US Claims Junior Billie Jean King Cup; Basavareddy and Crawley Capture ITA National Fall Singles Titles; Shelton Wins First Challenger; McNally Earns Second Dow Tennis Classic Championship; Krajicek Qualifies for ATP Finals

The United States earned the gold and the silver today at the ITF 16U Junior Billie Jean King Cup and Junior Davis Cup in Antalya Turkey. The top-seeded girls continued their domination of the field, beating defending champions and No. 2 seeds Czech Republic 2-0 to claim their seventh title, the most of any country.  The US girls have now won the last four Billie Jean King Cups(formerly Junior Fed Cup) they have participated in; there was no competition in 2020 and the US did not compete last year, due to the pandemic.

The US girls--Clervie Ngounoue, Valerie Glozman and Iva Jovic-- did not lose a match that mattered in their six days of competition, winning all 12 of the singles matches they played. That meant they had clinched their wins before doubles were played.

Today, Glozman defeated Lucie Urbanova 7-5, 6-2 at No. 2 singles and Clervie Ngounoue clinched the title with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Tereza Valentova at No. 1 singles. 

For more on today's final, with comments from Ngounoue, see this article from the ITF Junior website.

No. 3 seed Brazil made Junior Davis Cup history for the country today, in winning their first title and spoiling a United States sweep. Joao Fonseca was the hero for Brazil, clinching the title at No. 1 singles by beating Kaylan Bigun 6-1, 6-4. Gustavo Almeida had defeated Meecah Bigun 7-6(6), 6-0 at No. 2 singles in the first match of the day. Alexander Razeghi had been playing No. 1 singles for the United States, but did not play today. The article on the match from the ITF Junior website does not mention the reason for his absence. 

Fiona Crawley of North Carolina and Nishesh Basavareddy of Stanford finished their outstanding fall seasons with major trophies, claiming the singles titles at the ITA National Fall Championships at the Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego.

Crawley, the top seed and last month's All-American champion, had her toughest match of the week today but prevailed over unseeded Daria Frayman of Princeton 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. Crawley, the junior from Texas, was up 4-2 in the final set, but had to save two break points serving at 4-3 to keep herself in front. Once Crawley held there for 5-3, Frayman, the 2021 Fall Nationals finalist, looked a bit deflated, possibly due to fatigue, and she was broken when her forehand sailed long, giving Crawley the title. Frayman had been on court just short of four hours in her semifinal win over No. 2 seed Connie Ma of Stanford, and that may have been the difference, with Crawley needing less than an hour to get past Carol Lee of Georgia Tech on Saturday.

Crawley is the first woman to win both the All-Americans and the Fall Nationals in the same year since Ohio State's Francesca Di Lorenzo in 2016, and is the second Tar Heel to do it, following in the footsteps of Jamie Loeb, who won both as a freshman in 2013. She is now a perfect 17-0 this fall.

Basavareddy, who is just 17, started college a year early, but his confidence boosted by the US Open boys doubles title in September, has instantly risen to the top of the college game. Seeded No. 3 this week, the Carmel Indiana resident suffered his only loss of the fall to Garrett Johns of Duke in the first round of the All-American Championships, but went on to claim the consolation title there. He won the Northwest Regional to earn his spot in the National Fall Championships and finished his first semester with a major title, the first freshman to do so since Virginia's Mitchell Frank in 2011. 

In today's 6-1, 6-4 win over No. 4 seed Eliot Spizzirri of Texas, Basavareddy was clutch on deciding points. I counted four holds of serve on deciding points and in the tight second set, and he took the deciding point on Spizzirri's last two service games to claim the title. 

The fourth Stanford Cardinal to win the Fall men's singles title, Basavareddy is now 17-1 in his college career, which is less than two months old.

Ohio State's JJ Tracy and Andrew Lutschaunig kept the Fall National men's doubles trophy in Columbus, with the No. 4 seeds beating No. 3 seeds Sander Jong and Lui Maxted of TCU 6-3, 3-6, 10-4. Robert Cash and Matej Vocel won the title for the Buckeyes last year.

The only top seed to capture a title today in San Diego was the women's doubles team of Savannah Broadus and Janice Tjen of Pepperdine, who beat No. 2 seeds Crawley and Carson Tanguilig 6-2, 7-6(2) in the afternoon final. Broadus and Tjen trailed 4-0 in the second set, won the next five games to serve for the title, but Tjen was broken to halt all that momentum. But they missed no opportunity in the tiebreaker, denying Crawley a second National Fall title this week and a second National Fall doubles title. Crawley and Elizabeth Scotty won the women's doubles championship last year in San Diego.

In consolation results, Columbia freshman Michael Zheng defeated UCLA sophomore Alexander Hoogmartens 6-1, 6-3 to take the men's singles bracket, and Duke's Chloe Beck defeated North Carolina's Anika Yarlagadda 6-1, 6-3 to win the women's consolation draw. Both brackets are for players who lose in the first round.

In doubles consolation finals, Joshua Charlton and Quinn Vandecasteele of Oregon defeated Presbyterian's Maxwell Benson and Dusan Milanovic 7-5, 6-4 and Patricia Spaka and Domenika Turkovic of Arizona State defeated Cal's Jessica Alsola and Katja Wiersholm 6-2, 6-3.

