Top Three Girls Seeds Out at ITF J500 Offenbach; First ATP Points for Lee, Woestendick at Vero Beach $15K; 122nd Edition of The Ojai Underway; SEC and Big Ten Women's Conference Awards Announced

The round of 16 is set at the ITF J500 in Offenbach Germany, with just one American and neither of the top two girls seeds still in contention. No. 11 seed Max Exsted advanced to the third round with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 win over Sergio Planella Hernandez of Spain today; on Thursday he will face unseeded Joaquin Guilleme of Nicaragua for a spot in the quarterfinals.

The top two seeds in the boys draw, Nicolai Budkov Kjaer of Norway and Luca Preda of Romania, have moved into the third round with two routine straight-sets wins, but the top three girls seeds are out, exiting in the first round. Top seed Emerson Jones of Australia lost to Nellie Taraba Wallberg of Sweden 6-0, 6-3, No. 2 seed Hannah Klugman of Great Britain was beaten by Vittoria Paganetti of Italy 6-4, 7-6(1) and Mingge Xu of Great Britain fell to Neus Torner Sensano of Spain 7-6(6), 6-1. It may be some consolation to that trio of seeds that all of the girls who beat them won their matches today and are through to the round of 16. 

No. 8 seed Katie Rolls, who won the last J500 this year, at the Banana Bowl in Brazil, lost in the second round to Eliska Tichackova of the Czech Republic 6-2, 6-2.

In my post Tuesday, I mentioned all the top juniors competing at this week's $15,000 men's USTA Pro Circuit tournament in Vero Beach Florida, and five advanced to Thursday's second round.  Seventeen-year-old Cooper Woestendick and 18-year-old Mitchell Lee earned their first ATP points, with Woestendick beating Jake Van Emburgh(Oklahoma/Ohio State) 7-5, 6-4 and Lee getting a 6-4 retired win over No. 4 seed Jaimee Floyd Angele of France. 

Kaylan Bigun, wild card Rudy Quan and Alexander Razeghi already have ATP rankings but added another point to their totals today. Bigun defeated Sekou Bangoura(Florida), who was playing in his first event in almost a year, 6-0, 6-1 in 57 minutes; Quan took out No. 6 seed Nathan Ponwith(Georgia/Arizona State) 6-0, 7-6(5) and Razeghi beat fellow 17-year-old Nikita Filin, a qualifier, 6-4, 6-4.

Razeghi gets No. 2 seed Garrett Johns(Duke) next, while Bigun faces qualifier Dian Nedev of Bulgaria, who beat top seed Christian Langmo(Miami)6-4, 6-7(2), 6-4.  Quan and Woestendick will play for a spot in the quarterfinals; in their only previous meeting, in the quarterfinals of last year's ITF J300 in Indian Wells, Woestendick won 6-3, 6-1. Lee will face fellow wild card Chad Kissell(Valparaiso) in the second round, after Kissell defeated qualifier Cody Benton 4-6, 6-1, 6-3.

For more on today's action in Vero Beach, including quotes from Kaylan Bigun and Rudy Quan, see this article from Harvey Fialkov. 

One of the oldest and most revered tennis tournaments in the United States began this week in Ojai California. The 122nd edition of the tournament will feature the final Pac-12 conference tournaments, with the upcoming realignments leading to the demise of undoubtedly the most significant conference in college tennis. Past Ojai competitors Bob and Mike Bryan are being honored this year for their contributions to the sport and will perform with their band after a fundraising dinner. A junior clinic with the twins is also on the schedule.

The tournament also features community college, Division III, juniors, boys high school and men's and women's opens in a festival of tennis on courts throughout the region. Draws for all events can be found under the tournament information tab on the Ojai home page.

Each year I try to post the Power Five (plus Ivy) conference awards, which are released in no particular order and no discernible schedule. The first two came out today, with the SEC announcing its women's all-conference first and second teams and all-freshmen team, as well as these top awards:

Player of the Year: Mary Stoiana, Texas A&M

Freshman of the Year: Lucciana Perez, Texas A&M

Coach of the Year: Drake Bernstein, Georgia

It was a good day to be a Luciana and a Bernstein, as the Big Ten's freshman and coach of the year mirroring those of the SEC. The Big Ten also revealed its team sportsmanship awards as well as all-conference teams.

Player of the Year: Kari Miller, Michigan 

Freshman of the Year: Luciana Perry, Ohio State

  

Coach of the Year: Ronni Bernstein, Michigan 

July Aces; Hovde Turns Pro; Gorzny and Michelsen Top Seeds in Kalamazoo 18s Doubles, 13 Michigan Players Competing in Singles; Wolf Beats Shapovalov at ATP Citi Open

As I mentioned Monday, I wasn't able to fit everyone I would have liked into the July edition of my Aces for the Tennis Recruiting Network. That's been a frequent problem lately, which is a sign of how much success college players have been having on the Pro Circuits. Here are the 18 performances from July that did make the cut, which include not just Pro Circuit titles but also the first ATP titles for a pair of former collegians.

One of last month's Aces, Roehampton and Wimbledon champion Liv Hovde, has signed with GSE Worldwide, a sports management and marketing agency, meaning she will not be playing college tennis. The 16-year-old, who is currently No. 4 in the ITF junior rankings, is the youngest client of the agency, which also represents Leylah Fernandez, Sloane Stephens, Paul Badosa, Grigor Dimitrov and Sofia Kenin. 

After she won the Wimbledon girls title last month, Hovde was pursued by many of the top agencies before deciding to sign with John Tobias and Chris McCormack. 

The USTA Boys 18s doubles draws will be out later tonight; here are the Top 16 seeds, all of whom will receive first round byes but will be playing second round matches late Friday.

1. Sebastian Gorzny and Alex Michelsen

2. Nicholas Godsick and Ethan Quinn

3. Aidan Kim and Cooper Williams

4. Samir Banerjee and Ozan Colak

5. Jack Anthrop and Michael Zheng

6. Nishesh Basavareddy and Bryce Nakashima

7. Landon Ardila and Lucas Brown

8. Kyle Kang and Learner Tien

9. Hudson Rivera and Braden Shick

10. Nikita Filin and Alexander Razeghi

11. Kabeer Kapasi and Connor Smillie

12. Brendan Boland and Nico Jamison

13. Jonah Braswell and Sebastian Sec

14. Alexander Frusina and Joseph Phillips

15. Kaylan Bigun and Evan Wen

16. Meecah Bigun and Preston Stearns

The Kalamazoo Gazette has once again published an in-depth look at the Michigan players competing this year in the USTA boys 18s and 16s Nationals, with seven playing in the 18s and six in the 16s. As you can gather from the photos, the paper also provides thorough coverage of the Michigan State High School Championships every spring(girls) and fall(boys).

With so much going on in junior tennis right now, I haven't had much time to focus on the three ATP/WTA events happening this week in the United States, but it's been a great week for JJ Wolf. The former Ohio State All-American broke into the ATP Top 100 for the first time this week, received a wild card into the ATP 500 Citi Open in Washington DC and has now reached the round of 16, with wins over qualifier Taro Daniel of Japan on Monday and No. 6 seed Denis Shapovalov today. Wolf's 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-3 win over the Canadian is his second over a Top 25 opponent, with his first earlier this year in Acapulco over Lorenzo Sonego of Italy. He will play No. 9 seed Holger Rune of Denmark next.  Wolf was just outside the original cut for the US Open main draw, but this run should assure he gets a wild card, regardless of whether he wins the USTA's Wild Card Challenge.

Wolf joins Maxime Cressy(UCLA), Taylor Fritz[3] and Sebastian Korda in the round of 16, with Tommy Paul[14], Reilly Opelka[4], Denis Kudla, Chris Eubanks(Georgia Tech) and Frances Tiafoe[10] still yet to play today. At least two more will advance with Tiafoe playing Eubanks and Opelka facing Kudla.

