeen-year-old Olivia Traynor won her biggest title, with the No. 2 seed defeating No. 4 seed Brooke Wallman 6-2, 6-0 for her third singles title on the ITF Junior Circuit. No. 2 seeds Sophia Cedeno and Colombia's Isabella Collazos won the doubles title, beating Traynor and Costa Rica's Lucia Gallegos, the No. 3 seeds, 6-2, 6-4 in the championship match.

At the J30 in Jamaica, 15-year-old Kamil Stolarczyk and 14-year-old Aarini Bhattacharya went back-to-back, after winning titles two weeks ago at the first J30 in Montego Bay. Stolarczyk, the No. 1 seed, took the title when No. 5 seed Luca Ugei retired at 1-1 in the final. 

The unseeded Bhattacharya swept the titles for the second straight week, beating No. 7 seed Kathryn Cragg 6-0, 6-2 in the singles final, and partnering with Gianna Graci for the doubles title. The No. 4 seeds defeated unseeded Briana Houlgrave of the Bahamas and Danica Struiken of the Netherlands 6-1, 6-4 in the final.

Unseeded Joah Dunwoody and James Scholer won their first ITF Junior Circuit titles in the doubles final, beating top seeds David Bvunzawabaya and Pedro Vargas 3-6, 6-2, 10-5 in the all-USA final. 

At the J30 in Colombia, unseeded 16-year-old Sarah Delgado claimed her first ITF Junior Circuit title, defeating No. 6 seed Elaine Grace Yoshii Fichtner of Japan 6-1, 6-1 in the final. It was the rare J30 that was a 48-draw, and because Delgado was unseeded, she won six matches, the first five over Colombians, to win the title. 

In addition to those noted above, there were three other doubles titles for Americans.

Theo Hegarty and and Owen Guistwite won the boys doubles title at the J100 in Quebec City Canada, with the unseeded pair beating No. 4 seeds Cadence Benchetrit and Quincy Yao of Canada 7-5, 7-6(0) in the final. 

Kaya Moe won the girls doubles title, with Canadian Clemence Mercier. The top seeds defeated No. 3 seeds Laurence Demers of Canada and Lingling Zhu of China 6-4, 6-1 in the final. Moe, the top seed in singles as well, lost in the final to Demers 2-6, 6-1, 6-4.

Eaden-Zack Harron, who won the singles title two weeks ago at a J30 in Ruwanda, won the doubles titles last week in the same location, with Shurya Swarup of India. The top seeds defeated unseeded Malay Keyurbhai Minjrola of India and Filippo Mizzi of Italy 6-2, 6-0 in the final. 

The biggest US ITF tournament since the J300 in San Diego in March is this week in Plantation, where the tournament has been upgraded from a J100 to a J200. This is the first tournament at that level that the United States has had in a very long time, which is an indication that the increase in ITF tournaments in both quantity and quality is a priority for the USTA.

The top seeds this week are both Americans, with Aspen Schuman No. 1 in the girls draw and Maxwell Dussault No. 1 in the boys draw. Ava Rodriguez and Lachlan Gaskell are the No. 2 seeds. Delray Beach J100 champion Zaire Clarke is the No. 3 seed, Coral Gables champion Bella Payne is not seeded. Boys Delray Beach J100 champion Sascha Colleu of France is the No. 8 seed; Coral Gables champion Agassi Rusher is the No. 13 seed. 

The Division III men's and women's team championships begin this weekend with regional play, with the draws released today.

The seeds are never shown in D-III draws, so it's best to rely on the most recent rankings to determine the favorites.

In the men's draw, which features 44 teams, top-ranked Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, who will be hosting from the quarterfinals on this year, is in the upper left hand corner, with No. 4 Case Western in the bottom left quarter. No. 2 Dennison is in the top right quarter and No. 4 Tufts is in the bottom right quarter. Defending champion and No. 5 Chicago is in the Case Western quarter.

The women's draw, with 47 teams, has defending champion and top-ranked Chicago in the top left quarter, and No. 2 Emory is in the top right. But in the bottom left quarter, No. 3 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and No. 4 Middlebury are both there, with fifth-ranked Pomona Pitzer in the bottom right quarter with No. 6 Wesleyan.

The Division II selection shows are tonight, which begin with regional play to determine the 16 teams that will compete for the title in Altamonte Springs Florida Wednesday May 21 through Sunday May 25.

Click here for more on the women's Division II championships. The D-II men's championship page is here.

The USTA made it official today that Iva Jovic and Emilio Nava have won its Roland Garros Wild Card Challenge and will play in the main draw in Paris later this month. The complete release is below:

Rising Stars Iva Jovic, Emilio Nava Earn French Open Main Draw Wild Cards by Winning Roland Garros Wild Card Challenge

 

17-Year-Old Jovic Earns Wild Card into Third Consecutive Grand Slam Event; 23-Year-Old Nava to Make Second French Open Main Draw Appearance

 

ORLANDO, Fla., May 5, 2025 – American rising stars Iva Jovic and Emilio Nava have earned singles main draw wild cards into the upcoming French Open by winning the USTA'sRoland Garros Wild Card Challenge. The USTA and FFT have a reciprocal agreement in which main draw wild cards for the 2025 French Open and US Open are exchanged.

 

The 17-year-old Jovic finished the five-week Challenge with 142 points, earned by winning the USTA Pro Circuit W100 in Charlottesville, Va., (100 pts.) and reaching the second round at both the WTA 250 in Bogota (30 pts.) and the USTA Pro Circuit W100 in Bonita Springs, Fla. (12 pts.). Jovic's point total was enough to outlast a final-week push by former Roland Garros girls' singles champion Whitney Osuigwe, who could have won the Challenge on its final day by winning the Bonita Springs title. 

 

The Torrance, Calif., native Jovic has now earned wild cards into the last three Grand Slam singles main draws, after winning the USTA Girls' 18s national championship to enter the 2024 US Open and the USTA's Australian Open Wild Card Playoff to get into the 2025 Australian Open. She reached the second round in both of those events.