2022 NCAA champion Ben Shelton had been 0-3 in his first Challenger finals, but the 20-year-old ended that losing streak today at the ATP Challenger 80 in Charlottesville Virginia. The former Florida Gator, seeded No. 6, defeated good friend Christopher Eubanks(Georgia Tech), seeded No. 4, 7-6(4), 7-5 in today's championship match. Shelton trailed 5-3 in the first set, but broke Eubanks serving for the set at 5-4. Neither player faced a break point in the second set until 5-all, when it was Eubanks who blinked in a four-deuce game. Shelton held for the win, and is now up to 128 in the ATP rankings. He also takes the lead in the USTA Australian Open Wild Card Challenge, with two weeks remaining.

Both Shelton and Eubanks are playing the Knoxville Challenger 80 this coming week, with Eubanks the No. 3 seed and Shelton seeded No. 4. Michael Mmoh, in the top half with Eubanks, is the top seed; Stefan Kozlov, the No. 2 seed, is in the bottom half with Shelton. 

Main draw wild cards were given to Blaise Bicknell(Florida/Tennessee), Martin Damm and Gage Brymer(UCLA). Georgia freshman Ethan Quinn received entry as an alternate. Qualifying began today and will conclude Monday.

Caty McNally added a second Dow Tennis Classic title to her resume today, with the No. 7 seed defeating unseeded Anna-Lena Friedsam of Germany 6-3, 6-2 for the biggest title of her career. McNally, who won the title in 2019 when it was an ITF $100K event, had plenty of chances against Friedsam, converting 4 of 13 break point opportunities, while Friedsam had only one, in the first set, which she converted. 

McNally, who turns 21 next month, has broken into the WTA Top 100 for the first time with this WTA 125 title, and probably won't need the USTA's Australian Open wild card she was notified she had won earlier this week. It looks like as if it is likely to go to Taylor Townsend, who finished third in the race, behind McNally and Madison Brengle.

Both the teenagers playing in $15,000 finals today lost, with Bruno Kuzahara falling to qualifier Rrezart Cungu(Wake Forest) of Montenegro 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 in Antalya Turkey.

At the USTA Pro Circuit tournament in Fayetteville Arkansas, 16-year-old Learner Tien, playing in his first pro final, lost to No. 6 seed Toby Samuel(South Carolina) of Great Britain 6-3, 6-3.

At the $15,000 tournament in Ithaca New York, Tennessee sophomore Shunsuke Mitsui of Japan defeated Menelaos Efstathiou(Wake Forest) of Cyprus 6-4, 6-2 to sweep the titles. It's the 20-year-old's first pro singles title; he and John McNally(Ohio State) won the doubles title Saturday, Mitsui's second. 

At the ATP Paris Masters, where 19-year-old Holger Rune of Denmark defeated Novak Djokovic 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 for his first Masters 1000 title, Croatia's Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek lost in the doubles final, to Neal Skupski(LSU) of Great Britain and Wesley Koolhof of the Netherlands 7-6(5), 6-4. But by reaching the final, Dodig and Krajicek earned the last spot in the ATP Finals in Turin Italy later this month. The 32-year-old Krajicek, who won the 2011 NCAA doubles title(with Jeff Dadamo) while at Texas A&M, will be making his ATP Finals debut. For more on Dodig and Krajicek's qualification, see this article from the ATP. 

Taylor Fritz will be competing in the singles in Turin, after ATP No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain withdrew due to an injury he suffered in Paris. 

Brandon Nakashima is in Milan Italy for the Next Gen ATP Finals beginning Monday. Rune withdrew after his title today in Paris and Nakashima will play Rune's replacement, Italian Matteo Arnaldi, Tuesday night.

US Teams Reach Junior Davis and BJK Cup Finals; Crawley and Frayman, Basavareddy and Spizzirri Meet in ITA National Fall Championships; Tien, Kuzuhara Advance to $15K Finals; Eubanks and Sheldon Compete for Charlottesville Title

Saturday was a busy day in tennis at the junior, collegiate and pro levels, and Sunday will be no different, with big matches on the docket from Turkey to San Diego.

The US teams were both expected to be in the finals of the ITF 16U Junior Davis Cup and Junior Billie Jean King Cup given their seedings, but they've certainly taken contrasting routes to get there. The top-seeded girls have not lost a singles match, going 10-0 now with two wins over No. 4 Serbia in today's semifinals. Valerie Glozman defeated Teodora Kostovic 6-2, 6-1 at No. 2 singles and Clervie Ngounoue beat Mia Ristic 6-1, 7-6(8) at No. 1 singles to reach the final for the seventh straight year, extending back to 2013 (the US did not participate in the competition last year due to the pandemic, so I am not including that). They will face No. 2 seed and defending Czech Republic, who defeated Japan 2-1 with a win in the deciding doubles match.

The US boys, seeded No. 2, didn't win their round robin group, but have battled through to the finals with clutch wins, none bigger than today. Against unseeded France, Kaylan Bigun lost to Lucas Marionneau 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(3) 4 at No. 2 singles after having match points, leaving it up to Alexander Razeghi to keep the US hopes alive. Razeghi earned a 6-2, 5-7, 7-6(2) victory over Thomas Faurel at No. 1 singles to tie it, and partnered with Meecah Bigun to take the deciding doubles point 1-6, 6-3, 10-7 over Marionneau and Faurel.