May Aces; Stearns Turns Pro; Shelton Reaches Little Rock Challenger Semifinals; Sierra Rolls on in Roland Garros Junior Championships; Miller Claims Second Michigan State High School D-I Singles Title

My monthly Aces column for Tennis Recruiting Network is chock-full of great performances by current and former collegians, with many outstanding results from juniors also included. I couldn't begin to feature everyone who won a pro tournament last month, but I paid special attention to those who earned the biggest titles of their careers or who won several tournaments in the previous five weeks. 

Two of the aces from last month are in the news today, with Peyton Stearns of Texas announcing that she is turning pro after leading her team to a second consecutive team title and winning the singles championship last weekend, the first woman from the Texas women's program to accomplish that.

For more on Stearns' decision, see this article from the Texas website.

Men's singles champion Ben Shelton of Florida is still planning to return to Florida; whether that changes if he continues to experience the success he has had this week at the ATP Challenger 100 in Little Rock is an open question. 

Shelton's second round match with No. 2 seed Emilio Gomez(USC) of Ecuador was scheduled for Thursday, but rain pushed that match to this morning. Shelton, a wild card, beat ATP No. 152 Gomez 6-4, 6-4 for his best ranking win on the professional circuits. In his quarterfinal match, the 19-year-old left-hander came back from a break down in the first set to beat 20-year-old qualifier Roman Andres Burruchaga of Argentina 7-5, 6-1 and will play in his first Challenger semifinal on Saturday against No. 4 seed Jason Kubler of Australia.  Aleks Kovacevic(Illinois) is also through to the semifinals, ending the impressive run of Arizona State rising sophomore Murphy Cassone with a 7-6(5), 6-1 victory.

Free live streaming with Mike Cation providing commentary is available at the ATP Challenger website.

The junior titles at Roland Garros will be decided on Saturday, with boys and girls singes and doubles finals all on the schedule. The girls final will begin at 5 a.m. EDT, with unseeded Solana Sierra facing No. 9 seed Lucie Havlickova of the Czech Republic. Sierra, the 17-year-old from Argentina, defeated her fourth seed of the tournament in today's semifinals, taking out No. 13 seed Nikola Bartunkova of the Czech Republic 7-5, 6-0.

The battle of the Czech doubles partners went to Havlickova, with the 17-year-old right-hander coming from 5-2 down in the third set to beat Sara Bejlek 6-3, 6-7(2), 7-5. Bejlek served for the match at 5-2 and 5-4 but that deficit appeared to free Havlickova to swing away and she blasted winners throughout the final five games of the match, winning all of them.

The boys final will feature two 16-year-old Europeans who have never played: unseeded Gilles Bailly of Belgium and No. 14 seed Gabriel Debru of France. 

Bailly took advantage of the rain delay that came when he had lost the first set to unseeded Martyn Pawelski of Poland 6-1, because he came back to breeze through the final two sets 6-1, 6-2. Debru was up 5-2 in the third set over No. 10 seed Dino Prizmic of Croatia when the rain became too heavy to continue, but Prizmic couldn't rally and Debru closed out his 6-1, 0-6, 6-3 victory.

Unlike in the singles, the top seeds in the doubles have stayed true to their expectations, with No. 1 and No. 2 meeting in both girls and boys finals.

Top seeds Havlickova and Bejlek defeated No. 7 seeds Lucija Ciric Bagaric of Croatia and Sofia Costoulas of Belgium 6-4, 6-2, ending Coustoulas' doubles winning streak at 20. Havlickova and Bejlek's opponents will be No. 2 seeds Bartunkova and Celine Naef of Switzerland, who beat No. 4 seeds Yaroslava Bartashevich of France and Ksenia Zaytseva of Russia 3-6, 6-1, 10-7.

The last American junior in the draw, Nicholas Godsick, lost a tough one in the doubles semifinals. Godsick and Henrique Rochas of Portugal, who were unseeded, lost to top seeds Edas Butvilas of Lithuania and Mili Poljicak of Croatia 6-4, 3-6, 10-8. Godsick and Rochas led 7-4 in the match tiebreaker, but lost five points in succession to give Butvilas and Poljicak two match points. Godsick crushed a return to save the first, but they were unable to outlast Butvilas and Poljicak, who took the second match point.

Butvilas, who won the Wimbledon boys doubles title last year, and Poljicak will play No. 2 seed Ignacio Buse and Gonzalo Bueno of Peru in the final, after Buse and Bueno defeated Pawelski and Peter Nad of Slovakia 6-1, 6-4.

For more on today's singles semifinals, see this article from the ITF Junior website.

In addition to playing for the women's singles title tomorrow, Coco Gauff will be playing for the women's doubles title on Sunday, after she and Jessica Pegula defeated Madison Keys and Taylor Townsend 6-4, 7-6(4). Gauff and Pegula, seeded No. 8, will face the unseeded team of Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic of France.

I don't cover much high school tennis, but I do try to get to the finals of whatever division of the Michigan State High School Association is playing at Kalamazoo College's Stowe Stadium. In Michigan, the girls play in the spring, the boys in the fall, and the girls definitely got the better weather for their tournament this academic year. It was Division I in Kalamazoo this year, and I was eager to see Ann Arbor Pioneer's Reese Miller, who won the Division I title last year as a sophomore, go for her second title at No. 1 singles. Not only did she accomplish that, losing just 13 games in her five wins, but Pioneer also won the team title, by one point over Bloomfield Hills, after the two schools tied for first place last year.

Miller, whose sister Kari plays No. 1 for Michigan, did not get an opportunity to play on the same high school team, as Covid cancelled the high school season in 2020 when Kari was a senior and Reese a sophomore. But they should get a second chance to play on the same team, as Miller has committed to Michigan for 2023, when Kari will be a senior.

Although there were obviously reasons to expect that Reese would follow her sister to Michigan, she was determined to look at other programs as well, taking official visits to South Carolina, Northwestern and Vanderbilt.

"Many schools didn't look at me at first because they just assumed I was going to go to Michigan," said the blue chip, who is No. 17 in the nation on Tennis Recruiting. "So I reached out to them, saying no, I'm definitely looking at my options. And then I was like, oh wait, I am going to Michigan. But I definitely think I did try to give them a fair chance, but Michigan is where I want to be."

Miller said that she "loved all the schools I visited and it was so hard to decide. But with Covid being a factor, just so many unknowns still, I felt good going to school near home, being close to family, it's super important. My parents being able to watch me play is so amazing. And being able to be with my sister, we're really close, so that was a huge thing for me."

Gauff and McNally Fall in Three Sets in Women's Doubles Final; Deming and An Claim Les Petits As Doubles Title

US Open women's doubles finalists Coco Gauff and Caty McNally
photo credit: Garrett Ellwood/USTA

With the junior singles finals finishing on Saturday (my coverage for the ITF is here) for the first time since I began reporting on the US Open in 2004, Sunday was a bonus day at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center for me. I was fortunate to be able to watch Sunday's two matches in Ashe for the first time in many years, and although I was excited to see Novak Djokovic compete for the men's singles grand slam, I was thrilled to see Caty McNally and Coco Gauff play in the women's doubles final in the early match.

Three years ago, I spoke to them after they won the US Open girls title, on a match played at the Chase Center indoor courts, in front of no fans, due to rain. 

Today they played on Arthur Ashe stadium, with a vocal crowd behind them, against Australia's Samantha Stosur and China's Shuai Zhang. Although they lost 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, McNally and Gauff proved they were ready for the sport's biggest stage and intend to make their appearance in slam finals a regular occurrence.

At their press conference in Interview Room 1, the only one I attended in person, rather than via Zoom, because the junior champions did not get that room this year, I asked them to reflect on their progression from girls US Open champions to women's US Open finalists.