 

Nava won the men's Challenge with 119 points, thanks to his performance at consecutive USTA Pro Circuit ATP Challenger events, winning the title in Sarasota, Fla., (75 pts.) and reaching the final in Tallahassee, Fla., (44 pts.) amid a 19-match win streak. 

 

Nava previously qualified for the French Open in 2023 and competed in the US Open main draw in 2022-23, pushing Casper Ruud to four sets in the first round after qualifying the latter year. 

 

The Challenge was contested over the last five weeks, with each player's top three points-earning results counting toward their final Challenge point total. Only clay-court events at the M25 and W35 level and above counted toward the Challenge. 

 

Final Women's Standings: 

(Player's current ranking in parentheses)

1. Iva Jovic (120) -- 142

2. Whitney Osuigwe (158) -- 121
3. Julieta Pareja (328) -- 116
4. Caty McNally (283) -- 102
5. Varvara Lepchenko (119) -- 85

 

Final Men's Standings:

(Player's current ranking in parentheses)

1. Emilio Nava (137) -- 119
2. Ethan Quinn (114) -- 100
3. Colton Smith (162) -- 63
4. Chris Eubanks (110) -- 50
5. Eliot Spizzirri (121) -- 44

 

The USTA utilizes this Challenge format to award wild cards into the Australian, French and US Opens. Previous Americans to earn wild cards into the French Open via the Challenge and how far they advanced at Roland Garros are below, including Frances Tiafoe, Tommy Paul and Emma Navarro, who won the women's Challenge in 2023 to make her Grand Slam debut outside of the U.S. 

 

Roland Garros Wild Card Challenge Winners:

 

2024: Sachia Vickery (1R); Nicolas Moreno de Alboran (1R)

2023: Emma Navarro (2R); Patrick Kypson (1R)

2022: Katie Volynets (2R); Michael Mmoh (1R) 

2019: Lauren Davis (2R); Tommy Paul (1R)

2018: Taylor Townsend (2R); Noah Rubin (1R) 
2017: Amanda Anisimova (1R); Tennys Sandgren (1R) 
2016: Taylor Townsend (2R); Bjorn Fratangelo (2R) 
2015: Louisa Chirico (1R); Frances Tiafoe (1R)
2014: Taylor Townsend (3R); Robby Ginepri (1R)
2013: Shelby Rogers (2R); Alex Kuznetsov (1R)
2012: Melanie Oudin (2R); Brian Baker (2R)

 

###

Americans Chica, Augustin, Lee and Hazelitt Sweep Titles on ITF Junior Circuit; Put and Kovacevic Claim European 14s Championships; Kostovic and Preda Top Seeds at This Week's European 18s Championships

The ITF Junior Circuit was packed with tournaments last week; 26 in total, with none above the J200 level. I recapped the J200 in Montreal, with Lachlan Gaskell taking the boys singles title and Claire An the girls doubles title in my post Saturday. Jacob Olar won the boys doubles title at the J200 in South Africa with Nikolai Barsukov of Germany. The No. 3 seeds defeated No. 2 seeds Ivan Iutkin of Russia and Kriish Tyagi of India 6-0, 1-6, 11-9 in the final. It's the 17-year-old Olar's seventh ITF Junior Circuit doubles title, all with different partners, but the first above the J100 level.

Americans swept all titles at the ITF J60 in Mexico, with 16-year-old Jacob Lee and 14-year-old Jordyn Hazelitt getting two titles apiece.

They were the first two titles for Hazelitt, who was unseeded, but didn't drop a set and beat the top two seeds; in the singles final she took out No. 1 Marianne Angel of Mexico 6-4, 6-0. In doubles No. 8 seeds Hazelitt and Lyla Middleton also won the title without the loss of a set, beating top seeds Ana Camila Celis Avila and Zoe Levresse Zavala of Mexico 6-4, 6-2 in the final.

Lee, a 16-year-old from Georgia, the No. 4 seed, won his fourth ITF Junior Circuit title with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 win over No. 16 seed Navneet Raghuram in an all-US final. In the doubles final, Lee and compatriot Anirudh Dhanwada, the No. 5 seeds, defeated No. 2 seeds Luis Andres Flores Avila and Guillermo Marcio of Mexico 6-2, 6-2. Lee now has three doubles titles, with two coming at J60s this month with Dhanwada.

At the J60 in Honduras, 16-year-old Zavier Augustin won his first ITF Junior Circuit singles title to go with the six doubles titles he's earned, five of which have come this year. Augustin won the doubles title with Sean Grosman, with the No. 2 seeds beating top seeds Oliver Moises Aguilar Gasperin of Mexico and Lucas Martin Velasco of Colombia 7-5, 7-5 in the final. The following day, Augustin, the top seed, and No. 7 seed Grosman faced off in the singles final, with Augustin earning a 6-3, 6-4 victory.

Daniela Chica, who reached the final two weeks ago at the J60 in Cartagena, avenged her loss in the final to Marcella Roversi in the semifinals and went on to win last week's J30 in Barranquilla Colombia. The 17-year-old top seed defeated Isabella Pisarczyk 2-6, 6-4, 6-0 for her third ITF Junior Circuit singles title. She partnered with Luciana Chica, who I assume is her younger sister, for the doubles title, with the unseeded pair beating No. 2 seeds Roversi and Alessia Franco 6-3, 6-4 in an all-US final.

The European Championships are usually held in July, but not this year, with the 14s taking place last week in the Czech Republic and the ITF J300 Regional Championships moving from its usual location in Switzerland to Austria.

At the 14s last week, there was what I would consider a big upset in the final, with top seed Jana Kovackova of the Czech Republic, who is up to 104 in the ITF junior rankings losing to No. 2 Tea Kovacevic of Bosnia 6-7(7), 6-4, 6-4. Kovackova did win the doubles title, with Katerina Zajickova. The weather was poor, leading to an indoor final and short scoring in doubles.

Stan Put of the Netherlands took the boys 14s singles title, with the No. 7 seed repeating his Wimbledon 14U round robin win over Scott Watson of Great Britain, who was the No. 3 seed this week. Put defeated Watson 6-0, 4-6, 6-4. No. 4 seeds Pavel Dufek and Matyas Marsik of the Czech Republic won the boys doubles title.

