Defending Champion Wake Forest Upset by Baylor, Ohio State Wins Another 4-3 Battle to Reach ITA Men's D-I Team Indoor Semifinals; Johnson Advances to M15 Sunrise Final; Preston Wins Third Straight ITF J300 in Peru

©Colette Lewis 2026--

Dallas TX--

There will be a new champion Tuesday at the ITA Men's Division I Team Indoor Championships, after No. 5 seed Baylor used its home crowd advantage and some clutch play during two third-set tiebreakers in the deciding matches to earn a 4-3 victory over defending champion and No. 1 seed Wake Forest in Waco. 

Moments after Baylor's Luc Koenig defeated Charlie Robertson 1-6, 7-5, 7-6(3) at line 5, Devin Badenhorst got the better of India's recent Davis Cup hero DK Suresh at No. 1 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(5) to reach their first Indoor semifinal since 2022 Monday at the Styslinger-Altec Tennis Complex in Dallas.

Also heading north on Sunday's travel day will be Texas, who ended TCU's streak of four consecutive Team Indoor finals with another 4-3 decision. With heavy rain in Texas most of the day Saturday, only five of the six courts at Baylor were used in the match, so No. 6 singles was early in the second set when the score reached 3-all. Longhorn Oliver Ojakaar, playing his first singles match of the season, defeated Roger Pascual 6-3, 7-6(5) to return Texas to the semifinals for the second consecutive year.

Here in Dallas, No. 1 seed Ohio State continued their Houdini act, dropping the doubles point to No. 4 Stanford and digging themselves a 3-1 hole. But the Buckeyes, with a new look to their lineup after their 4-3 win over SMU Friday, rebounded with four singles points from the top two spots and the bottom two spots.

Stanford's Samir Banerjee was unable to play today after retiring with a back injury in the Cardinal's 4-3 win over Arizona State, so everyone had to move up a spot in the lineup. That put freshman Mark Krupkin into the No. 6 spot, and, as at Baylor, there was a court taken out of commission due to dampness during the doubles point, so that match went on last.

Head coach Ty Tucker pulled Preston Stearns and Loren Byers from his lineup, after Stearns lost at line 2 and Byers at line 5 in the SMU match. Aidan Kim remained at 1, but the rest of the Buckeyes moved up a spot and Brandon Carpico, a doubles regular in the Ohio State lineup, made his major match debut at line 6.

"We think Banerjee's not going to be playing, so they've got a guy coming in at 6, and Carpico has a good skill set to return serves, a great doubles player," Tucker said about his lineup strategy. "And Nikita (Filin) had beaten Godsick at the All-Americans, played a three-set war there, and so obviously we liked that, thought (Godsick) would be moving up, and the person behind Nikita would be Carpico."

After Stanford took the doubles point with wins at line 3 and line 1, with line 2 unfinished, the singles started with little advantage to either team.  Ohio State's Jack Anthrop, the hero of the win over SMU, drew his team even with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Alex Chang at line 2, but Stanford retook the lead with Jagger Leach's 7-6(4), 6-3 win over Bryce Nakashima at line 3.

At line 4, Alex Bernard, who did not play Friday, had a set point/deciding point at 5-4 in the first, but Alex Razeghi won that point and the next two games, and made it 3-1 Stanford with a 7-5, 7-5 win at line 4.  

By that time, Aidan Kim had earned a third set in his match with Hudson Rivera at line 1, and Godsick had forced a third set against Filin at line 5. 

Carpico had taken the court and had built a 6-2, 4-1 lead over Krupkin, and Kim earned an early break in the third against Rivera. The Buckeyes had no margin for error however, and with Filin and Godsick even throughout that match took on extra significance. Filin held for 6-5, Carpico was on the brink of closing out Krupkin and Kim was up 5-3 in the third with a deciding point, but Rivera saved it. Godsick went down 0-40 serving at 5-6 and Filin pounced, earning the win as Kim was ready to serve for the match.

The junior from Michigan made five straight first serves, but Rivera kept the pressure on, hitting a backhand pass for 30-15 and getting a netcord volley opportunity. Kim then drilled an ace for 40-30, and finally missed a first serve. The second was short in the box on the far sideline, with Rivera calling it out. Kim challenged the call and the Electronic Line Calling replay showed it good, giving Kim a second serve ace and the Buckeyes a spot in Monday's semifinal.

"That's all Ty preaches," Kim said of getting his first serves in during that critical game. "On that second serve, I didn't really feel like I went for it. I got a little bit more lucky to hit it closer to the line and thank god it was in."

Tucker said he was looking forward to the day off after two consecutive emotional matches.

"It's my favorite day," Tucker said. "I go back to the days of the (NCAA) Sweet 16 when you'd play a match and have a day off. These are the best days: you have tomorrow off and tonight everybody feels pretty good and you go out to dinner and you don't have the stress and you're not watching tape," said Tucker, who then corrected himself. "Of course we'll watch some tape, but it's nice to know we've got a little bit of time, and it's enjoyable. It's so much fun, gosh. If they sold that at 7-11, I'd buy lots of cans of that."

The only quarterfinal match that didn't end in a 4-3 score was next, with No. 2 seed Virginia beating No. 3 seed Mississippi State 4-1, but in no sense was the match routine.

Virginia lost the doubles point, as did every other quarterfinal winner, with Dylan Dietrich and Stiles Brockett losing five straight games after leading 5-2 to drop the deciding set to Benito Sanchez Martinez and Petar Jovanovic after Mississippi State won at 2 and Virginia at 3.

Virginia took that disappointment to heart and won all six first sets in singles, but Mississippi State was not about to concede, even if it meant needing to split sets on four courts to get an improbable win. They got three splits, with Benito Sanchez Martinez going from 6-4, 5-0 down to Dietrich at line 1, to winning eight straight games to keep his team alive.

Stiles Brockett got a quick 6-1, 6-0 win over Roberto Ferrer at line 5 to get the Cavaliers back even, but their next point was a long time coming.

Keegan Rice did close out Petar Jovanovic 6-3, 7-6(1) to make it 2-1, but Virginia's Jangjun Kim couldn't convert a match point in the second set tiebreaker sending that to a third set.

At line 3, Mississippi State's Mario Martinez Serrano served for the second set against Andres Santamarta at 5-4, but lost that game at love and Santamarta won the next two games to make it 3-1. 

Virginia's Mans Dahlberg had gotten an early break in his third set with Michal Novansky at line 6 and held onto it throughout. Novansky saved a match point serving at 3-5, but Dahlberg, a senior from Sweden, closed out the match with no drama in the next game.

"I started out great, but the guy raised his level quite a bit in the second set," said 2025 NCAA doubles champion Dahlberg, the only member of Virginia's 2023 NCAA championship team still competing for the Cavaliers. "He started playing way more aggressively. I just hung in there in the third set, playing physical and I ended up taking it."

A week ago, Virginia lost 5-2 to the Buckeyes in Columbus, but Dahlberg is ready for the rematch.

"They won't have the entire city of Columbus behind them, everybody being super loud," Dahlberg said. "Regardless, it will be a great match, they're a great indoor tennis team and we're all super excited to play them again, and hopefully get revenge."

Head coach Andres Pedroso agreed.