"It's been a great journey so far," McNally said. "Winning the juniors, now we're playing on Arthur Ashe Stadium, it's pretty cool to see how far we've come. I think it just shows how much better we've gotten as a team. We want to do better. We can't wait to be back out on that court again. But I think from day one when we played, we just had a special relationship, a special partnership. I think we knew this was coming. I think we knew finals were coming down the road. I still think we'll be back out on that court again with a different result sooner than later."

"Yeah, I agree," Gauff said. "It's amazing how far we've come. I'm glad that Caty is able, we're able to do this journey together. There's no other person or player that I would rather do this with. I know that we'll be Grand Slam champions eventually."

A journalist via Zoom asked if they felt their success this year, and that of Raducanu, Fernandez and Alcaraz could be viewed as "jumping the line by going so deep into a Grand Slam."

McNally dismissed that interpretation.

"Yeah, I don't know if there's like a line. I just think we all believe in ourselves, believe in our games," McNally said. "We've all played at really high levels, especially in juniors. We've all played in Grand Slams, all of us. I think that's given us a lot of exposure to what we're getting ourselves into. I think we're just taking on these big moments head first. We're not really afraid to play our games and get the crowd involved, to win these big matches. I think it's just awesome and inspiring to me, I know to myself, I know to Coco, other young players, that anyone can do it."

"I mean, success has no timeline to it," said Gauff, who at 17 is the youngest of all the teenagers who excelled at this US Open. "It can happen early; it can happen later. There are a lot of players that it happened later in their career, and there's a lot of players it happened earlier in their career. There's players like Serena who have success throughout the whole career (smiling). Like Caty said, I don't think there's any line or anything. I think especially the young generation, the new generation coming up, just really believe in themselves, don't really care about how many more years of experience the opponent on the other side of the court has."

One of the biggest stages preparing junior players for the future is in Tarbes France at the 14U Les Petits As tournament. Usually held at the end of January and beginning of February, the tournament was moved to this week due to the pandemic. I usually follow the event closely, which I was unable to do this year because of the conflict with the US Open Junior Championships.

Five US girls and four US boys were in the draws, with Claire An and Max Exsted the top-seeded Americans, both at No. 8. Exsted lost in the quarterfinals, while unseeded Darwin Blanch and Matisse Farzam both advanced to the semifinals. Blanch lost to No. 3 seed Federico Cina of Italy, who had beaten Exsted, 6-3, 6-2 and Farzam was beaten by top seed Maxim Mrva of the Czech Republic 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. Mrva won the title today, beating Cina 6-3, 3-6 6-0. 

Cin and Andrea De Marchi, the No. 6 seeds, won the doubles title, beating No. 7 seed Felix Alopaeus and Oskari Paldanius of Finland 6-7(5), 6-3, 12-10 in the final. 

France ended a long drought in girls singles, with No. 7 seed Mathilde Ngijol Carre becoming the first girl from the host country to win the title since 1984. She defeated unseeded Mika Buchnik of Israel 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 in the championship match.  An, the only US girl to advance past the second round, lost in the semifinals to Buchnik, 7-6(5), 6-3.

An and Emily Deming were unseeded in the girls doubles competition, but they took home the title, defeating Flora Johnson and Hephzibah Oluwadare of Great Britain, who were also unseeded, 6-4, 6-1 in the final.

Riley Crowder and Deming met in the consolation final, with Crowder winning 4-1, 4-1.

Photos from the event can be found at the tournament website. The draws are best viewed at Tennis Europe's website.

Four US Girls Reach Orlando ITF Semifinals; Rain Continues to Disrupt Tyler $80K; McDonald, Tiafoe and Paul Advance in Kazakhstan; Ohio State High School Championships Results

Both of the top seeds have advanced to Thursday's semifinals at the ITF Grade 4 in Orlando, with No. 1 Alexis Blokhina one of four American girls to earn quarterfinal wins today at the USTA National Campus.  In the boys draw, top seed Adolfo Daniel Vallejo of Paraguay and unseeded Giulio Perego of Italy, last week's Grade 4 champion in Atlanta, will take on the two remaining US boys in the singles draw.

Blokhina, who did not play last week in Atlanta, defeated unseeded Calissa Dellabarca 6-3, 5-7, 7-6(1) and will play qualifier Sarah Hamner. Hamner, who has verbally committed to South Carolina for 2021, defeated unseeded Olivia Lincer 6-2, 6-4 for her sixth win of the week. The other semifinal features No. 6 seed Katja Wiersholm and wild card Ashlyn Krueger. Wiersholm advanced when Grace O'Donnell retired trailing 3-6, 7-6(4), 4-0. Krueger, a finalist last week in Atlanta, defeated qualifier Tsehay Driscoll 6-2, 2-6, 6-2.

Vallejo, who defeated unseeded Nedim Suko 6-4, 7-5, will face No. 7 seed Braden Shick, who beat No. 4 seed Azuma Visaya 0-6, 6-3, 6-3. Perego, who defeated wild card Nicholas Godsick 6-3, 6-1, meets unseeded Colton Smith for a place in the final. Smith, who has committed to Arizona, downed 15-year-old qualifier Joseph Phillips 7-5, 6-4. 

Two of the doubles quarterfinals matches were not completed, but three teams in each draw have booked their spots in the semifinals. Hamner and Krueger are still alive in doubles, as is Shick.

Three days of rain in Tyler Texas has put the $80,000 USTA Women's Pro Circuit tournament way behind schedule, with qualifying matches moved indoors to the SMU facility in Dallas and just six of those competed: the final three first round qualifying matches and three second round qualifying matches. Those qualifying so far are Jamie Loeb(UNC), who defeated alternate Paula Kania-Chodun of Poland 7-6(5), 6-4; Ankita Raina of India, who defeated Tessah Andrianjafitrimo of France 6-0, 6-2 and Georgina Garcia-Perez of Spain, who defeated Alycia Parks 6-4, 6-4.

Three of the four Americans in the draw at the ATP 250 in Kazakhstan won matches today, with Mackenzie McDonald(UCLA) picking up a first round win and Frances Tiafoe and Tommy Paul advancing to the quarterfinals with victories today.  McDonald defeated No. 6 seed Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan 6-3, 6-2 and will play wild card Andreas Seppi of Italy tomorrow. Tiafoe took out No. 2 seed Miomir Kecmanovic 7-5, 6-3 and will play Egor Gerasimov of Belarus in Friday's quarterfinals. It's Tiafoe's second ATP quarterfinal appearance this year, with the previous one back in February at Delray Beach. Paul, the No. 7 seed, beat Radu Albot of Moldova 6-4, 6-0 and will face No. 4 seed John Millman of Australia in the quarterfinals Friday.  Tennys Sandgren(Tennessee), the fourth American in the draw, lost his first round match Tuesday.

For more on Tiafoe's victory, see this article from the ATP website. 

Scott Gerber does a tremendous job of covering Ohio high school tennis, and with the girls state championships concluding last weekend, there is plenty of new content on his website, OhioTennisZone.com, including scores, photos and videos.

Top Seed Mi Out in Quarterfinals at Atlanta Grade 4; Volynets Moves On at Macon $80K; Fritz Defeats Opelka in Belgium; Cooksey Wins Fourth State Singles Title

With the draws consisting of only 32 players, the semifinals of the ITF Junior Circuit Grade 4 in Atlanta are Thursday, a day earlier than usual when the draws are usually twice as large. Boys top seed Adolfo Daniel Vallejo of Paraguay lost yesterday, and in today's quarterfinals, girls top seed Lan Mi of China exited, with unseeded Gracie Epps advancing when Mi retired at 4-6, 7-6(6). Epps, who will be 16 next week, will face wild card Ashlyn Krueger in the semifinals. Krueger, who won the Eddie Herr and Orange Bowl 16s titles last year, beat qualifier Salma Farhat 6-2, 6-0.