The US boys will face No. 3 seed Brazil, led by Joao Fonseca, who defeated No. 4 seed Italy by taking the deciding doubles point. Fonseca has won every match he's played, in singles and doubles, this week.

For more on the Junior Davis Cup semifinals, with comments from the US team, see this ITF article; for more on the Junior Billie Jean King Cup semifinals, featuring the Czech team, see this ITF article. 

Live scoring can be found here.

The finals are set for the ITA National Fall Championships, with North Carolina's Fiona Crawley going for titles in both singles and doubles.

Crawley, who won the ITA All-American Championships last month in Cary North Carolina unseeded, is the top seed this week in San Diego and she has not dropped a set in reaching the final. Today she defeated Georgia Tech Carol Lee[5], 6-1, 6-0 in less than an hour to extend her unbeaten streak this fall to 16 matches. She will play unseeded Daria Frayman of Princeton, the 2021 National Fall finalist, who saved two match points in a three-hour and 45-minute 5-7, 7-6(6), 7-6(4) win over No. 2 seed Connie Ma of Stanford. Ma trailed 4-1 in the second set tiebreaker, won five straight points to get two match points at 6-4, but she just missed a return on the first and sent a backhand barely wide on the second match point. 

Both men's semifinals went the distance, with the lower seeds advancing. No. 4 Eliot Spizzirri of Texas, who reached the semifinals last month at the All-American Championships, defeated top seed Garrett Johns of Duke 6-0, 4-6, 6-3. He will face 17-year-old Stanford freshman Nishesh Basavareddy, who took out No. 2 seed Antoine Cornut Chauvinc of Florida State 6-2, 1-6, 6-2. Basavareddy is now 16-1 this fall, with his only loss coming to Johns in the first round of the All-American Championships. 

The men's doubles final will also feature the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds. JJ Tracy and Andrew Lutschaunig of Ohio State defeated No. 5 seeds Finn Bass and Juan Pablo Grassi Mazzuchi of Baylor 6-4, 3-6, 10-7 in today's semifinals and will face No. 3 seeds Sander Jong and Lui Maxted of TCU. Jong and Maxted defeated unseeded Berk Bugarikj and Patrik Trhac of Utah 6-4, 7-6(2).

The top two seeds will square off in the women's doubles final tomorrow at the Barnes Tennis Center. No. 2 seeds Crawley and Carson Tanguilig defeated Virginia's Elaine Chervinsky and Natasha Subhash[5] 6-1, 6-2; top seeds Savannah Broadus and Janice Tjen got past Kari Miller and Jaedan Brown[5] of Michigan 6-1, 2-6, 10-7.

The women's singles and men's doubles finals are scheduled for 10 a.m. Pacific time tomorrow, with the men's singles final following. With Crawley in both finals, the women's doubles final is optimistically scheduled for noon.

Live scoring is here; Cracked Racquets will provide coverage of all four finals on their YouTube Channel.

Kalamazoo 18s champion Learner Tien has advanced to his first USTA Pro Circuit final with a 6-4, 7-6(8) victory over 17-year-old qualifier Aidan Kim at the $15,000 tournament in Fayetteville Arkansas. The 16-year-old from Irvine California had lost his only previous Pro Circuit semifinal back in April. Tien will play No. 6 seed Toby Samuel of Great Britain for the title Sunday; Samuel, a 20-year-old junior at South Carolina, won a $25,000 tournament in his home country this summer.

Top seeds Tyler Zink(Oklahoma) and George Goldhoff(Texas) won their second straight doubles title today, after last week's Norman $15K champions defeated Denmark's Johannes Ingildsen(Florida) and Christian Sigsgaard(Texas), the No. 2 seeds, 1-6, 6-4, 10-2.

2022 Australian Open boys champion Bruno Kuzuhara is through to his second ITF Pro Circuit $15K singles final, both coming in the last three weeks, in Antalya Turkey, the same city hosting the Junior Davis and Billie Jean King Cups. Kuzuhara, who is unseeded, will play qualifier Rrezart Cungu(Wake Forest) of Montenegro in Sunday's final. 

Two current collegians will face off in the final of the $15,000 tournament in Ithaca New York, with Wake Forest senior  Menelaos Efstathiou of Cyprus facing No. 4 seed Shunsuke Mitsui of Japan, a sophomore at Tennessee. Efstathiou defeated Osgar O'Hoisin(Wisconsin) of Ireland 6-1, 6-4 in the semifinals; Mitsui received a walkover into the final from Toby Kodat. 

Mitsui and John McNally(Ohio State) won the doubles title, with the No. 2 seeds defeating Efstathiou and former Wake Forest teammate Jakob Schnaitter of Germany 6-3, 6-4 in the final.

The run of NCAA singles champion Peyton Stearns came to an end today in the semifinals of the WTA 125 Dow Tennis Classic in Midland Michigan. No. 7 seed Caty McNally, who won the Dow title in 2019, defeated the former Texas Longhorn 6-1, 6-2 and will play unseeded Anna-Lena Friedsam of Germany in Sunday's final. Friedsam, a former WTA Top 50 player, defeated Ann Li 6-4, 6-2 in the other semifinal. 