"The courts are slower here and they won't have however many fans, I heard they had like 800, roaring for their team," Pedroso said. "It was fun, it was an awesome environment, but this will be a different environment, I hope it will be a different result. We'll do our best."

Monday's semifinals are scheduled for 3:30 pm and 6:30 pm Central time, with free live streaming at the Cracked Racquets YouTube channel. The final consolation matches will be on Sunday's schedule; live scoring for those matches is available here.

ITA Men's Division I Team Indoor Championships

Quarterfinals, February 14, 2026

SMU site:

Ohio State[1] d. Stanford[4] 4-3

Doubles:

1. Alex Razeghi and Alex Chang(STAN) d. Alex Bernard and Alex Okonkwo(OSU) 7-6(5)

2. Nico Godsick and Jagger Leach(STAN) v Brandon Carpico and Nikita Filin(OSU) 5-6, unf

3. Mark Krupkin and Hudson Rivera(STAN) d. Aidan Kim and Bryce Nakashima(OSU) 6-3

Order of finish: 3, 1

Singles:

1. Aidan Kim(OSU) d. Hudson Rivera(STAN) 5-7, 6-2, 6-4

2. Jack Anthrop(OSU) d. Alex Chang(STAN) 6-4, 6-4 

3. Jagger Leach(STAN) d. Bryce Nakashima(OSU) 7-6(4), 6-3

4. Alex Razeghi(STAN) d. Alex Bernard(OSU) 7-5, 7-5

5. Nikita Filin(OSU) d. Nico Godsick(STAN)  6-3, 1-6, 7-5

6.  Brandon Carpico(OSU) d. Mark Krupkin(STAN) 6-2, 6-2

Order of finish: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 1

Virginia[2] d. Mississippi State[3] 4-1

Doubles

1. Benito Sanchez Martinez and Petar Jovanovic(MSU) d. Stiles Brockett and Dylan Dietrich(UVA) 7-5

2. Mario Martinez Serrano and Michal Novansky(MSU) d. Mans Dahlberg and Jangjun Kim(UVA) 6-3

3. Andres Santamarta and Keegan Rice(UVA) d. Bryan Hernandez Cortes and Raphael Vaksmann(MSU) 7-5

Order of finish: 2, 3, 1

Singles:

1. Dylan Dietrich(UVA) v Benito Sanchez Martinez(MSU) 5-4, 5-7, 3-3, unf

2. Keegan Rice(UVA) d. Petar Jovanovic(MSU) 6-3, 7-6(1)

3.  Andres Santamarta(UVA) d. Mario Martinez(MSU) 6-4, 7-5

4. Jangjun Kim(UVA) v Raphael Vaksmann(MSU) 6-4, 6-7(7), 1-1, unf

5. Stiles Brockett(UVA) d. Roberto Ferrer(MSU) 6-1, 6-0

6. Mans Dahlberg(UVA) d. Michal Novansky(MSU) 6-2, 4-6, 6-4

Order of finish: 5, 2, 3, 6

Baylor site:

Texas[3] d. TCU[2] 4-3

Doubles:

1. Oliver Bonding and Cooper Woestendick(TCU) d. Abel Forger and Kalin Ivanovski(TEX) 6-3

2. Duncan Chan and Cosme Rolland de Ravel(TCU) d. Sebastian Gorzny and Lucas Marionneau(TEX) 6-3

3. Albert Pedrico and Filip Apltauer(TCU) v Sebastian Eriksson and Oliver Ojakaar(TEX) 5-4, unf

Order of finish: 1, 2

Singles:

1. Sebastian Gorzny(TEX) d. Duncan Chan(TCU) 7-6(2), 6-4

2. Kalin Ivanovski(TEX) d. Cosme Rolland de Ravel(TCU) 6-7(6) 6-1, 6-2 

3. Cooper Woestendick(TCU) d. Abel Forger(TEX) 6-7(3), 6-2. 7-5

4. Sebastian Eriksson(TEX) d. Oliver Bonding(TCU) 6-4, 6-7(2). 6-4

5. Albert Pedrico(TCU) d. Jonah Braswell(TEX) 6-2, 6-2

6. Oliver Ojakaar(TEX) d. Roger Pascual(TCU) 6-3, 7-6(5)

Order of finish: 5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6

Baylor[5] d. Wake Forest[1] 4-3

Doubles:

1. Andrew Delgado and DK Suresh(WAKE) d. Connor Van Schalkwyk and Luc Koeing(BAY) 6-3

2. Alexandru Chirita and Zsombor Velcz(BAY) d. Aryan Shah and Kacper Szymkowiak(WAKE) 6-3 

3. Luca Pow and Charlie Robertson(WAKE) d. Blake Anderson and Devin Badenhorst(BAY) 6-4

Order of finish: 1, 2, 3

Singles:

1. Devin Badenhorst(BAY) d. DK Suresh(WAKE) 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(5)

2. Zsombor Velcz(BAY) d. Aryan Shah(WAKE) 6-3, 7-6(3)

3. Connor Van Schalkwyk(BAY) d. Luca Pow(WAKE) 6-4, 6-4

4. Mees Rottgering(WAKE) d. Alexandru Chirita(BAY) 6-4, 6-4

5. Luc Koenig(BAY) d. Charlie Robertson(WAKE) 1-6, 7-5, 7-6(3)

6. Joaquin Guilleme(WAKE) d. Louis Bowden(BAY) 6-4, 7-5

Order of finish:

4, 2, 3, 6, 5, 1

========================================

Andy Johnson is through to the final of the USTA Pro Circuit M15 in Sunrise Florida after defeating No. 4 seed Bruno Kuzuhara 6-2, 6-4. The 16-year-old from Southern California will play unseeded 22-year-old Dragos Nicolae Cazacu of Romania in the final. Cazacu beat No. 7 seed Ignacio Monzon of Argentina 6-1, 6-4.

Stefan Dostanic, who was the Most Outstanding Player of last year's Men's Team Indoor while at Wake Forest, is through to his first ATP Challenger final at the 50 in Baton Rouge Louisiana. Dostanic, a qualifier, defeated No. 2 seed Andres Andrade(Florida) of Ecuador 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 in today's semifinals. Dostanic will play top seed Alexis Galarneau(NC State) of Canada, who beat Andre Ilagan(Hawaii) 6-3, 6-2.

Alafia Ayeni(Cornell, Kentucky) and Keegan Smith(UCLA) won the doubles title in Baton Rouge, beating wild cards Ron Hohmann(LSU, Michigan State) and Andres Martin(Georgia Tech) 5-7, 6-3, 10-7 in the final.

Fifteen-year-old Janae Preston won her third consecutive ITF J300 title today in Peru, with the No. 3 seed beating No. 5 seed Lani Chang 6-1, 6-2 in the final. Preston, who won in Costa Rica and Ecuador on hard courts and this week on clay, has not lost a set in her last two title runs. 

No. 2 seed Mathys Domenc defeated No. 6 seed Benjamin Azar 6-1, 6-1 in the boys final.

Top Seed Ohio State Escapes Host SMU's Upset Bid, Stanford Survives Arizona State in 4-3 Thrillers on Opening Day of ITA Men's D-I Team Indoor Championships; Johnson Reaches Semis at M15 Sunrise; Chang Faces Preston in ITF J300 Final in Peru

©Colette Lewis 2026--
Dallas TX--

All the drama of the first day of the ITA Division I Men's Team Indoor Championships was front-loaded in the opening two matches Friday at the Styslinger/Altec Tennis Complex, with 4-3 thrillers clinched by players who had never found themselves in that scenario until today.

