Recent University of Tennessee graduate Shunsuke Mitsui of Japan advanced to his first M25 final with a 6-1, 6-3 win over 17-year-old wild card Jack Kennedy, who was seeking his first Pro Circuit final after losses in three M15 semifinals last year. The 23-year-old Mitsui, who has two M15 titles, will face No. 5 seed Keegan Smith, a former UCLA All-American, who defeated wild card Luca Pow, a
about 23 hours ago
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Wild card Jack Kennedy has advanced to his fourth USTA Pro Circuit semifinal and his first at the M25 level, with a 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-2 win over Stefan Dostanic(USC, Wake Forest), the 2025 NCAA Team Championships' Most Outstanding Player, in Winston-Salem.Kennedy will face unseeded Shunsuke Mitsui of Japan, a former University of Tennessee All-American, who beat No. 7 seed and 2025 ITA All-American
2 days ago
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Vihaan Reddy withdrew from the ITF J300 in Traralgon Australia on Monday, although he couldn't have known then that he would be getting plenty of matches prior to the Australian Open Junior Championships later this month, where he is still entered.Today the 16-year-old from Northern California reached his second ITF J300 semifinal in the past two months, with the sixth-seeded Reddy beating No. 3
3 days ago
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The first coaches poll of the 2026 dual match season is less significant than ever after the ITA changed its ranking procedure for 2026. These rankings used to be a starting point for the computer rankings later in the season, but they no longer serve that purpose, with a new system in place that puts all teams on the same level when results are calculated.Yet for college tennis fans, there is
4 days ago
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The first tournament of the year on the USTA Pro Circuit is an M25 in Winston-Salem North Carolina, with qualifying concluding today and four first round matches played. Seventeen-year-old Jack Kennedy, the ITF junior No. 3, will be playing primarily on the ITF men's and ATP Challenger tour in his last year of junior eligibility, as he prepares to begin his collegiate career in the fall at
5 days ago
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The first of the 39 ITF J300 tournaments scheduled for 2026 is underway in New Delhi India, with four Americans advancing to the second round with victories today and another aiming to join them with a win Tuesday.Fourteen-year-old Anya Arora, 367 in the first ITF junior rankings of the year, defeated 15-year-old Alisa Terentyeva of Russia, 73 in the new rankings, 6-2, 6-0 in the first round
6 days ago
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Last month the ITF released a summary of the changes in its Junior Circuit regulations for 2026, which includes requirements for some substantial upgrades for the seven J500 tournaments.I'll start with the new regulations for 2026, the majority of which are related to the introduction of early rounds of robin robin play in selected J30s and J60s.This ITF article from last fall gives an overview
7 days ago
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The first champions of 2026 have been crowned, with the USTA Winter National Championships concluding today in Orlando Florida and San Antonio Texas.Just one of the eight finals played today went three sets, with the boys 18s title claimed by No. 2 seed Ronit Karki after he dropped the first set. The 2025 Wimbledon boys finalist defeated No. 17 seed Andrew Li 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in more than two and a
8 days ago
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My monthly Tennis Recruiting Network column on December's top performances focuses primarily on the winners of the three major junior events in Florida, which makes it a great way to catch up if you weren't able to follow my daily coverage. But the IMG Academy, Orange Bowl and Junior Orange Bowl champions weren't the only players to pick up titles as the year came to a close, with juniors and
9 days ago
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2026 didn't start the way that four of the seven No. 1 seeds remaining in contention for the USTA Winter Nationals would have liked, with girls 18s top seed Carlota Moreno the only one to post a quarterfinal victory today in Orlando.Boys 18s top seed and defending champion Shaan Patel saw his winning streak end at 11 matches, with No. 13 seed Noble Renfrow posting a convincing 6-0, 6-1
10 days ago
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The quarterfinals are set for the USTA Winter National Championships on New Year's Day, with seven of the eight No. 1 seeds still in the hunt for a gold ball. The boys 14s lost their top seed in today's round of 16, with unseeded Nathan Lee, the younger brother of Tyler Lee, defeating Sebastian Zavala 6-1, 6-3.The quarterfinal matchups in singles:B18s:Shaan Patel[1] v Noble Renfrow[13]Michael
11 days ago
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JanuaryMax D Smith, USTA Winter Nationals 12sDavid Bender and Gabriel Marino, USTA Winter Nationals 12s (dbls)Jacqueline Nick, USTA Winter Nationals 12sLucy Dupere and Christina Li, USTA Winter Nationals 12s (dbls)Eli Kaminski, USTA Winter Nationals 14sRafael Pawar and Zesen Wang, USTA Winter Nationals 14s (dbls)London Evans, USTA Winter Nationals 14sAnna Scott Laney and Michelle Lee, USTA Winter
11 days ago
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The No. 1 seeds continued to advance at the USTA Winter National Championships, with all eight top seeds reaching Wednesday's round of 16.Boys 18s No. 1 seed and defending champion Shaan Patel will face No. 17 seed Siddharth Bharadwaj and No. 2 seed Ronit Karki will play No. 17 seed John Gentek.Daniel Malacek, the top seed in the boys 16s, will play No. 13 seed Joshua Dolinsky.Girls 18s No. 1
12 days ago
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Although all eight of the No. 1 seeds have advanced to Tuesday's third round of singles at the USTA Winter National Championships, another No. 2 seed has exited, along with the No. 3 seed in boys 18s division.Calla McGill, the No. 2 seed in the girls 18s, lost today to Addison Lindsay 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, while Alexander Suhanitski, the boys 18s No. 3 seed lost to Michael Lorenzetti 6-7(5), 6-3, 7-5.