Top seeds Asia Muhammad and Alycia Parks won the doubles title today, beating Friedsam and her partner Nadiia Kichenok of Ukraine 6-2, 6-3. Muhammad and Parks downed 18-year-olds Ashlyn Krueger and Robin Montgomery 3-6, 6-1, 10-8 in the semifinals Friday night. 

While the women's NCAA singles champion lost today, the men's champion advanced to a final, with Ben Shelton reaching Sunday's championship match at the ATP Challenger 80 in Charlottesville. The former Florida Gator, seeded No. 6, came from 4-2 down in the final set to beat 2019 NCAA singles champion Paul Jubb(South Carolina) of Great Britain 7-6(6), 3-6, 7-5 and advance to his fourth Challenger final, all since July.

Shelton will play friend and mentor Christopher Eubanks(Georgia Tech), the No. 4 seed, who defeated No. 8 seed Emilio Nava 7-5, 4-6, 6-3. It's the first Challenger final of the year for Eubanks.

Unseeded Henry Patten(UNC-Asheville) and Julian Cash(Mississippi St/Oklahoma St) of Great Britain won their third consecutive Challenger title, beating unseeded Artem Sitak of New Zealand and Alex Lawson(Notre Dame) 6-2, 6-4 in today's final. After winning the Fairfield and Las Vegas Challengers the previous two weeks, Cash and Patten are comfortably inside the ATP Top 100 now, so their days of being unseeded in Challengers should be over. 

October Aces; Tien Versus Kim for Spot in Fayetteville $15K Final; Top Seeds Reach ITA National Fall Semis; US Teams Move on in Junior Davis and BJK Cups; Stearns Advances to Dow Tennis Classic WTA 125 Semifinals

My Tennis Recruiting Network roundup of the top performances of October is up today, with 18 players, from ages 14 through 29 featured for their accomplishments last month. Highlighting "first titles" and "best wins" for junior and collegians is one of the many reasons I've been doing this monthly column for TRN since 2007. 

Sixteen-year-old Learner Tien and 17-year-old Aidan Kim will meet in the semifinals Saturday at the $15,000 USTA men's Pro Circuit in Fayetteville Arkansas, after both picked up wins over seeded players in straight sets. Kim, a qualifier this week, defeated top seed Alexander Cozbinov(UNLV) of Moldova 7-6(5), 6-4 and Tien beat No. 4 seed Blu Baker of Great Britain 6-3, 7-6(5). 

It's a first Pro Circuit semifinal for Kim; Tien reached the semifinals of the $15K in Orange Park Florida back in April, but whoever wins tomorrow will be playing in their first Pro Circuit final. Kim and Tien played a memorable third round match at the San Diego ITF J1 this spring, with Tien, who went on to take the title, posting a 7-5, 6-7(5), 7-5 victory. The other semifinal will feature Texas Tech junior Olle Wallin (see the October Aces for more on him), of Sweden the No. 5 seed, and South Carolina junior Toby Samuel of Great Britain, the No. 6 seed.

At the $15,000 men's Pro Circuit tournament in Ithaca New York, Toby Kodat is the sole American to advance to the semifinal. Kodat, the No. 6 seed, defeated No. 2 seed John McNally(Ohio State) 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-3 today, and will face Tennessee sophomore Shunsuke Mitsui of Japan, the No. 4 seed, Saturday. No. 5 seed Osgar O'Hoisin(Wisconsin) of Ireland defeated top seed Sekou Bangoura(Florida) 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 and will play Wake Forest senior Menelaos Efstathiou of Cyprus in the semifinals.

The top seeds continued to have success at the ITA National Fall Championships in San Diego, with all top four seeds reaching the men's singles semifinals and the top two seeds in the women's singles also reaching the final four.

It was by no means easy for any of the four men's semifinalists, as the quarterfinal results show.

Men's singles quarterfinal results:

Garrett Johns[1], Duke d. Geronimo Busleiman, Utah 7-5, 1-6, 6-2

Eliot Spizzirri[4], Texas d. Jacob Fearnley[5], TCU 6-2, 7-6(2)

Nishesh Basavareddy[3]. Stanford d. Andrew Fenty, Michigan 3-6, 6-3, 6-4

Antoine Cornut Chauvinc[2], Florida State d. JJ Tracy[5], Ohio State 1-6, 6-0, 6-2

Although there is one unseeded woman in the semifinals, she is hardly a surprise, with Princeton's Daria Frayman a 2021 National Fall finalist. Frayman defeated No. 3 seed Abbey Forbes of North Carolina 6-4, 6-4. Only one women's quarterfinal went three sets, with Stanford's Connie Ma prevailing in that one.

Women's singles quarterfinal results:

Fiona Crawley[1], UNC d. Mary Stoiana[5], Texas A&M 6-3, 6-3

Carol Lee[5], Georgia Tech d. Elaine Chervinsky, Virginia 6-2, 6-2

Daria Frayman, Princeton d. Abigail Forbes[3], UNC 6-4, 6-4

Connie Ma[2], Stanford d. Carson Tanguilig[5], UNC 7-5, 1-6, 6-1

The doubles semifinals are also Saturday, with all four women's teams seeded, including Nos. 1 and 2; three of the men's teams are seeded, although the top two seeds lost in the second and first rounds. Fiona Crawley is the only player in both the singles and doubles semifinals.

