Kozlov Reaches Sacramento Challenger Final; Riffice, Sanford Win Wichita Falls ITF Titles; UCLA's Anderson,Van Nguyen in Women's ITA All-American Final; Two Qualifiers Reach Semis in Men's All-American

Stefan Kozlov defeated No. 2 seed Tim Smyczek 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(1) today to reach the final of the $100,000 Sacramento Challenger. The 16-year-old from Florida, who had not reached a Futures final in his career, recorded his first ATP Top 100 win and will play top seed Sam Querrey in Sunday's championship match. 

 

The above tweet contains a big "if" of course, with Querrey, who won last week's $50,000 Napa Challenger, ranked No. 47 this week.

The Wichita Falls Grade 4 ITF concluded today, with 15-year-olds Sam Riffice and Alexandra Sanford taking their first ITF singles titles.  Sanford defeated Morgan Coppoc, also unseeded, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.

No. 9 seed Riffice took out Waco champion Ryan Storrie of Great Britain 7-5, 6-7(9), 6-3.  Sanford, Coppoc and Riffice are all expected to be in Tulsa for the ITF Grade B1 Pan American Closed.

The qualifying for the ITF B1 Pan American Closed began today, at two sites, with the girls at the Case Tennis Center at the University of Tulsa and the boys at Cascia Hall Prep School a short distance away.  Fourteen of the 15 matches in the girls first round were completed in straight sets, but the match between No. 4 seed Hada Chang and Clare Haley took three hours and ten minutes to complete.  Chang had two match points during a long game when she was serving at 5-3 in the third set, but Haley saved them and went on to take the 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(5) win despite two double faults in the tiebreaker.  All 16 final round qualifying matches will take place at the Case Tennis Center on Sunday, with the girls beginning at 11 a.m., followed by the boys.

At the completion of tomorrow's ITA Riviera All-American Championships, UCLA will have its first women's champion when 2013 finalist Robin Anderson meets teammate Chanelle Van Nguyen.  Anderson, the No. 2 seed, defeated No. 3 seed Hayley Carter of North Carolina 6-3, 7-6(3), while No. 6 seed Van Nguyen beat freshman qualifier Brooke Austin of Florida 6-2, 7-5.

Unseeded Taylor Davidson and Carol Zhao of Stanford will play No. 7 seeds Beatrice Gumulya and Jessy Rompies of Clemson for the doubles title. Davidson and Zhao defeated No. 6 seeds Giuliana Olmos and Zoe Scandalis of Southern Cal 7-6(5), 6-3 in today's semifinals.  Gumulya and Rompies downed No. 5 seeds Pleun Burgmans and Emily Flickinger of Auburn 6-4, 6-3.

A qualifier is assured of reaching the final of the Men's ITA All-American Championships in Tulsa, with Thai Kwiatkowski of Virginia and Sebastian Stiefelmayer of Louisville winning their sixth and seventh matches of the tournament to advance to a semifinal meeting on Saturday.  Kwiatkowski defeated Georgia's Austin Smith (9-16) in the third round, then knocked off top seed Julian Lenz of Baylor 6-2, 6-3 in the quarterfinals.  Stiefelmayer beat Sam Iftikhar of New Mexico 6-1, 7-6(1) in the third round and yet another qualifier, Dominik Koepfer of Tulane, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the quarterfinals.  Kwiatkowski has already beaten Stiefelmayer once this fall, taking a 6-1, 6-3 victory in the final of a tournament at Virginia two weeks ago.

Southern Cal's Yannick Hanfmann, the No. 2 seed, will play Wake Forest's Romain Bogaerts in the other semifinal. Bogaerts beat Leandro Toledo of Minnesota 6-0, 6-2 in the third round and Georgia's Nathan Pasha (9-16) 7-6(6), 6-2 in the quarterfinals.  Hanfmann has been cruising through the draw, and today he continued his dominance, beating Denis Nguyen of Harvard (9-16) 6-0, 6-3 and qualifier Nicolas Alvarez of Duke 6-1, 6-1 in the quarterfinals.

