Photo by Oxana Melis on Unsplash It's a quiet time in the tennis world, especially here in the United States, and I'll be taking tomorrow off for the Thanksgiving holiday. This lull is the perfect time to thank my sponsors at the Junior Tennis Champions Center, the Southern California Tennis Association Foundation and the John McEnroe Tennis Academy for
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This will be my last update on the Division I early signing period; my previous post, with the first batch of those signing National Letters of Intent, available here.Signings will continue in the coming weeks as programs scramble for recruits who will begin their college careers in January. Many of articles linked to below do distinguish between those starting in spring of 2026 and those who are
3 months ago | 3 reads
Newly crowned NCAA singles champion Reese Brantmeier won't have much time to celebrate her victory in yesterday's final, with the North Carolina senior leading the USA team in next month's 18th annual Master'U BNP Paribas university championships in France.Today, the ITA announced the team that will be representing the United States in the eight-team competition which will take place
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Columbia's Michael Zheng etched his name among the greats of college tennis Sunday at the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona Florida, winning his second straight NCAA men's singles title with a 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 victory over SMU's Trevor Svajda.Zheng didn't play particularly well in the first set, but Svajda also did not compete at the level he showed in the three previous matches, with the occasion
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Americans will play for all four NCAA titles Sunday, led by defending champion Michael Zheng of Columbia, who is making history with every win he records at the Division I individual championships this week at the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona Florida.For the second straight match, the 21-year-old senior needed a third set to keep his winning streak alive, but he took control after
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Rebounds from first set losses were the theme of the singles quarterfinals Friday at the NCAA Division I Championships in Lake Nona Florida, with five of the eight semifinalists taking that route.Three of the four men's semifinalists posted comebacks, including defending champion Michael Zheng of Columbia, who dropped his first set of the tournament before defeating No. 8 seed Ozan Baris 4-6, 6-3
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Only three seeds from both the men's and women's singles have reached Friday's NCAA Division I quarterfinals at the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona Florida, although after the first two days of upsets, there weren't many seeds left to lose during today's round of 16.The only top 8 seed remaining in the men's draw is No. 8 Ozan Baris of Michigan State, who reached the final last November in Waco
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After the second round, the singles draws at the NCAA Division I Championships in Orlando bear no resemblance to the seeding projections, and that will continue throughout the rest of the tournament with two more Top 4 upsets today in the men's draw and just three Top 8 seeds remaining in the women's draw.Top seed and ITA All-American champion Jay Friend of Arizona followed the off ramp taken by
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Tuesday was a long day full of surprises at the Division I NCAA Championships at the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona, Florida.Top seed and ITA All-American champion Valerie Glozman of Stanford fought back from 6-3, 5-3 down against Baylor senior Na Dong, but Dong held firm for the 6-3, 6-7(1), 6-4 upset.Glozman, who hadn't played since winning the All-American title back in September, appeared
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While four Americans were winning USTA Pro Circuit Titles last week, six US juniors claimed singles titles on the ITF Junior Circuit, with Brooke Wallman earning her first singles title at the J100 in Zapopan Mexico.The 17-year-old from New York, seeded fifth, defeated No. 7 seed Jizelle Sibai of Australia 6-2, 6-4, winning all five of her matches in straight sets. Wallman, who has verbally
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Seven Americans reached four finals in this week's six USTA Pro Circuit tournaments, with three champions from the United States guaranteed with all-USA finals.The tournament title that wasn't certain to go to an American was at the M50 in Austin Texas, where Mary Stoiana, the former ITA National Player of Year while at Texas A&M, was facing No. 4 seed Mai Hontama of Japan in the final.