The other girls semifinal will feature qualifier Emma Charney against unseeded Grace O'Donnell. Charney defeated Aubrey Nisbet 6-4, 6-1, while O'Donnell advanced when Ava Hrastar retired trailing 5-1. 

No. 2 seed Nishesh Basavareddy, who reached the final last year in Atlanta, defeated wild card Jelani Sarr 6-1, 6-4 and will play unseeded Giulio Perego of Italy. Perego beat No. 4 seed Azuma Visaya 6-3, 6-4 in today's quarterfinals. Unseeded Ellis Short, who beat top seed Vallejo yesterday, picked up another win today, beating Canadian Jayden Templemen 6-4, 7-6(4). Short will take on No. 3 seed Aidan Kim, who defeated Ryan Colby 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.

At the Grade 1 in Bulgaria, No. 5 seed Ellie Coleman won her first round match, but she is the only American still alive in singles. No. 4 seed Madison Sieg, Jenna DeFalco and Isabelle Kouzmanov all lost in the first round, while boys No. 6 seed Bruno Kuzuhara lost in the second round today. 

A couple of first round matches are still underway tonight at the $80,000 women's tournament in Macon Georgia, but at least eight US women will advance to Thursday's second round. Qualifiers Varvara Lepchenko and Katie Volynets both picked up wins today, with Lepchenko outlasting No. 2 seed Nina Stojanovic of Serbia 6-7(5), 6-2, 7-6(6) in over three and a half hours, and Volynets defeating Caroline Dolehide 7-6(3), 6-3 in just over two hours. No. 4 seed Kristie Ahn(Stanford), No. 5 seed Ann Li, Cici Bellis, Sachia Vickery and Francesca Di Lorenzo(Ohio State) also posted first round wins today. 

Live streaming is up and running at usta.com, with Ken Thomas of RadioTennis.com on the call. 

Taylor Fritz ran his record against friend Reilly Opelka to 5-1 today in the first round of the ATP 250 European Open in Antwerp Belgium. Fritz, the No. 7 seed, was outaced 19-10, but he never faced a break point in his 7-6(5), 6-1 victory. Fritz plays Lloyd Harris of South Africa next; qualifier Marcos Giron(UCLA) takes on top seed David Goffin of Belgium.

I normally am not able to follow high school tennis around the country, but because I wrote an article about William Cooksey's commitment to the University of Michigan this spring, and because I follow high school tennis here in my home state of Michigan, I did want to note that Cooksey won his fourth consecutive state singles title in Division IV today, a week after his Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett team won the Division IV title. It was touch and go throughout the summer and early fall as to whether the high school season would even be possible, but the MHSAA made some changes, decentralizing the team events and holding a separate individual tournament to keep the number of competitors at each site to a minimum. The girls, who play in the spring here in Michigan, were not as fortunate, as their season was, of course, canceled.

UTR Announces National Championships Series; American Clay Court 16s Nationals Underway; Nakashima Defeats Hurkacz at Altec Styslinger Exhibition

Most of the competitive tennis that has been played in the past couple of months has been under the UTR umbrella, and the company is rolling out another series of events next month, called the UTR National Championship Series, with tournaments for College, Junior and High School competitors. Space is limited to the top 16 Universal Tennis Ratings for each Fila-sponsored event, which are often back-to-back-to-back weeks at the same location. Unlike the ITA Summer Circuit tournaments, also UTR events, the college events are scheduled mostly for Wednesday through Friday rather than weekends. Prize money is offered, with the amount varying depending on the tournament. The schedule of events is here. Today's UTR release is below.

UNIVERSAL TENNIS LAUNCHES UTR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

Nationwide Event Series Offers High School, Junior and Collegiate Players the Opportunity to Compete Locally And Count Globally In High Level Regional Play 

June 29, 2020 (Palo Alto, CA) - Universal Tennis (MyUTR.com) today announced the launch of its first-ever UTR National Championship Series, a new initiative for junior, high school and college athletes to compete in high level local tennis events, continue to develop their game, and have their scores count globally via the Universal Tennis Rating (UTR). 

The UTR National Championship Series features over 20 locations with more than 70 events and 2,000 matches across the United States, including California, Florida, Texas, Georgia, Missouri, Ohio, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Massachusetts. The series will be divided into three divisions: High School, Juniors (14’s & 16’s) and College, with events beginning July 8th and running through early August. Space is limited to the top 16 players by UTR in each division and winners of each host site will be nationally recognized by Universal Tennis as the first ever UTR National Champions. 

All UTR National Championship Series events will be organized based on a World Cup-style format, where groups of players will compete in round robin style stages and will advance to the next round based on their results. Winners of the collegiate and junior UTR National Championships will be eligible to receive prize money. The junior series will be live-streamed for college coaches on MyUTR.com to help support summer recruiting efforts. 

“The UTR National Championship Series gives young players who are eager to get back on the court a new opportunity to participate in local, high level competition that counts globally for their Universal Tennis Rating. Due to the global health crisis, players have been unable to compete for a few months, and many events have been cancelled,” said Mark Leschly, Universal Tennis Chairman & CEO. “Our partner sites are committed to following their local health and safety guidelines, while offering a fun, competitive environment for players to get back to competition, showcase their skills and return to the game they love.”  

FILA (FILA.com) will serve as the Official Apparel and Footwear Provider of the UTR National Championship Series, providing prizes for all winners across the junior, high school and collegiate divisions. In addition, FILA and Universal Tennis will work to create unique apparel and footwear offerings for all participants of the National Championships, as well as the broader UTR community. 

“We are thrilled to be partnering with Universal Tennis on the UTR National Championship Series,” said Lauren Mallon, Director of Strategic Partnerships - Tennis at FILA. “These National Championships offer players a much needed opportunity to compete in a safe, local environment, while also serving as an exceptional showcase for the FILA brand. We look forward to bringing our apparel and footwear to this talented group of players." 

 Calendar Dates:

• College: July 8 - August 2
• Juniors Boys & Girls (14s & 16s): July 15 - July 26
• High School: July 29 - August 2 

Registration:

Players, coaches and parents can learn more and sign up for their local UTR National Championship Series event at MyUTR.com. 

The American Clay Court Nationals for the 16s age division is underway today at The Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia, after the boys qualifying was completed on Sunday. There are eight round robin groups for the boys, with just three for the girls draw, which had only 12 entries. Draws and results can be found here.

The first day of the Altec/Styslinger men's exhibition in Miami produced one big upset, with 18-year-old Brandon Nakashima(Virginia), ranked 220, beating ATP No. 29 Hubert Hurkacz of Poland 4-3(6), 4-1. Nakashima will face Tennys Sandgren(Tennessee) next, after Sandgren defeated organizer JC Aragone(Virginia) 4-1, 4-2. Sam Querrey defeated Mackenzie McDonald 4-3(5), 4-2 and will play Reilly Opelka, who saved five set points in the tiebreaker to beat Steve Johnson(USC) 4-3(9), 4-1. For additional coverage of the event, check out the @CrackedRacquets twitter feed; they are onsite in Miami for this event.

Division I Arkansas-Pine Bluff Suspends Tennis Programs; Other News and Notes From College and Junior Tennis

It's bad enough that Division I tennis programs have been the most  frequent casualties due to the cost-cutting required by the Covid-19 pandemic. But given the current climate centered on the need for racial justice, it seems doubly unfortunate that a historically black university, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, would find take the step of suspending both the men's and women's tennis programs.  The announcement doesn't offer much more than the news that both programs will be suspended for the upcoming season and that athletic aid will be provided despite the suspension, but there is little reason for optimism going forward, given what's happening in college athletics right now.

The University of Connecticut is widely expected to drop several sports in the next few weeks, but recruiting, at least for the men's team, has forged ahead. On Thursday, UConn announced its incoming freshman class, consisting of two three-stars and one four-star, all from the United States.