September Aces; Qualifying Begins Saturday at ITF B1 Pan American Closed; Kozlov into Sacramento Challenger Semis; Two Bruins Reach Final Four at Women's All-American

My review of some of the top performances of September can be found at the Tennis Recruiting Network. I've been compiling this monthly roundup for more than seven years and in researching it, I always learn something new.

Qualifying begins on Saturday for the ITF Grade 1 Pan American Closed here in Tulsa and I'll be reporting from the Michael Case Tennis Center tomorrow. The girls qualifying matches will be held there; the boys are at a local high school.  The order of play for Saturday's qualifying is available here.

Stefan Kozlov had received a wild card into the Tulsa tournament, but his 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-4 win over Rhyne Williams today in the quarterfinals of the $100,000 Sacramento Challenger has led to a change of plans. After posting his first Challenger win this week over Ryan Harrison, the 16-year-old Floridian defeated JP Smith and Williams to earn a shot at No. 2 seed Tim Smyczek Saturday and to assure himself a special exemption into next week's $100,000 Tiburon Challenger.

At 3-4 in the third set, Kozlov was serving down 15-40, but he held, broke Williams at love in the next game and closed out the 2 hour and 46 minute match when Williams missed a return at 40-15.

The other Sacramento semifinal will feature top seed Sam Querrey, who beat Jared Donaldson 6-2, 6-1, against Australian John Millman, who defeated Bjorn Fratangelo 6-1, 6-2.

In the $10,000 Pro Circuit women's tournament in Hilton Head, Rianna Valdes has reached the semifinals, a first for the USC recruit.  The 18-year-old from Florida has been knocked out in the quarterfinals three times this year, including last week in Amelia Island, but today she defeated No. 7 seed Anamika Bhargava 5-7, 6-2, 6-0. She will play qualifier Natalia Vikhlyantseva of Russia, the 17-year-old you may remember from her second round upset of CiCi Bellis in the US Open Junior Championships last month, in Saturday's semifinal. She defeated Marie Norris 6-1, 6-1 in the quarterfinals today.  The other semifinal will feature US Open girls champion Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic against No. 6 seed Laetitia Sarrazin of France.

The finals are set for the ITF Grade 4 in Wichita Falls.  Last week's Waco ITF winner Ryan Storrie of Great Britain will play No. 9 seed Sam Riffice for the boys title and Alexandra Sanford and Morgan Coppoc, both unseeded, will meet for the girls singles championship.

The boys doubles title went to last week's champions Joshua Sheehy and Parker Wynn, who defeated Storrie and Sebastian Memersky 6-4, 6-1 in the final. Sheehy and Wynn did not need a match tiebreaker in any of their five victories.

The girls doubles champions are Sanford and Kayla Day. The No. 6 seeds beat unseeded Elysia Bolton and Abigail Chiu 1-6, 6-0, 13-11.

At the Women's ITA All-American Championships, two UCLA Bruins have made the semifinals. No. 6 seed Chanelle Van Nguyen picked up wins over Cal's Zsofi Susanyi and Maegan Manasse to earn a meeting with Florida freshman qualifier Brooke Austin.  Robin Anderson won two three-setters in today's second round and quarterfinals, beating Stephanie Wagner of Miami and qualifier Caroline Doyle of Stanford. No. 2 seed Anderson, last year's finalist, will play No. 3 seed Hayley Carter of North Carolina.

Only one round of singles was played Friday (the tournament now ends on Monday, not Sunday as it has in the past) at the Men's ITA All-American Championships, with top seed Julian Lenz of Baylor and No. 2 seed Yannick Hanfmann of Southern Cal advancing in straight sets.  No. 3 seed Axel Alvarez Llamas of Oklahoma, No. 4 seed Soren Hess-Olesen of Texas, No. 5 seed Jared Hiltzik of Illinois, No. 6 seed Winston Lin of Columbia and No. 7 seed Gonzales Austin of Vanderbilt all lost.  Four qualifiers, four 9-16 seeds and six unseeded players join the top two seeds in the round of 16.

Qualifier Manasse Upsets Top Seed and Defending Champion Jamie Loeb in Opening Round of All-American Championships; Donaldson Reaches Sacramento Challenger Quarterfinals

Qualifiers had a good day at the Women's ITA Riviera All-American Championships, with five of them advancing to the second round, and three of them defeating seeds.

