French Open Champion Jacquemot Takes Top Spot in ITF Junior Rankings; Doubles Titles for Seven American Juniors on ITF Circuit; Tiafoe, Alcaraz Earn Challenger Titles

Any time a junior wins a slam, the rankings change dramatically, and the significance of the recently completed French Open Junior Championships is even greater given the limited opportunities juniors have had to earn points since March.

Back in August, the ITF announced that Grade 3 points were to be the maximum that could be earned through the end of the year, and draw sizes were to be limited to 32, but an exception was granted to the French Open, both in points and in draw size. The singles winner of a Grade 3 earns 100 points, while French junior champions Elsa Jacquemot of France and Dominic Stricker of Switzerland received ten times that amount, 1000, which is the standard number at a junior slam.

That boost moved the 17-year-old Jacquemot from sixth to No. 1, while semifinalist Alexandra Eala of the Philippines earned 490 points, which helped her move to No. 2. Boys champion Stricker went from No. 10 to No. 3, but Harold Mayot of France kept his position at the top despite a second round loss.  Last year's junior champions at Roland Garros, Holger Rune of Denmark and Leylah Fernandez of Canada, did not have to defend their points, so they are still No. 2 and No. 16 respectively.

With US junior wins scare in Paris, nearly all the Top 100 Americans fell in this week's rankings, although Ellie Coleman moved up 10 spots to a career high of 44.

For the explanation of the ITF ranking rules post shutdown, see this article from the ITF.

Not all American juniors on the ITF Circuit were in Paris last week, and seven of them collected doubles titles in Portugal, Turkey and the Dominican Republic.

At the Grade 3 in Portugal, unseeded Qavia Lopez and Charlotte Owensby captured the girls doubles title, beating the unseeded team of Anastasia Abbagnato of Italy and Lucija Bagaric of Croatia 6-4, 6-4 in the finals. Lopez and Owensby defeated the top seeds in the first round and the No. 3 seeds, Clervie Ngounoue and her Greek partner Michaela Laki, in the semifinals. Lopez, who was unseeded in singles, advanced to the semifinals.

At the Grade 5 in Istanbul, top seeds Samir Banerjee and Ekansh Kumar took the boys doubles title, beating No. 2 seeds Erik Arutiunian and Taras Ignatiuk of Belarus 7-6(1), 7-5 in the final. Banerjee, who won two titles in Macedonia the previous week, was not in the singles draw, but No. 4 seed Aman Sharma of the US reached the singles final, after beating Kumar in the semifinals.

At the Grade 5 in Santo Domingo, top seeds Leah Kuruvilla and Sage Loudon defeated No. 2 seeds Deborah Dominguez Collado of Guatemala and Carolina Xavier Laydner of Brazil 6-2, 6-3 in the final. In the boys doubles final, No. 3 seeds Samuel Dickson and his partner Alejandro Jose Gandini of the Dominican Republic defeated No. 4 seeds Miguel Angel Alonso of Mexico and Gillian Osmont of France 6-4, 6-4. Unseeded 15-year-old Mia Saveljic of the US reached the girls singles final, falling in three sets.

Next week, the ITF Junior Circuit will resume in the United States, at the Grade 4 in Atlanta. Acceptances can be found here.

Frances Tiafoe claimed the title at the ATP Challenger 125 in Parma Italy, with the top seed defeating No. 5 seed Salvatore Caruso of Italy 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 in the final, which was held today due to rain in Italy on Sunday. Tiafoe defeated 18-year-old rising star Lorenzo Musetti of Italy 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in the second round and came back from a set down to defeat No. 4 seed Federico Bagnis of Argentina in the semifinals. 

At the ATP Challenger 80 in Spain, unseeded 17-year-old Carlos Alcaraz won his second Challenger title since the resumption of the tour, beating No. 4 seed Damir Dzumur of Bosnia 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 in the final. Alcaraz, who had to finish his semifinal match before playing the championship match later on Sunday, is now up to 158 in the ATP rankings. Alcaraz  has joined some big names now that he has earned his second Challenger title as a 17-year-old, as this ATP article details. 