For more on the 14s championships, and links to all the draws, see the Tennis Europe tournament page.

The J300 was scheduled to begin today in a new venue in Oberpullendorf Austria, but rain caused many matches to be canceled.

The European 18s Championships top eight seeds:

Boys:

1. Luca Preda, Romania

2. Henry Bernet, Switzerland

3. Wiliam Rejchtman Vinciguerra, Sweden

4. Andres Santamarta Roig, Spain

5. Izan Almazan Valiente, Spain

6. Oskari Paldanius, Finland

7. Andreas Timini, Cyprus

8. Jan Klimas, Czech Republic

Girls:

1. Teodora Kostovic, Serbia

2. Jeline Vandromme, Belgium

3. Vittoria Paganetti, Italy

4. Alena Kovackova, Czech Republic

5. Monika Stankiewicz, Poland

6. Eliska Tichackova, Czech Republic

7. Julia Stusek, Germany

8. Joy De Zeeuw, Netherlands

The girls event features most of the top European girls who have not moved on to pro tennis, but the boys field is missing quite a few players I would have expected to play: Charlie Robertson(GBR), Mees Rottgering(NED), Maxim Mrva(CZE) and Jan Kumstat(CZE), and Max Schoenhaus, all with another year of junior eligibility. This is a good opportunity to collect points for next year's ranking and for the Top 10 finish this year that would earn them the eight ATP Challenger wild cards for 2025. In fact, the 2006 players, such as Theo Papamalamis[11](FRA) and Tomasz Berkieta[13](POL) would benefit from the points in that race to the Top 10, so the relatively weak boys field surprises me.

Links to live streaming and live scoring can be found at the Tennis Europe tournament page.

Ngounoue, Blanch Reach Milan JA Quarterfinals; Clay Court Semifinals Set in 12s, Quarterfinals Set in 18s; USTA's FAQ on College Recruiting; Port Washington's Zausner Dies

Clervie Ngounoue, who turns 15 on Monday, had lost to Diana Shnaider of Russia twice this year, in the quarterfinals at the Grade A in Brazil in March, and in the second round of the French Open last month. But in third round action at the Trofeo Bonfiglio JA in Milan today, Ngounoue got her revenge, beating the No. 2 seed 6-4, 2-6, 6-2. Ngounoue will play No. 5 seed Petra Marcinko of Croatia next. Ngounoue is not the youngest quarterfinalist, with Mirra Andreeva of Russia, who turned 14 in April, advancing to the quarterfinals with her third consecutive straight-sets win.

Dali Blanch, the No. 2 seed, advanced to Friday's quarterfinals with a 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 win over Kalin Ivanovski of Macedonia. Blanch is one of only two seeds remaining in the boys quarterfinals, which features a qualifier, a wild card and a lucky loser. Blanch will face Jakub Mensik of the Czech Republic next.

In doubles, top seeds Alexandra Eala of the Philippines and Madison Sieg have reached the semifinals.They will play Shnaider, who won the Wimbledon girls doubles title on Sunday, and her new partner this week, Kira Pavlova of Russia, who are seeded fifth.

The quarterfinals are set at the USTA Clay Courts for the 18s divisions, with the boys in Delray Beach catching up via shortened scoring.  The 14s and 16s divisions for both boys and girls are still a round behind, while the 12s, which have smaller fields, will play their semifinals Friday. 

Girls 18s quarterfinals:

Bridget Stammel[17] v Amelia Honer[9]
Savannah Broadus[4] v Sophia Wang[17]
Vivian Miller[17] v Theadora Rabman[3]
Ariana Pursoo[8] v Ahmani Guichard[2]

Boys 18s quarterfinals:

Nicolas Kotzen[14] v Ryan Colby[17]

Luke Casper[33] v Alex Finkelstein[33]

Alexander Razeghi[13] v Nicholas Heng[9]

Learner Tien[17] v Kian Vakili[17]

B12s semifinals:

Jack Secord[1] v Jordan Lee[8]

Navneet Raghuram[3] v Teodor Davidov[13]

G12s semifinals:

Isabelle DeLuccia[1] v Ciara Harding[3]

Sena Yoon[4] v Kristina Penickova[17]

Links to the USTA Playtennis draws:

G18s Mt. Pleasant SC

G16s Huntsville AL

G14s Plantation FL

G12s Ft. Lauderdale FL

B18s and 16s Delray Beach FL

B14s Miami Beach FL

B12s Orlando FL

The USTA has published a Frequently Asked Questions article on the topic of college recruiting, which can be found here. The impact of the extra year of eligibility is one of the biggest question marks surrounding recruiting these days, and this article does address the possible impact to those still looking for a spot on a college roster.

Last week the Tennis Recruiting Network talked to several Division I coaches about the impact of the new Name Image and Likeness laws on their student-athletes. For a look at what is happening in the collegiate tennis space regarding NIL, check out the twitter timeline of @jwilsontennis on July 1 and 2.

I received a note today that Dick Zausner, the longtime director of the Port Washington Academy in New York, had passed away Monday at the age of 87. Marcia Frost, who worked for him at College and Junior Tennis and was a pioneer in providing articles and information on the internet, always spoke highly of his impact on the young tennis players at Port Washington and of his passion for the sport. His obituary can be found here.  

Top Three Boys Seeds Fall in Third Round of ITF Grade B1 Pan American Closed; Gauff Makes WTA Linz Quarterfinal; Texas's Sigsgaard, Miami's Perez-Somarriba Top Seeds as ITA All-American Championships Begin in Tulsa

©Colette Lewis 2019--
Nicholasville KY--

Top seed Andrew Dale, No. 2 seed Joshua Lapadat and No. 3 seed Aidan Mayo all saw their dreams of a ITF Grade B1 Pan American Closed title end Wednesday morning at the Top Seed Tennis Club, with unseeded Ben Shelton, No. 15 seed Victor Lilov and No. 16 seed Daniel Milavsky keeping their hopes alive by advancing to the quarterfinals.

Shelton received a wild card into this event, his first ITF Junior Circuit tournament, and he was able to overcome a slight stumble in the second set to take out Dale 6-3, 7-5.  Dale had needed three sets and three hours to win his first round match and had another close win in the second round, so Shelton could see his path to a victory today.