Arizonan Lauren Stein, who will join the Cornell team this fall, is the subject of this feature, which explores her choice of tennis over soccer, her decision to travel extensively and the home schooling that was necessary to undertake that path.

Back in 2014, Notre Dame's Matt Dooley made news by coming out as gay. Six years later, it was no easier for Mitchell Thomas, who recently graduated from Division III Washington and Lee. Brian Vahaly, the former University of Virginia star and top 100 ATP player, who is on the USTA Board of Directors, has been working to reduce the stigma for gay athletes in the sport, but there is obviously still a long way to go. Here is a recent ATP article on Vahaly and how he hopes to inspire other gay tennis players to accept their sexual orientation.

Former Alabama All-American Alexa Guarachi has climbed to the top level in WTA doubles, with the 29-year-old from Florida now ranked 39 in the world. Guarachi, who represents Chile now, is the subject of this local TV station feature.

Four former Indiana High School champions played a Covid-19 charity doubles match this morning in Indianapolis, with two-time grand slam champion Rajeev Ram(Illinois) and Indiana University rising junior Patrick Fletchall defeating Ronnie Schneider(UNC) and rising Northwestern freshman Presley Thieneman. The Indianapolis Star has this account of the match. I can certainly identify with Ram when he says "I haven’t been in one place for this long since I was 16," although for me, that probably goes back only 15 years, not the 20 years that represents for Ram.

Next Thursday, Ken Thomas is set to interview coaching legend Robert Lansdorp on Radiotennis.com, as part of his four weeks of Pandemic Interviews.

This Bakersfield Californian article features graduating high school senior, Nathan Kwon, who has trained with Lansdorp for years, and explores his decision to forgo college and instead try to break through on the professional circuit. Kwon, who has not yet earned an ATP point, expresses an interest in eventually getting an MBA, so it is difficult to understand why he wouldn't begin his education now, rather than later, especially in the current situation, but he is forging ahead with his original plan.

Division II Alabama-Huntsville Drops Men's and Women's Tennis; Georgia's Jokic Wins Atlanta Exhibition; Riske Reaches UTR Pro Series Final, but Opponent Unknown; More Varsity Blues for Georgetown; Miller Loses Chance at Third High School Title

Just two days after Division I East Carolina announced it was dropping its men's and women's tennis programs, Division II Alabama-Huntsville has done the same. As with East Carolina, scholarships will be honored for those students who wish to continue at the school, rather than transfer to play elsewhere.  Alabama-Huntsville also is cutting its men's hockey team (which competes in Division I). The school's announcement, which frames the decision solely as the result of the Covid-19 pandemic, is here.  There is no telling which school will be next, but apparently Division I University of Connecticut, which has both men's and women's tennis teams, is facing pressure to discontinue some sports, as they currently have a huge deficit that preceded the pandemic.

There are a number of tournaments going on around the country that are not exactly exhibitions, but are providing a way for pro and college players to stay sharp while they wait for the ITF, WTA and ATP tours to resume this summer. One such event last week, in Atlanta, drew WTA Top 100 player Taylor Townsend, but it was University of Georgia junior Katarina Jokic who took the title, beating former Georgia Tech star Paige Hourigan 3-6, 7-6(6), 10-6 in the final. Hourigan had beaten Jokic earlier in the tournament, the only loss that the 2019 NCAA singles finalist suffered in eight matches. The format was not Fast 4, which has been the most popular scoring system for these events, but rather no-ad in standard sets, with a tiebreaker in lieu of a third set. For more on the eight-player event and Jokic's win, see this article from The Red & Black.

At the UTR Pro Match Series in Florida, Alison Riske overcame an opening match loss to Ajla Tomljanovic yesterday, beating Danielle Collins today to put her record at 2-1 and assure herself a place in Sunday's final. Tomljanovic had lost to Amanda Anisimova earlier today, so the day's last match between Tomljanovic and Collins would decide the other finalist. Tomljanovic and Collins split tiebreakers, with Collins finally forcing a third set on her seventh set point, after serving for the second set up 3-2, 40-0. It then began to rain, so the third set will be played Sunday, with its winner going on to face Riske in the final, while its loser will play Anisimova for third place. For more on today's matches, see this article from tennis.com.

Two news items about last year's Varsity Blues scandal have surfaced recently. Actress Lori Loughlin and her fashion designer husband Mossimo Giannulli have pleaded guilty, after a year of refusing to do so, and will be sentenced in August. They are accused of paying $500,000 to assist their daughters in gaining admission to USC as crew team recruits.

In a tennis-related development, another parent has been charged in the investigation into Georgetown's former coach Gordon Ernst. Peter Dameris, who has pleaded guilty, tried to gain entrance to the school for his son, who was not a competitive tennis player, but was represented as such. Ernst himself has pleaded not guilty, according to this Washington Post article about the case.

As with so many seniors this year, University of Michigan recruit Kari Miller did not get an opportunity to say goodbye to high school tennis, with the spring sports (girls play in the spring in Michigan, boys in the fall) canceled due to the pandemic. It's particularly disappointing for Miller, who won two state singles titles as a freshman and junior, because she had just this one chance to play on the same team as her younger sister Reese. And, according to this MLive article, her Ann Arbor Pioneer team had a good chance to win the state team championship this year as well.

Kodat Defeats Top Seed to Reach ITF Grade A Porto Alegre Quarterfinals; Wolf Leads ITA Men's Indoor All-Tournament Team; Renowned Michigan High School Tennis Coach and Kalamazoo Volunteer Bob Wood Dies

Three US boys and two US girls have advanced to the quarterfinals of the ITF Grade A in Porto Alegre Brazil.

Sixteen-year-old Toby Kodat, seeded No. 13, ended the seven-match win streak of Nicolas Alvarez Varona of Spain, beating the top seed 6-4, 6-4 in today's third round. Alvarez had won the Grade 1 Banana Bowl last week. Kodat also had a win earlier this year over Alvarez in the first round of the Grade 1 in Traralgon Australia.  Kodat faces No. 11 seed Taha Baadi of Canada in the quarterfinals.  Kalamazoo 16s champion Martin Damm has also advanced to the quarterfinals, where he'll play No. 2 seed Keisuke Saitoh of Japan. Damm defeated fellow 15-year-old Holger Rune of Denmark, the No. 5 seed, 6-3, 6-4 in today's third round.  No. 6 seed Tyler Zink is also through to the quarterfinals after beating Pedro Boscardin Dias of Brazil 7-6(5), 7-5. It's the first Grade A quarterfinal for Kodat and Damm, while Zink reached his other GA quarterfinal at the 2017 Orange Bowl.

No. 2 seed Alexa Noel defeated unseeded Gabriela Macias 6-3, 6-2 in today's third round, while unseeded Charlotte Owensby beat No. 8 seed Mylene Halemai of France 2-6, 6-1, 6-4.  The 15-year-old Owensby is making her debut in a Grade A quarterfinal, while Noel, 16, won the Grade A in Mexico in 2017. Unfortunately, Noel and Owensby now face each other for a place in the semifinals.

The ITA announced the Division I Men's Team Indoor All-Tournament Team today, with champion Ohio State's JJ Wolf named the Most Outstanding Player.