The ATP has three tournaments on the schedule in Europe this week, a 500 in St. Petersburg Russia, and 250s in Cologne Germany and Sardinia Italy. 

JJ Wolf qualified in St. Petersburg and has drawn No. 6 seed Milos Raonic of Canada in the first round. Taylor Fritz, the No. 8 seed, lost to Cameron Norrie(TCU) in the first round, while Tennys Sandgren and Mackenzie McDonald also dropped their first round matches today. Sam Querrey had been expected to play, but he was replaced due to illness, and the ATP announced, without naming the player, that a player was removed from the draw due to a positive Covid-19 test.

Steve Johnson is the only American in the Cologne main draw; he defeated No. 5 seed Filip Krajinovic of Serbia 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the first round. 

Tommy Paul, who is joined in the main draw in Italy by Frances Tiafoe, had a memorable comeback today, saving two match points in his 5-7, 6-3, 7-5 win over lucky loser Andrej Martin of Slovakia. Paul, the No. 7 seed, trailed 5-0 in the third set. Musetti, who received a wild card, defeated No. 8 seed Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay 7-6(4), 7-5.

USC Sweeps Oracle ITA Masters with Holt, Cayetano Claiming Titles; Nadal Wins 13th French Open, Krawczyk and Guarachi Fall in Women's Doubles Final

Unseeded Eryn Cayetano defeated University of Southern California teammate Angela Kulikov 3-6, 6-2, 12-10 and No. 2 seed Brandon Holt breezed past Cannon Kingsley of Ohio State 6-3, 6-1 to claim the titles Sunday afternoon at the Oracle ITA Masters at the Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego.

Cayetano, a sophomore at USC, started slowly against her friend and doubles partner, as Kulikov, a fifth-year senior, used her variety and experience to win three deciding points in the second half of the opening set to take the lead.

Cayetano didn't seem flustered however, and she adjusted in the second set, using her inside out forehand to dictate more points, while Kulikov was unable to find her first set form, losing her serve three times.

In the match tiebreaker, Cayetano trailed 6-4, but began to hit out, and she hit three winners in four points to take an 8-7 lead. One of Cayetano's advantages was her ability to get a first serve in during the match tiebreaker, making 9 of 11, while Kulikov could get only 5 of 11 first serves in, and double faulted twice in crucial points down the stretch, at 9-all, and again on Cayetano's third match point.

After nearly two hours of competition, which was understandably subdued given their relationship, Cayetano and Kulikov shared a long embrace at the net, and USC had its first women's Masters champion.

For more on the women's final, see this article from the ITA website.

The men's final between No. 3 seed Kingsley and No. 2 seed Holt did not have the competitive dynamic that a match between teammates would have, but Holt so dominated the proceedings that emotions didn't enter into it at all.

Holt, who has opted not to return for a fifth year after his senior season was cut short, made 85% of his first serves, and that's going to be hard to beat no matter who is on the other side of the net. Kingsley, a sophomore at Ohio State, made way more unforced errors than usual, allowing Holt to just wait him out during a rally, and Kingsley wasn't able to find a way to put any pressure at all on Holt's serve.

Holt has now won two ITA Masters titles, with his first coming in 2017. USC men have won four of the six singles titles, with the tournament introduced into the fall collegiate season back in 2015. Cam Norrie and Danielle Collins, both Top 100 professionals now, won the inaugural championships.

The men's final at the French Open was a surprising one, not so much for the result, with Rafael Nadal earning his 13th title and his 100th victory at Roland Garros, but with his sheer dominance. Nadal played flawless tennis for two sets and answered every question Novak Djokovic asked in the third set for a 6-0, 6-2, 7-5 victory.  For more on Nadal's win, see this article from the tournament website.