"I saw in some of his earlier matches some of the things he was struggling with indoors, and I tried to expose them a little bit today," said Shelton, who celebrated his 17th birthday today. "I felt pretty comfortable, because he was pretty predictable with his shots and I felt like I was a step ahead of him in rallies. I felt comfortable extending the rallies and making him work."

Shelton lives in Gainesville Florida, where his father Bryan is the men's coach at the University of Florida, so he has access to the rare indoor courts in that state.

"UF has indoor courts so I was able to hit on those the last week or two," said Shelton, who has not been able to travel the ITF Circuit due to being enrolled in regular school.

Shelton, who like Dale is left-handed, went up a break in the second set and had a chance to serve out the match at 5-4, but Dale got even, only to drop serve again.

"I was a little tight," Shelton admitted of his first attempt to end the match. "But I was pretty much in control of the match. All the pressure was on him, he was the 1 seed, and I was up a set and the score was even."

With his second opportunity, Shelton took advantage, hitting three aces in the game, with the last two coming at 30-15 and 40-15.

"I just wanted to make him uncomfortable with my serve," Shelton said. "I've been serving pretty well the whole tournament and I thought if I could get a few free points with the last game, it would be tough for him to break me and I did that."

Shelton will face unseeded Welsh Hotard in Thursday's quarterfinals, after Hotard defeated No. 6 seed Hunter Heck 6-1, 6-0.

Lilov had lost to No. 2 seed Lapadat 6-2, 6-3 just two weeks ago at the Grade 2 in Montreal, but today he turned the tables for a 6-2, 6-4 victory.

"The first today was one of my better sets that I've played all year," said the 15-year-old, who is from Raleigh North Carolina, but is now training in Florida. "I honestly think I've improved the last two weeks, and I focused on my serve, being aggressive and taking his time away. I came out aggressive and I don't think he was expecting it, because last time he was the one who was coming out really aggressive. I don't think he played as well this time, especially in the second set. I think in the second set, the level dropped, from me and him, but he's a really good player, and it was a good win."

After cruising through the first set, Lilov got an early break in the second, but gave it back in the sixth game, and shouted an obscenity that the officials monitoring the courts either didn't hear or didn't understand, as he did not receive a code violation.

"I should have said it in Bulgarian," Lilov said. "I don't think the refs heard it, but I need to watch my mouth."

The frustration that prompted that outburst didn't last long, as Lilov broke back at love and made the second break stand up.

"It was a good game to bounce back on, because if he had held serve, it would have been much more difficult," Lilov said.

Although he doesn't love indoor tennis, Lilov has experience, and success, in his past to draw on this week.

"I used to practice a lot indoors, not anymore unfortunately, since I'm in Florida now," said Lilov, who won both Bolton and Les Petits As indoors in 2018. "I've won some tournaments indoors too and I think my game suits it. I like to come in and I'm pretty aggressive."

Lilov will play wild card William Cooksey who defeated unseeded Adit Sinha 7-5, 6-4.

No. 4 seed Alex Bernard is the highest seed remaining now, and he advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 6-2 win over unseeded Ozan Colak. He will face his fourth straight unseeded player in JJ Tracy, who beat unseeded Zachery Foster 6-2, 6-4.

Milavsky won the only three-setter of the day in the boys third round, after Mayo had served for the first set at 5-3, coming back for a 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-3 victory. Milavsky, a Harvard recruit, will face No. 8 seed Cash Hanzlik, who beat No. 11 seed Bruno Kuzuhara 6-0, 6-4.

Top seed Alexandra Yepifanova dropped her first set of the tournament to No. 14 seed Gianna Pielet, but recovered for a 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 victory to set up a rematch with unseeded Reese Brantmeier, who beat unseeded Zoe Hitt 6-0, 6-0. Brantmeier led Yepifanova 6-4, 3-0 in the quarterfinals of the US Open Junior Championships last month, before Yepifanova reeled off eight straight games and rolled to a 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 win.

The other quarterfinal in the top half will also feature a recent rematch, with No. 3 seed Robin Montgomery taking on No. 7 seed Ellie Coleman. The pair met in the second round of the Grade 1 in College Park in August, with Montgomery winning that one 6-3, 7-6(1).  Montgomery defeated No. 15 seed Annabelle Xu of Canada 6-0, 6-1 today, while Coleman got by wild card Ashlyn Krueger 6-4, 6-3.

No. 4 seed Jada Bui of Canada is the only non-US player in the quarterfinals of the boys or girls draws. She defeated qualifier Eleana Yu 6-3, 6-3 and will take on unseeded India Houghton, who beat No. 10 seed Elaine Chervinsky 6-3, 6-0. No. 11 seed Ava Catanzarite took out No. 6 seed Kailey Evans 6-2, 6-3 and will face 14-year-old wild card Isabelle Kouzmanov, who got by Elise Wagle 7-6(4), 1-6, 7-5.  Wagle served for the match at 5-4 in the third, but Kouzmanov stepped up her game to get the break, then hit seven consecutive winners to go up 6-5, 40-0 with Wagle serving to force a third set tiebreaker. The streak of Kouzmanov winners ended on the first match point, when Wagle netted a backhand.

The second round of doubles concluded today, with the top two seeds in both boys and girls draws advancing. After a bye in Tuesday's first round, top girls seeds Yepifanova and Lauren Anzalotta of Puerto Rico were down 6-1, 5-1 to Elaine Chervinsky and Makayla Mills before claiming a 1-6, 7-6(5), 10-8 win. Chervinsky and Mills served for the match at 5-2, 5-4 and 6-5 and had two match points at 5-4, but they were unable to close it out. No. 2 seeds Bui and Evans beat Ariana Arseneault and Allie Gretkowski 6-4, 7-6(8).

Boys top seeds Heck and Stefan Leustian defeated the Canadian team of Samuel Paquette and Marko Stakusic 6-1, 6-1 and No. 2 seeds Mayo and Lorenzo Claverie of Venezuela beat Foster and Billy Suarez 6-3, 6-4.

