Teens Brantmeier and Hovde to Meet for Fort Worth $25K Title; Quevedo and Kuzuhara Advance to $15K Finals; Delgado and Hutchinson Claim Atlanta J4 Titles; Pegula and Korda Reach WTA and ATP Finals

The highly anticipated Easter Bowl clash this spring between Liv Hovde and Reese Brantmeier didn't happen, with Hovde pulling out of singles at Indian Wells after winning the J1 in San Diego the week before. Brantmeier went on to reach the singles final, losing to Alexis Blokhina(Stanford) in the first of the two junior tournaments she's played all year. Hovde won the Easter Bowl doubles title, and then of course, went on to claim the Wimbledon girls championship three months later.

Tomorrow Hovde, who turns 17 on Tuesday, and Brantmeier, who turned 18 earlier this month, will play for the singles title at the $25,000 USTA Pro Circuit tournament in Fort Worth Texas, with Hovde looking for her second title on the Pro Circuit and Brantmeier, a freshman at North Carolina, her first. Brantmeier reached the final of a $25K in May, while Hovde's best results at that level was a semifinal earlier this month in Redding California, after her title at the Lubbock $15K in September.

In today's semifinals, wild card Hovde defeated USC freshman Madison Sieg 6-1, 7-6(4) and the unseeded Brantmeier downed No. 8 seed Ashley Lahey(Pepperdine) 6-2, 3-6, 6-1.

The doubles title in Fort Worth went to the unseeded team of Katarina Kozarov(Furman) of Serbia and Maria Kozyreva(St. Mary's) of Russia, who defeated top seeds Allura and Maribella Zamarripa(Texas) 6-4, 6-7(12), 10-7 in the final. 

Nineteen-year-old Martin Damm has reached his third $25K final of the year after a 6-3, 0-6, 6-4 semifinal victory over No. 3 seed Strong Kirchheimer(Northwestern) today at the $25,000 USTA Pro Circuit tournament in Harlingen Texas. Damm, the No. 5 seed, lost in the final at a $25K in the Czech Republic in May, and won the title at a $25K in the Dominican Republic in June.

He will face former ATP Top 20 player Bernard Tomic of Australia, after the No. 7 seed defeated No. 8 seed Andres Martin(Georgia Tech) 7-6(2), 6-3.

In doubles in Harlingen, Texas A&M teammates Trey Hilderbrand and Noah Schachter had to play two matches today, but they won both. After taking the semifinal over unseeded Kareem Al Allaf(Iowa) of Syria and Zeke Clark(Illinois) 7-6(4), 1-6, 10-5, the No. 2 seeds came back later in the day to defeat unseeded Adrian Oetzbach(Oklahoma/Pepperdine) of Germany and Sebastian Dominko(Notre Dame) of Slovenia 7-5, 7-5. It's their third title as a team, with the previous two coming this summer at $15Ks in Mexico. Hilderbrand has now won five doubles titles on the Pro Circuit, all since May.

The top two seeds will meet for the title at the women's $60,000 USTA Pro Circuit tournament in Macon Georgia, with No. 1 Madison Brengle facing No. 2 Panna Udvardy of Hungary. Brengle took out No. 4 seed Katie Volynets 6-2, 6-3 and Udvardy beat unseeded Thaisa Peretti of Brazil 7-5, 7-6(3) in today's semifinals.

As in the $25Ks in Texas, collegians took the doubles title today in Macon, with top seeds Christina Rosca(Vanderbilt) and Anna Rogers(NC State) defeating No. 3 seeds Brengle and Maria Mateas(Duke) 6-4, 6-4 in the final. 

American teenagers aren't just having success in Pro Circuit events in the the United States, with both Bruno Kuzuhara and Kaitlin Quevedo advancing to finals Sunday at $15,000 tournaments.

The 18-year-old Kuzuhara, who won the Australian Open boys singles and doubles titles this year, reached his first final on the ITF men's World Tennis Tour in Turkey. Seeded seventh, Kuzuhara defeated No. 6 seed Savva Polukhin of Russia 6-2, 6-1 in today's semifinal and will face unseeded Luca Tomasetto of Italy in the final.

The 16-year-old Quevedo, who has won two $15Ks in Mexico this fall, is through to the final in Colombia after defeating No. 6 seed Romina Ccuno of Peru 5-7, 6-2, 7-5. Quevedo, the No. 8 seed, will face former University of Miami standout Sofia Sewing, the No. 4 seed, after Sewing took out No. 2 seed Valeriya Strakhova of Ukraine 6-3, 7-5 in the semifinals today.