As was the case in yesterday's men's doubles final, the women's final saw the defending champions repeat, with Kristina Mladenovic of France and Timea Babos of Hungary beating Desirae Krawczyk(Arizona State) and Chile's Alexa Guarachi(Alabama) 6-4, 7-5. Krawczyk and Guarachi, who had never been past the round of 16 at a major before this event, held their own against the now four-time slam champions, but found themselves playing from behind most of the match. They fought back three times after falling behind a break in the second set, including with Babos serving for the match at 5-4, but Mladenovic closed it out on her serve.

It's the first time that both the men's and women's doubles champions defending their titles in the same year at Roland Garros.

For more on the doubles final, see this article from the tournament website.

Stricker Sweeps Boys French Open Titles, France's Jacquemot Claims Girls Championship; Swiatek Downs Kenin for Women's Crown; Auburn's Mies, Partner Krawietz Defend Men's Doubles Title; Oracle ITA Masters Update

Dominic Stricker made history Saturday at Roland Garros, winning the first all-Swiss junior slam singles final over friend Leandro Riedi 6-2, 6-4, then becoming the first boy this century to add a doubles title with partner Flavio Cobolli of Italy.

Stricker, the No. 7 seed, ran out to a quick 3-0 lead and with his all-court game, the 18-year-old left-hander made the first set look easy.  The eighth-seeded Riedi, also 18, was completely outplayed in the first set, but he settled down midway through the second, going from 1-3 down to 4-3 up, saving four break points in that seventh game. Stricker, who got 75% of his first serves in during the match, held for 4-all, then broke Riedi in the next game, after Riedi had failed to convert his two game points.

Serving for the match, Stricker probably was nervous, but that wasn't the reason he failed to convert his first two match points; Riedi hit clean winners on those, and actually earned a break point, only to see Stricker swat it away with an overhead winner. On his third match point, Stricker ended the point even more quickly than usual, hitting his second ace of the match.

Stricker trained with Roger Federer early this year in Dubai, and got some specific advice, which he took to heart:

He actually said I should improve my serve. That's what I did actually. So I think my serve is pretty good now. So, yeah, it helped me a lot here.

For more on the boys final, see this article from the ITF Junior website.

Later in the afternoon, No. 3 seeds Stricker and Cobolli, who lost in the boys doubles final last year, snared the title this time, beating No. 8 seeds Bruno Oliveira and Natan Rodrigues of Brazil 6-2, 6-4. Stricker is the first player since Chile's Fernando Gonzalez in 1998 to win both the boys championships.

Seventeen-year-old Elsa Jacquemot of France, the No. 3 seed, was not at her best in the first half of the girls final against unseeded Alina Charaeva of Russia. But down 6-4, 4-2, something clicked, and eight straight games later she had a 4-0 lead in the third set, before closing out the title with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory.  I was able to watch the boys final in its entirety on Tennis Channel, but they inexplicably left the girls final at 4-3 in the second set, not for another match, but for a studio conference on the women's final, still an hour away. So I don't know what changed exactly in the match, as I was confined to watching live scoring, but Jacquemot recorded her sixth consecutive break of the Charaeva serve to claim the first girls singles title in Paris for a French girl since Kristina Mladenovic won it in 2009.

For more on Jacquemot's title, see this article from the ITF Junior website.

The girls doubles title went to the unseeded Italian team of Eleonora Alvisi and Lisa Pigato, who defeated No. 5 seeds Maria Bondarenko and Diana Shnaider of Russia 7-6(3), 6-4. Neither Alvisi nor Pigato, 94 and 102 in the ITF junior rankings, received entry into the singles draw, but leave Paris with Roland Garros champions trophies.