Coco Gauff lost in the final round of qualifying at the WTA event in Austria, but made the main draw as a lucky loser and has now advanced to the quarterfinals. She defeated Stefanie Voegele of Switzerland in the first round and made the quarterfinals when Kateryna Kozlova of Ukraine retired with an injury trailing 4-6, 6-4, 2-0. Gauff is the youngest quarterfinalist in a WTA event since Sesil Karatantcheva in 2005 and she will make her WTA Top 100 debut next Monday. For more, see the WTA's article.

The main draw of the ITA All-American Championships began today in Tulsa, but rain has disrupted play with first round women's singles matches not yet complete and women's doubles cancelled.

Men's top seed Christian Sigsgaard of Texas has advanced to the second round, as has No. 2 seed Oliver Crawford of Florida. No. 2 women's seed Makenna Jones of North Carolina is through, while 2019 NCAA champion Estela Perez-Somarriba, the top seed, has yet to finish.

The singles scores update (as of 7:40 pm Central Time) is available here.

ITF World No. 1 Junior Tauson Enters Milan Grade A, Fourteen Americans Receive Main Draw Acceptance; Ohio State Men and North Carolina Women No. 1 in USTA/Tennis Channel Poll

photo by Samuel Elias via Unsplash

Acceptances for the Grade A in Milan, one of the biggest tournaments on the ITF Junior Circuit, were released today by the ITF, with the girls field led by World No. 1 and Australian Open champion Clara Tauson of Denmark.  Although boys No. 1 Chun Hsin Tseng of Taiwan has not entered, nor has Australian Open champion and No. 2 Lorenzo Musetti of Italy (something of a surprise given the tournament's location and the fact that Musetti just turned 17), seven of the current boys Top 10 have.

Among those are defending champion and World No. 3 Adrian Andreev of Bulgaria, who has not played a junior event this year, and No. 6 Emilio Nava, who has not played a junior tournament since reaching the Australian Open boys final in January.

In addition to Nava, the six other American boys entered (with their current ITF junior rankings) are: Cannon Kingsley(13), Martin Damm(19), Zane Khan(20), Eliot Spizzirri(26), Toby Kodat(28) and Tyler Zink(35). The ranking cutoff for the boys was 59. US boys in qualifying are Dali Blanch, Jacob Bullard, Andrew Dale, Will Grant, Mark Mandlik, Ronan Jachuck, Andres Martin and Blaise Bicknell.

Aside from Tauson, just one other Top 10 girl is entered: Qinwen Zheng of China.

The US girls receiving direct acceptance into the main draw are Hurricane Tyra Black(13), Emma Navarro(15), Alexa Noel(19), Elli Mandlik(21), Lea Ma(27), Robin Montgomery(60) and Chloe Beck(63). The cutoff for girls was 67.  US girls in qualifying are Charlotte Chavatipon, Charlotte Owensby, Kylie Collins, Skyler Grishuk, Jenna DeFalco, Ellie Coleman, Hibah Shaikh, Katrina Scott, Madison Sieg and Tara Malik.

The tournament is scheduled from May 20-26.

A few Americans have already made their way over to Europe for the clay season, with this week's Grade 1 in France featuring four US boys and two US girls. Unfortunately, two days of rain have prevented the second round of singles from beginning, with No. 2 seed Toby Kodat and No. 5 seed Tyler Zink yet to play a match in the 48-player singles draw. The two US girls, qualifier Rebecca Lynn and Michelle Sorokko, did win their first round matches, as did unseeded Andres Martin. The top seeds are Bu Yunchaokete of China and Anastasia Tikhonova of Russia.

The latest USTA/Tennis Channel Division I poll is out, with the Ohio State men remaining at No. 1 and North Carolina taking over the top spot after Georgia's loss to South Carolina in the SEC tournament final.  The top 16 teams in the men's poll are the same as in this week's ITA rankings, just rearranged, but the women's Top 16 has three different teams, with Michigan, UCF and Miami in the USTA/TC poll, replacing USC, Cal and NC State, all in the ITA's Top 16.

USTA/Tennis Channel Division I Men's Top 16, April 24, 2019
(previous week's rankings in parentheses):
1. Ohio State (1)
2. Wake Forest (2)
3. Texas (3)
4. Florida (4)
5. Mississippi State (9)
6. Virginia (5)
7. Baylor (10)
8. UCLA (6)
9. North Carolina (7)
10. USC (11)
11. Columbia (12)
12. TCU (8)
13. Stanford (14)
14. Tennessee  (16)
15. Illinois (15)
16. Texas A&M (13)

USTA/Tennis Channel Division I Women's Top 16, April 24, 2019
1. North Carolina (2)
2. Georgia (1)
3. Stanford (3)
4. South Carolina (6)
5. Duke (4)
6. Pepperdine (5)
7. Texas (7)
8. Kansas (16)
9. Vanderbilt (8)
10. Oklahoma State (10)
11. Michigan (11)
12. UCLA (13)
13. Florida State (12)
14. Washington (15)
15. UCF (18)
16. Miami (17)

Division I Early Signing Announcements

 

The Early Signing Period for Division I ended last week, with many signing announcements still being posted on the schools' athletic websites. Many commitments are still also appearing on the Tennis Recruiting Network.  Not all the commitments are for Fall of 2015; some are starting in January, others are transfers. Here are the major ones I've read; if there are others I've missed, please leave a link in the comments.

