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
about 11 hours ago
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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
1 day ago
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Colton Smith returned to the scene of his first ATP Challenger title one year ago and emerged with his second Cleveland Open Challenger 75 title today. The 22-year-old former All-American was a senior at Arizona when he defeated Eliot Spizzirri(Texas) 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-3 in the 2025 final; now beginning his first full season as a professional, the No. 2 seed defeated former Wake Forest All-American
3 days ago
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Saturday was a good day to be an Ohio State tennis fan, with both the women and the men taking down the No. 1 teams in the country.Although the North Carolina women were not technically No. 1 in the last coaches poll released, they were the No. 1 seeds in this weekend ITA Division I women's Team Indoor Championships, but their pedigree did not intimidate the fifth-seeded Buckeyes. After
4 days ago
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The top two seeds had no trouble with the hosts today as both North Carolina and Auburn picked up 4-0 wins in the first round of the ITA Division I Women's Team Indoor Championships in Champaign and Evanston Illinois. The two matches between the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds are going on now, but I'm going to post with the results of the first six matches and add those singles results in a couple of
5 days ago
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The semifinals are set at the ITF J300 in Salinas Ecuador, with three US girls and two US boys still in contention for the singles titles.Top seed Michael Antonius, who swept the titles last week at the J300 in Colombia, defeated qualifier Koki Nara of Japan 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 in today's quarterfinals. For the second week in a row, he will play Canadian Xavier Massotte, the No. 3 seed, in the
6 days ago
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My column for the Tennis Recruiting Network featuring the top performances of the previous month is now available for January, featuring titles won by current and former collegians and juniors. The Australian Open and Les Petits As are always at the heart of the first month of the year, and 2026 is no exception, but Challenger-level titles and expertise in both singles and doubles are also
7 days ago
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The seeds and draw for the ITA Women's Division I Team Indoor Championships are out, with North Carolina and Auburn the top seeds at the two sites. On Friday there will be four matches at each site, with North Carolina at the top of draw in Campaign and Auburn at the top of the draw in Chicago. After the first two rounds, the two semifinalists emerging from the University of Illinois site
8 days ago
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The ITF J300 in Baranquilla Colombia has always been a popular and successful tournament for American juniors, regardless where its been on the ITF Junior Circuit calendar, with American boys winning five of the past six singles titles. Keaton Hance, the Australian Open boys finalist won it last year, along with Julieta Pareja, and again this year Americans swept the titles, with Michael Antonius
9 days ago
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There were two completely different finals at Les Petits As, the prestigious international tournament for 14-and-under players held annually in Tarbes France.Girls champion Aleksandra Karabanova of Russia, the No. 10 seed, saved a match point in her 5-7, 7-6(5), 6-0 win over Elizaveta Anikina of Estonia in a final that spanned nearly three hours, while No. 16 seed Lyoma Hotelier of Japan breezed
10 days ago
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The Australian Open Junior Championships concluded Sunday in Melbourne with Ziga Sesko of Slovenia and Ksenia Efremova of France coming through tight battles to earn their first junior slam titles.In the boys final, No. 7 seed Sesko became the first Slovenia boy to win a junior slam singles title, coming back to defeat No. 4 seed Keaton Hance of the United States 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.Hance took the
10 days ago
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I am planning to do two posts today, this one with a recap of Saturday's single semifinals and doubles finals at the Australian Open Junior Championships, and one much, much later tonight, after the completion of Sunday's singles finals.For the fourth time in five years, an American boy has reached the Australian Open final, with Keaton Hance joining Bruno Kuzuhara(2022), Learner Tien(2023) and
11 days ago
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Thea Frodin and Keaton Hance both advanced to Saturday's semifinals at the Australian Open Junior Championships, but there was little similarity in the manner they accomplished that acheivement.Frodin, the No. 8 seed, needed just over an hour to defeat No. 13 seed Mariia Makarova 6-3, 6-0, winning the final nine games of the match.The 17-year-old from California had 16 winners and 13 unforced
12 days ago