The ITF J4 in Atlanta concluded today with No. 12 seed Cleo Hutchinson and No. 4 seed Andrew Delgado claiming the singles titles. Hutchinson defeated fellow 15-year-old Kayla Chung 6-4, 6-4 and Delgado beat No. 8 seed Tygen Goldammer 6-2, 6-1. It's the third ITF Junior Circuit title for Hutchinson and the first for the 17-year-old Delgado.

Goldammer did get the better of Delgado in Friday's doubles final, with top seeds Goldammer and Kase Schinnerer defeating Delgado and his partner Andrew Ena, the No. 3 seeds, 6-3, 6-4. It's the first ITF Junior Circuit title for both the 17-year-old Goldammer and the 16-year-old Schinnerer. 

The girls doubles title went to the unseeded team of Chung and Kayla Schefke, who beat the unseeded team of Kenna Erickson and Ava Rodriguez 6-0, 6-4 in the final. It's the second ITF Junior Circuit doubles title for both Schefke and Chung, who won the J5 in McKinney Texas last month.

Jessica Pegula has advanced to the final of the WTA 1000 in Guadalajara Mexico, defeating Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 7-6(3), 6-1. She will play the winner of tonight's semifinal between Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic and Maria Sakkari of Greece. 

Sebastian Korda is through to his second consecutive ATP 250 final after defeating Dominic Thiem of Austria 6-7(4) 6-3, 7-6(4) in today's semifinal in Belgium. He will face No. 2 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada, who beat Richard Gasquet of France 7-6(2), 7-6(3). Korda and Auger-Aliassime have split their two meetings on the ATP tour; Auger-Aliassime won their only meeting on the ITF Junior Circuit.

Mackenzie McDonald lost in the ATP 250 semifinals in Naples today to No. 2 seed Matteo Berrettini of Italy 3-6, 7-6(2), 6-3.

My Article on Zampardo's North Carolina State Commitment; Lahey Halts Stearns' 12-Match Winning Streak, Three Teens Advance to Fort Worth $25K Semifinals; Brengle and Volynets Reach Semis at Macon $60K

Earlier this month at the ITF JB1 Pan American Closed, I had the opportunity to speak with Maddy Zampardo about her decision to commit to North Carolina State for the fall of 2023. Zampardo, a 17-year-old from Michigan, was a bit of an outlier in waiting until right before her senior year of high school to make her choice, and mentioned that the patience shown by Simon Earnshaw and his staff at NC State was an important factor in her decision. Here is my article, published today on the Tennis Recruiting Network, that explores some of the other reasons the six-footer from Grosse Pointe Woods selected the Wolfpack for her next phase of tennis development.

2022 NCAA singles champion Peyton Stearns had her winning streak snapped today at the $25,000 USTA women's Pro Circuit tournament in Fort Worth by 2018 NCAA singles finalist Ashley Lahey. No. 2 seed Stearns, who led Texas to two NCAA team titles in her two years in Austin, lost to Pepperdine graduate and No. 8 seed Lahey, who is still just 22 years old, 6-4, 6-4. Stearns, who had won the $25K in Austin Texas and the $25K in Florence South Carolina earlier this month, suffered her first loss of the month after 12 consecutive victories.

The other three semifinalists in Fort Worth are all teenagers.  Sixteen-year-old wild card Liv Hovde defeated St. Mary's Maria Kozyreva of Russia 6-2, 6-3 to reach her second consecutive semifinal at the $25K level. She will face 19-year-old USC freshman Madison Sieg, who took out top seed Hanna Chang 6-4, 6-4 to reach her second semifinal at a $25K. Hovde and Sieg met last year in the semifinals of the ITF JB1 Easter Bowl, with Hovde claiming a 6-0, 6-3 victory. Lahey's opponent in the semifinals is 18-year-old UNC freshman Reese Brantmeier, who came from behind to beat Rasheeda McAdoo(Georgia Tech) 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-2. As with the other two teens, Brantmeier is into a second semifinal at the $25K level this year.