Just over two years ago, I was covering Iga Swiatek's junior Wimbledon title; today she claimed her first slam title on the professional tour, beating No. 4 seed and Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin 6-4, 6-1. Swiatek had been rolling through the draw, with her 6-1, 6-2 fourth round win over No. 1 Simona Halep particularly impressive, but no one knew how the 19-year-old from Poland would react to the pressure of a final of this magnitude. The first set was tough, and Swiatek was unable to serve it out, although she broke to win it. As Kenin demonstrated in Australia, it's not always the most experienced player who is able to summon her best tennis in a final, and Swiatek sailed through the second set to become the first Polish player, male or female, to win a slam singles title. Kenin, who has had her thigh taped for the past week, took a medical timeout at 2-1 in the second to get it re-taped, but the expected comeback from Kenin failed to materialize with Swiatek firmly in control as she closed it out.

For more on Swiatek's win, see this article from the WTA.

Last year, the German team of Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies shocked the tennis world with their French Open men's doubles title, and today they proved that it was no fluke. The eighth-seed Krawietz and Mies, the latter an All-American at Auburn, defeated US Open champions Bruno Soares of Brazil and Mate Pavic of Croatia, the seventh seeds, 6-3, 7-5 to earn a second title. They are just the fourth team in the Open era to win back-to-back titles in Paris, and the first since Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor did it in 2011-12.  For more on their title, see this article from the ATP.

The Oracle ITA Masters quarterfinals are complete and the semifinals are underway, with two major surprises coming in the second round late last night at the Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego. Fifteen-year-old Kyle Kang defeated top seed Raymond Sarmiento(USC) 6-4, 7-5, and 16-year-old Anne Lutkemeyer defeated Pepperdine's fifth-year senior Ashley Lahey, the No. 2 seed, 5-7, 7-6(9), 10-7. Neither Kang nor Lutkemeyer were able to extend their tournaments in today's quarterfinals, with Kang losing to No. 5 seed Govind Nanda(UCLA) 6-3, 6-2 and Lukemeyer falling to No. 5 seed Angela Kulikov(USC) 6-2, 6-4.

Other women's quarterfinal winners were top seed Sophie Whittle(Gonzaga), unseeded Eryn Cayetano(USC) and No. 4 seed Alexa Ryngler. Other men's quarterfinal winners were Keegan Smith(UCLA), the No. 4 seed, No. 2 seed Brandon Holt(USC) and No. 3 seed Cannon Kingsley(Ohio State).

UPDATE:

Women's semifinals:

Angela Kulikov[5] d. Alexa Ryngler[4] 4-6, 6-4, 13-11

Eryn Cayetano d. Sophie Whittle[1] 6-1, 4-6, 10-6

Men's semifinals:

Brandon Holt[2] d. Keegan Smith[4] 6-7(6), 6-2, 10-5

Cannon Kingsley[3] d. Govind Nanda[5] d.  5-7, 7-6(8), 11-9 

The finals will be televised on ESPNU Sunday beginning with the women's match at 2 p.m. Pacific. 

Live scoring is here.

Krawczyk and Guarachi Advance to French Open Women's Doubles Final; All-Swiss Boys Final, France Versus Russia for Girls Championship; Oracle ITA Masters Underway

Desirae Krawczyk and Alexa Guarachi will play for the French Open women's doubles title Sunday after the former collegians won a rollercoaster of a semifinal Friday against unseeded Nicole Melichar and Poland's Iga Swiatek. Krawczyk, who attended Arizona State, and Guarachi, who attended Alabama and now represents Chile, were down 5-2 and two breaks in the 72-minute first set and saved four set points before claiming it in a tiebreaker, 7-6(5). 

After dropping the second set 6-1, Krawczyk, 26, and Guarachi, 29, went down a break three times in the third set, but each time broke right back, with six consecutive breaks until Krawczyk held serve at 4-all. Swiatek, who will play for the women's singles title Saturday against Sofia Kenin, served to stay in the match, but she and Melichar lost the first three points to give Krawczyk and Guarachi three match points. They couldn't convert the first two, but the snagged the third for a 7-6(5), 1-6, 6-4 win, setting up a meeting Sunday with defending champions and No. 2 seeds Kristina Mladenovic of France and Timea Babos of Hungary.  Mladenovic and Babos defeated No. 4 seeds Katerina Siniakova and Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic 6-2, 4-6, 7-5.

