After covering the NCAA D-I Team Championships in Athens, which was equal parts exhilarating and exhausting, I'm going to need to get some sleep over the next few days, but I'm planning to do a thoughts and observations post in coming days, so stay tuned for that.I missed a lot that went on in the rest of the tennis world, but as far as results of Americans last week--and there were plenty-- make
about 15 hours ago
· 0 reads
©Colette Lewis 2026--Athens GA--The 2026 NCAA Women's Division I Championships will be remembered as Late Night with the Aggies, with No. 4 seed Texas A&M beating No. 2 seed Auburn 4-1 Sunday night in their third straight midnight finish at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex."The later the better," said head coach Mark Weaver, who actually welcomed the hour long lightning delay shortly after the
©Colette Lewis 2026--Athens GA--Virginia's Dylan Dietrich was one point from going down 4-1 in the third set of the match that would determine the NCAA Division I National Championship Sunday afternoon at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex at the University of Georgia. But a deciding point with Texas's Sebastian Gorzny serving at 3-1 turned the tide, with the nation's top-ranked player riding
©Colette Lewis 2026--Athens GA--Semifinal Saturday delivered not just another day of perfect weather, but three 4-3 thrillers and the exit of both top seeds and defending champions, while a new face will play for its first national title Sunday evening.The day started with a bang, with No. 2 seed Texas taking out No. 6 seed TCU 4-3, with the match coming down to Sebastian Gorzny and Duncan Chan
©Colette Lewis--Athens GA--When the digital scoreboard at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex went from 11:59 p.m. to midnight, the fourth semifinalist of the NCAA Division I women's team championships had yet to be decided. North Carolina's Anna Frey and Texas A&M's Violeta Martinez were still four games away afrom the tiebreaker that would ultimately determine who would meet defending
©Colette Lewis 2026--Athens GA--The good news traveled fast today in the press box of the Dan Magill Tennis Center, with the announcement that the University of Arkansas will restore the men's and women's tennis programs, effective immediately. With over 5 million dollars raised by donors in the community, the athletic department agreed to reinstate the programs for a minimum of two years, as
©Colette Lewis 2026--Athens GA--Final preparations were underway today at the Dan Magill Tennis Center in Athens Georgia, with signage and banners being assembled and practices held on all 12 courts in anticipation of Thursday's and Friday's quarterfinals.The photo of the top three courts at Georgia, with the newly renovated press box above them, will be my office for the next four days. It's
Qualifying was completed today at the two events on the USTA Pro Circuit, with the women competing in a W35 in Bethany Beach Delaware and the men playing at an M25 in Pensacola Florida.Rain washed out the first day of qualifying Monday in Bethany Beach, so two rounds had to be played today, but fortunately for officials, the qualifying draws did not fill and and several players qualified without
American juniors dominated the ITF J200 in Tennessee last week, with my coverage of the doubles titles in Friday's post and the singles titles earned by Kennedy Drenser-Hagmann and Tyler Lee in Sunday's post.Americans also swept the singles titles at the J100 in Costa Rica last week, with Ellery Mendell going back-to-back and Sebastian Godoy sweeping the titles.No. 2 seed Mendell, a 16-year-old
Sixteen-year-old wild card Kristina Liutova boosted her WTA ranking to the Top 300 today on the USTA Pro Circuit at the W100 in Indian Harbour Beach, beating No. 8 seed Julia Riera of Argentina 6-1, 6-7(4), 6-3 in the final.The Russian-born Seattle-area resident won her first USTA Pro Circuit tournament at a W35 in Las Vegas in February, but earning a title at a W100, the highest level of the ITF
The second and final day of the NCAA Division I Super Regionals wasn't dramatic until the last match of the day, when No. 8 Arizona rallied from 3-1 down to earn a 4-3 victory over No. 9 Oklahoma and the first NCAA team quarterfinal in program history.The other two men's matches had little suspense, with No. 5 seed Mississippi State defeating No. 12 seed Georgia 4-1, and No. 6 seed TCU rolling
Although all four of them dropped a point as hosts of Friday's Super Regionals, the top two seeds in the men's and women's NCAA Division I draws have booked their spots at the finals site in Athens Georgia.Top seed Georgia has the opportunity to win a second straight women's team title, but this time at home, after the Bulldogs got by UCLA 4-1. No. 2 seed Auburn will make its first appearance in
The matches that will decide who travels to Athens next week for the quarterfinals of the Division I NCAA Team Championships begin tomorrow, with 11 of the 16 Super Regionals set for Friday. Five men's matches and six women's matches are on the schedule for Friday, beginning with the 3 p.m. Eastern time women's match between the Texas A&M and Southern California and ending with two 7 p.m.