At the men's $25,000 USTA Pro Circuit tournament in Harlingen Texas, 19-year-old Martin Damm advanced to Saturday's semifinals when he defeated top seed Charlie Broom(Darthmouth/Baylor) of Great Britain 7-5, 7-6(3). Damm will face No. 3 seed Strong Kirchheimer, who beat South Carolina junior Toby Samuel of Great Britain 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-3 in three hours and 24 minutes. 

The other semifinal will feature No. 8 seed Andres Martin of Georgia Tech, who beat No. 2 seed Zeke Clark(Illinois) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, and No. 7 seed Bernard Tomic, who ended the run of 17-year-old Kyle Kang 5-7, 6-1, 6-2.

At the women's $60,000 USTA Pro Circuit tournament in Macon Georgia, top seed Madison Brengle and No. 4 seed Katie Volynets will meet in the semifinals after both posted victories today. Brengle defeated No. 7 seed Taylor Townsend 6-3, 6-3 for her 13th consecutive win at the $60K level, with her only loss in the past four weeks coming in qualifying at the WTA 500 in San Diego. Volynets got by No. 5 seed Emma Navarro(Virginia) 6-3, 6-7(7), 6-3. The other singles semifinal will feature No. 2 seed Panna Udvardy and unseeded Thaisa Peretti of Brazil.

Three Americans are through to the semifinals in WTA and ATP events this week. At the WTA 1000 in Guadalajara Mexico, Jessica Pegula defeated Sloane Stephens 6-2, 6-2 in today's quarterfinals, and will meet Victoria Azarenka of Belarus for a place in the finals. Azarenka defeated Coco Gauff 7-6(2), 4-6, 6-3.

At the ATP 250 in Belgium, Sebastian Korda is through to the semifinals, where he will take on Dominic Thiem of Austria. At the ATP 250 in Italy, Mackenzie McDonald(UCLA) is through to his third ATP semifinal, and will face Matteo Berrettini of Italy Saturday.

Top Two Seeds Fall as Four Girls Age 15-and-under Reach Atlanta ITF J4 Semifinals; Kang, Brantmeier, Hovde and Sieg Advance at USTA Pro Circuit $25Ks in Texas; Voting for International Hall of Fame Underway

The semifinals are set at this week's ITF J4 in Atlanta, and the storyline in the girls final four is youth, youth and more youth. No. 12 seed Cleo Hutchinson, who is the only seed remaining in the girls draw, is 15 years old. A five-star recruit from California, Hutchinson defeated top seed Christasha McNeil, the 2022 USTA National 16s finalist, 6-3, 6-2 in today's quarterfinals. Hutchinson will face 13-year-old wild card Harper Stone, a blue chip who is playing in her first ITF Junior Circuit event, and so far has lost only eight games in her first four victories.

The other girls semifinal will feature 15-year-old Kayla Chung, a blue chip who reached the final of the J4 in Corpus Christi Texas a few weeks ago. Chung defeated unseeded Kenna Erickson 7-5, 6-4 to set up a meeting with 14-year-old qualifier Thea Latak. Latak defeated No. 2 seed Brianna Baldi 4-6, 6-3, 6-1. Latak, a five star who won the Easter Bowl 12s title in 2019, had been missing from junior competition all of 2021, so it's good to see her back and winning at the 16s and ITF level.

The boys semifinals in Atlanta will have much older participants, and three of the four are seeded. Top seed Santiago Padilla Cote of Mexico will face fellow 17-year-old Andrew Delgado, the No. 4 seed in the top half. Both are blue chips. In the bottom half, 17-year-old Tygen Goldammer will play unseeded 18-year-old Davis Taylor, with both five-star recruits.

Teenagers continue to have success of the USTA Pro Circuit, with two boys and three girls advancing to the quarterfinals at the two $25,000 tournaments in Texas.

At the men's tournament in Harlingen, unseeded 17-year-old Kyle Kang defeated Gianni Ross(Virginia) 7-5, 6-4 to reach his first quarterfinal at the $25,000 level. The US Open boys quarterfinalist will play former ATP Top 30 player Bernard Tomic of Australia, who is the No. 7 seed this week in Texas.

No. 5 seed Martin Damm, who turned 19 last month, will play top seed Charlie Broom(Dartmouth/Baylor) of Great Britain after defeating wild card Trey Hilderbrand(UCF/Texas A&M) 6-2, 7-6(3).

Other Americans advancing to the quarterfinals are No. 3 seed Strong Kirchheimer(Northwestern) and No. 8 seed Andres Martin(Georgia Tech) and No. 2 seed Zeke Clark(Illinois), who play each other in the quarterfinals.