For more on the semifinals, including comments from Krawczyk on the role college played in her professional success, see this article from the French Open website.

The men's doubles final on Saturday will also feature the defending champions, as well as a former collegian. Andreas Mies, who starred at Auburn, will defend the title he won last year with Kevin Krawietz, with the No. 8 seeds from Germany facing US Open champions and No. 7 seeds Bruno Soares of Brazil and Mate Pavic of Croatia.

In men's singles semifinal action Friday, No. 2 seed Rafael Nadal defeated No. 12 seed Diego Schwartzman of Argentina 6-3, 6-3, 7-6(0) and No. 1 seed Novak Djokovic defeated No. 5 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece 6-3, 6-2, 5-7, 4-6, 6-1 to advance to Sunday's final. 

The first boys junior slam final between two Swiss players is scheduled for Saturday, with No. 7 seed Dominic Stricker taking on No. 8 seed Leandro Riedi. Stricker, an 18-year-old left-hander, showed an aggressive, net-centric style in his 6-0, 5-7, 6-0 semifinal win over 2019 Orange Bowl finalist Juan Bautista Torres of Argentina, while Riedi, also 18, employed a more conventional clay court style in his 6-3, 6-1 win over unseeded Pepperdine recruit Guy Den Ouden of the Netherlands. Riedi has won all three times the pair have played, including in the second round of an ITF World Tennis Tour 15K in Germany in February of this year. The winner will be the first Swiss boy to claim a slam singles title, since Stan Wawrinka won at Roland Garros in 2003.

The French had high hopes for a junior champion at Roland Garros this year, with the top two seeds in the boys draw and four boys in the round of 16, but it's now up to No. 3 girls seed Elsa Jacquemot to deliver a title for the country. The 17-year-old Jacquemot, who has not lost a set this week, defeated No. 2 seed Alexandra Eala of the Philippines 6-3, 6-2 in just over an hour in today's semifinal. She will face unseeded Alina Charaeva of Russia, who defeated No. 4 seed Polina Kudermetova of Russia 6-7(5), 6-2, 7-5. 

Jacquemot and Charaeva have met once before, on clay, last year in the semifinals of a Grade 1 in France, with eventual champion Jacquemot winning 6-3, 6-3. 

For more on today's junior singles semifinals, see this article from the French Open website.

The boys doubles final will be Stricker's second chance at a title on Saturday, when he and Flavio Cobolli of Italy take on No. 8 seeds Bruno Oliveira and Natan Rodrigues of Brazil after the singles final.  The No. 3 seeds, who lost in the final last year, defeated the unseeded French team of Lilian Marmousez and Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard 6-3, 5-7, 10-6. Oliveira and Rodrigues beat unseeded Martin Krumich and Dalibor Svrcina of the Czech Republic 6-2, 6-4.

Unseeded Eleonora Alvisi and Lisa Pigato of Italy pulled off the big upset in junior doubles today, defeating US Open champions and No. 2 seeds Kamilla Bartone of Latvia and Oksana Selekhmeteva of Russia 6-3, 2-6, 10-7. Alvisi and Pigato, neither of whom played in the singles draw, will face No. 5 seeds Maria Bondarenko and Diana Shnaider of Russia, who beat unseeded Jessica Bouzas Maneiro of Spain and Guillermina Grant of Uruguay 5-7, 6-2, 10-4.

All French Open draws can be found at this link.

With two rounds of play today in San Diego at the Oracle ITA Masters, all results from the round of 16 are not in, but several men's seeds fell in the first round: No. 6 William Griffith, No. 7 Andrew Fenty and No. 8 Alex Brown.

A live stream of Stadium court is available here. Live scores are available here. The ITA preview, with more on the players who received wild cards, is here.

The finals will be televised on ESPNU on Sunday, beginning with the women's final at 2 p.m. Pacific, followed by the men's final.

