With school out and the Level I tournaments coming up soon, the USTA junior circuit is in full swing now, and I took the opportunity to cover the Boys 18s and 16s Midwest Closed Tuesday in Byron Center, less than an hour from my Kalamazoo home.It was the first time I've been to a USTA tournament below a Level 2 in several years, but I enjoyed getting to watch several of the top players in
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Americans had their most successful Wimbledon final round of qualifying this century today at Roehampton, with four women and three men advancing to the main draw with victories today.In 2021 six Americans reached the main draw via qualifying, but seven is the most since eight qualified in 1993, and it is the most at any major since eight qualified at the US Open in 2017.Two-time NCAA champion
Keeping up with all the Americans in the final round of Wimbledon qualifying won't be easy, with six women and four men playing for main draw spots Thursday at Roehampton.Last year only three Americans reached the final round of qualifying, all women, with Iva Jovic and Taylor Townsend reaching the main draw. The third, Robin Montgomery, is back at that stage again this year, after making it
The first round of Wimbledon women's qualifying concluded this evening in London with nine of the 15 Americans in action advancing to Wednesday's second round. Fiona Crawley, 2024 NCAAsAll five of the seeded Americans won, and former North Carolina All-American Fiona Crawley defeated a seed, beating No. 19 Himeno Sakatsume of Japan 7-5, 4-6, 7-6(8). Crawley was down 5-1 in the third set, and
My coverage of the USTA's American Collegiate Player Wildcard Playoff last week at the National Campus in Lake Nona Florida is up today at the Tennis Recruiting Network. Although we were both undoubtedly up way past our bedtime when Reese Brantmeier spoke to me over the phone at 12:30 a.m. Friday, I appreciated her insight on her singles victory and how she's eager for her seventh appearance at
Wimbledon qualifying begins Monday at Roehampton, with eight American men in action. Just two are seeded--No. 13 Mackenzie McDonald(UCLA) and No. 26 Michael Zheng(Columbia)--but only one of the six others plays a seed in the first round. Below are the matchups for the Americans; the women's qualifying draw has yet to be released, with only men playing Monday.Wimbledon first qualifying matches
Mason Vaughan won his first ITF Junior Circuit singles titles today, with the No. 12 seed defeating 15-year-old Teodor Davidov, the No. 13 seed, 6-0, 6-4 in the ITF J200 final in Mason Ohio. The 16-year-old from Dallas did not drop a set in his five victories.In the all-Canadian girls final, 16-year-old Avery Alexander, the No. 4 seed, defeated 18-year-old Clemence Mercier, the No. 15 seed, 6-4,
An American boys champion and a Canadian girls champion will be crowned Saturday at the ITF J200 in Mason Ohio after semifinal action concluded today, with both unseeded US girls falling in the quarterfinals. No. 4 seed Avery Alexander defeated unseeded Reiley Rhodes 6-2, 6-3 to advance to the final against No. 15 seed Clemence Mercier, who avenged her J100 loss last fall to unseeded
Texas's Sebastian Gorzny and North Carolina's Reese Brantmeier have earned the first wild cards of the 2026 US Open, with the two recent graduates posting victories Thursday night in the finals of the USTA's American Collegiate US Open Wild Card Playoffs at the National Campus in Orlando.Gornzy, the No. 2 seed, was on the brink of victory when lightning and rain arrived, serving for the match
Doubles competition took center stage today at the USTA's American Collegiate US Open Wild Card Playoffs at the National Campus in Lake Nona, with the two favorites posting impressive straight-sets victories. There was again a delay in the start due to rain, but it was less than an hour in duration.Defending champions Reese Brantmeier and Alanis Hamilton of North Carolina defeated Vanderbilt's
After a 90-minute delay for rain and lightning, the USTA American Collegiate Player US Open Wild Card Playoffs got underway under the lights at the National Campus in Lake Nona. All four semifinals, played concurrently, had their twists and turns except perhaps No. 2 seed Sebastian Gornzy's 6-4, 6-2 win over Matt Forbes of Ohio State.Gorzny got the only break of the first set at 4-all and held
I covered the US singles titles won by Jerrid Gaines Jr. and Daniela Sales Friday at the J100 Bloomington Indiana, but there were three other titles in singles on the ITF Junior Circuit last week outside the United States, the biggest being Charles Minvielle's title at the J100 in Guatemala. The 17-year-old from Florida, seeded No. 3, defeated top seed Samim Filiz of Turkey 6-4, 6-1 in the