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The draws are out for the NCAA Division I individual tournament, which begins Tuesday November 18 and concludes Sunday November 23 at the USTA's National Campus in Orlando.With all the controversy over the men's singles seeds, the several possibly disastrous first round matches heightened the anticipation for this evening's release, but for the most part, the most damaging bullets were dodged,
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As I mentioned in my post Sunday, there was more to say on the USA's Junior Davis Cup and Junior Billie Jean King Cup titles, and I wrote this recap on the historic back-to-back titles for both genders at Tennis Recruiting Network. With both teams seeded No. 1, the pressure was on and they came through with flying colors on the South American red clay.Jack Kennedy, who was on the 2024 Junior
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Wednesday was the official National Signing Day for high school seniors as they commit in writing to the schools they have agreed to attend.I usually do several of these posts each November; I know that many of the signings have been announced on social media, but I wait until they appear on the school's website just so there is a bit more information available on the student-athlete. Not all
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The acceptances for the final two major ITF Junior Circuit events of the year were released today, with the J300 at IMG Academy in Bradenton Florida and the J500 Orange Bowl in Fort Lauderdale Florida featuring similar fields.Three Top 10 boys and two Top 10 girls have entered, with Andres Santamarta Roig of Spain, the defending champion in both events, leading the acceptance lists. Santamarta,
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With six USTA Pro Circuit tournaments this week, there's a lot to cover, and I'll start with the No. 1 seeds losing in the first round at the M15 in Orlando and the ATP Challenger 75 in Champaign Illinois.Seventeen-year-old Gavin Goode defeated No. 1 seed Toby Kodat 2-6, 7-6(4), 6-1 in the first round today at the USTA National Campus. The left-hander from Raleigh North Carolina, currently No. 40
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USTA National Campus Hosts NCAAs next weekThe seeds for next week's NCAA Division I individual championships were announced today, and although there are often a notable omission or two, this is at another level in the men's field.Defending champion Michael Zheng of Columbia, currently 185 in the ATP rankings, is not seeded. Nor is Trevor Svjada of SMU, ATP 387 and Edward Winter of
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photo of both USA teams, with Caption Georgi Rumenov,upper left and Sylvain Guichard lower rightphoto via ITFThe US girls won their fourth straight Junior Billie Jean Cup title and the US boys claimed their second consecutive Junior Davis Cup championship in dominating fashion today in Santiago Chile. Neither team dropped a point in their six victories, with the deciding doubles point in the
3 months ago | 2 reads
The domination of the top seeded teams from the United States in the ITF Junior Billie Jean King Cup and Junior Davis Cup Finals continued today in Santiago Chile, with the girls beating No. 4 seed Czech Republic 2-0 and the boys defeating No. 8 seed Turkey 3-0 to reach the championship match for the second year in a row.Neither team has dropped a point in their five victories this week, and the
3 months ago | 2 reads
Ryan Cozad, who turned 17 a few weeks ago, is No. 1 in Tennis Recruiting Network's Class of 2027 rankings and after visiting TCU, Georgia, Texas and Virginia, he made his decision to commit to the Cavaliers late last month. I spoke to Ryan and his father Matt about the whirlwind of the past four months which began with Ryan speaking with college coaches in June, narrowing his search to the
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Orlando has proven to be fertile ground for many young Americans this week, with three boys and three girls who are still eligible for junior competition advancing to the quarterfinals in the two USTA Pro Circuit events taking place at the USTA National Campus.At the W35, 15-year-old qualifier Welles Newman defeated No. 5 seed Victoria Hu(Princeton) 6-3, 6-2 to reach her first pro quarterfinal.
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The United States teams came into this week's ITF Junior Davis Cup and Junior Billie Jean King Cup 16-and-under World Finals as the defending champions and No. 1 seeds, and both teams have lived up to those expectations after the completion of group play today in Santiago Chile.The US girls posted their third straight 3-0 victory, this time over No. 6 seed Poland, with Kristina Penickova
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Two more J500s remain this year on the ITF Junior Circuit, both on clay, with Merida Mexico tournament beginning in less than three weeks. The Orange Bowl, beginning December 8th, closes out the year.The Merida acceptances were released today, with ITF girls No. 1 Kristina Penickova entered, and ITF No. 3 Andres Santamarta Roig of Spain the top player entered in the boys field. No. 6 Yannick
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The first day of the ITF's Junior Davis Cup and Junior Billie Jean King Cup in Santiago Chile produced few surprises, with defending champions and No. 1 seeds the United States posting 3-0 wins in the first round of group play.The US girls defeated Austria, with ITF Junior No. 1 Kristina Penickova, playing No. 2 singles, defeating Lea Haider-Maurer 6-3, 6-1, and Julieta Pareja, playing No. 1
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University of Virginia sophomore Rafael Jodar of Spain won his third Challenger title since August today at the home of his collegiate team, defeating Martin Damm 6-3, 7-6(2) in the final at the ATP Challenger 75 at the Boar's Head indoor courts in Charlottesville.Seeded No. 7, Jodar repeated his win over No. 6 seed Damm in the final of the Challenger 75 in Lincoln Nebraska two weeks ago; while
3 months ago | 6 reads