At the women's tournament in Fort Worth, NCAA champion Peyton Stearns, the No. 2 seed, has kept her winning streak going, advancing to the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 6-3 victory of qualifier Martina Okalova(Tulsa) of Slovakia. Stearns will play No. 8 seed Ashley Lahey(Pepperdine) Friday. 

The teenagers advancing in Fort Worth are 16-year-old wild card Liv Hovde, who defeated Tiphanie Fiquet (Kentucky/Mississippi/TCU) of France 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-3; 18-year-old Reese Brantmeier(UNC), who reached the quarterfinals when Mel Krywoj(Baylor) of Argentina retired after losing the first set 7-6(3); 19-year-old USC freshman Madison Sieg defeated wild card Sara Daavettila(UNC) 7-6(5), 0-6, 6-4.  Hovde will play Maria Kozyreva(St. Marys), Brantmeier will take on Rasheeda McAdoo(Georgia Tech) and Sieg will face top seed Hanna Chang.

There are no more teens in the draw at the $60,000 women's tournament in Macon, but four Americans, all seeded, have advanced to the quarterfinals, all in the top half of the draw.  Top seed Madison Brengle will play No. 7 seed Taylor Townsend and No. 4 seed Katie Volynets will play No. 5 seed Emma Navarro(Virginia) for a place in the semifinals.

The fan voting for the International Hall of Fame began today and University of Florida standout Lisa Raymond is again on the ballot. The two-time NCAA singles champion is a former World No. 1 in doubles, with 79 pro titles and 11 majors: 6 in women's doubles and five in mixed doubles. Voting, which is done through this website, continues for the next ten days

Gauff Qualifies for WTA Finals in Singles and Doubles; Kang, Urhobo, Lincer, Brantmeier Advance in USTA Pro Circuit Events; Smaller Draws Coming to USTA 16s and 18s Summer Nationals

It's been almost four years since Coco Gauff played a junior event, going out on top with her title at the 2018 Orange Bowl, when she was 14 years old. But the 18-year-old is still eligible for junior events, so I wanted to highlight her latest accomplishment as she continues to move to new heights on the WTA Tour.

Today she qualified for the WTA Finals, which will be held at the end of this month in Fort Worth Texas, the youngest player to reach the elite year-ending tournament since Maria Sharapova in 2005. Now at a career-high  No. 7, Gauff joins Iga Swiatek, Ons Jabeur, Jessica Pegula and Caroline Garcia. Three more players will qualify, depending on their results this week at the WTA 1000 tournament in Guadalajara Mexico.

Gauff and Pegula have also qualified for the doubles competition at the WTA Finals, with both in the WTA Top 10 in singles and doubles. For a brief time recently Gauff was No. 1 in the WTA doubles rankings.

For more on Gauff's qualifying, see this article from the WTA.

Teenagers also had a good day on the USTA Pro Circuit, with four notable victories.

At the $25,000 men's tournament in Harlingen Texas, 17-year-old Kyle Kang defeated No. 4 seed Cannon Kingsley, a senior at Ohio State, 7-6(6), 6-4 to advance to a second round meeting Thursday with the 2022 NCAA Team Championships Most Outstanding Player Gianni Ross(Virginia). 

At the $60,000 women's tournament in Macon Georgia, 17-year-old Olivia Lincer of Poland advanced to the second round by beating former USC All-American Salma Ewing for the second day in a row. Lincer had beaten Ewing in the final round of qualifying 6-4, 7-5 on Tuesday; today, after Ewing had received entry as a lucky loser, Lincer won 2-6, 7-5, 6-0. She will play Thaisa Pedretti of Brazil in the second round.

Lucky loser Akasha Urhobo earned her first Pro Circuit victory above the $15,000 level today, with the 15-year-old Floridian defeating 35-year-old Dia Evtimova of Bulgaria 6-3, 6-1. Urhobo will face No. 7 seed Taylor Townsend Thursday.

At the $25,000 women's tournament in Fort Worth Texas, 18-year-old North Carolina freshman Reese Brantmeier defeated LSU junior and ITA All-American finalist Kylie Collins 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 to reach the second round. Brantmeier, who hadn't played since the San Diego Nationals in August, will face former Baylor star Mel Krywoj of Argentina.