Of the two 4-3 decisions, The more expected of the two 4-3 decision came in the 9:00 am match between No. 4 Stanford and No. 5 Arizona State, although the Cardinal looked in control after taking two of the three doubles sets at lines 1 and 3, while the Sun Devils took line 2.

Stanford then proceeded to take the first three sets in singles, but Arizona State took the remaining three, needing just one split to get themselves right back in the match. 

They got that quickly at line 2, with Ofek Shimanov taking the second set from Hudson Rivera, and the battle was joined.

Stanford's Samir Banerjee, who was playing with a brace on his left wrist and was able to only slice the ball on the backhand, also experienced a back issue in the second set and retired to Bor Artnak at line 1 with the score 7-6(4), 4-1, pulling Arizona State even. 

Alex Chang put Stanford up 2-1 with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Mathias Bondaz at line 3, while Stanford's Nico Godsick had earned a split over Jelani Sarr at line 6. Rivera then picked up the third point for the Cardinal with a 6-2, 1-6, 6-2 win at line 2, and a tough but routine win was on the horizon with Jagger Leach in a second set tiebreaker with Shu Matsuoka at line 4 that would seal the win for Stanford. But Matsuoka took that tiebreaker, so the search for the fourth point was still on, with Godsick leading Sarr at 4-2 in the third and Alex Razeghi, who had dropped the first set to Niels Villard at line 5, taking the second and leading 2-0 in the third.

Godsick served for the match at 5-4 and had a match point on the deciding point, but Sarr hit a return winner to deny him the clinch, and Sarr held for a 6-5 lead, as Leach lost his third set to Matsuoka 6-1. Sarr then broke Godsick for the Sun Devils third point, when Godsick was given a point penalty for ball abuse serving down 30-40.

By then Razeghi was up a break in the third set, and he was right where he wanted to be, even though he had no experience in that situation.

"It was a great experience. I've always dreamed of having a 3-3 clinch, and this was my first one," said the sophomore from Texas. "It was something I thought about a lot, so when the moment did come, I wasn't nervous at all. I felt great out there, body feels good and I'm just happy for the team win."

Razeghi showed no sign of nerves serving for the match after Villard had held for 5-3, with a backhand pass and then an ace giving him three match points at 40-15. He only needed one, with Villard sending backhand return of a second serve long. 

"Once I got that first point in the last game, it was smooth sailing for me," Razeghi said. "I always thought about how it would be with all the people watching in the 3-3 match, and I'm very happy how I handled that today."

Razeghi kept his celebration muted, reasoning that the job's not finished, and the team needs to start over again in Saturday's quarterfinal against the winner of Ohio State and SMU.

"What a team victory this was," said head coach Paul Goldstein. "We got contributions down the line, and we were able to survive today because of everybody's performance, whether you were technically participating or not, and that was an example of it."

Stanford[4] d. Arizona State[5] 4-3

Doubles:

1. Alex Razeghi and Alex Chang(STAN) d. Shu Matsuoka and Niels Villard(ASU) 6-1

2. Ofek Shimanov and Bor Artnak(ASU) d. Hudson Rivera and Samir Banerjee(STAN) 6-2

3. Nico Godsick and Jagger Leach(STAN) d. Jelani Sarr and Milos Mikovic(ASU) 6-2

Order of finish:

1, 2, 3

Singles:

1. Bor Artnak(ASU) d, Samir Banerjee(STAN) 7-6(4), 4-1, ret.

2. Hudson Rivera(STAN) d. Ofek Shimanov(ASU) 6-2, 1-6, 6-2 

3. Alex Chang(STAN) d. Mathis Bondaz(ASU) 6-4, 6-3

4. Shu Matsuoka(ASU) d. Jagger Leach(STAN) 3-6, 7-6(7), 6-1

5. Alexander Razeghi(STAN) d. Niels Villard(ASU) 4-6, 6-2, 6-3

6. Jelani Sarr(ASU) d.  Nico Godsick(STAN) 6-4, 1-6, 7-5

Order of finish:  1, 3, 2, 4, 6, 5

The match between top seed Ohio State and No. 8 seed SMU was widely expected to be a routine win for the undefeated Buckeyes, who had beaten Wake Forest and Virginia, teams who had been No. 1 at the time of the losses in Columbus. But Ohio State was challenged down to the last points of a third-set tiebreaker with senior Jack Anthrop getting his first career 3-3 clinch over Georgi Georgiev at line 3.

The Buckeyes got a glimpse of their future struggles when SMU pushed them to the limit in the doubles point. Although Brandon Carpico and Nikita Filin won comfortably at line 2, SMU's Trevor Svajda and Alex Finkelstein took line 1 over Alex Bernard and Alex Okonkwo 7-6(2). SMU's Jerry Barton and Krish Arora saved eight match points before finally succumbing on the ninth to Aidan Kim and Bryce Nakashima, with the Buckeyes securing what proved to be the deciding point. 

The teams split first sets, but Ohio State got the first two points in singles with Nikita Filin getting a win at line 6 and Bryce Nakashima following a few minutes later with a victory at line 4.

Up 3-0, the attention turned to Anthrop, who had won the first set and was up a break in the second. But Georgiev took the second set, and after Trevor Svajda beat Aidan Kim 6-4, 6-2 at line 1 and Jerry Barton defeated Loren Byers at line 5, it was 3-2 and the finish line was not in sight for either team. Preston Stearns and Alex Finkelstein were in a third set at line 2, with Finkelstein getting a break at 4-4 and serving for the third point, which he secured just as Anthrop and Georgiev were beginning their third set tiebreaker.

Anthrop got a mini-break at 2-0 and was the steadier of the two players throughout the tiebreaker, while Georgiev began to show signs of fatigue with several unforced errors. Anthrop went up 6-1, and brought out his best shot of the match on that point, recovering from being pinned into the backhand corner and scrambling for a dropshot and flicking a sharply angled forehand volley from near the chair umpire to the opposite sideline.

Anthrop had reached several of Georgiev's drop shots earlier in the match but had not been able to convert any into winners, but he was not letting this opportunity pass him by.

"I think that was like, what, the fifth time I'd been in that spot and not got that," said the 22-year-old from Florida. "I just saw it and said, nah, I'm not doing it this time, we're ending it right here. I'm not stressing anybody else out anymore."

Head coach Ty Tucker said he wasn't surprised that his team struggled away from their home courts.

"I feel like we're a top 5 team in the country at home and we're a top 25 team in the country in a true road match," Tucker said. "We hope to keep getting a little bit better, inch by inch and find ourselves playing to 90 percent of our level. It's hard in the first match, and SMU's very good."