No. 1 singles and Most Outstanding Player: JJ Wolf, Ohio State
No. 2 singles: Petros Chrysochos, Wake Forest
No. 3 singles: Bar Botzer, Wake Forest
No. 4 singles: Martin Joyce, Ohio State
No. 5 singles: Colin Markes, Texas
No. 6 singles: Hunter Tubert, Ohio State

No. 1 doubles: Alan Gadjiev and Borna Gojo, Wake Forest
No. 2 doubles: Kyle Seelig and Alex Kobelt, Ohio State
No. 3 doubles: John McNally and Hunter Tubert, Ohio State

Aaron Krickstein, Bob Wood and Todd Martin prior to 2006 Kalamazoo Exhibition

I received word earlier this week of the death of Bob Wood, who volunteered for the USTA Kalamazoo Nationals for 38 years. I met Bob when I began volunteering for the tournament in 2000, and we spent many an hour in the Stowe Stadium tower talking junior tennis, pro tennis, and most importantly to Bob, high school tennis.  Wood was a legendary high school coach at University Liggett in Gross Pointe Michigan, winning 39 state championships: 27 boys and 12s girls titles. Well into his 70s, he was still involved in camps and clinics on the east side of the state, and he would return to Kalamazoo every year to answer phones, promote the tournament on radio and provide commentary on the public access station during the final weekend.

After he retired, he moved to Tennessee and then Texas, and during those years he continued to coach and to follow high school tennis. His favorite question for any player who was called to the Tower was 'did you play high school tennis?' and he could not contain his delight if the answer was yes.

With a lifetime in the sport, Wood had many stories, including those involving his two years coaching Aaron Krickstein, who, unsurprisingly, went undefeated in his two years of high school tennis. Krickstein turned pro after his sophomore year at Liggett, winning the Kalamazoo 18s title in 1983 after turning 16 a few days earlier, so Wood had a good idea of the kind of game that could translate to success on the pro tour.

But Wood's greatest legacy will be the thousands of less talented young players he coached throughout his career. He demonstrated his commitment to transmitting a lifelong love of the sport with every camp and after-school session, embodying the role of coach and teacher.

For the complete obituary, prepared by his family, click here.

USTA Names Mat Cloer National Collegiate Coach; US Girls Advance at Junior Fed Cup, Boys Fall Again in Junior Davis Cup; Grass Court Tennis in Wisconsin

USTA General Manager of Player Development Martin Blackman announced today that Mat Cloer has been named National Collegiate Coach. Cloer, who has been coaching and traveling with 2016 NCAA champion Mackenzie McDonald, takes over the position that Stephen Amritraj vacated this spring when he joined UTR.  Actually Amritraj was Director of Collegiate Tennis for the USTA when he left; Cloer may eventually receive that designation, but he will start as National Collegiate Coach. Also revealed in the release (below) is that Troy Hahn is now in the position of Lead Men's Coach at the USTA. That may not have been news to others, but I hadn't seen reference to that prior to today.

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., September 26, 2018 – The USTA today announced that Mat Cloer, a former college All-American and assistant coach who helped guide Mackenzie McDonald to a career-high No. 77 world-ranking this summer, has been hired as USTA Player Development’s new Collegiate National Coach. Cloer will be charged with facilitating the development of American men and women in the ATP World Tour and WTA Top 100 through the collegiate pathway, reporting to Team USA Pro – Men’s and Women’s Lead National Coaches Troy Hahn and Kathy Rinaldi out of the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla. "The Collegiate National Coach position is a very important position and role,” said USTA Player Development General Manager Martin Blackman. “It is so important for us to support our best collegiate players by working closely with their college coaches to optimize their development in college. As the game becomes more physical in both the men's and women's pro space, college tennis presents our best juniors with a great opportunity to mature emotionally, intellectually, physically and mentally before embarking on a pro career. Mat's skill as a great coach and great communicator make him ideal for this role." For the past year and a half, Cloer has worked with USTA Player Development as a National Coach in men’s tennis, working primarily with McDonald, the former NCAA champion UCLA Bruin who reached his career-high this summer after a run to the fourth round at Wimbledon. Cloer also worked with former collegians Chris Eubanks and Kevin King, both of whom have achieved career-high rankings this past spring and summer. Prior to joining USTA Player Development, Cloer spent three seasons as an assistant men’s coach at North Carolina State (2013-16) and four seasons at his alma mater Florida State (2007-11), where he was named the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s South Region Assistant Coach of the Year in 2009-10. A native of Brevard, N.C., Cloer was a two-time ACC Player of the Year with the Seminoles, as well as the program’s first All-American. He was also the recipient of the ITA Arthur Ashe Leadership and Sportsmanship Award and graduated with a degree in Sports Management.

#####

The top-seeded US girls won again today in the second day of round robin play at the Junior Fed Cup in Budapest, but the boys, seeded No. 3, were beaten again, losing to Brazil 2-1, without their injured No. 1 player, Toby Kodat.  According to the article on the ITF Junior Circuit website, the US girls have already qualified for the quarterfinals, even with another day left in round robin play. I assume the boys have been eliminated.  For all results from today, see the ITF tournament page.

Back in August, I was contacted by Tad Eckert, a prominent high school coach in Illinois, informing me there were new grass courts available for play in Wisconsin, which his New Trier team and Marquette High christened back in July. I was so busy I didn't get a chance to respond, but he reminded me of it again after I posted on the Division III participation in the Hall of Fame Invitational this month, and he offered to write about it. Below is his account of his team's experience:

The Midwest has a new public/resort grass court tennis facility in Wisconsin, as Sand Valley Golf Resort opened up their first bank of grass tennis courts on July 25, 2018 with a boys high school exhibition match between New Trier HS (IL) and Marquette HS (WI).

The college format match was played on 3 grass courts with 3 doubles and 6 singles matches.  New Trier was victorious 7-2 with rising sophomore Max Bengtsson of New Trier (#55 on Tennis Recruiting in Class of 2021) defeating Joel Pan at the 1 singles line.

Next summer the next two banks of courts will open up in a unique sand dunes setting allowing for play on 9 courts simultaneously.  There is space for 5 courts within each bank so net placement can be shifted and the usual grass court wear spots can be minimized.

“Playing on grass is on every avid tennis player’s bucket list and Sand Valley has filled that dream for our team.  It was a special opportunity to open their grass court tennis facility against our friendly intra-state rival Marquette WI and the players and coaches really felt like they were at Wimbledon.  Being an exhibition we were more concerned about the experience than winning, and at the end of the day everyone won.”  reflected Tad Eckert, New Trier Head Coach.

According to Eckert, “The grass courts at Sand Valley were in pristine condition, low bouncing, fast, but very playable.  Our players were able to hit all their usual shots but also learned to adjust.  Big serves were more difficult to return, slices skidded lower and were more effective.  Movement wise, trying to change directions quickly led to some slipping/falling, so measured steps and moving forward were rewarded.”

“During the match and on the bus ride home our players couldn’t stop talking about the cool shots they hit, skipping slices, drop shots that rolled, and even laughing about bad bounces or taking a tumble or two.  I’m not even sure where else in the Midwest we could play on grass courts, so we’ll definitely be back at Sand Valley to have our Wimbledon experience again!” exclaimed Eckert. 

Sand Valley is located 45 miles north of Wisconsin Dells in the middle of Wisconsin and offers world class golf – their initial Sand Valley course is ranked in the top 100 in the US and by 2020 they will have 4 golf courses.  With 9 courts, they have made a big commitment to grass court tennis by tapping into their turf growing & maintenance knowledge from their golf course operations.  Lodging, farm to table dining, hiking trails, bike routes, & fishing are also available at the resort.

www.sandvalleygolfresort.com

Black and Volynets Reach Girls Final; Klier and Hardt Vie for Boys Championship at ITF Grade 1 International Hard Courts; Six Americans Qualify for US Open

©Colette Lewis 2018--
College Park MD--

Two Americans will meet Saturday for the girls title at the ITF Grade 1 Prince George's County International Hard Court Championships, while two longtime friends and doubles partners will face off in the boys final.

Both No. 5 seed Katie Volynets and No. 16 seed Hurricane Tyra Black had reached Friday's semifinals without dropping a set, and that trend continued, with Volynets defeating No. 7 seed Sada Nahimana of Burundi 6-2, 6-1 and Black taking out No. 10 seed Ludmilla Bencheikh of France 6-3, 6-3.