Men's doubles quarterfinal results:

Finn Bass and Juan Pablo Grassi Mazzuchi[5], Baylor d. Edoardo Graziani and Kevin Zhu 6-4, 1-6, 10-5

Andrew Lutschaunig and JJ Tracy[4], Ohio State d. Max Wesphal and Theo Winegar, Columbia 5-7, 6-4, 10-8

Sander Jong and Lui Maxted[3], TCU d. Ryan Fishback and Alberto Orso, Virginia Tech 6-7(4), 6-2, 10-5

Berk Bugarikj and Patrik Trhac, Utah d. Alan Magadan and Sebastian Rodriguez, Texas-San Antonio 5-7, 6-1, 10-7

Women's doubles quarterfinal results:

Savannah Braodus and Janice Tjen[1], Pepperdine d. Chloe Beck and Cameron Morra[5], Duke 6-3, 6-4

Jaedan Brown and Kari Miller[5], Michigan d. Jamie Wei and Maiko Uchijima, Temple 6-3, 6-4

Elaine Chervinsky and Natasha Subhash[5], Virginia d. Mary Brumfield and Selma Cadar, Maryland 6-4, 6-4

Fiona Crawley and Carson Tanguilig[2], UNC d. Adel-Byanu Abidullina and Eliza Askarova, Delaware 6-4, 6-4

All four semifinals will be played at the same time, 10 a.m. Pacific, 1 p.m. Eastern. Live scoring is here. Cracked Racquets will have coverage on their YouTube channel. 

Both teams from the United States have reached the semifinals of the ITF 16U Junior Davis Cup and Junior Billie Jean King Cup competition in Antalya Turkey. The top-seeded girls defeated Germany 2-1, winning both singles matches to clinch it and giving the Germans a walkover in the doubles. They will play Serbia, the No. 4 seed, Saturday. The other semifinal features No. 2 seed Czech Republic and unseeded Japan, who took out No. 3 seed Australia 2-1.

The big quarterfinal surprise was the loss of boys top seed Spain to France 2-1. With US Open champion Martin Landaluce leading the team, they were certainly the favorites going in, but they lost the deciding doubles point today and are eliminated from medal contention.

The US boys, seeded No. 2, defeated the Czech Republic 2-0 and will face France for a place in the final. The other semifinal features No. 3 seed Brazil against No. 4 seed Italy.

For more on the US girls team, see this article from the ITF Junior website. The Brazilian boys are featured in this article on the Junior Davis Cup.

NCAA singles champion Peyton Stearns continued to impress at the Dow Tennis Classic WTA 125 in Midland Michigan, advancing to Saturday's semifinals with a 6-4, 6-2 win over qualifier Katherine Sebov. The 21-year-old Stearns, who didn't face a break point in the first set, got the only break at 4-all and served it out. The former Texas Longhorn faced three break points in her first two service games of the second set, but saved them all, getting two consecutive breaks at 2-all and 4-2.

Stearns will face No. 7 seed and 2019 Dow Tennis Classic champion Caty McNally, who defeated 2020 Australian Open women's champion Sofia Kenin 6-3, 0-6, 6-4 tonight after trailing 3-0 in the final set. 

The semifinal in the top half will feature two unseeded players: Ann Li and Anna-Lena Friedsam of Germany. For the third straight match, Li came from a set down, beating Nao Hibino of Japan today 2-6, 6-2, 7-5. Friedsam took out No. 5 seed Camila Osorio of Colombia 6-3, 6-3.

Free live streaming is available at the tournament website.

Every Quarterfinal at ITA Fall Nationals Features at Least One Seed; Stearns Advances to Quarterfinals at Midland 125; US Teams Move into Quarterfinals at ITF Junior Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup; Tiafoe and Paul Reach Final Eight in Paris

The seeding at the ITA National Fall Championships relied heavily on UTR ratings and that has proven to be a reliable metric, with six of the eight seeds in both the men's and women's draws advancing to the quarterfinals.

The only two women's seeds who did not reach the quarterfinals had injuries: No. 4 seed Madison Sieg of Southern California gave a walkover to Elaine Chervinsky of Virginia, and Lea Ma of Georgia, a 5 seed, retired in the third set of her second round match with 2021 finalist Daria Frayman of Princeton.

One of the men's seeds, Michael Zheng of Columbia, lost in the first round; the other one was 2022 ITA All-American finalist Phillip Henning of Georgia, a 5 seed, who lost to Andrew Fenty of Michigan 6-2, 6-4.

Below are the singles results from today's round of 16. Doubles are still in progress.