Ohio State[1] d. SMU[8] 4-3

Doubles:

1. Trevor Svajda and Alex Finkelstein(SMU) d. Alex Okonkwo and Alex Bernard(OSU) 7-6(2)

2. Nikita Filin and Brandon Carpico(OSU) d. Georgia Georgiev and Vikas Deo(SMU) 6-3

3. Aidan Kim and Bryce Nakashima(OSU) d. Jerry Barton and Krish Arora(SMU) 7-6(5)

Order of finish: 2, 1, 3

Singles:

1. Trevor Svajda(SMU) d. Aidan Kim(OSU) 6-4, 6-2

2. Alex Finkelstein(SMU) d. Preston Stearns(OSU) 7-6(3), 3-6, 6-4

3. Jack Anthrop(OSU) d. Georgi Georgiev(SMU) 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(1)

4. Bryce Nakashima(OSU) d. Krish Arora 6-4, 6-2

5. Jerry Barton(SMU) d. Loren Byers 6-2, 7-6(5)

6. Nikita Filin(OSU) d. Noah McDonald(SMU) 6-4, 6-1

Order of finish: 6, 1, 4, 5, 2, 3

The two matches in the afternoon and evening were competitive, but went according to seed, with No. 2 Virginia beating No. 7 seed Clemson 4-0 and No. 3 seed Mississippi State defeating No. 6 Florida 4-1.

Virginia[2] d. Clemson[7] 4-0

Doubles: 

1. Stiles Brockett and Dylan Dietrich(UVA) v Henrik Bladelius and Viktor Markov(CLEM) 6-6, unf

2. Mans Dahlberg and Jangjun Kim(UVA) d. Noa Vukadin and Manuel Plunger(CLEM) 6-4

3. Andres Santamarta Roi and Keegan Rice(UVA) d. Yannic Nittmann and Matisse Farzam(CLEM) 6-4

Order of finish: 2, 3

Singles:

1. Dylan Dietrich(UVA) d. Viktor Markov(CLEM) 6-3, 6-3

2. Noa Vukadin(CLEM) v Keegan Rice(UVA) 7-5, 4-3, unf 

3. Matisse Farzam(CLEM) v Andres Santamarta(UVA) 6-3, 5-3, unf

4. Marko Mesarovic(CLEM) v Jangjun Kim(UVA) 3-6, 6-4, 0-1, unf

5. Stiles Brockett(UVA) d. Henrik Bladelius(CLEM) 7-6(6), 6-0

6. Mans Dahlberg(UVA) d. Edoardo Cherie Ligniere(CLEM) 6-4, 6-2

Order of finish: 1, 6, 5

Mississippi State[3] d. Florida[6] 4-1

Doubles:

1. Benito Sanchez Martinez and Petar Jovanovic(MSU) v Henry Jefferson and Lorenzo Claverie(FLA) 4-5, dnf

2. Mario Martinez Serrano and Michal Novansky(MSU) d. Pablo Ramos Perez and Adhithya Ganesan(FLA) 6-4

3. Bryan Hernandez Cortes and Raphael Vaksmann(MSU) d. Kevin Edengren and Tanapatt Nirundorn(FLA) 6-1

Order of finish: 3,2 

Singles:

1. Benito Martinez Sanchez(MSU) v Adhithya Ganesan(FLA) 3-6, 6-2, 3-1, unf

2. Henry Jefferson(FLA) d. Petar Jovanovic 6-3, 3-6, 6-2

3. Mario Martinez Serrano(MSU) d. Lorenzo Claverie(FLA) 6-4, 6-4

4. Pablo Ramos Perez(FLA) v Raphael Vaksmann(MSU) 4-6, 7-6(5), unf

5. Roberto Ferrer Guimaraes(MSU) d. Kevin Edengren(FLA) 6-2, 6-4

6. Michal Novansky(MSU) d. Andreas Timini(FLA) 7-5, 6-3

Order of finish: 3, 5, 2, 6

The four matches at the Baylor site were much more predictable, with only one mild upset, with host Baylor defeating No. 4 seed Central Florida 4-0.

TCU[2] d. LSU[7] 4-1

Doubles:

1. Matias Ponce de Leon and Erik Arutiunian(LSU) d. Oliver Bonding and Cooper Woestendick(TCU) 6-4

2. Duncan Chan and Cosme Rolland de Ravel(TCU) d. Enzo Kohlmann and Rudy Ceccon(LSU) 6-1

3. Filip Apltauer and Albert Pedrico(TCU) d. Sasa Markovic and Calin Stirbu(LSU) 6-3

Order of finish: 2, 1, 3

Singles:

1. Duncan Chan(TCU) d. Erik Arutiunian(LSU) 7-6(4), 6-3

2. Cosme Rolland de Ravel(TCU) v Enzo Kohlmann(LSU) 5-7, 6-1, 4-1, dnf

3. Cooper Woestendick(TCU) v Matias Ponce de Leon(LSU) 3-6, 6-3, 5-2, dnf 

4. Sasa Markovic(LSU) d. Oliver Bonding(TCU) 6-2, 6-4

5. Albert Pedrico(TCU) d. Rudy Ceccon(LSU) 7-5, 7-5

6. Roger Pascual(TCU) d. Calin Stirbu(LSU) 6-2, 6-3

Order of finish: 4, 6, 1, 5

Texas[3] d. Texas A&M[6] 4-2

Doubles:

1. Theo Papamalamis and Togan Tokac(TAMU) d. Sebastian Gorzny and Lucas Marionneau(TEX) 6-3

2. Oliver Ojakaar and Sebastian Eriksson(TEX) v Alex Frusina and Kholowam Montsi(TAMU) 5-3, unf.

3. Tiago Pires and Kriish Tyagi(TAMU) d. Evan Burnett and Abel Forger(TEX) 6-2

Order of finish, 3, 1

Singles:

1. Sebastian Gorzny(TEX) d. Theo Papamalamis(TAMU) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2

2. Abel Forger(TEX) d. Alex Frusina(TAMU) 6-3, 7-6(3)

3. Sebastian Eriksson(TEX) d. Khololwam Montsi(TAMU) 7-6(4), 6-4

4. Jonah Braswell(TEX) v Tiago Pires(TAMU) 6-0, 6-7(4), 4-4, dnf

5. Lucas Marionneau(TEX) d. Togan Tokac(TAMU) 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-3

6. Markus Molder(TAMU) d. Mariano Dedura-Palomero(TEX) 7-6(3), 6-3

Order of finish:  6, 2, 3, 1, 5

Baylor[5] d. Central Florida[4] 4-0

Doubles:

1. Paul Colin and Yassine Dlimi(UCF) v Connor Van Schalkwyk and Luc Koenig(BAY) 4-4, dnf

2. Zsombor Velcz and Ioan Alexandru Chirita(BAY) d. Mehdi Benchakroun and Wissam Abderrahman(UCF) 6-1

3. Blake Anderson and Devin Badenhorst(BAY) d. Luca Hotze and Nicolas Oliveira(UCA) 6-3

Order of finish: 2, 3

Singles:

1. Devin Badenhorst(BAY) d. Yassine Dlimi(UCF) 6-4, 6-2

2. Zsombor Velcz(BAY) v Wissam Abderrahman(UCF) 7-5, 3-3, unf

3. Connor Van Schalkwyk(BAY) v Mehdi Benchakroun(UCF) 6-3, 5-6, unf 

4. Pedro Rodrigues(UCF) v Ioan Alexandru Chirita(BAY) 7-5, 2-6, unf

5. Luc Koenig(BAY) d. Paul Colin(UCF) 6-4, 7-6(3)

6.  Louis Bowden(BAY) d. Clement Lemire(UCF)  6-4, 6-1

Order of finish: 1, 6, 5

Wake Forest[1] d. UC-Santa Barbara[8] 4-0

Doubles:

1. DK Suresh and Andrew Delgado(WAKE) v Conrad Brown and Dominque Rolland(UCSB) 5-4, unf

2. Aryan Shah and Kacper Szymowiak(WAKE) d. Lucca Liu and Miguel Avendano Cadena(UCSB) 6-2

3. Luca Pow and Charlie Robertson(WAKE) d. Lorenzo Brunkow and Diogo Morais(UCSB) 6-3

Order of finish: 2, 3

Singles:

1. DK Suresh(WAKE) v Lucca Liu(UCSB) 6-4, 6-5, dnf

2. Dominique Rolland(UCSB) v Aryan Shah(WAKE) 6-1, 4-4, dnf

3. Miguel Avendano Cadena(UCSB) v Luca Pow(WAKE) 6-1, 4-4, dnf

4. Mees Rottgering(WAKE) d. Diogo Morais(UCSB) 6-3, 6-3

5. Charlie Robertson(WAKE) d. Charlie Underwood(UCSB) 6-2, 6-3

6. Joaquin Guilleme(WAKE) d. Conrad Brown(UCSB) 6-3, 6-1

Order of finish: 6, 5, 4

The schedule for Saturday in SMU features No. 4 Stanford versus No. 1 Ohio State at noon and No. 3 Mississippi State versus No. 2 Virginia at 3:30 pm Central.

In Waco, No. 2 TCU will play No. 3 Texas at noon, with No. 5 Baylor facing No. 1 Wake Forest at 3:30 pm Central.

Cracked Racquets will have two streams of the quarterfinals at each site at their YouTube channel.

At the M15 in Sunrise Florida, 16-year-old Andy Johnson has reached his first Pro Circuit semifinal, defeating qualifier Fermin Tenti of Argentina 4-6, 6-3, 6-3. He will play No. 4 seed Bruno Kuzuhara Saturday.

At the ITF J300 in Lima Peru, 15-year-olds Janae Preston and Lani Chang will play for the singles title, with Preston, the No. 3 seed going for her third straight J300 title this year and Chang, the No. 5 seed, playing in her first J300 final.

Preston defeated top seed Canedla Vazquez of Argentina 6-1, 6-4 in today's semifinals and Chang beat qualifier Londyn McCord 6-2, 6-4.

Chang and Preston, the top seeds in doubles, lost to No. 2 seeds Marianne Angel of Mexico and Camila Rodero of Chile 7-6(2), 3-6, 10-7 in today's final.

Unseeded Gabriel Jessup and Agassi Rusher lost in the boys doubles final to top seeds Benjamin Azar of Canada and Mathys Domenc of France 6-3, 6-3.

Svajda Ready for Top Seed Ohio State as Men's ITA Indoor Championships Begin Friday; Pinnington Jones Makes Dallas Open Quarterfinals; Johnson Beats Fenty To Reach Sunrise M15 Quarterfinals; Preston Extends J300 Winning Streak in Peru

©Colette Lewis 2026--

Dallas Texas--

Today was Media Day for the teams at the ITA Men's Team Indoor Championships, and the eight teams at the SMU site cycled through the production area on the third floor, filming introductions, answering questions from Cracked Racquets announcer Chris Halioris, the ITA's social media consultants and Nate Walroth of Not Your Country Club.

One player who I wasn't able to talk to at the Dallas Open in my visit there yesterday was at the top of my list for an interview today, with SMU junior Trevor Svajda in a unique position to compare the level of the college game.

Svajda, who lost to Ethan Quinn 7-6(3), 7-5 in the first round of the Dallas Open, was in the unique position of being able to see the improvements in his game from one year to the next, after he had lost to Quinn in the first round of the Dallas Open last year 6-4, 6-2.

"I was excited when I saw the draw," Svajda said. "He's a great player, I'm kind of friends with him off the court, he's a nice kid, but I was excited to have a second chance at him. And I think I proved myself a little bit more this year than I did last year."

Although Svajda has been focusing on improving his serve and saw the fruits of that labor when he reached the NCAA singles final in November, he singled out Quinn's serve as the difference in the match Wednesday.

"His serve was the toughest thing," said the 19-year-old from San Diego, who broke Quinn just once in the match. "I got an early break in the first set, but I guessed right four times in a row and saw a couple of second serves. He broke me back right after, and I saw no more chances at all. He has one of the best serves I've played against, so I'd say that's the biggest difference."

Svajda is also not only in a position to rate his own game, but in the middle of his third collegiate season, he can compare the levels of the pros at the ATP 500 level and the players he competes against at the No. 1 position in collegiate competition.

"I think college tennis is at the highest level that it's ever been," Svajda said. "These players are definitely Top 200 players, some top 150, and I think college tennis is at its peak right now, it's pretty similar level to the ATP tour."

Svajda returned for his junior year after what he described as "not the greatest seasons" but with his results this fall he sees himself more prepared now for the pro tour.

"I think it was a good learning experience for me and I'm going to get as many matches as I can, and once I feel I'm ready, I'll turn pro," said Svajda, who believes his switch to a Yonex racquet has contributed to his improved results. "This season, it's looking more and more likely that I'm ready."

Svajda will take on Ohio State's Aidan Kim, who he beat in his run to the Kalamazoo 18s final in 2023 and lost to in an M25 last summer here in Dallas, at No. 1 singles in the noon match Friday.

"I think we're going to come out loose," Svajda said. "Anything can happen, it's college tennis, so I think no nerves for us. I think we're going to try to come out and play our best tennis. They are a good team."

Another player who just a year ago was playing No. 1 in the final of the ITA Men's Team Indoor, TCU's Jack Pinnington Jones, provided more evidence of the level at the top of the collegiate game, advancing to the quarterfinals of the Dallas Open with a 7-6(5), 4-6, 7-6(4) win over collegiate rival Eliot Spizzirri. Pinnington Jones, who lost to Wake Forest's Stefan Dostanic 7-6(3), 5-7, 6-4 in the deciding match, qualified for the Dallas Open and beat No. 4 seed Flavio Cobolli of Italy 6-2, 6-2 in the first round Tuesday.

In his first ATP quarterfinal Friday, Pinnington Jones will face Marin Cilic of Croatia, who beat Ethan Quinn(Georgia) 7-6(4), 6-3.

I'll be covering all four matches at the SMU site tomorrow; all matches at both sites will be available at the Cracked Racquets YouTube Channel, with two separate streams.

ITA Men's Division I Team Indoors first round matches Friday February 13, 2026

All times Central

Baylor site

Wake Forest[1] v UC Santa Barbara[8] 6:30 pm

Central Florida[4] v Baylor[5] 3:30 pm

Texas A&M[6] v Texas[3] 12:00 pm

LSU[7] v TCU[2] 9:00 am

SMU site

Ohio State[1] v SMU[8] noon

Stanford [4] v Arizona State[5] 9:00 am

Florida[6] v Mississippi State[3] 6:30 pm

Clemson[7] v Virginia[2] 3:30 pm

I probably won't have time to follow much else Friday, so I'll do a brief update tonight on the USTA Pro Circuit events, with the quarterfinals set at the ATP Challenger 50 in Baton Rouge and the M15 in Sunrise Florida. 