WOMEN:
Alabama has signed Andie Daniell
Arizona State has signed Sammi Hampton
Auburn has signed Lizette Cabrera, Alannah Griffin and Caroline Turner
Cal has signed Olivia Hauger
Clemson has signed Maria Fernanda Navarro and Theresa Piontek
Fresno State has signed Emma Wilson and Helen Olivia Noble
Georgia has signed Kennedy Shaffer
Illinois has signed Jaclyn Switkes and Ines Vias
Iowa has signed  Zoe Douglas, Kristen Thoms and Adorabol Huckleby (from Wayne State)
LSU has signed Jessica Golovin
Marshall has signed Jacqueline Carr
Memphis has signed Janina Berres
Michigan has signed Kate Fahey, Brienne Minor and Teona Velehorschi
Mississippi has signed Tereza Janatová and Allie Sanford
Nebraska has signed Macarena Olivares and Paula Del Cueto Castillo
North Carolina has signed Jessie Aney
Ohio State has signed Francesca DiLorenzo
South Carolina has signed Paige Cline and Rachel Rohrabacher
Southern Cal has signed Jessica Failla, Alex Letzt and Rianna Valdes
TCU has signed Marie Norris
Tennessee has signed Gabrielle Schuck, Ashley Bongart and Margo Taylor
Texas Tech has signed Felicity Maltby and Alexandra Valenstein
Utah has signed Taylor Calton, Brianna Turley and Margo Pletcher
Wake Forest has signed Anna Ulyashchenko and Emma Davis
Washington has signed Tami Grende and Kenadi Hance

MEN:
Alabama has signed Spencer Richey
BYU has signed Jacob Tullis
Cal Poly has signed Sreyas Kolachalam, Rafa Lenhard and Josh Ortlip
Clemson has signed Arturo Pinazo
Duke has signed Adrian Chamdani, Catalin Mateas, Vincent Lin and Ryan Dickerson
Florida has signed McClain Kessler and Alfredo Perez
Fresno State has signed Joshua Zeoli
Georgia has signed Walker Duncan and Emil Reinberg
Georgia Tech has signed Andrew Li
Illinois has signed Asher Hirsch and Pengxuan (Aiden) Jiang
Iowa has signed Tony Leto
Kentucky has signed Austin Hussey
Louisville has signed Michael Quang, Christian Haushammer, Stjepan Cagalj, Brandon Lancaster and Christopher Morin-Kougoucheff
LSU has signed Cameron Andry
Memphis has signed Felix Rauch and Chris Patzanovsky
Michigan has signed Myles Schalet and Gabe Tishman
Mississippi has signed Grey Hamilton
Nebraska has signed Toby Boyer and Micah Klousia
New Mexico has signed Jorge Escutia
Notre Dame has signed Alex Lebedev, Daniel Rayl, Grayson Broadus and Nathan Griffin
Rice has signed Jacob Hansen
San Diego has signed Joshua Page (Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College)
South Carolina has signed Yancy Dennis
TCU has signed Reese Stalder
Texas has signed Liam Caruana, John Goodwin and Harrison Scott
Texas Tech has signed Alex Sendegeya
UCLA has signed Daniel Gealer
Utah has signed Dan Little, Freddie McGeehan, David Micevski and Joe Woolley
Washington has signed Enzo Sommer

Two other college notes:  The Illinois women have a new assistant coach, Evan Clark,  and the Yale women have a new assistant coach Matej Zlatkovic.

Top Seed Andrews, Unseeded Starr Reach USTA Girls 18s Clay Courts Final; Kay and Price Take Doubles Title

©Colette Lewis 2011--
Memphis, TN--

Unseeded Denise Starr has been able to shrug off first set losses all week, beating the No. 2 and No. 7 seeds from a set down. She put herself in an even more precarious position in the semifinals on Saturday against No. 9 seed Stephanie Vlad of Arizona, losing her first two service games in the final set before roaring back to claim a 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-3 win and a place in the championship match at the USTA Girls 18s Clay Courts.

In the second set, serving from behind, Starr was two points away from defeat at both 4-5 and 5-6.

"I never really give up after I lose a set," said Starr, in the understatement of the week. "When I was down 5-4 and then 6-5, I was just concentrating on having a good serve, being aggressive."

In the 30-all point at 4-5, Starr hit an excellent first serve and then ripped a forehand winner off Vlad's return to get a game point, and then pounded one of her many backhand winners to make it 5-5. At 5-6, Starr won the 30-all point when Vlad was forced into a forehand error, but that game went to deuce. Starr showed great touch on that deuce point, hitting a soft drop volley winner at the net, and when Vlad hit a backhand long, a tiebreaker would decide either the set or the match.

Serving at 5-4 in the tiebreaker, Starr cracked a forehand winner to give herself two set points, but on the first she missed an overhead badly, yanking it into the bottom of the net. If that miss bothered her, she gave no outward sign, and with Vlad serving at 5-6, Starr teed off on yet another backhand with that clean winner sending the match into a third set.

After playing two hours and ten minutes with the heat index in the mid-100s, Starr and Vlad were no doubt relieved to have a ten minute break, but it seemed to stall any momentum Starr might have had.

Vlad broke Starr in the opening game, and then again in the third game, for a 3-0 lead, but that deficit actually helped the 16-year-old from New York.

"When I was down 3-0 in the third, I felt I just let loose, could swing away, and that's what I did," said Starr, who received a USTA wild card into the tournament. "She's very consistent, and I had some trouble with that, but once I found my rhythm, I didn't let the ball come to me, I came to the ball, and that gave me a big advantage to hit winners on her all the time."

Starr didn't look back after taking that advantage, while Vlad began to show frustration as her lead slipped away. With Starr serving at 3-3 deuce, another of the match's many pivotal moments, Starr hit two consecutive backhand winners, and Vlad bounced her racquet, drawing a point penalty for racquet abuse. While she complained that she wasn't given a warning, the call stood and she didn't win another point in the next two games, and after three hours, Starr claimed the victory.

While reaching the finals of a National Championship is new for Starr, who will receive her first USTA championship ball on Sunday morning, win or lose, Gabby Andrews is familiar with the big stage, even at the tender age of 14. The reigning 18s Winter National champion, and a finalist at the Easter Bowl ITF this spring, Andrews earned her way into another final with a 7-6(5), 5-1 ret. victory over No. 3 seed Danielle Collins.

The opening set was classic clay court tennis, with long points usually decided when one player worked herself in position to hit a winner. Collins led 4-2 in the first set, but Andrews won the next three games, and had two set points on Collins' serve at 4-5. Collins, a 17-year-old Floridian, was saved by a mark on the clay on the first, when the chair umpire reversed his call on closer inspection, and the second she saved herself, with a forehand putaway. After two more holds and an hour into the match, a tiebreaker would decide the set.