Former collegians took all four titles today on the USTA Pro Circuit, with Lea Ma, Ozan Baris, and Kaylan Bigun claiming their second career singles titles on the Pro Circuit, and Russia's Alina Shcherbinina earning her first title.The third-seeded Ma, a 25-year-old who was an All-American at Georgia in 2023, defeated top seed Madison Brengle 6-3, 7-6(3) in the final of the W35 in Decatur
The finals are set for this week's four USTA Pro Circuit tournaments, with Americans assured of at least three singles titles, while on European grass, two more Americans will play for an ATP 250 title in Germany.At the M25 in Wichita, wild cards Sebastian Gorzny(Texas) and Ozan Baris(Michigan State), who both completed their collegiate careers last month will meet for the title after three-set
The ITF J100 in Bloomington Indiana concluded today, with 15-year-old Daniella Sales and 17-year-old Jerrid Gaines Jr. earning titles on the ITF Junior Circuit with straight-sets victories.Sales, the reigning USTA National 14s champion, had won two J60s since beginning ITF Junior Circuit competition last spring, with this her first title at the J100 level. This week the No. 4 seed didn't drop a
The draws are out for the USTA's American Collegiate Wild Card Playoffs, with six wild cards into this year's US Open on the line. The playoffs begin Tuesday, June 16th with the singles semifinals, with all four matches starting at 6:30 p.m. at the USTA's National Campus in Lake Nona. The doubles semifinals are scheduled for Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. and the finals for both singles and doubles will
The acceptances for the 2026 Wimbledon Junior Championships scheduled for July 4-12, were published today, with this year's Australian Open and Roland Garros champions in the hunt for a second junior slam.Girls Roland Garros champion Alisa Oktiabreva may not end up playing, as she wasn't certain of her plans when she spoke about them last weekend, but she did enter, as did boys champion Luis
This week's USTA Pro Circuit is evenly balanced between the men and women, with a W35 in Decatur Illinois, and M25 in Wichita Kansas and Week Three of the SoCal Pro Series with men's and women's $15Ks at the Jack Kramer Club in Rolling Hills Estates.Seven of the eight qualifiers in Decatur are Americans: 17-year-old Columbia recruit Sena Yoon, Jaedan Brown(Michigan), Piper Charney(Michigan),
While most eyes were on Paris last week, many American juniors aspiring to compete in the junior slams were elsewhere collecting points, with five US players earning singles titles on the ITF Junior Circuit.At the ITF J100 in Guatemala, Gurjot Singh swept the boys titles, while Ellery Mendell won her third J100 title in the past six weeks.Singh, an 18-year-old from New Jersey who was a finalist
Although all five Americans competing in USTA Pro Circuit finals today were defeated, Sunday was a great day for teenagers, three of whom hoisted winner's trophies.The biggest came in Sumter South Carolina, where 16-year-old Kristina Liutova won her second consecutive W100 title with a 6-4, 6-3 win over wild card Reese Brantmeier. The unseeded Liutova, who was born in Russia but has lived in the
Luis Guto Miguel not only claimed his first junior slam title today at Roland Garros, a huge accomplishment for any young player, but the 17-year-old from Brazil also added his country's name to the record books. The top seed's 6-3, 6-4 victory over 16-year-old American Michael Antonius gave Brazil its first Roland Garros junior singles title in history.Miguel, who will ascend to No. 1 in
Sixteen-year-old Michael Antonius opted to skip the Australian Open Junior Championships this year and instead played two ITF J300s on hard courts in South America. He won them both, giving him the freedom to forget about his ITF junior ranking for the year and focus on getting experience on the USTA Pro Circuit. He went 14-6 this spring in seven USTA Pro Circuit events, which included the
Keaton Hance won a nail-biter of a quarterfinal to reach his second junior slam semifinal at Roland Garros, while 16-year-old Michael Antonius breezed past the Australian Open boys champion to earn a shot at his first junior slam final in just his second appearance in one.Hance, the No. 6 seed, had to survive several distractions in his 6-3, 5-7, 7-6(6) win over No. 3 seed Jamie Mackenzie of
My monthly column highlighting the top performances of juniors, collegians and former collegians is up today at the Tennis Recruiting Network, and, as has been the case in the past several years, it's impossible to feature everyone that claimed a pro circuit title in May. With the increase in the number of W15 and M15 tournaments on the ITF World Tennis Tour, and the surge of juniors and
After no rain the first nine days of action in Paris, those playing second round junior singles matches Tuesday at Roland Garros contended with several delays, and the last first round doubles match didn't finish until 10:30 p.m. local time in Paris. The top eight seeds in the boys draw have all advanced to Wednesday's round of 16, while the only Top Eight seed missing from the girls draw is