Women's round of 16 singles results:

Fiona Crawley[1], UNC d. Taylor Melville, Denver 6-3, 6-0
Connie Ma[2], Stanford d. Carolina Gomez Alonso, Arkansas 6-4, 6-1
Abbey Forbes[3], UNC d. Sydni Ratliff, Ohio State 3-6, 6-4, 6-3
Elaine Chervinsky, Virginia d. Madison Sieg[4], Southern Cal w/o injury
Mary Stoiana[5], Texas A&M d. Julia Garcia Ruiz, Oklahoma 6-2, 6-4
Daria Frayman, Princeton d. Lea Ma[5], Georgia 7-5, 2-6, 3-0 ret.
Carol Lee[5], Georgia Tech d. Savannah Broadus, Pepperdine 6-4, 7-5
Carson Tanguilig[5], UNC d. Deniz Khazan, Barry 3-6, 6-3, 6-0

Men's round of 16 singles results:

Garrett Johns[1], Duke, d. Max Basing, Stanford 6-7(6) 7-5, 6-4

Antoine Cornut Chauvinc[2], Florida State d. Casey Hoole, South Carolina 7-6(4), 6-3

Nishesh Basavareddy[3], Stanford d. Finn Bass, Baylor 6-1, 6-2

Eliot Spizzirri[4], Texas d. Kristof Minarik, Wichita State 6-2, 6-1

Jacob Fearnley[5], TCU d. Enzo Aguiard, Alabama 7-5, 1-6, 6-4

JJ Tracy[5], Ohio State d. Dusan Milanovic, Presbyterian 7-6(2), 6-7(2), 6-4

Andrew Fenty, Michigan d. Phillip Henning[5], Georgia 6-2, 6-4

Geronimo Busleiman, Utah d. Natan Rodrigues, Louisville 6-0, 6-2

For coverage throughout Friday's quarterfinals, see the Cracked Racquets YouTube channel; live scoring is here.

A year ago, Peyton Stearns was in a boot, frustrated by injury and unsure what 2022 had in store for her. She recovered to have an outstanding sophomore season at Texas, leading the Longhorns to a second straight team title and capping her collegiate career with the NCAA singles title.

Stearns won two $25,000 tournaments this fall and received a wild card into this week's WTA 125 Dow Tennis Classic in Midland Michigan. After beating Asia Muhammad in the first round Tuesday, her first main draw win in a WTA event, Stearns faced 18-year-old Ashlyn Krueger today and came away with an impressive 6-2, 6-3 victory. Stearns saved the only break point she faced, made almost no unforced errors and outhit Krueger, which is no easy task. Her forehand has always been her best shot, and it was extremely reliable today, but she was equally effective on the backhand side and also got 71 percent of her first serves in. Stearns will face qualifier Katherine Sebov of Canada, who defeated No. 3 seed Lin Zhu of China 6-4, 6-3. It's the 23-year-old's best win; she is currently No. 229, while Zhu is 58.

After Zhu's lost to Sebov today and Sofia Kenin's 6-1, 6-3 win last night over No. 2 seed Madison Brengle, the top four seeds are out. The only seeds to reach the quarterfinals are No. 5 Camila Osorio of Colombia and No. 7 Caty McNally.  In addition to Stearns, Kenin and McNally, Ann Li is the fourth American in the quarterfinals.

Krueger and Robin Montgomery, the 2021 USTA National 18s and US Open girls doubles champions, are through to the semifinals in Midland after defeating Stearns and Elvina Kalieva 6-1, 6-2 today. They will face top seeds Muhammad and Alycia Parks Friday night.

Live streaming is available at the tournament website.

The quarterfinals are set for the ITF 16U Junior Davis Cup and Junior Billie Jean King Cup after round robin group play ended today.

Both US teams advanced, although not in the same fashion. The American girls--Clervie Ngounoue, Valerie Glozman and Iva Jovic-- won all three of their matches 3-0 and looked every bit the top seeds that they are in the first three days of competition.

The second-seeded American boys--Kaylan and Meecah Bigun and Alexander Razeghi--lost a singles match in each of their first two contests, needing doubles victories to beat Turkey and Argentina. In today's match with 2-0 Japan, they lost all three matches, finishing second in their group, which still earns a place in the quarterfinals.

Friday's matchups:

Junior Davis Cup Quarterfinals

Spain v France
USA v Czech Republic
Brazil v Australia
Italy v Japan

Junior Billie Jean King Cup Juniors Quarterfinals

USA v Germany
Argentina v Serbia
Australia v Japan
Turkey v Czech Republic

For more on today's action, see this ITF Junior website article. Live scoring is available here.

Frances Tiafoe and Tommy Paul have both advanced to Friday's quarterfinals at the ATP Masters 1000 in Paris after straight-sets wins today. Tiafoe, the No. 16 seed, defeated Alex de Minaur of Australia 6-3, 7-6(5) and Paul followed up his win over No. 2 seed Rafael Nadal yesterday with a 6-4, 6-4 decision over No. 14 seed Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain. Tiafoe will try to end the 15-match winning streak of No. 8 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada Friday, while Paul faces No. 5 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece.

Just One Upset on First Day of ITA National Fall Championships; Kim, Williams and Tien Advance at Fayetteville $15K; Quarterfinals Set at ITF J4 in Boca Raton; Paul Defeats Nadal at Paris Masters

The weather in San Diego has been uncharacteristically damp this fall, and the first day of the ITA National Fall Championships got off to a late start today due to wet courts at the Barnes Tennis Center. 