Volynets had played Nahimana in the first round of this same tournament last year and won by the same score, although today's match took nearly 90 minutes to complete, with a majority games going to deuce, most of them on Nahimana's serve.

"I was trying to attack her serve, but sometimes I don't think I was aggressive enough," said the 16-year-old from Northern California. "I had to keep my focus, keep on trying to stay aggressive and stay forward to pull out those deuce games."

Black was pleased with her overall game against Bencheikh, who had beaten No. 1 seed Alexa Noel in the quarterfinals, with her backhand particularly effective throughout the match.

"I went on the court with an open mind," said the 17-year-old from Florida, who won the ITF Grade 1 International Spring Championships in April. "I played really loose and I was hitting the ball really well today. My backhand was feeling amazing today, today and yesterday, it's been going well and my forehand has been consistent too."

Black had not played Bencheikh before and wasn't sure what to expect, but the USTA coaches in attendance, who watched Bencheikh's win over Noel, were able to give her some advice.

"They told me her backhand was a little bit of a weaker shot," Black said. "That was a good thing, because my backhand was very strong today. Her serve wasn't that strong most of the time, especially in tight situations, so I was taking advantage of that."

Black went up two breaks in the first set, gave one back, but was able to close out the set with a third break. She went up 3-0 in the second set, lost that lead, but broke Bencheikh serving at 3-4 and closed out the match with no drama.

"I think I got a little ahead of myself, which I've done a lot in the past," Black said of losing that lead. "The good thing is, usually before I would go completely away after that, but lately I've been able to stay in it, especially when they fight for games, so that was really good today."

Black and Volynets have played once before, at last fall's ITF Grade B1 Pan American Closed, with Volynets winning 6-3, 7-5 in the round of 16.

"I saw that she has a great slice, great variety," said Volynets, who won the ITF Grade B1 Easter Bowl this spring. "I'll keep that in mind and adjust to that. I'm really excited to play tomorrow, really happy to be here."

While the girls semifinals were both completed with a minimum of drama, the boys brought the tension, with No. 8 seed Gilbert Soares Klier Junior of Brazil defeating No. 3 seed Tao Mu of China 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 and No. 9 seed Nick Hardt of the Dominican Republic coming from a break down in the third set to beat No. 4 seed Yanki Erel of Turkey 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-4.

Klier and Mu had one lengthy rally after another, with neither giving up their position near the baseline. Klier got the only break of the first set and held on, leading Mu to raise his level in the second set. At 3-all in the third set, Mu was unable to convert his game point, and on break point he didn't get a first serve in. Klier took advantage, hitting a return winner, and although Mu forced him to serve it out, the 18-year-old Brazilian converted his second match point for the title.

"It was tough," said Klier, who had not lost a set prior to today's match. "I played very well, but the guy also played well. He's very fast, has a great serve and a great forehand, yeah, he's good."

While Klier was able to get off the court in just under two and a half hours, Hardt needed nearly another hour long to earn his spot in the final.

The first set, which took 75 minutes to complete, was one deuce game after another, and when Erel couldn't close it out serving for it at 5-3, a tiebreaker was needed. Erel had a 4-2 lead at the change of ends, but he didn't win another point, with Hardt coming up with several winners in the five straight points he won, including a backhand winner on his first set point.

In the second set, Erel was able to serve out the set after a late break, and the 17-year-old left-hander was up 3-1 in the third set, but Hardt kept the pressure on, and on his fourth break point of the sixth game, got the score back to 3-all with a return winner.  After so much tension, the final game proved anticlimactic, with Erel broken at love serving at 4-5.

"I think the key was I was in better shape, physically, than him," said Hardt, who turns 18 next month. "I didn't get tired at all, and I think also, mentally, I was really strong today.  Those were the two keys today."

Hardt was pleased with how he handled being down in the final set.

"I stayed positive, didn't get negative at all," said Hardt, who will be playing in his first Grade 1 final Saturday, although he did reach the final of the Grade A in Brazil earlier this year. "In a few important moments, if you play bad, with him, the match can go right away. I'm happy I was positive the whole day and wasn't complaining on court."

Hardt and Klier have not played, but Hardt knows what to expect.

"I'm for sure going to fun out there tomorrow," Hardt said. "He's a very good friend, my doubles partner. He's a very aggressive player, very solid. Good forehand, good backhand, overall he's a very complete player. Tomorrow, I'm just going to grind. It's going to be a very physical match and I hope I'm consistent tomorrow."

"He's got a great serve and a great forehand," said Klier, who won a Grade B1 Closed in Brazil in March. "He's fast, so I play my game, my match, and that's it."

After their singles final, Hardt and Klier will play the doubles final against the unseeded American team of Eliot Spizzirri and Adam Neff.  Hardt and Klier, the No. 3 seeds, defeated top seeds Juan Cerundolo and Facundo Diaz Acosta of Argentina 7-6(5), 6-7(4), 10-6 in Friday afternoon's semifinal.  Neff and Spizzirri beat No. 2 seeds Erel and Mu 3-6, 6-1, 10-5 to advance to the final.

The girls doubles final will feature the unseeded Italian team of Martina Biagianti and Federica Rossi against the No. 8 seeds Bencheikh and Anastasia Tikhomova of Russia.  Biagianti and Rossi defeated unseeded Black and Melania Delai of Italy 6-7(2), 7-6(5), 11-9, while Bencheikh and Tikhomova beat unseeded Ariana Arseneault and Jada Bui 6-3, 6-1.

For Saturday's order of play see the tournament website.

Qualifying is complete for next week's US Open, with three US men and three US women earning entry into the main draw with wins today.

Donald Young defeated No. 12 seed Peter Polansky of Canada 7-5, 1-6, 6-3 and will be playing in his 14th consecutive main draw at the US Open since first earning entry was a wild card as Kalamazoo 18s champion back in 2005.  Mitchell Krueger will be making his main draw debut at the US Open after beating Calvin Hemery of France 3-6, 6-4, 6-2. Krueger saved three match points in his second round win over Thai Kwiatkowski Thursday. Collin Altamirano, who received a late wild card into qualifying, defeated No. 10 seed Lorenzo Sonego of Italy 6-4, 7-6(3), and will make his first appearance in the US Open main draw since winning the Kalamazoo 18s wild card back in 2013.

Nicole Gibbs, the No. 10 seed in qualifying, beat Olga Govortsova of Belarus 6-4, 6-1 to make the main draw of the US Open for the seventh straight year.  Danielle Lao, who qualified for last year's US Open, did it again this year, beating the same player, Jana Fett[19] of Croatia, in the final round of qualifying, although this year Lao did it in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4.  Francesca Di Lorenzo will make her slam debut after beating No. 8 seed Mona Barthel of Germany 6-4, 6-2.  All three US women advanced through three rounds of qualifying without dropping a set.

The qualifiers have been placed in the draws, with Young playing No. 3 seed Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina, Krueger playing Roberto Carballes Baena of Spain and Altamirano playing fellow qualifier Ugo Umbert of France.  Gibbs will play No. 30 seed Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain, Di Lorenzo will play Christina McHale, and Lao will play No. 23 seed Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic.

In addition to the Americans who qualified, another former college player is also into the main draw, with Yannick Madden of Germany, who played at Clemson 2010-2013, beating Alex Bolt to qualify for his second consecutive slam.

Eighteen-year-old Felix Auger Aliassime of Canada qualified and has drawn friend and junior rival Denis Shapovalov[28] of Canada in the main draw.  Auger Aliassime, the 2016 US Open boys champion, defeated Shapovalov in the final of the ITF Grade 1 here in College Park three years ago. My coverage of that final is here.

Men's draws are here; women's draws are here.

ITF No. 1 Juniors Tseng and Gauff Lead US Open Junior Acceptances; European 16s Champions Crowned, Top Seeds Advance in 18s; Thiel and Schmidhauser Win New Balance High School Championships

The acceptance lists for the US Open Junior Championships were posted today, with eight US girls and six US boys receiving direct entry into the year's final junior slam, which begins on September 2nd.