And a high quality tiebreaker it was. Both Andrews and Collins hit winner after winner, and at 3-3, there were three consecutive drop shot winners--one by Collin, then two straight by Andrews. But at 5-5, Collins made her first error of the tiebreaker, netting a backhand, and Andrews seized the opportunity, crushing a backhand winner on the next point to take the set.

The Californian admitted she had difficulty anticipating Collins' shots.

"She was really smart," said Andrews. "She would mix it up really well, using the drop shots, then hit that high ball to get me to look at a different ball. It was a really tough first set."

After the tiebreaker, Collins took a bathroom break to change her clothes, which she had done in her four-hour quarterfinal win over Hannah King on Friday, only this time, she also changed her shoes. None of the changes helped, with Collins falling behind 4-0 in short order. Collins did hold for 4-1, but with Andrews serving at 4-1, 15-0, Collins went down in the far forehand corner of the Stadium Court, and the chair umpire, Andrews and then shortly thereafter, the trainer, went to her aid. After a few minutes, and against Collins' coach's wishes, she continued to play, but Andrews finished off the game for 5-1. In the next game, Collins was obviously unable to serve and she retired at 0-15. Unable to make it into the clubhouse, Collins sat on another court chair, obviously in pain, and eventually she was taken by ambulance to a local hospital.

She had mentioned on Friday her difficulties with her spleen since recovering from a bout of mononucleosis, and it was that problem that flared again, but she did not require hospitalization for the condition, and is expected improve with rest.

Andrews and Starr have played, but it was a very long time ago.

"I haven't played her since I was like 9," said Andrews, who won that match. "She's been winning a lot of three-set matches. She's a fighter and I have to come prepared, and play my best. Hopefully I'll keep my focus up the whole time."

Andrews is dedicating her win in the semifinal to her cousin Kalim Smith, who last month was paralyzed in a workplace accident.

"He's like my biggest fan," said Andrews, who plans to visit him when she plays the National Hard Courts near his home in San Diego. "It's really sad. He's in a wheelchair now. Tennis matches aren't what's important when you look at the bigger picture."


The final is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on Sunday at the Racquet Club of Memphis.

The doubles final was played in the searing late afternoon heat, with No. 2 seeds Whitney Kay and Caroline Price winning gold balls with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over No. 4 seeds Lynn Chi and Chalena Scholl.

Kay and Price, who met in the singles final last year, were both eliminated in their opening matches on Monday, so the future North Carolina Tar Heels were more determined than ever to capture the doubles championship.

"I was telling Whitney after we finished that I think we had even more motivation after we lost in the first round," said Price, who added a gold ball in doubles to the one she won in singles on the same court last year.

"We both lost to really good girls, we had tough draws," said Kay, who will join North Carolina in 2012, while Price starts her career at Chapel Hill next month. "You've got to pick yourself up and go get the next match."

Kay and Price, both from suburban Atlanta, didn't lose a set in their six victories this week. Against Chi and Scholl, they made returning serve their focus, and they managed five breaks in the course of the match.

"The key was mostly making solid returns and then being really aggressive at the net on our serves, not giving them a chance to beat us to the net," said Kay.

Kay served for the match at 5-3, but didn't get a match point, as Chi hit two winners at deuce to get back on serve. The aggressive returning paid off for the champions in the next game however, and they broke Scholl at love to end their tournament on a much happier note than it began.

"It definitely made up for the first round losses," said Kay.

The pair will try to make it two National titles in a row next month at the Hard Courts in San Diego.

The consolation final on Sunday morning will feature No. 5 seed Taylor Townsend against No. 12 seed Chalena Scholl. The two played in the main draw in the round of 16, with Townsend posting a tough three-set win after trailing 4-1 in the final set.

For complete draws, see the TennisLink site.

For more from the Clay Court championships in Florida, see collegeandjuniortennis.com.

Wild Card Starr Reaches Semifinals at Girls 18s Clay Courts

©Colette Lewis 2011--
Memphis, TN--

Although the temperature was nominally cooler for the quarterfinals Friday at the USTA Girls 18s Clay Courts, reaching only into the mid-90s, the air was thick with humidity after thunderstorms Thursday evening. The energy-sapping conditions have proven no problem for wild card Denise Starr, however, as the 16-year-old New Yorker reached her first National Championship semifinal with a 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 win over No. 7 seed Samantha Crawford.

Because Starr isn't seeded, she has already played six matches this week, with half of them going three sets. But as she proved against No. 2 seed Whitney Kay in the second round, Starr is adept at resetting her focus, even when down a set, and she stayed positive even when one of Crawford's many forehand winners were zipping past her.

Starr served for the first set at 5-4, but couldn't close it out, and double faulted at 30-40 in her next service game, which gave Crawford the set. But she began to serve better in the second set, and returned well enough to engage Crawford in baseline exchanges.

"Once I got the return back, I felt like I could start a rally," said Starr, who is training at the USTA Centers in both Boca Raton and New York. "I tried to keep it away from her forehand, because she just hits it as hard as she can, and gets everything in. And if she gets a good first serve in, there's no way I can even touch the ball."

Crawford had come up with some big serves to stay in the match against Lynn Chi late in the third set on Thursday, but today she couldn't find that magic. Down two breaks in the third set, she got one of them back, but serving at 2-4 she lost a five-deuce game, unable to get any free points from Starr.

"She would miss some first serves in crucial moments, and at game point on her serve, I would hit a down the line winner on my return," Starr said.

Unlike when she served for the first set, Starr had the luxury of two breaks when serving for the match, producing an ace of her own early in the game, then finishing the win with an emphatic backhand winner.

Starr admits that she's playing without any pressure this week.

"I've had nothing to lose, and I just went out and played my best," Starr said, acknowledging her own high level in the last two sets against Crawford.



Starr's semifinal opponent Saturday will be No. 9 seed Stephanie Vlad, who ended the Racquet Club of Memphis' hope for a hometown champion by defeating No. 4 seed Catherine Harrison 6-2, 0-6, 6-3.

Vlad has no trouble against big hitters, as she proved on Thursday against Maci Epstein, saying she loves playing "people who give me pace." In the opening set, Harrison, one of those hard-hitters, made it easy for Vlad by making a lot of errors. Vlad, a 17-year-old from Arizona, made almost no mistakes herself, and Harrison began pressing, which led to more errors.