Once the sun came out the seeds had a good day, with 15 of 16 advancing to the second round. The only loss was suffered in the last singles match of the day, with Columbia freshman Michael Zheng[5] losing to Geronimo Busleiman of Utah 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(4). First round results for seeds are below:

Fiona Crawley[1], UNC d. Daria Kuczar, Tennessee 6-2, 6-3
Connie Ma[2], Stanford d. Chloe Beck, Duke 6-4, 6-2

Abbey Forbes[3], UNC d. Malaika Rapolu, Texas 6-2, 6-1

Madison Sieg[4], USC d. Angelica Blake, Stanford 3-6, 7-5, 6-2

Carol Lee[5], Georgia Tech d. Annika Yarlagadda, UNC 6-7(1), 7-6(4), 6-4

Lea Ma[5], Georgia d. Elza Tomase, Tennessee 6-2, 6-2

Carson Tanguilig[5], UNC d. Lillian Gabrielsen, Mississippi 6-3, 6-0

Mary Stoiana[5], Texas A&M d. Molly Helgesson, UNLV 6-3, 6-1

Garrett Johns[1], Duke d. Pierce Rollins, Texas A&M 6-2, 6-3

Antoine Cornut-Chauvinc[2], Florida State d. David Cierny, Utah State 6-2, 6-1

Nishesh Basavareddy[3], Stanford d. Nathan Han, Oklahoma 6-3, 6-3

Eliot Spizzirri[4], Texas d. Harris Walker, Harvard 6-3, 6-3

Geronimo Busleiman, Utah d. Michael Zheng[5], Columbia 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(4) 

Jake Fearnley[5], TCU d. Gavin Young, Michigan 6-3, 3-6, 6-3

Phillip Henning[5], Georgia d. Matisse Bobichon, VCU 6-2, 6-4

JJ Tracy[5], Ohio State d. Ryan Fishback, Virginia Tech 6-2, 6-2

Due to the delay this morning, first round of doubles will be going late tonight. Live scoring is here and the Cracked Racquet streaming coverage has been live throughout the day on their YouTube channel. 

The Midland WTA 125 Dow Tennis Classic is the only women's event this week in the United States, not counting the WTA Finals in Fort Worth, but there are two $15,000 tournaments this week for men, in Ithaca New York and Fayetteville Arkansas. 

Three juniors have advanced to the second round in Fayetteville: qualifier Aidan Kim, Learner Tien and Cooper Williams. Kalamazoo 18s champion Tien won his first round match Tuesday over wild card Foster Rogers, a junior at Arkansas, 6-3, 6-2. Kim defeated Demetris Azoides of Greece 6-4, 6-0 today and Cooper Williams beat No. 7 seed and 2021 NCAA singles finalist Daniel Rodrigues(South Carolina) of Portugal 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 today. Tien and Williams will play in the second round Thursday, with Williams looking to avenge his 7-6(5), 6-3 loss to Tien in the Kalamazoo 18s quarterfinals in August.

Alexander Cozbinov(UNLV) of Moldova is the top seed, with Johannes Ingildsen(Florida) of Denmark the No. 2 seed.

Sekou Bangoura(Florida) and John McNally(Ohio State) are the top two seeds in Ithaca and they won their first round matches Tuesday. Other Americans advancing to the second round are Jacob Brumm(Cal/Baylor), qualifier Braden Shick(NC State), Mwendwa Mbithi[8] and Toby Kodat[6]. 

This week's ITF Junior Circuit tournament in the United States is the J4 in Boca Raton Florida, with the quarterfinals set for Thursday. With its location, the tournament always draws a more international field than many of the lower-level ITF tournaments in the US, and that is again the case this year on the boys side, with only three Americans through to the final eight. The girls quarterfinals feature seven Americans, including three qualifiers and just one seed.

Tommy Paul got the biggest win of his career tonight at the ATP Masters 1000 in Paris, defeating No. 2 seed Rafael Nadal 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-1. It's the first time that Nadal has lost before the quarterfinals at the season's last Masters tournament. Paul is now 4-4 in his career against opponents ranked in the ATP Top 5. For more on the match, see this article from the ATP website.

Frances Tiafoe is the other American to advance to the round of 16 in Paris.

Taylor Fritz lost to wild card Gilles Simon 7-5, 5-7, 6-4 today to end his chances of making the ATP Finals in Turin. That field is now set, with Alcaraz, Medvedev, Nadal, Tsitsipas, Ruud, Djokovic,Auger-Aliassime and Rublev the eight players competing in the year-end event.

ITA National Fall Championships Begin Wednesday with Crawley, Johns Top Seeds; Stearns and Krueger Advance at Dow Tennis Classic; McNally Claims USTA Australian Open Wild Card; Charlottesville Challenger Underway

The second of the three NCAA Division I majors begins tomorrow, with the ITA National Fall Championships kicking off at the Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego California. The fields are now complete, with a few withdrawals and the wild cards resulting in a few big names receiving entry at the last minute.

In the women's draw, All-American finalist Kylie Collins of LSU withdrew, as did Northeast finalist Maria Aguiar of Boston College. Those withdrawals and two wild cards resulted in entry for 2022 NCAA finalist Connie Ma of Stanford, North Carolina's Abbey Forbes, Duke's Cameron Morra and Texas A&M's Mary Stoiana. The draws don't designate which are wild cards and which are replacements for withdrawing players, but those are the four players who did not qualify by the announced criteria. Deniz Khazan of Division II Barry received the women's ITA Cup wild card.