French Open champion Coco Gauff, the ITF's top-ranked junior girl, is joined by Americans Alexa Noel, Caty McNally, Lea Ma, Katie Volynets, Dalayna Hewitt, Gabby Price and Natasha Subhash. US girls currently in qualifying are Elli Mandlik, Peyton Stearns, Hurricane Tyra Black, Kacie Harvey, Chloe Beck and Hailey Baptiste. 

The US boys entered are Tristan Boyer, Brandon Nakashima, Drew Baird, Cannon Kingsley, Trey Hilderbrand and Andrew Fenty.  Boys currently in qualifying are Tyler Zink, Eduardo Nava and Govind Nanda. Australian Open boys champion Sebastian Korda, who told me at Wimbledon he would probably play the US Open Junior tournament to close out his junior career, did not enter, but could request a wild card.

Speaking of that, junior performance-based wild cards will be given to Jenson Brooksby, the ITF Easter Bowl champion, and Sunday's USTA 18s Clay Court champions: Neel Rajesh and Emma Navarro. The 2018 USTA junior wild card designations are available here. Note the specific US Open junior wild cards for the 3rd, 4th and 5th places finishers at the upcoming 18s Nationals.

ITF boys No. 1 Chun Hsin Tseng of Taiwan has entered, and will be going for his fourth straight junior slam final and third straight title. Wimbledon finalist Jack Draper is not entered, while two boys, Thiago Seyboth Wild of Brazil and Antoine Cornut Chauvinc of France, received main draw entry due to ATP rankings within the Top 750. 

Wimbledon girls champion Iga Swiatek of Poland said she would not be playing the US Open after her title in London and did not enter. Whitney Osuigwe said after Wimbledon that she was done with juniors and did not enter. Leonie Kung of Switzerland said she was unlikely to play due to a Pro Circuit event in Switzerland that week, but she did enter.  Moyuka Uchijima of Japan received main draw entry based on her WTA ranking inside the Top 400.

The 16s European Championships, one of the biggest junior tournaments of the year, was held last week in Moscow, with Spain's Carlos Alcaraz and Latvia's Kamilla Bartone claiming the singles titles. The girls final was an all-Latvia contest, with No. 6 seed Bartone defeating unseeded Patricija Spaka 6-1, 6-3 in the final.  The fifth-seeded Alcaraz, who before his 15th birthday in May had already earned ATP points, defeated unseeded Elmer Moller of Denmark 6-4, 6-3 in the boys singles final.  For more on the tournament, see this article from Tennis Europe.

This week's big tournament in Europe is the ITF Grade B1 European Championships, held annually in Klosters Switzerland. Top seeds Clara Tauson of Denmark and Adrian Andreev of Bulgaria have advanced to Thursday's round of 16, but several other seeds have already been eliminated, including boys No. 2 seed Filip Jianu of Romania, No. 3 seed Dalibor Svrcina of the Czech Republic, girls No. 4 seed Margaryta Bilokin of Ukraine and No. 6 seed Salma Cadar of Romania.  Andreev and No. 8 seed Daniel Michalski of Poland are the only top 8 seeds remaining in the boys fourth round.  No. 8 seed Kung, the Wimbledon girls finalist, is one of three Swiss girls in the final 16.

The New Balance National High School Championships finished on Tuesday at the Weil Academy in Ojai California, with Max Schmidhauser and Makenna Thiel claiming the titles. Schmidhauser, the No. 2 seed, defeated No. 3 seed Bobby Neuner 6-3, 6-4 in the boys final.  Thiel, also the No. 2 seed, defeated top seed Alexis Merrill 7-6(6), 6-2 in the girls final.

For complete results, see the TennisLink site.

Four-Time NCAA D-III Champion Chong Reaches $25K Semifinals; Ma Advances to Quarterfinals in Baton Rouge $25K; Oracle Extends Agreement with ITA; Registration Open for New Balance High School Championships

This is the time of year that college players flood the ITF and USTA Pro Circuits, and this year the urgency in acquiring ATP and WTA points is greater than ever with the ITF's Transition Tour scheduled to begin next year.

Eudice Chong (photo courtesy Wesleyan Athletics)

Four-time NCAA Division III champion Eudice Chong returned to Hong Kong this month after graduation from Wesleyan and received a wild card into the $25,000 ITF Women's Pro Circuit taking place there this week. The 22-year-old has beaten three Pro Circuit veterans, all ranked around 300, to advanced to the semifinals, where she'll face top seed Jia-Jing Lu of China, ranked 185.  Chong is due back in the United States this weekend to receive the Honda Division III Athlete of the Year Award Monday night in Los Angeles. I spoke to Chong earlier this week about her junior pathway, her historic collegiate career and her professional aspirations, with our conversation scheduled to be posted on the Tennis Recruiting Network on Monday.

The $25,000 USTA Women's Pro Circuit event in Baton Rouge has six current or former collegians in the quarterfinals, along with Duke recruit Maria Mateas and 15-year-old Connie Ma.  Ma, a qualifier, defeated Salome Devidze of Georgia, also a qualifier, 6-4, 6-1 today to advance to the last eight. She will face a player more than twice her age, 31-year-old Russian Nika Kukharchuk (Ole Miss) after the No. 8 seed defeated 15-year-old qualifier and French Open girls champion Coco Gauff 7-5, 6-3.

Julia Elbaba (Virginia) upset top seed Usue Arconada 6-3, 6-3 and will face Australian Astra Sharma (Vanderbilt), the No. 7 seed, in the quarterfinals.  No. 5 seed Mateas, who beat Anastasia Nefedova in a three-hour and 29-minute battle today, will face Paige Hourigan (Georgia Tech) of New Zealand, and NCAA singles finalist Ashley Lahey will play Sanaz Marand(UNC).  Lahey won the all-Pepperdine showdown with Luisa Stefani of Brazil, beating her teammate 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 in two hours and 45 minutes.

Wake Forest's Petros Chrysochos won the contest between NCAA singles champions today at the $25,000 Futures in Winston-Salem, with the 2018 winner taking out 2014 champion Marco Giron(UCLA), the No. 5 seed, 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 to move into the quarterfinals . The 22-year-old from Cyprus, who captured last week's Wake Forest Futures, has now won 36 consecutive matches since an ATP Challenger loss in March.  Chrysochos will face unseeded wild card Skander Mansouri of Tunisia, the third teammate he has played in the past two weeks.  Except for top seed Tommy Paul, who is scheduled to play in Wimbledon qualifying next Monday (correction: Paul has withdrawn from Wimbledon qualifying), all the quarterfinalists have collegiate backgrounds.  Florida recruit Sam Riffice, a qualifier, will play former Denver star Henry Craig, Paul faces former UCLA Bruin Karue Sell[6] of Brazil and Michael Redlicki(Arkansas) plays Ronnie Schneider(North Carolina). Paul and Sell are the only two seeds remaining.

In other college news, Oracle and the ITA have announced an extension of their agreement, with the ITA National Team Indoor Championships and the ITA Summer Circuit added to the list of events and items sponsored by the tech giant. The only mention of the duration of the agreement is its description as "multi-year."  Oracle's co-CEO Mark Hurd played tennis at Baylor and has been a advocate for the collegiate game for many years now.  For the complete release, see this article on the ITA website.

Coming up next month is the fifth annual New Balance High School Championships, and this year, for the second year in a row, the tournament will be held at the Weil Academy in Ojai California.  This year's dates are July 21st-24th. Any member of a high school tennis team during the 2017-18 school year may enter, although the draws are limited to 64 players, with UTR part of the selection process, along with geographic diversity.  See the USTA's Tennis Link site for more information. Entries close on June 28th.