The most surprising result came from Maegan Manasse of Cal, who defeated top seed and defending champion Jamie Loeb of North Carolina 6-4, 5-7, 6-4.  Florida freshman Brooke Austin took out No. 4 seed and 2012 finalist Julia Elbaba of Virginia 7-6(6), 2-6, 7-5 and Saska Gavrilovska of Texas A&M beat 2014 NCAA finalist Lynn Chi of Cal 6-3, 7-6(5).  With additional wins by Caroline Doyle of Stanford and Klara Fabikova of Cal, nearly a third of the remaining players are qualifiers.

For complete results, see the ITA tournament hub page.

At the men's All-American Championships in Tulsa, rain led to indoor play for the first round, with doubles matches scheduled as late as 8:30 p.m., but the singles have been completed. 

Four seeds lost, three 9-16 seeds and the No. 8 seed Harrison Adams of Texas A&M, but, although tested, top seed Julian Lenz of Baylor and No. 3 seed Axel Alvarez Llamas of Oklahoma did survive.  Lenz defeated qualifier Piotor Lomacki of Miami 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 and Alvarez Llamas got by qualifier Adrien Berkowicz of Texas 7-5, 4-6, 6-2.  No. 2 seed Yannick Hanfmann of Southern Cal defeated Florian Lakat of Mississippi State 6-2, 6-4. 

Adams was beaten by qualifier Jonny Wang of Southern Cal  6-3, 6-3. Mackenzie McDonald of UCLA (9-16) lost to Leandro Toledo of Minnesota 6-4, 3-6, 6-3; New Mexico's Samir Iftikhar defeated Virginia Tech's Amerigo Contini (9-16) and Nick Chappell of TCU ousted Oklahoma's Dane Webb(9-16). 

Five men's qualifiers plus a lucky loser made it to the second round, but all four pre qualifiers--AJ Catanzariti, Jonathan Ho, Tomas Stillman and Jack Murray--saw their tournament end.   Qualifiers to advance were Thai Kwiatkowski of Virginia, Quentin Monaghan of Notre Dame, Sebastian Stiefelmeyer of Louisville, Dominik Koepfer of Tulane and Nicolas Alvarez of Duke. Andreas Bjerreus of Virginia Tech was the lucky loser into the second round.

For complete results, see the ITA tournament hubpage.

At the $100,000 Sacramento Challenger, Jared Donaldson won his second round match, defeating Luca Vanni of Italy 7-6(3), 7-6(5).  He will play top seed Sam Querrey in Friday's quarterfinals.  In the other quarterfinals, Tim Smyczek(2) faces Denis Kudla(5), Stefan Kozlov meets Rhyne Williams and Bjorn Fratangelo takes on John Millman of Australia.  Updated draws can be found here.

ITF Grade B1 Pan American Closed Wild Cards

Stefan Kozlov, who is currently in the quarterfinals of the Sacramento Challenger, is among the boys receiving wild cards into next week's Grade B1 Pan American Closed in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Kozlov, No. 4 in the ITF Junior rankings, did not play the tournament last year, and may not this year, but if he does, he will strengthen an already formidable field that includes Michael Mmoh, Taylor Fritz, Sameer Kumar and Reilly Opelka.

This year wild cards have been extended to players from other countries eligible for the tournament.

Boys:

Trent Bryde
Dane Dunlap (CAN)
Vasil Kirkov
Stefan Kozlov
Patrick Kypson
Juan Martin Ramirez (COL)
Sam Riffice
Pablo Sanchez (MEX)

Girls:

Abigail Desiatnikov
Katarine Kopcalic (CAN)
Kylie McKenzie
Ryan Peus
Karla Portalatin (DOM)
Three wild cards are reserved.

Five Pre Qualifiers Earn Spots in ITA All-American Championships; Loeb, Lenz Top Seeds; Kozlov Reaches Quarterfinals at Napa

The qualifying for the ITA All-American Championships is over and the main draws are out, with the men's first round beginning at 8 a.m. Thursday in Tulsa.