In Baton Rouge, Stefan Dostanic is through to his third Challenger quarterfinal and the second in a row, with the 24-year-old qualifier advancing to a meeting with LSU's Olaf Pieczkowski of Poland, who will not be available for the Tigers 9 a.m. match in Waco against TCU.

Wild card Braden Shick(NC State), playing in just his second career Challenger, beat No. 7 seed Tyler Zink(Georgia, Oklahoma State) 7-6(7), 6-4 to advance to a meeting with No. 2 seed Andres Andrade(Florida) of Ecuador. Cannon Kingsley(Ohio State) and Andre Ilagan(Hawaii) will face off in a an all-USA quarterfinal, with Daniel Milavsky(Harvard) playing top seed Alexis Galarneau(NC State) of Canada. Galarneau beat Jack Kennedy 6-4, 6-3 in the second round.

In Sunrise, 16-year-old Andy Johnson reached the quarterfinals of an M15 for the second time in three weeks, beating No. 2 seed Andrew Fenty(Michigan) 6-4, 7-6(2). Johnson will face qualifier Fermin Tenti of Argentina in the quarterfinals.

At the J300 in Lima Peru, Janae Preston continued her winning streak, with the No. 3 seed beating unseeded Sophie Triquart of Germany 6-1, 6-2. Preston, who won the J300 in Costa Rica last month and the J300 in Ecuador last week, will play top seed Candela Vasquez of Argentina in the semifinals.

In the all-USA semifinal in the bottom half, qualifier Londyn McCord will take on No. 5 seed Lani Chang.

All US boys are out in singles, but Gabriel Jessup and Agassi Rusher are through to the doubles final.  Chang and Preston, the top seeds, are in the girls doubles final.

Quinn Fights Off Jet Lag and SMU's Trevor Svajda to Advance, Spizzirri Uses Texas Support to Reach Second Round at ATP 500 Dallas Open

©Colette Lewis 2026--
Dallas, Texas--

I spent the day at the ATP 500 Nexo Dallas Open, watching many of the players I've covered in the juniors and in college competing or practicing at the highest levels of the game. 

I decided to focus on the two matches played on the Grandstand court at the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, which is where the Dallas Cowboys conduct their training camp.

Although most of the impressive midweek crowd was glued to the Center Court for 2024 champion Tommy Paul's 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(4) win over Jenson Brooksby, I wanted to watch the match between two former Kalamazoo 18s finalists: Ethan Quinn and wild card Trevor Svajda.

Quinn, now No. 74 in the ATP rankings, had played the SMU junior last year in the Dallas Open first round, earning a 6-4, 6-2 victory, but today's match was much closer, with Quinn earning a 7-6(3), 7-5 victory.

Svajda, a 19-year-old from San Diego, earned the first break of the match going up 3-2 in the first set, but Quinn immediately got the break back and earned a set point with Svajda serving at 4-5. But Svajda saved it with a good first serve, hit one of his six aces on the next point and put a forehand on the baseline to hold. 

In the tiebreaker Svajda made an unforced error to fall behind 4-2 and Quinn took control with a perfect and rare drop shot winner to go up 6-3. Svajda missed a backhand wide to give Quinn the set, but continued to go toe-to-toe with the 21-year-old Californian throughout the second set, holding from 0-40 down at 4-all with some clutch serving. 

But Quinn was holding much more easily and with Svajda serving at 5-all 15-30, Quinn got an extremely fortunate let cord winner on a return and converted on his first break point. 

Quinn dropped the first point, but raised his level after that, closing out Svajda with his seventh and eighth aces of the match.

After winning his Davis Cup singles match in Hungary on Saturday, an emotionally draining 13-11 in a third set tiebreaker over Fabian Marozsan, Quinn was happy to have a Wednesday noon start.

"I'm a little tired," Quinn said in a Mixed Zone interview after the match. "It's always a challenge going from one continent to the next, from Australia, back to North America, having just three or four nights to adjust to North American time zone, then go to Europe and adjust to that time zone. It's difficult, but that's just a part of professional tennis and as you do it more and more you just kind of get used to it. This is one of the first times I've had to do that and it definitely got to me a little bit, but it was nice that the tournament accommodated me, giving me a Wednesday start, first on. If I was playing later today, I don't know how that would have gone."

Quinn said he was impressed with how Svajda's game has improved in the past twelve months.

"Last year I was able to be a little bit more physical with him, hit him off the court a little bit," said Quinn, who lost to Learner Tien in the 2022 Kalamazoo 18s final, and won the NCAA title while a freshman at Georgia the following year. "This year Trevor was more aggressive with his second serve, moving his spots a little more. On the deuce side, his slider wide has improved a ton, and he was able to hit that spot short in the box and I was really having to go out and get it."

Quinn has been known for his potent forehand, but he has worked hard on his backhand in the past year.

"My backhand side is nails now," Quinn said. "It's very solid, I've beaten guys on big points just backhand to backhand. In Davis Cup, there was a lot of huge points that I beat Fabian just backhand to backhand, breaking him down, so from last year to now, I think that's the biggest improvement I made, along with my serve. I'm able to hit my spots a little better, a little bit bigger."

Quinn's second round opponent is 37-year-old Marin Cilic of Croatia, who won his 600th ATP match and prevented a rematch of that 2022 Kalamazoo final with a 7-5, 7-6(4) win over Learner Tien Tuesday.

"I saw that he won his 600th ATP match yesterday," Quinn said. "I mean, that's just unbelievable how long he's been able to do it. I remember as a kid, watching him win the US Open in an era that was dominated by three guys. Looking at him, you know I've thought, it's possible. Right now it's like Jannik and Carlos are the guys you're going to have to get through, but it's possible to win a grand slam (now) because he's proven it. So to be on the other side of the court from him, it's an honor."

Following Quinn and Svajda on Grandstand were Eliot Spizzirri and James Duckworth, with Duckworth getting the Wednesday start after playing Davis Cup for Australia over the weekend in Ecuador.

Spizzirri was in control from the start, got a break at 3-all in the second set and closed out the match with his best game of the match with two winners and two great serves for a 6-2, 6-4 victory.

The 24-year-old from Connecticut pointed to his improvement on that shot as one of the reasons he has risen to a career-high ATP ranking of 68.

"I would say the serve is a big area of my game that I've improved," Spizzirri said. "It's allowed me to free me up on return games, and get free points in service games. It's obviously one of the most important shots in tennis, and with that improved, it's carried over to better decision making in other parts of my game."

After his stunning match against Jannik Sinner in the third round of the Australian Open last month, Spizzirri admitted to seeing a change in the recognition he received.

"A little bit, I would say more immediately after (the Sinner match)," Spizzirri said. "When I was in Australia, the airport stuff and then at home. But not a crazy amount. It's definitely something you kind of notice, but I don't want to read too much into it. I am in Dallas, and I played a lot of tennis in Texas, so I wasn't surprised there's a few Longhorns here cheering me on."

Spizzirri flashed the Hook 'em Horns sign to the Texas fans after he finished the match, with many of those fans no doubt looking forward to his next match at the Dallas Open with college rival Jack Pinnington Jones of TCU. The pair faced off at No. 1 singles in the 2024 NCAA team final, with Pinnington Jones winning  2-6, 6-4, 6-2 to give TCU its third point in a 4-3 victory.