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Seventeen-year-olds Thea Frodin and Keaton Hance begin their final year of ITF Junior Circuit competition with their first junior slam singles quarterfinals after picking up straight-sets victories Thursday at the Australian Open Junior Championships.Frodin, seeded No. 8, defeated unseeded Antonina Sushkova of Ukraine 6-4, 7-5, while Hance, the No. 4 seed, got past unseeded Simone Massellani of
13 days ago
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Top seed Alena Kovackova followed her younger sister Jana, the No. 2 seed, out of the Australian Open Junior Championships Wednesday, losing to No. 13 seed Mariia Makarova 7-6(3), 7-5 in the third round. Kovackova was the only seed to exit Wednesday, when only half of the round of 16 matches were played, but three unseeded players booked their places in a junior slam quarterfinal for the first
14 days ago
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All three Americans who played their Australian Open quarterfinal matches Tuesday lost, with Iva Jovic, Learner Tien and Coco Gauff seeing their runs ended at the first major of the year. On Wednesday(tonight in the US), at least one American is guaranteed to reach the semifinals in women's singles.Tuesday's quarterfinal results of Americans:Aryna Sabalenka[1](BLR) d. Iva Jovic[29] 6-3, 6-0Elina
15 days ago
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photo credit: Richard van Loon, toptennis.photosWhile one of the four junior slams is in progress this week in Melbourne, the biggest individual tournament for the 14-and-under age division is also being played this week at Les Petits As in Tarbes France.The first round of singles is played over Monday and Tuesday, and there has already been a big upset, with boys No. 2 seed Valentijn
16 days ago
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Janae Preston was entered in both the Australian Open Junior Championships, where she would have been in qualifying, and the ITF J300 Coffee Bowl in Costa Rica, where she ended up as the No. 4 seed. Deciding to stay a little bit closer to home paid off, with the 15-year-old from Nevada earning her first ITF J300 title with a 6-1, 6-0 win over No. 7 seed Klara Blazkova of the Czech Republic last
17 days ago
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Five US women and four US men have reached the second week of the Australian Open with five advancing Saturday.Upsets have been few at this year's tournament, and all of the Americans who have advanced are seeded, although Iva Jovic, Tommy Paul and Learner Tien are not among the Top 16 seeds. Saturday's third round results of Americans:Madison Keys[9] d. Karolina Pliskova(CZE) 6-3, 6-3Jessica
18 days ago
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My annual look at some of the big picture questions in college and junior tennis is up today at Tennis Recruiting Network. I consider the NCAA on court and in court, Electronic Line Calling for the juniors, the departure of FILA from the junior scene and several other questions I hope to have answers to in 2026.After a noticeable lack of teenagers at the top of the women's game a couple of years
19 days ago
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Of the seven US men who have advanced to the third round of the Australian Open, four of them competed in college, all in the past five years.While Ben Shelton(Florida) and Learner Tien(USC) are seeded and expected to be in round three, Eliot Spizzirri(Texas) and Ethan Quinn(Georgia) have both eliminated seeds and looked good doing it.Spizzirri won his first five-set match Thursday, beating the
20 days ago
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Three US women and three US men advanced to the Australian Open third round with wins Wednesday, including 18-year-old Iva Jovic, who will be appearing in the third round of a major for the first time.Jovic defeated Australian wild card Priscilla Hon 6-1, 6-2, winning the final six games of the late night match, to advance to a third meeting with Jasmine Paolini of Italy. Although Jovic's pro
21 days ago
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Seven more Americans won their matches Tuesday, the third and last day of first round competition at the Australian Open, bringing the total number of US players in the second round to 23.Two former collegiate stars pulled off upsets, with Eliot Spizzirri(Texas) running his record against Joao Fonseca of Brazil to 2-0 with a 6-4, 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 win over the No. 28 seed. Spizzirri had beaten
22 days ago
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Eight US women and three US men reached won their first round matches Monday at the Australian Open, with the last nine of the 40 Americans competing in the singles main draws on Tuesday's schedule(Monday night in the United States).Monday's first round Australian Open results of Americans:Coco Gauff[3] d. Kamilla Rakhimova(UZB) 6-2, 6-3Amanda Anisimova[4] d Simona Waltert(SUI) 6-3, 6-2Jessica
23 days ago
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Columbia senior Michael Zheng had never faced an ATP Top 100 player, had never competed in an ATP-level main draw match and had, obviously, never played a five-set match.The two-time NCAA singles champion crossed all three of those items off his bucket list Sunday in Melbourne, defeating ATP No. 51 Sebastian Korda 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 6-7(0), 6-3 in the first round of the Australian Open.Zheng, who
24 days ago
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