Kenin and Swiatek Advance to French Open Women's Final; Junior Semifinals Set; USTA National Indoor Championships in November Canceled; Virtual Tournament Desk Facilitates Safe Play

Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin will have the advantage in experience on Saturday, when the 21-year-old from Florida takes on 19-year-old Iga Swiatek of Poland in the French Open final, but Swiatek is putting together a run that suggests this is just the first of many slam final appearances.

The unseeded Swiatek, who beat top seed and heavy favorite Simona Halep in the fourth round, continued her string of impressive scorelines today, beating qualifier Nadia Podoroska of Argentina 6-2, 6-1. Swiatek, who won the French Open girls doubles title in 2018 and the Wimbledon girls singles title the following month, has not lost a set in her six wins and only 23 games total.

Kenin, on the other hand, was pushed to three sets in four of her six matches, including yesterday, but fortunately for her, she got out of today's semifinal with No. 7 seed Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic in straight sets, 6-4, 7-5. Kenin, the No. 4 seed, wasn't able to hold on to her two-break lead in the first set, and had to save a break point serving at 4-3, but she managed to serve out the opening set when Kvitova made a couple of forehand errors in crucial points in the tenth game.

Kenin worked broke for a 3-2 lead in the second set, then got through and extremely tough service game to consolidate, saving four break points to stay in front. Serving for the match at 5-4, Kenin played a very nervous game, with uncharacteristic unforced errors and few first serves, but she shook off that disappointment and broke for a 6-5 lead. Again, it wasn't easy, with Kenin needing to save a break point, but she did close out the match on her first attempt to earn her first win over Kvitova and an opportunity for a second slam title in 2020.

The only time that Kenin and Swiatek have played was also in Paris, at the 2016 Junior Championships at Roland Garros, with Swiatek winning 6-4, 7-5 in the third round.

Highlights of the match are here; Kenin's press conference is here.

The men's semifinals Friday feature top seed Novak Djokovic against No. 5 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas and No. 2 seed Rafael Nadal against No. 12 seed Diego Schwartzman of Argentina.

Torres reached the Grade A Orange Bowl final last year

The semifinals of both singles and doubles in the Junior Championships are scheduled for Friday, with one unseeded girl and two unseeded boys in singles and four unseeded doubles teams in the last four.

Eighteen-year-old Alina Charaeva set up an all-Russian girls semifinal by defeating No. 9 seed Alexandra Vecic of Germany 6-2, 6-3. Charaeva will face No. 4 seed Polina Kudermetova, the younger sister of WTA Top 50 player Veronika Kudermetova, who defeated unseeded Oceane Babel of France 6-3, 7-5. France's Elsa Jacquemot, seeded third, defeated No. 10 seed Kristina Dmitruk of Belarus 6-4, 6-4 and will play No. 2 seed Alexandra Eala of the Philippines. Eala, who has played three consecutive three-set matches, defeated unseeded Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. 

While all of the eight semifinalists will be playing in their first junior slam Final Four, unseeded Guy Den Ouden of the Netherlands is the least likely to have made it this far. The 18-year-old Pepperdine recruit, who beat French wild card Sean Cuenin 6-3, 6-4 today, had never even played a Grade A tournament before this week. He will take on No. 8 seed Leandro Riedi of Switzerland, who beat Alex Barrena of Argentina 4-6, 6-1, 6-2. Unseeded Juan Bautista Torres, who reached the Orange Bowl final last year, defeated unseeded Lilian Marmousez of France 7-6(4), 6-7(5), 6-1, and will play the other seeded Swiss boy, Dominic Stricker. Stricker, the No. 7 seed, defeated Austrian Lukas Neumayer 6-3, 6-3.

Stricker is also in the doubles semifinals, with partner Flavio Cobolli of Italy. The No. 3 seeds, who were in the boys doubles final last year, will play the unseeded French team of Marmousez and Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.  Unseeded Martin Krumich and Dalibor Svrcina of the Czech Republic will face No. 8 seeds Bruno Oliveiro and Natan Rodrigues of Brazil in the other boys doubles semifinal.