Pinnington Jones, who qualified for the main draw, earned his spot in the second round Tuesday with a 6-2, 6-2 win over No. 4 seed Flavio Cobolli of Italy.

Quinn and Spizzirri are both scheduled to play at noon on Thursday, but I'll be at media day for the ITA Men's Team Indoor Championships at SMU all day, so will be following results from there.

Dilek Saves Four Match Points in Third Set Tiebreaker to Deliver Georgia's Second Straight ITA Women's Division I Team Indoor Championship; Seeds, Matchups for Men's Indoor First Round Set for Friday; Kennedy Earns First Challenger Victory in Baton Rouge

Georgia freshman Deniz Dilek was up 6-0, 2-0, then down 5-0 and 6-3 in the third set tiebreaker of the deciding match of this year's ITA Women's Division I Team Indoor Championships. A whole lot happened in between, but Dilek simply would not concede defeat, with the result a 4-3 victory for defending champion Georgia over a formidable Ohio State team.

When Georgia took the courts this evening at the Combe Tennis Center on the campus of Northwestern University, they looked the part of the favorite, with the No. 2 seeds taking big leads at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles, while Ohio State, playing in their first Team  Indoor final, were up 5-1 at No. 3 doubles. 

Anastasiia Lopata and Patricija Paukstyte of Georgia closed out their match at line 2 6-1, but Dilek and Aysegul Mert had to win a deciding point with Dilek serving at 4-3 to keep their lead, and Mert came from 0-40 down before serving out the doubles point at 5-4. Meanwhile, Georgia's Anastasiia Gureva and Emma Dong had come all the way back from 5-1 down to even their match with Sophia Cisse-Ignatiev and Audrey Spencer, when Dilek and Mert put the point on the board for the Bulldogs. 

Ohio State had lost the doubles point in their quarterfinal win over North Carolina and their semifinal win over Texas A&M yesterday, so the Buckeyes were hardly daunted, even when Georgia took two quick sets with Dilek at line 3 and Anastasiia Gureva at line 4 charging out of the gates. But Ohio State began working their way back into matches they appeared out of, and when the final two first-sets were completed in tiebreakers, each team had three.  

That meant Ohio State had to win a three-set match, but after trailing Dilek 6-0, 2-0, Sophia Cisse-Ignatiev earned a split. Gureva made it 2-0 Georgia with a 6-2, 6-2 pounding on Nao Nishino at line 4, but the other five singles matches remained too close to call, with all but one on serve. 

Teah Chavez finally got Ohio State on the board with a 7-5, 6-4 win over Aysegul Mert, the hero in Georgia's 4-3 semifinal win over Auburn, at line 2. Georgia went up 3-1 with Sofia Rojas's 7-6(3), 6-4 victory over Hephzibah Oluwadare at line 6, but Luciana Perry countered with a 7-6(4), 6-4 win over Lopata at line 1. By that time, the last two matches were in tiebreakers, with Dong of Georgia needing to win a tiebreaker from Audrey Spencer at line 5 to force a third set. She could not, with Spencer saving a set point at 6-7 and closing out a 6-4, 7-6(7) win on her second match point to make it 3-3.

By that time Dilek trailed 5-0 in the tiebreaker, but the 18-year-old from Turkey won the next three points, before Buckeye sophomore Cisse-Ignatiev made it 6-3. Dilek played two solid points on serve to make it 6-5, then hit big with such depth up the middle that Cisse-Ignatiev was forced into an error. Cisse-Ignatiev earned a fourth match point with a first serve return error from Dilek, but hit a forehand wide to make it 7-7. 

Dilek then played a point that will live in Bulldog lore, tracking down a good drop shot from Cisse-Ignatiev and ripping a winner crosscourt to give her team its first championship point. She converted when Cisse-Ignative netted a backhand after a short rally, sending the Bulldogs into a jumping circle of red as they celebrated their third consecutive national title, with the 2025 NCAA championship sandwiched between their two National Indoor titles.

Georgia now has six ITA National Team Indoor titles, but all credit to Ohio State for their stunning performances throughout the tournament that has taken that program to new heights and gave college tennis fans a final to remember.

Georgia[2] d. Ohio State[5] 4-3

Doubles:
1. Deniz Dilek and Aysegul Mert(UGA) d. Hephzibah Oluwadare and Teah Chavez(OSU) 6-4
2. Anastasiia Lopata and Patricija Paukstyte(UGA) d. Luciana Perry and Flora Johnson(OSU) 6-1
3. Sophia Cisse-Ignatiev and Audrey Spencer(OSU) v Anastasiia Gureva and Emma Dong(UGA) 5-5, dnf

Order of finish: 2, 1

Singles:
1. Luciana Perry(OSU) d. Anastasiia Lopata(UGA) 7-6(4), 6-4
2. Teah Chavez(OSU) d. Aysegul Mert(UGA) 7-5, 6-4
3. Deniz Dilek(UGA) d. Sophia Cisse-Ignatiev(OSU) 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(7)
4. Anastasiia Gureva(UGA) d. Nao Nishino(OSU) 6-2, 6-2
5. Audrey Spencer(OSU) d. Emma Dong(UGA) 6-4, 7-6(7)
6. Sofia Rojas(UGA) d. Hephzibah Oluwadare(OSU) 7-6(3), 6-4

Order of finish: 4, 2, 6, 1, 5, 3

A replay of the match can be found at the Cracked Racquets YouTube Channel.

The ITA Men's Division I Team Indoor Championships begin Friday in Texas, with the seeds and the match times announced today. I'll be at SMU throughout the event, as I was last year.

ITA Men's Division I Team Indoor Championships first round matches 

Friday February 13, 2026

All times Central

Baylor site

Wake Forest[1] v UC Santa Barbara[8] 6:30 pm

Central Florida[4] v Baylor[5] 3:30 pm

Texas A&M[6] v Texas[3] 12:00 pm

LSU[7] v TCU[2] 9:00 am

SMU site

Ohio State[1] v SMU[8] noon

Stanford [4] v Arizona State[5] 9:00 am

Florida[6] v Mississippi State[3] 6:30 pm

Clemson[7] v Virginia[2] 3:30 pm

The two USTA Pro Circuit events this week are both men's events, with another M15 in Florida, this one in Sunrise, and an ATP Challenger 50 in Baton Rouge Louisiana.

After losing to eventual finalist Borna Gojo(Wake Forest) of Croatia 6-0, 6-0 in the first round last week in Cleveland in his Challenger main draw debut, University of Virginia signee Jack Kennedy picked up his first Challenger victory today, beating Antoine Ghibaudo(Kentucky) of France 6-4, 6-4.

In a Wednesday first round match in Sunrise, wild card Gavin Goode and Andy Johnson will play for the fourth time, with Johnson holding a 2-1 edge in their head-to-head on the ITF Junior Circuit.

Upstart Ohio State Faces Defending Champion Georgia in Tuesday's ITA Women's Division I Team Indoor Final; Four More ITF Junior Circuit Titles Last Week for Americans

There will be a new face and a familiar face in Tuesday night's final of the ITA Division I Women's Team Indoor Championships after defending champion Georgia came from behind to beat Auburn and Ohio State earned the program's a first trip to a national final with a win over Texas A&M.