Kathy Rinaldi, the head of women's tennis, announced last night on Instagram that she was leaving the USTA and will be starting a tennis academy in Palm Beach Florida.Rinaldi's 18 years at the USTA, after a successful pro career that saw her reach No. 7 in the WTA rankings, began as a National Coach and she spent many years in that position before being named head of women's tennis and serving as
Before the Division I Regionals began the college tennis community was shocked by the news of the demise of the Arkansas tennis programs. After a relatively predictable regional weekend, with 29 of the 32 seeds advancing to the Super Regionals, another off-court surprise was announced, with Harry Jadun departing as the head coach of the Michigan State men after four years leading the
My column on the previous month's top performances is up today at the Tennis Recruiting Network, with ATP titles for former collegians and maiden USTA Pro Circuit singles titles for a trio of American juniors. Some of the April Aces I've covered when they've happened, but others I collect over the course of the month as I track the juniors and former collegians competing all over the globe.The
In an NCAA Division I Regional weekend short on surprises, one upset was recorded today, with the Stanford men taking out No. 11 seed Texas A&M 4-2 in College Station. The Cardinal, No. 18 in the most recent ITA rankings, lost the doubles point, but got a quick 6-1, 6-1 win from Samir Banerjee, who is down to No. 2 in the lineup after a series of injuries this season, to pull even. Two more
Saturday featured a head-spinning number of matches in the NCAA Division I Team Championships, with 15 of the men's Sweet 16 and eight of the women's Sweet 16 decided today.The biggest upset of the day came this evening, when the Pepperdine men, ranked 27, defeated No. 7 seed LSU 4-3 in Baton Rouge. LSU took the doubles point, but the Waves won five first sets in singles. LSU got the point at
The first day of the Division I NCAA Team Championships produced several minor upsets, with No. 3 seeds beating No. 2 seeds and a few 4-3 battles, but the host, the No. 1 seeds in their regionals cruised through their first round matches. The only exception was the San Diego men, who are hosting the consensus choice for the toughest field in the regionals. The No. 15 seeds defeated No. 4 seed
Part II of the Tennis Recruiting Network's NCAA D-I Roundtable is now up, with play beginning across the country tomorrow with all 32 first round matches in the men's draw and 16 first round matches in the women's draw. Alongside Alex Gruskin of Cracked Racquets and Chris Halioris of CollegeTennisRanks.com, I give my list of dark horses and possible upsets and pick my champions. I got both right
Part I of Tennis Recruiting Network's annual NCAA Division I Roundtable went up today, with Cracked Racquets' Alex Gruskin, CollegeTennisRanks' Chris Halioris and me offering our thoughts on the storylines from the regular season and what Super Regionals matchups we're looking forward to. Part II, when we name our dark horses and predict the champions, will be out Thursday
The USTA released the latest rankings in its annual Roland Garros Wild Card Challenge, with Savannah Challenger champion Nishesh Basavareddy overtaking Emilio Nava and W100 Charlottesville semifinalist Akasha Urhobo maintaining her lead.I had thought Basavareddy would still be a few points short of catching Nava, but I had double counted his points from reaching the third round of Madrid.
The NCAA announced the fields for the 2026 Division I Team Championships this afternoon, with women's defending champion Georgia and men's defending champion Wake Forest the number one seeds.When the latest rankings come out Thursday however, neither will be No. 1, with Georgia at No. 2 moving ahead of Auburn, who has earned the No. 1 ranking. Wake Forest will be No. 4, so the NCAA committee's
Sixteen-year-old Welles Newman and 18-year-old Keaton Hance won their first USTA Pro Circuit singles titles in contrasting fashion today at the W15 and M15 events at the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona Florida.Newman came back against 15-year-old Janae Preston, a fellow ITF Junior Reserved entry, winning a two-hour and 43-minute battle 3-6, 7-6(7), 6-0 for her first USTA Pro Circuit title.&
The M15 title Jack Kennedy won in Boca Raton early this month was just the start of his success the past three weeks, with a semifinal last week at the Tallahassee Challenger 75 and now an appearance in the final of the Challenger 75 in Savannah Georgia tomorrow.The 17-year-old from New York, who has committed to Virginia for this fall, defeated qualifier Kilian Feldbausch of Switzerland 7-6(2),