Sandgren Takes Futures Title in Canada; Virginia Tech Men Upset Second-ranked Duke; ITF Junior Update

Tennys Sandgren won the $15,000 Futures in Canada Sunday, collecting his first title since he won the Champaign Challenger in November of 2013. After hip surgery kept him out between February and September of 2014, the former Tennessee Volunteer had seen his ranking drop from the 180s all the way down to the 700s.  Although unseeded this week, Sandgren beat No. 8 seed Matteo Donati of Italy, top seed Jarmere Jenkins, No. 6 seed Nick Meister and in the final, unseeded Philip Bester of Canada 6-3, 7-6(7). The 23-year-old from Tennessee is scheduled to compete in next week's Futures in Canada as well. With the BNP Paribas Open qualifying beginning, there is no Pro Circuit event in the United States for the men.

The women have a $10,000 tournament in Gainesville, Florida, where qualifying is underway.

The upsets keep on coming in college tennis, with the second-ranked Duke men the victims today. In an ACC match in Blacksburg, played with traditional scoring, No. 44 Virginia Tech posted an impressive 6-1 win over the Blue Devils, taking all six singles matches without their No. 1 player Amerigo Contini in the lineup. Edoardo Tessaro clinched the match for the Hokies, defeating Bruno Semenzato 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 at line 4.

For more Division I men's results from today, see College Tennis Today.

Three Grade 1s were held this week on the ITF Junior Circuit, with two top seeds winning in Russia and Thailand.  Akira Santillan, who recently began competing under the Japanese flag after representing Australia for many years, won the Grade 1 in Thailand, defeating Nam Hoang Ly of Vietnam 6-3, 7-6(7). Santillan didn't drop a set, winning all three tiebreakers he played.  The girls title went to No. 2 seed Pranjala Yadlapalli, a 15-year-old from India, who beat Deria Nur Haliza of Indonesia 6-4, 6-1 in the final, and like Santilla, Yadlapalli didn't lose a set in the tournament. Top seed Naiktha Bains of Australia lost to Nur Haliza in the semifinals.

In Russia, boys top seed Alexandre Bublik took the title, beating No. 3 seed Denis Klok, also of Russia 6-4, 7-6(4) in the final. Bublik also won the doubles title, with compatriot Boris Pokotilov. No. 16 seed Karine Sarkisova of Russia won the girls title, defeating No. 3 seed Anna Blinkova, also of Russia, 7-6(2), 3-6, 7-6(5) in the final.  Top seed Anna Kalinskaya lost in the quarterfinals.

The Grade 1 Asuncion Bowl in Paraguay was disappointing for American juniors, with 18 of the 19 competing there going out in the first or second round.  No. 4 seed Marcelo Barrios Vera of Chile, who won the Grade 2 last month in Chile, defeated No. 6 seed Andre Pellegrino of Italy 6-2, 6-2 in the final.  The girls title was won by unseeded Beatrice Torelli of  Italy, who defeated No. 14 seed Maria Jose Portillo Ramirez of Mexico 6-2, 6-3 in the championship match.  Torelli had taken out top seed Maia Lumsden of Great Britain in the semifinals.

Gabby Pollner reached the doubles final with Jade Lewis of New Zealand, with the No. 8 seeds falling to Portillo Ramirez and Lara Escauriza of Paraguay, the No. 7 seeds, 6-4, 6-1 in the championship match.

At the Grade 4 in Sweden, wild card Roscoe Bellamy defeated top seed Boris Gojo of Croatia in the semifinals, but lost to unseeded Rudolph Molleker of Germany 6-3, 6-3 in the final.

At the Grade 4 in Guatemala, Chiara Lommer and Sabrina Faybyshev, the top seeds, won the girls doubles title, beating No. 2 seeds Camila Ramazzine of Guatemala and Ulyana Shirokova of Russia 6-4, 2-6, 10-7 in the final.