Georgia looked down and out against Auburn this afternoon in Evanston, but roared backed from a 3-1 deficit to beat top seed Auburn 4-3 to return to the final.

Georgia, the No. 2 seed, lost the doubles point and dropped five first sets in singles. But freshman Deniz Dilek, the only Bulldog to win a first set, closed out Angella Okutoyi at line 3 7-5, 6-1 to put her team on the board. Auburn built the lead to 3-1 with straight-sets wins by Ava Esposito at line 5 and Ashton Bowers at line 4, and the Tigers' Ekaterina Khayrutdinova served for her match with Aysegul Mert at 6-3, 5-4 at line 2. But Mert broke back, and with Georgia's Anastasiia Lopata at line 1 and Emma Dong at line 6 already having forced third sets, everything rode on Mert getting through her second set. Mert, who had lost to Khayrutdinova in two previous meetings, trailed 3-0 in the tiebreaker, but won seven of the next nine points to force a third.

The third sets of the remaining three matches were all close, 4-4 at 1, 3-3 at 2 and 4-3 at 6. But Dong got the break for a 5-3 lead at 6, after Eva Ionescu had been up 40-0 in the game and served it out to make it 3-2.

Lopata was up 5-4 on serve at 1 and Mert was up 4-3 serving at 2, after seven straight breaks to start the third set. She got the crucial hold and had four match points in Khayrutdinova's 3-5 service game, when Khayrutdinova's call was overturned by the ELC after a Mert challenge, making it 0-40. But Khayrutdinova wasn't rattled, winning the next four points with some aggressive play, forcing Mert to serve it out. 

Mert took a 40-0 lead, made an error on her first match point, but forced an error with a big forehand to send Georgia back to the championship match against Ohio State.

The Buckeyes, seeded No. 5, had to find four singles points after dropping the doubles point to the third-seeded Aggies, but they had proven capable of that in their 4-2 quarterfinal win over No. 1 seed North Carolina on Saturday. 

Texas A&M made it 2-0 with Lucciana Perez continuing her steamrolling of opponents, beating Luciana Perry 6-2, 6-1. Perry had played number 1 in the Buckeyes' first two matches, but coach Melissa Schaub moved Teah Chavez to 1, as well as switching the lineup at line 3 and 4 and lines 5 and 6. Those switches paid off handsomely, with Chavez putting Ohio State ahead with her straight-sets win over Mia Kupres, and Audrey Spencer at 6, Hephzibah Oluwadare at 5 and Nao Nishino at 4 following with straight-sets victories one right after the other to earn the 4-2 win. 

Ohio State had reached the ITA Team Indoor semifinals in 2016 and 2017, but this will be their first final. Georgia will be playing for its sixth Team Indoor Championship Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. Central.

Cracked Racquets will have coverage of the final at their YouTube channel.

Women's ITA Division I Team Indoor Semifinals February 9, 2026

Georgia[2] d. Auburn[1] 4-3
Doubles:
1. Deniz Dilek and Aysegul Mert(UGA) d. DJ Bennett and Stefani Webb(AUB) 6-2
2. Angella Okutoyi and Ava Esposito(AUB) d. Anastasiia Lopata and Patricija Paukstyte(UGA) 6-1
3. Ekaterina Khayrutdinva and Ashton Bowers(AUB) d. Emma Dong and Anastasiia Gureva(UGA) 7-5

Order of finish: 2, 1, 3

Singles:

1. Anastasiia Lopata(UGA) d. DJ Bennett(AUB) 1-6, 6-2, 6-4

2. Aysegul Mert(UGA) d. Ekaterina Khayrutdinova(AUB) 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-4

3. Deniz Dilek(UGA) d. Angella Okutoyi(AUB) 7-5, 6-1

4. Ashton Bowers(AUB) d. Anastasiia Gureva(UGA) 6-4, 6-3

5. Ava Esposito(AUB) d. Sofia Rojas(UGA) 6-4, 6-4

6. Emma Dong(UGA) d. Eva Ionescu(AUB) 3-6, 6-3, 6-3

Order of finish: 3, 5. 4, 6, 1, 2

Ohio State[5] d. Texas A&M[3] 4-2

Doubles:

1. Mia Kupres and Lucciana Perez(TAMU) d. Hephzibah Oluwadare and Teah Chavez(OSU) 6-3

2. Flora Johnson and Luciana Perry(OSU) v Violeta Martinez and Anna Perelman(TAMU) 5-4, dnf

3. Lexington Reed and Daria Smetannikov(TAMU) d. Sophia Cisse-Ignatiev and Audrey Spencer(OSU) 6-4

Order of finish: 1, 3

Singles:

1. Teah Chavez(OSU) d. Mia Kupres(TAMU) 6-2, 6-4

2. Lucciana Perez(TAMU) d. Luciana Perry(OSU) 6-2, 6-1

3. Lexington Reed(TAMU) v Sophia Cisse-Ignatiev(OSU) 7-5, 5-4 unf

4. Nao Nishino(OSU) d. Violeta Martinez(TAMU) 6-4, 6-2

5. Hephzibah Oluwadare(OSU) d. Daria Smetannikov(TAMU) 6-3, 6-4

6. Audrey Spencer(OSU) d. Anna Perelman(TAMU) 6-1, 6-4

Order of finish: 2, 1, 6, 5, 4

======================================

In addition to the titles by Michael Antonius and Janae Preston at the ITF J300 in Ecuador,  which I covered in Saturday's post, six other Americans won titles on the ITF Pro Circuit.

At the J60 in Mexico, Chase Bowden won his first title on the ITF Junior Circuit, and is the first player I can recall claiming a title when they received entry based on their WTN ranking. Bowden, a 16-year-old from Florida, has competed in the Battle of Boca series of events there, which has doubtless assisted in building up his World Tennis Number ranking.  Bowden, obviously not seeded, defeated No. 2 seed Justin Riley Anson 7-5, 6-4 in an all-USA final.

In the girls doubles final, No. 7 seeds Enya Hamilton and Autumn Xu won their second ITF junior doubles title, beating No. 2 seeds Sofia Mills and Mexico's Maria Jose Gil Castillo 6-0, 6-3 in the final. 

At the J30 in Sri Lanka, Swanika Roy won her second straight title, this week as the top seed, after winning the week before as the No. 4 seed. The 16-year-old defeated No. 2 seed Yeon Joo Cha of Korea 6-3, 6-1 in the final.

At the J30 in Kenya, sisters Bi-Neh Awantang 15, and Mbongta Awantang 16, won their first ITF Pro Circuit title in doubles; after defeating the top seeds in the second round, the unseeded pair took the title when No. 3 seed Kudzai and Kuzivaishe Chapepa of Zimbabwe retired at 4-6, 5-3. 

There is another J300 in South America this week in Lima Peru, with Janae Preston the No. 3 seed. Other seeded US girls are Lani Chang[5] and Yael Saffar[6]. 

Michael Antonius is not making the switch from hard courts to clay, with the only seeded boy No. 5 Agassi Rusher, who qualified. Navneet Raghuram, who reached the semifinals last week in Ecudador, is also in the draw.

The top boys seed is Emilio Camacho of Ecuador, with Candela Vazquez of Argentina the top girls seed.