Americans Ellie Coleman and Madison Sieg fell just short in their upset bid of No. 2 seeds and US Open champions Kamilla Bartone of Latvia and Oksana Selekhmeteva of Russia, falling 1-6, 6-1, 10-8. Coleman and Sieg recovered from 7-2 down in the tiebreaker to get within 7-8, but couldn't quite pull even, and Bartone and Selekhmeteva closed it out on their second match point.

Bartone and Selekhmeteva will play the unseeded Italian team of Lisa Pigato and Eleonora Alvisi, while No. 5 seeds Maria Bondarenko and Diana Shnaider of Russia face the unseeded team of Jessica Bouzas Maneiro of Spain and Guillermina Grant of Uruguay.

The USTA announced today that it was canceling the National Indoor Championships, which were scheduled for the Thanksgiving weekend.

October 8, 2020

USTA STATEMENT ON NATIONAL INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS

The USTA has canceled the 2020 National Indoor Championships, set to be held at various locations around the country, Nov. 27-30.

The decision to cancel the events was made with the health and safety of all those involved at the forefront, and due to numerous challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic. These included differing local government mandates and policies surrounding indoor building capacities, as well as mandatory quarantine periods due to interstate travel.

While travel restrictions have made national events difficult, the Tennis Recruiting Network published an article today on how some sections, including USTA Southern California, have eliminated congregating at tournament desks with an app. Developed by former WTA pro Lindsay Lee-Waters and her husband, Heath Waters, the Virtual Tournament Desk is part of their Match Tennis App. For more on the app and how it has been positioned to help with social distancing at tournaments, check out the TRN article.

Kenin Beats Collins to Reach French Open Semifinals; Coleman and Sieg Advance to Girls Doubles Quarterfinals; Sarmiento and Whittle Top Seeds for ITA Oracle Masters; ITA Fall Circuit Week Three Winners

Sofia Kenin, photo courtesy Fila

Sofia Kenin had lost all three pro matches she had played against Danielle Collins, but in today's French Open quarterfinal, the Australian Open champion showed the resourcefulness that has put her at the top of the sport in the past two years. Kenin, seeded fourth, again needed three sets, but her 6-4, 4-6, 6-0 victory again saw her pulling away in the final set.

Collins was playing for a second consecutive day, while Kenin had only played a doubles match on Tuesday, and Collins was not as vocal and emotional as she had been in her three-set win over Ons Jabeur. Kenin got the only service break in the first set and went up a break in the second, but Collins broke right back and then won a tough game with Kenin serving at 4-5, needing four set points to finally even the match.

Any momentum Collins may have had evaporated quickly, with Kenin going up 4-0 before Collins took a medical timeout for an abdominal issue. That break didn't interrupt Kenin's concentration, and she finished off the 27-minute set with another break and hold.

Kenin will play No. 7 seed Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic in Thursday's semifinal, with Kvitova advancing via a 6-3, 6-3 win over unseeded Laura Siegemund of Germany. Kvitova is 2-0 against Kenin, having won in two sets on clay in Madrid last year, and in three sets on hard courts in 2018.

Two Americans have advanced to the semifinals in women's doubles, with former Arizona State Sun Devil Desirae Krawczyk and her partner Alexa Guarachi of Chile, a former Alabama All-American, earning a 6-0, 6-4 win over No. 7 seeds Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara(UCLA) of Japan.  The No. 14 seeds will play unseeded Nicole Melichar and singles semifinalist Iga Swiatek of Poland, who defeated Asia Muhammad and Jessica Pegula 6-3, 6-4. 

The singles quarterfinals are set in the Junior Championships, with three of the top four seeds in the girls draw still alive, but only two seeds total remaining in the boys draw.