The Kalamazoo draw boards will have fewer names next year

Although the details for entry and endorsements have yet to be finalized and probably won't be released for several months, the USTA is expected to announce a reduction in the draw size for the USTA 16s and 18s Clay Courts in July and the USTA 16s and 18s Nationals in August. Currently at 224 players, the draw size for those tournaments, the only ones that are that large, will return to 192 players in 2023.

Here's a brief history of the draw sizes at the Nationals, from the archives of the Kalamazoo Boys 16s and 18s.  In 1997, the draw size was expanded from 128 to 192. In 2014, it went back to 128, with a qualifying tournament, but that lasted just one year and returned to 192 for 2015 and 2016. In 2017 the number of players admitted grew to 224, which required a third site, as 31 courts were not enough for all the main draw and consolation matches played the first several days of the tournament. It has been at 224 now for five years, including 2022.

ITA Division I Regional Results; Three Teens Advance to Main Draw at Macon $60K; Hovde Beats No. 4 Seed at Fort Worth $25K; Harlingen $25K Sole Tournament on Men's Circuit

This past weekend (and into this week) marked the true start to the ITA Division I Regionals, although the women's Texas regional took place last month. These tournaments decide 24 of the 32 competitors in November's ITA National Fall Championships, with the finalists of each of the 12 regions receiving entry. The semifinalists at the All-American Championships receive four of the remaining eight spots, with the Milwaukee wild cards and the ITA Cup(small college) entrants leaving just two ITA wild card.

Seven of the 12 women's regionals have been held, and five of the men's 12 regionals are now complete. Those results, and the dates of the remaining regionals are below. Not all the draws showed seeding, but I have included those that do.

Division I Regional Results

Men
MOUNTAIN:
Singles:
Geronimo Busleiman[2], Utah d. David Cierny[4], Utah State 6-3, 6-3
Doubles:
Berk Bugarikj and Patrik Trhac[3], Utah d. Francisco Bascon and Matteo Masala, Idaho 4-6, 6-2, 10-3

TEXAS:
Singles:
Finn Bass[5-8], Baylor d. Pierce Rollins, Texas A&M 6-2, 6-2
Doubles:
Alan Magadan and Sebastian Rodriguez[5-8], UT-San Antonio d. Sander Jong and Lui Maxted[1],TCU 6-3 6-3

CENTRAL:
Singles:
Nathan Han, Oklahoma d. Kristof Minarik, Wichita State 5-7, 6-4, 6-1
Doubles:
Jordan Hasson and Mark Mandlik, Oklahoma d. Adrien Burdet and Alan Sau, Arkansas 0-6, 6-4, 10-6

OHIO VALLEY:
Singles:
Fabien Salle, Louisville d. Natan Rodrigues, Louisville 6-2, 6-3
Doubles:
Natan Rodrigues and Fabien Salle, Louisville d. David Mizrahi and Will Mayew, Louisville 6-1, 6-7(2), 10-4

SOUTHERN:
Singles:
Enzo Aguiard[16], Alabama d. Nemanja Malesevic[5], Mississippi State 6-4, 6-1
Doubles:
Stefan Latinovic and Nick Watson, d. John Hallquist Lithen and Simon Junk[6](Mississippi) 6-3, 4-6, 10-5

NORTHWEST: Super Regional October 21-24
SOUTHWEST: October 20-24
MIDWEST: October 20-24
NORTHEAST: Super Regional October 21-24
ATLANTIC: October 19-24
CAROLINA: October 21-25
SOUTHEAST: October 20-24
----------------------------------------------------------------

Women

TEXAS:

Singles:

Malaika Rapolu[3], Texas d. Marlee Zein[1], Texas 6-4, 6-3

Doubles: 

Lauren Fulgenzi and Brandelyn Fulgenzi, Incarnate Word d. Metka Komac and Cristina Tiglea[4], Texas Tech 6-7(3), 6-3, 10-6

NORTHWEST:

Singles:

Alexandra Yepifanova[4] Stanford, d. Angelica Blake[3], Stanford 6-4, 4-6, 6-2

Doubles: 

Jessica Alsola and Katja Wiersholm[2], Cal d. Sally Pethybridge and Iva Zelic[7], Portland 6-2, 6-3

SOUTHERN:

Singles:

Anastasiya Komar[6], LSU d. Lillian Gabrielsen, Mississippi 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-1

Doubles:

Anastasiya Komar and Nikita Vishwase, LSU d. Maggie Cubitt and Mia Rabinowitz, LSU 7-5, 7-5

SOUTHEAST:

Singles:

Lea Ma[3], Georgia d. Carol Lee[1], Georgia Tech, 6-3, 4-6, 6-0

Doubles:

Carol Lee and Kate Sharabura[1], Georgia Tech d. Alicia Dudeney and Carly Briggs[7], Florida 6-4. 6-2

CAROLINA:

Singles:

Chloe Beck[1], Duke, d. Emma Jackson[4], Duke, 6-1, 6-4

Sarah Hamner [1], South Carolina d. Cameron Morra[2], Duke 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.

Doubles:

Carson Tanguilig and Fiona Crawley[3], North Carolina d. Karolina Bernakova and Ellie Coleman[2], Duke 6-3, 6-1

Anna Brylin and Brooke Killingworth[1], Wake Forest d. Chloe Beck and Cameron Morra[2], Duke 6-3, 6-2

CENTRAL:

Singles:

Carolina Gomez Alonso[18], Arkansas d. Julie Garcia Ruiz[20], Oklahoma 6-4, 6-3

Doubles:

Ange Oby Kajura and Chie Kezuka[2, Iowa State d. Anet Kosdel and Zoey Weil[12], Minnesota 6-3 6-2

MOUNTAIN:

Singles:

Taylor Melville, Denver d. Molly Helgesson, UNLV 6-3, 6-4

Doubles:

Katherine Jhang and Leonie Hoppe, New Mexico d. Yujia Huang and Emilee Astle, Air Force walkover

SOUTHWEST: October 20-24

MIDWEST: October 20-25

NORTHEAST: Super Regional October 21-24

OHIO VALLEY: October 19-24

ATLANTIC: October 20-24

Usually when multiple teenagers advance to the main draw of a USTA women's Pro Circuit tournament, it's at the $25,000 level, but this week three players still eligible for competition on the ITF Junior Circuit have qualified for the main draw of the $60,000 tournament this week in Macon Georgia. 

Seventeen-year-old Olivia Lincer, who began representing Poland this summer, made the quarterfinals after qualifying last week at the $25,000 tournament in Florence South Carolina. She defeated USC All-American Salma Ewing 6-4, 7-5 in the final round of qualifying today in Macon, and they will meet again the first round, after Ewing made the main draw as a lucky loser. Eighteen-year-old Bianca Fernandez of Canada, the sister of 2021 US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez, defeated Shatoo Mohamad 6-2, 6-4 today to qualify; she will face Pepperdine senior Lisa Zaar of Sweden, also a qualifier. Another younger sibling of a prominent WTA player, Victoria Osuigwe, will play in her first main draw above the $25K level after beating Meisha Kendall-Woseley 6-2, 5-7, 10-3 in today's final round of qualifying. Osuigwe, who will be 16 in December, has won two main draw matches competing on the Pro Circuit.

Other Americans qualifying for the main draw are Alana Smith(NC State), Victoria Hu(Princeton) and Carolyn Ansari(Auburn). Akasha Urhobo also received a place in the main draw as a lucky loser.

Wild cards were given to Riley Crowder, a blue chip sophomore, Katrina Scott, the No. 6 seed, Anna Rogers(NC State) and Samantha Crawford. Madison Brengle is the top seed, with Panna Udvardy of Hungary the No. 2 seed. 

At this week's women's $25,000 tournament in Fort Worth Texas, Peyton Stearns(Texas) will attempt to claim her third straight title, with the 2022 NCAA champion seeded No. 2. Stearns is also fourth in the USTA's Australian Open Wild Card Challenge with 100 points, trailing Caty McNally(155), Alycia Parks(125) and Claire Liu(111). There are two more weeks in the women's competition. The men's Challenge starts next week.

The top seed in Fort Worth is Hanna Chang. Wild cards were given to TCU graduate student Mercedes Aristegui of Spain, Sara Daavettila(UNC), Maribella Zamarripa(Texas) and Liv Hovde. Hovde played her first round match today and defeated No. 4 seed Jana Kolodynska of Belarus 6-2, 6-7(4), 6-2. 

The only American qualifying for the main draw was Texas A&M sophomore Mary Stoiana, who beat Texas junior Charlotte Chavatipon 6-1, 6-1 in today's final round of qualifying.