The women's singles seeds:

1. Fiona Crawley, North Carolina
2. Connie Ma, Stanford
3. Abbey Forbes, North Carolina

4. Madison Sieg, Southern California

5. Carol Lee, Georgia Tech

5. Lea Ma, Georgia

5. Carson Tanguilig, North Carolina

5. Mary Stoiana, Texas A&M

The women's doubles seeds:

1. Broadus and Tjen, Pepperdine

2. Crawley and Tanguilig, North Carolina

3. Bryling and Killingsworth, Wake Forest

4. Hance and Wagle, UCLA

5. Beck and Morra, Duke

5. Brown and Miller, Michigan

5. Chervinsky and Subhash, Virginia

5. Miller and Rajecki, NC State

The men's field lost All-American champion Ethan Quinn of Georgia and Inaki Montes of Virginia, who qualified, but opted to take wild cards into the Charlottesville Challenger this week. But three players not initially in the entries were given wild card/alternate entry and ended up seeded, including top seed Garrett Johns of Duke. TCU's Jake Fearnley, Ohio State's JJ Tracy and North Carolina's Ryan Seggerman were the four added to the field at the last minute. Takeshi Taco of Cowley County Community College received the ITA Cup wild card.

The men's singles seeds:

1. Garrett Johns, Duke

2. Antoine Cornut Chauvinc, Florida State

3. Nishesh Basavareddy, Stanford

4. Eliot Spizzirri, Texas

5. Michael Zheng, Columbia

5. Jake Fearnley, TCU

5. Phillip Henning, Georgia

5. JJ Tracy, Ohio State

The men's doubles seeds:

1. Harper and Spizzirri, Texas

2. Dostanic and Frye, Southern California

3. Jong and Maxted, TCU

4. Lutschaunig and Tracy, Ohio State

5. Bass and Grassi Mazzuchi, Baylor

5. Cernoch and Seggerman, North Carolina

5. Bryde and Henning, Georgia

5. De Jong and Zeitvogel, Pepperdine

Complete draws are here. Live scoring, via TennisTicker, is available here. Streaming links are here. Cracked Racquets will begin their coverage at their YouTube channel at noon Eastern Time Wednesday.

I concluded my two and a half days at the WTA 125 Dow Tennis Classic today, but am pleased to report that streaming is now functioning for the event and can be found both at the tournament website and at Tennis Channel Plus. 

NCAA champion Peyton Stearns(Texas) has played in the US Open main draw, so a WTA 125 isn't a particularly daunting task, but I'm sure she was pleased to get her first win at that level nonetheless, beating Asia Muhammad 6-3, 6-4. Stearns, who received a late wild card, trailed 3-0 and 4-2 in the second set, but was the much steadier player down the stretch. Stearns will play 18-year-old Ashlyn Krueger, who defeated No. 8 seed Moyuka Uchijima of Japan 6-1, 7-6(11), saving three set points and converting her fourth match point in that dramatic tiebreaker. 

Robin Montgomery, who is playing doubles with Krueger this week, lost the battle of qualifiers in a nearly three-hour slugfest this morning, with Katherine Sebov of Canada taking a 7-6(6), 5-7, 6-3 decision. Montgomery had three set points in the first set and Sebov had four match points in the second set, with Sebov ultimately prevailing due to her returning prowess. Sebov will play No. 3 seed Lin Zhu of China in the second round.

Caty McNally was officially announced today as the winner of the USTA's Australian Open Wild Card Challenge. When I spoke to her early this afternoon, she told me she thought she had won it, but hadn't received any official notice. The USTA's release came late this afternoon, so she can begin planning her trip to Melbourne knowing she'll be in the main draw. McNally lost in qualifying the last two Australian Opens, but she did play the main draw in 2020, beating Sam Stosur in the first round. If McNally, who is currently 111 in the WTA rankings, does well this week in Midland (she won the title in 2019, beating Jessica Pegula in the final) she may not need the wild card, so Taylor Townsend or Alycia Parks may receive it instead. McNally defeated Parks today in Midland 6-3, 6-1.

Tennys Sandgren is the leader in the men's Australian Open wild card race after the first week, after earning 84 points at the Las Vegas Challenger, four points for qualifying and 80 for claiming the title. The men's race runs through tournaments of November 14 and includes this week's Charlottesville Challenger, next week's Knoxville Challenger and then the Champaign Challenger. 

Many Americans are in Charlottesville this week hoping to boost their chances for the wild card (or direct acceptance into the main draw), including seven of the eight seeds:

1. Denis Kudla

2. Michael Mmoh

3. Stefan Kozlov

4. Chris Eubanks(Georgia Tech)

6. Ben Shelton(Florida)

7. Aleks Kovacevic(Illinois)

8. Emilio Nava

Sandgren, who received a special exemption into the main draw, is playing tonight, as is Kudla and wild card Ethan Quinn(Georgia). Inaki Montes of Virginia won his opening match Monday, beating fellow wild card Alafia Ayeni(Cornell/Kentucky) 6-2, 6-2.