No. 2 seed Alexandra Eala of the Philippines will take on unseeded Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic in a battle of 15-year-olds that is a rematch of the 2018 Les Petits As final, won by Eala by a score of 5-7, 6-3, 7-6(5).  No. 3 seed Elsa Jacquemot of France will face No. 10 seed Kristina Dmitruk of Belarus, and No. 4 seed Polina Kudermetova of Russia plays unseeded Oceane Babel of France. Unseeded Alina Charaeva of Russia, who beat top seed Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva of Andorra yesterday, will take on No. 9 seed Alexandra Vecic of Germany.

The two seeds remaining in the boys draw are both from Switzerland, with No. 7 seed Dominic Stricker playing unseeded Lukas Neumayer of Austria in a top half quarterfinal, while No. 8 seed Leandro Riedi is facing unseeded Alex Barrena of Argentina in a bottom half quarterfinal.  France still has two home hopes, but they are not the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, with Harold Mayot losing in the second round, and second seed Cazaux falling to Guy Den Ouden of the Netherlands, a Pepperdine recruit, 6-4, 6-4. Den Ouden will face 16-year-old wild card Sean Cuenin of France, while unseeded Lilian Marmousez of France will take on a second unseeded Argentine, Juan Bautista Torres.

The American interest in the Junior Championships lies with Ellie Coleman and Madison Sieg, who advanced to the girls doubles quarterfinals today with a 6-4, 6-4 win over No. 7 seeds Romana Cisovska of Slovakia and Linda Fruhvirtova of the Czech Republic. Coleman and Sieg have been playing together for the past month in Europe on the clay, but they will face their biggest test tomorrow when the face 2019 US Open champions and No. 2 seeds Kamilla Bartone of Latvia and Oksana Selekhmeteva of Russia. 

Bruno Kuzuhara, the only US boys to advance in doubles, and partner Max Wiskandt of Germany lost in the second round today, with No. 7 seeds Karlis Ozolins of Latvia and Mikolaj Lorens of Poland claiming a 6-3, 1-6, 10-8 win.

The draws for this weekend's Oracle ITA Masters in San Diego have been released and both the No. 1 seeds are professional players, rather than collegians. Because of the lack of playing opportunities due to the pandemic, the ITA decided to open up the Masters to everyone, and with $20,000 in prize money, they have attracted many of the best Southern California players, as well as others from across the country. The draws can be found here.

The men's seeds:

1.Raymond Sarmiento

2.Brandon Holt

3. Cannon Kingsley

4. Keegan Smith

5. Govind Nanda

6. William Griffith

7. Andrew Fenty

8. Alex Brown

The women's seeds:

1. Sophie Whittle

2. Ashley Lahey

3. Jessica Failla

4. Alexa Ryngler

5. Angela Kulkov

6. Haley Giavara

7. Julia Rosenqvist

8. Carolyn Campana

The Sunday finals are set to air on ESPNU with the women's final at 2:00 PM PT and the men’s final following. Mark Bey and Bryan Fenley will be providing the commentary.

Week Three of the ITA Tour Fall Circuit by UTR is complete, with the winners listed below. Week Four this weekend features 16 tournaments, not including the Oracle Masters. Registration for Week Five ends this Sunday. The ITA recently posted this article on the Week Three results.

Week Three Fall Circuit champions:

Charlottesville: Men, Benjamin Kittay; Women, Alana Smith

Indianapolis: Men, Nikolaj Talimaa; Women, Natalie Boesing

Edmond: Men, Emile Hudd; Women, Laia Conde Monfort

Cincinnati: Men, Tim Seibert; Women, Katie Rolls

Mason: Men, Nick Beaty; Women, Sydney Jackson

Lawrenceville: Men, Valentino Caratini; Women, Rasheeda McAdoo

Laramie: Men, Brendan Lock; Women, Ana Fernandez/Sophie Zehender

Ojai: Men, Jake Vassel; Women, Maxi Duncan

Salt Lake City: Men, Gustavo Kerber; Women, Julia Ronney

Cypress: Men, Garrett Skelly; Women, Jeanette Mireles