Rain Washes Out Opening Day at USTA Spring Team Championships; ITA Men's Collegiate Hall of Fame Inductees Announced; BNP Paribas Open Qualifying; 15 US Juniors in ITF Grade 1 Banana Bowl

Officials did their best, but only a few games were played Monday in Mobile

After two beautiful days for practice, the rain began in Mobile almost exactly as the first balls were to be struck in the opening round of the USTA Spring Team Championships Monday.

After the first shower, courts were squeegeed, only to have another brief downpour delay the opening doubles matches until 12:30 p.m. By that time, it was decided that singles would be played with a match tiebreaker in lieu of a third set, but that proved to be moot, as the doubles were rained out after completion of only a few games.

John Sherwood, the coach of the girls Sting Rays team, reminded them that they are aquatic creatures and should thrive in the wet conditions, but that didn't help them when the rain made yet another appearance. More squeegee work was for naught late in the afternoon, and play was cancelled for the day at 4:40 p.m. as rain continued to fall.

Unfortunately, the weather forecast for the next several days calls for continued rain, so catching up could be a challenge.

Information on Tuesday's schedule can be found at the TennisLink site.

The ITA Men's Collegiate Tennis Hall of Fame announced its 2015 inductees today.  Jay Berger, Jeff Morrison and Mark Merklein are being honored for their accomplishments as players, while Fred Kniffen and Jim Schwitters are being recognized for their coaching. Tim Russell is being inducted in the contributor category.  The complete release can be found at the ITA website.

The qualifying for the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells began today for the women, with men's qualifying beginning on Tuesday.  The US women did not have the best results today, with Samantha Crawford, Jessica Pegula, Maria Sanchez and Allie Kiick all losing in straight sets. Lauren Embree, who received a last-minute wild card, advanced when Kimiko Date-Krumm of Japan retired trailing 6-2, 5-2, and Julia Boserup won over Richel Hogenkamp of the Netherlands 7-5, 7-6(6).

The women's main draw was released today, with 17 US women among the entries, including seeds Serena Williams(1), Madison Keys(16), CoCo Vandeweghe(30) and Varvara Lepchenko(26).  The men's draw will be released Tuesday.

The men's qualifying draw will be released later tonight, with UCLA's Mackenzie McDonald and USC's Yannick Hanfmann among the wild cards.  Read more about McDonald in this question and answer session at the UCLA website.

The Grade 1 Banana Bowl is underway in Brazil, with six US boys and nine US girls in the main draw. Usue Arconada is the top seed in the girls draw, with she and No. 9 seed Francesca Di Lorenzo, No. 11 seed Alexandra Sanford and No. 13 seed Kayla Day all receiving first round byes.  Qualifiers Jaclyn Switkes and Abigail Desiatnikov earned main draw spots, joining Meghan Kelley, Andrea Kevakian and Ndindi Mwaruka.   The American boys in the draw are William Blumberg(5), Ulises Blanch(6), Emil Reinberg(12), Sameer Kumar(15), Anudeep Kodali and Hady Habib.  Orlando Luz of Brazil is the top seed.