North Carolina freshman Reese Brantmeier, who hasn't played any competitive tennis since the Girls Nationals in San Diego in August, is in the draw and will play LSU junior and All-American finalist Kylie Collins in the first round. 

The only men's USTA Pro Circuit event this week is a $25,000 tournament in Harlingen Texas. Rain today has pushed the completion of qualifying into this evening; so far Chad Kissell(Valparaiso) is the only American to qualify. All three wild cards (not sure why there isn't a fourth) went to Texas A&M players: Trey Hilderbrand, Noah Schachter and JC Roddick.

Charlie Broom(Dartmouth/Baylor) of Great Britain is the top seed; Zeke Clark(Illinois) is the No. 2 seed. Seventeen-year-old Kyle Kang, who hasn't played since making the quarterfinals at the US Open Junior Championships last month, will face No. 4 seed Cannon Kingsley(Ohio State) in the first round. 

Center Claims Both Titles for Second Straight Week at J4 in Dominican Republic, Doubles Titles for Eissa and Hance on ITF Junior Circuit; Atlanta J4 Underway; FSU Professor Seeks Research Assistants for Tennis Project; Could Ivy League Schools Start Offering Scholarships?

The ITF JA Osaka Mayor's Cup produced one American champion in boys doubles and a finalist in boys singles, but although those were the biggest events on the ITF Junior Circuit calendar last week, four other Americans captured one singles and three doubles titles.

Sixteen-year-old Olivia Center won both the singles and doubles titles two weeks ago at the J4 in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, her first on the ITF Junior Circuit. Last week, the left-hander from California repeated that impressive double, again at a J4 in the Dominican Republic, again unseeded in both draws, again partnering with Ginger Foster for the doubles title. Center, who has not dropped a set in her two singles titles the past two weeks, defeated No. 6 seed Sam Grosjean of France 6-4, 6-1 in the singles final. In the doubles final, Center and Foster defeated the unseeded team of Andrea De Bernardo of Venezuela and Daniela Rubio of Peru 6-2, 6-2.  

At the end of last month, Center's ITF Junior ranking was outside the Top 2000. After her past two weeks and four titles, she is now ranked 521.

At the J5 in Nicaragua, 17-year-old Aida Eissa won her first ITF Junior Circuit title in doubles, with Ece Gencer of Turkey. The top seeds defeated unseeded Gabriela Gomez of Spain and Charlotte Klein of Germany 6-1, 6-0 in the final. 

At the J4 in British Columbia, Keaton Hance won his first ITF Junior Circuit title in doubles, partnering with fellow 14-year-old Thijs Boogaard of the Netherlands. The unseeded pair defeated Adam Bojkovic and Canadian Emmett Potter, also unseeded, 6-4, 3-6, 10-8 in the final. 

Boogaard, who won the Les Petits As title in January and the European 14s championships this summer, also won the singles title, his first on the ITF Junior Circuit.

After a week off, the ITF Junior Circuit returned to the United States with a J4 underway now in Atlanta. The top two seeds in the boys draw are Santiago Padilla Cote of Mexico and Dylan Charlap. The top two seeds in the girls draw are Christasha McNeil and Brianna Baldi. All four are through to the second round after today's action.

Ryan Rodenberg, a professor at Florida State, recently tweeted about a opportunity available for two research assistants on a tennis-related study he is conducting. In case you missed that tweet, here is his synopsis and contact information. 

Starting Fall 2023, I am excited to offer up to two fully-funded PhD student positions for tennis-specific research. Current/former college and professional players are encouraged to apply.  All applicants must possess a college degree.  The positions would be full-time and in-person at Florida State University (FSU) in Tallahassee.  I have received FSU approval to pursue a major research project focused on how tennis interacts with math/statistics, physics, economics, and law.  For further details, please contact me.  My contact information is below: 

Ryan M. Rodenberg, JD/PhD

Professor

Florida State University                                                              

850-645-9535 (office)

rrodenberg@fsu.edu

It's really exciting to have tennis the subject of academic research, and I look forward to hearing more about the project as it gears up.

Ivy League schools are Division I, but they do not offer athletic scholarships. This Connecticut Post article looks at the expiration of the law that codified that anomaly and what it might mean for the Ivy League in the future. The article focuses on Yale and on basketball, but it does raise interesting points about the advantages and disadvantages of a student-athlete choosing to attend an Ivy League school, and that includes many junior tennis players.