But in the second set, it wasn't Vlad letting down, or making more errors that turned the match in Harrison's favor. It was Harrison raising her game, dictating play and winning countless points with drop shots.

"She was missing a lot in the first set, and in the second set, the shots she was missing, either long or in the tape, she was starting to click, and they were going in," said Vlad, who reached the semifinals of the 2010 Winter Nationals after being out with a torn ACL. "She was being a lot more aggressive in the second. She was coming to the net and putting volleys away, keeping me on my toes, so she played a lot better."

After a drop shot winner and an ace to close out the second set, Harrison probably would have liked to start the third set immediately, but the mandatory 10-minute break between sets, new this year for the 18s, gave Vlad a chance to regroup.

She took a 2-0 lead, then saw Harrison win the next three games, and the first sign of frustration, in the form of yelling at herself, surfaced when she was broken in that fifth game. Harrison couldn't keep the lead, and the drop shot, so effective until that stage, let her down, as Vlad finally began anticipating it. When Vlad won the seventh game at love, she allowed herself to express some emotion, shouting "let's go," as she headed to the changeover leading 4-3.

Harrison then played a sloppy game, making almost no first serves and spraying groundstrokes, the last two giving Vlad the game. To the dismay of the scores of fans supporting Harrison, Vlad had no trouble finishing out the last game, holding serve at love for the victory.

In addition to withstanding Harrison's barrage of winners in the second set, Vlad was also able overcome all the vocal support for Harrison.

"It was a little distracting but I tried to stay focused, and didn't let them bother me," said Vlad, a rising senior who is still exploring her college options. "It's understandable because she's from here that a lot of supporters would come out to watch her. It was nice to play in front of a lot of people though."


Top seed Gabby Andrews also has a local connection, with her grandmother and great aunt living in Memphis, where her father grew up. Just how comfortable she is at the Racquet Club, where she reached the semifinals last year as a 13-year-old, showed Friday morning, when she beat No. 5 seed Taylor Townsend 6-4, 6-2.

Andrews had not beaten her friend and regular doubles partner Townsend in three previous meetings, and it looked like more of the same was in store when Townsend took a 4-1 lead in the opening set. Both players were making a lot of unforced errors and breaks of serve were commonplace. At 4-4 in the first, Townsend saved three break points and had four game points, but she lost her serve, giving Andrews the opportunity to serve for the set. When Andrews fell behind 15-40, it looked like the set would continue, but Townsend made errors on each of those chances, with her normally reliable forehand producing two more errors to give Andrews the first set.

Andrews got out to a 3-0 lead in the second set, breaking Townsend in the first and third games, and although Andrews gave one of the breaks back, Townsend remained too erratic to put any real pressure on Andrews. Townsend is usually an emotionally charged player, with the energy nearly always positive, but whether it was the friendship or something else, that side of her wasn't evident today.

"I noticed she was missing a lot of balls she normally wouldn't miss," Andrews said. "I don't know what happened. The last three times we've played, she was feisty, you know, get in my face, but I don't know about this one."

Andrews said she is beginning to feel more comfortable on clay, thanks to her training on the surface, so rare in Southern California, at the Carson Player Development Center with Leo Azevedo.

"I played smart clay court tennis," said Andrews, who also credits USTA National Coach Kathy Rinaldi for helping in her development. "I kept more balls in play, didn't go for too much, only went for it at the appropriate times."



Andrews will play No. 3 seed Danielle Collins, who squandered a 4-1, two-break lead in the second set against No. 17 seed Hannah King before eventually claiming a 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 victory.

The match took nearly four hours to complete, with not only the 10-minute set break, but also an "equipment" break for Collins, who excused herself to change clothing due to excessive sweating.

"I usually sweat a lot, but not this much," said Collins, who is recovering from mononucleosis. "My doctor said you tend to sweat a lot when you have mono. I got overwhelmingly tired and it was hard for me to do what I needed to do on my serve."

Collins served for match at 5-4 in the second set, but with two double faults, including one at 0-40, King pulled even. She held, and Collins still couldn't find the energy to serve properly, again double faulting on game point, this one a set point.

After the break, which she spent talking with her coach Scott Dei, Collins came back more prepared to finish the task.

"I started to shut up, calm down, and did what he said," Collins said. "I stuck to the game plan and stay positive for the most part, and just focused on playing each point."

Neither player could hold serve in the third set, with five straight breaks before Collins held to make it 4-2. King, who didn't hold serve at all in the final set, did break Collins at 5-2 with a trio of outright winners, but she was unable to sustain any of that momentum in the final game, which ended with a King double fault.

Collins and Andrews have never played, but Collins has heard about Andrews, who is almost exactly three years younger than the 17-year-old Floridian.

"I'll have to bring the heat tomorrow, that's for sure," said Collins. "She's a really good player, a beast. She's had some really good results, and she's tough as nails, so I'll need to be well-rested and bring my A game tomorrow."

The doubles finals are set, although only one of the semifinals was played Friday afternoon. Samantha Crawford, part of the top-seeded doubles team with Taylor Townsend, was unable to play due to an abdominal strain, so No. 4 seeds Lynn Chi and Chalena Scholl received a walkover into the final.

Danielle Collins retired from her unfinished quarterfinal doubles match Thursday night without taking the court, putting Ashley Dai and Kelsey Laurente, the No. 9 seeds, in the semifinal against No. 2 seeds Whitney Kay and Caroline Price. Dai and Laurente were leading Collins and Maci Epstein 6-2, 4-2 when the rain suspended their quarterfinal match Thursday night.

In the semifinal, there was very little to separate the two teams, with Dai and Laurente saving a set point with Kay serving at 5-4 in the first set and Price and Kay saving two set points with Price serving at 5-6. After the second seeds won the first set in a tiebreaker, they fell behind 3-1 in the second set, but won the next five games to post a 7-6(2), 6-3 victory.

For complete results, see the TennisLink site.

For more coverage of the USTA Clay Courts, see collegeandjuniortennis.com.