13 days ago
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The first round of the USTA Winter National Championships is complete with only one major upset, in the boys 16s. No. 2 seed and USTA Indoor Champion Eli Kaminiski lost to Rafael Bote 7-6(1), 6-2. Bote, who lives in Boca Raton but competes on the ITF Junior Circuit under the Canadian flag, reached the quarterfinals of the IMG Academy International Championships earlier this month.As I
14 days ago
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The entry lists and wild cards for the 2026 Australian Open were announced earlier this week, with a dozen US men and 13 US women receiving direct acceptance.The US men, in order of ranking:Mackenzie McDonaldBrandon HoltMichael MmohZachary SvajdaColton SmithNishesh BasavareddyMartin DammTristan BoyerMichael ZhengNicolas Moreno de AlboranMitchell KruegerMurphy CassoneThe qualifying wild cards
15 days ago
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The USTA Winter National Championships begin Sunday, with the 16s and 18s at the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona Florida and the 12s and 14s competing in San Antonio Texas.Shaan Patel is defending his title in the boys 18s division, with Wimbledon boys finalist Ronit Karki the No. 2 seed. Not seeded in the girls 18s is Paige Wygodski, last year's 16s champion; not seeded in the girls 16s is
16 days ago
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photo via philbo at unsplash.comI'm taking a couple of days off for the Christmas holiday, but will be back to look at the draws for the first big tournaments of 2026: the USTA Winter Nationals, which begin December 28 in Orlando for the 16s and 18s and San Antonio for the 12s and 14s.Have a very merry christmas!
18 days ago
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I want to preface these observations with my amazement at how much was accomplished in the 12 months since I first visited the Jimmy Evert Tennis Center at Holiday Park in Fort Lauderdale. On our way to the airport after the 2024 Orange Bowl, the final one at the Veltri Tennis Center 10 miles to the west, we stopped to scout out the JETC, which had not yet been publicly announced as the
19 days ago
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My article on the first ITF J500 Orange Bowl at the Jimmy Evert Tennis Center in Fort Lauderdale is available today at the Tennis Recruiting Network, and the videos of the four finalists are below. I'm planning a post on my impressions of the first year at the new site soon, before many of the salient details fade. The 16s videos and all the IMG videos can be found at my tenniskalamazoo
20 days ago
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Learner Tien won the Next Gen ATP Finals today in Jeddah Saudi Arabia, beating Alexander Blockx of Belgium 4-3(4), 4-2, 4-1 in less than an hour of play. Blockx did not miss a first serve in the opening set, but Tien made 82% of his first serves, and was the steadier player in the tiebreaker. Tien had won the first set last year in the Next Gen final against Joao Fonseca of Brazil before
21 days ago
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Nearly three years after they met in the Australian Open boys final, top seed Learner Tien(USC) and No. 2 seed Alexander Blockx of Belgium will play in another big final at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah Saudi Arabia.Tien returned to the Next Gen Finals championship match with a 4-2, 4-1, 4-3(3) win over Nishesh Basavareddy. Tien, who is now 4-0 in pro matches against the former Stanford
22 days ago
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Six days ago the first Orange Bowl champions of 2025 were crowned at the newly renovated Jimmy Evert Tennis Center, and my article on the singles titles won by Matias Reyniak and Priscilla Sirichantho and the doubles titles claimed by Emery Combs and Olivia De Los Reyes and Sean Peng and Filip Djokic(the only non-USA champion) can be found today at the Tennis Recruiting Network.Below are the
23 days ago
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I've been processing videos of the IMG Academy International Championships the past several days with videos of the champions in the 12s, 14s, and 16s available below. The links to the videos of the finalists are below each of the champion's videos. I posted the videos from the finals of ITF J300 Bradenton on Tuesday.
G16s champion Adelina Iftime:
G16s finalist London Evans
Boys
24 days ago
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Fourteen-year-old Texan Tristan Ascenzo broke through the domination of the IMG Academy International Championships at the Junior Orange Bowl, preventing a sweep by the IMG winners with a win over boys 14s top seed Mohamed Genidy of Egypt this morning in Coral Gables Florida.Ascenzo, a Dallas resident, lost to eventual IMG champion Genidy 7-5, 6-2 in the semifinals in Bradenton; today's final at
25 days ago
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