One woman and four men made it through two grueling rounds of qualifying to earn a place in the main draw.   University of Florida freshman Josie Kuhlman won three rounds in the pre qualifying over the weekend, then two matches yesterday and one today in qualifying, today's victory coming over qualifying No. 2 seed Taylor Davidson of Stanford 6-4, 7-6(3).  The other seven qualifiers on the women's side were Kuhlman's teammate Brooke Austin, also a freshman, Sydney Campbell of Vanderbilt, Klara Fabikova and Maegan Manasse of Cal, Rachel Pierson and Saska Gavrilovska of Texas A&M, and Caroline Doyle of Stanford.  Davidson also made it into the main draw as a lucky loser.

NCAA champion Danielle Collins of Virginia, who was originally entered, is no longer in the main draw due to tendinitis in her wrist, and Francis Altick of Vanderbilt was a late scratch, opening a spot for Davidson.  Top 20 players Beatrice Capra of Duke and Sabrina Santamaria of Southern Cal were not on the original entry list.

Jamie Loeb of North Carolina will be defending her title as the top seed.  NCAA champions Erin Routliffe and Maya Jansen of Alabama are the top seeds in the doubles competition. The women's singles seeds:

1. Jamie Loeb, North Carolina
2. Robin Anderson, UCLA
3. Hayley Carter, North Carolina
4. Julia Elbaba, Virginia
5. Lauren Herring, Georgia
6. Channelle Van Nguyen, UCLA
7. Lynn Chi, Cal
8. Silvia Garcia, Georgia

The draws are available at the ITA hub page.

The four men who advanced through pre qualifying with six wins in the past five days are Jonathan Ho of Wake Forest, Jack Murray of North Carolina, Tomas Stillman of Texas-San Antonio and AJ Catanzariti.  Catanzariti, being an unseeded freshman, did not have a pre qualifying bye, so he has won seven singles matches in the past five days.  The other 12 men's qualifiers: Piotr Lomacki, Miami;  Thais Kwiatkowski, Virginia; Quentin Monaghan, Notre Dame; Sebastian Stiefelmeyer, Louisville; Ralf Steinbach, Ohio State; Dominik Koepfer, Tulane; Albert Wagner, Louisville; Adrien Berkowicz, Texas; Andre Goransson, Cal; Nicolas Alvarez, Duke; Ben Lott, Drake and Denys Pume, UNLV.

Julian Lenz of Baylor is the top seed, but defending champion Mitchell Frank of Virginia was a late withdrawal and is not in the draw.  John Morrissey and Maciek Romanowicz of Stanford were also originally among the entrants, but are not playing.  The three lucky losers in their places are Gordon Watson of Florida, Bruno Semenzato of Duke and Andreas Bjerrehus of Virginia Tech.  Brayden Schnur of North Carolina withdrew quite some time ago, and Farris Gosea of Illinois, another Top 10 player, is competing in ITF men's circuit events this fall.  The top doubles seeds are defending champions Mikelis Libietis and Hunter Reese of Tennessee.

The men's singles seeds:
1. Julian Lenz, Baylor,
2. Yannick Hanfmann, Southern Cal
3. Axel Alvarez Llamas, Oklahoma
4. Soren Hess-Olesen, Texas
5. Jared Hiltzik, Illinois
6. Winston Lin, Columbia
7. Gonzales Austin, Vanderbilt
8. Harrison Adams, Texas A&M
9. Austin Smith, Georgia,
9. Nathan Pasha, Georgia
9. Denis Nguyen, Harvard
9. Mackenzie McDonald, UCLA
9. Dane Webb, Oklahoma
9. Amerigo Contini, Virginia Tech
9. Shane Vinsant, Texas A&M
9. Roberto Cid, South Florida

For all draws and a link to live scoring see the ITA's tournament hub page.

At the $100,000 Sacramento Challenger today, 16-year-old Stefan Kozlov reached the quarterfinals, defeating former Tennessee All American JP Smith of Australia 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.  Kozlov will play another former Volunteer, Rhyne Williams, on Friday. Williams defeated Wayne Odesnik 6-4, 4-2 ret. to advance to the quarterfinals. Tim Smyczek(2) and Denis Kudla(5) also won Wednesday to set up a quarterfinal meeting.