Rutledge Commits to Wake Forest; Blumberg, Arconada Reach Grade A Semifinals in Brazil; Liu, Kingsley Advance to $10K Semis; Tiafoe Makes Final Four in Bakersfield

During one of the many rain delays in Mobile last week, I had an opportunity to talk with Eric Rutledge about his commitment to Wake Forest.  As a Fort Worth resident, Rutledge's choice to leave Texas is not surprising, as many young people opt to strike out in new directions after high school. In this article for the Tennis Recruiting Network, Rutledge explains his reasons for going east and how a family trip to take unofficial visits after his sophomore year led him to Winston-Salem.

At the ITF Grade A in Porto Alegre Brazil, Usue Arconada and William Blumberg both reached their first semifinal at that level with straight-set victories.  No. 3 seed Arconada defeated No. 7 seed Chihiro Muramastu of Japan 6-2, 6-3 to advance to a second straight meeting with No. 2 seed Seone Mendez of Australia, whom she beat in the Banana Bowl semifinals 5-7, 7-6(5), 6-3.  Mendez advanced with a 7-5, 6-2 win over Emilie Francatti of Denmark.  It's rare for any tournament to feature the top four seeds in the semifinals, let alone a junior one, but that's the case in the girls draw, with No. 1 Julieta Estable of Argentina facing No. 4 seed Luisa Stefani of Brazil on Saturday. Stefani, who defeated No. 10 seed and doubles partner Francesca Di Lorenzo 6-3, 6-2, and Estable, who downed No. 5 seed Maia Lumsden of Great Britain 7-5 6-4, have not met in ITF junior competition before, unusual in that they are from the same continent and are the same age: 17.

Arconada and Di Lorenzo will be vying for the doubles title, although not together.  Di Lorenzo and Stefani, the No. 3 seeds, beat unseeded Emiliana Arango of Colombia and Meghan Kelley 7-5, 6-3, while No. 4 seeds Arconada and Francatti defeated No. 6 seeds Alexandra Sanford and Kayla Day 6-4, 6-4.

Blumberg reached the semifinals with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over unseeded Catalin Mateas, and will face another unseeded player, Alex Di Minaur of Australia, on Saturday.  Top seed and defending champion Orlando Luz of Brazil will face No. 10 seed Manuel Pena Lopez of Argentina in the top half of the draw.

Luz will play for the doubles title on Saturday, with Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia, whom he defeated today in singles.  The top seeds will play No. 6 seed Felipe Cunha Silva of Portugal and Alejandro Tabilo of Canada, who beat No. 3 seeds Ulises Blanch and Pena Lopez 6-4, 6-4 in the semifinals.

All of singles matches in Brazil were decided in straight sets today, and in Orlando, at the USTA Women's Pro Circuit $10,000 tournament, an even shorter day was in store.  Two of the four singles matches ended in retirements, and the other two in straight sets, with both doubles semifinals also completed in straight sets.

Fourteen-year-old wild card Claire Liu advanced when 17-year-old Ayan Broomfield of Canada retired trailing 6-1, 3-0, and 16-year-old wild card Raveena Kingsley advanced when Rianna Valdes retired trailing 5-2.  Liu will meet top seed Irina Khromacheva of Russia, who beat qualifier Kylie McKenzie 6-3, 6-1, and Kingsley faces qualifier Fanni Stollar, also 16, after Stollar defeated No. 2 seed Katerina Stewart 6-4, 6-3.

Stewart and Stollar will meet again in the doubles final, after she and Katerina Kramperova of the Czech Republic defeated qualifiers Jessie Aney and Michaela Gordon 6-3, 6-1. Unseeded Stollar and Ingrid Neel will play the No. 4 seeds after they beat Andie Daniell and Sophie Chang 6-3, 6-3.

In the $15,000 Bakersfield Futures, Francis Tiafoe reached his third career Futures semifinal, all of this year, defeating No. 3 seed Darian King of Barbados 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. King, ranked 271, won a $10,000 Futures in Panama in his previous tournament.  Tiafoe will now face former USC Trojan Emilio Gomez, the No. 8 seed. Gomez defeated top seed Fabiano De Paula of Brazil 7-6(5), 6-0.

Georgia recruit Walker Duncan, 18, picked up a huge win last night to reach the quarterfinals, beating No. 2 seed Gianni Mina of France 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 and is currently playing former UCLA Bruin Maxime Tabatruong of France.  Connor Farren and Tommy Paul will play later to decide the fourth semifinalist.

At the BNP Paribas Collegiate Challenge, Oklahoma defeated Purdue 4-0 and will play Columbia in Saturday's semifinals, after the Lions downed Cal 4-1.  Southern Cal got its revenge on Tulsa, who shocked them at home last month, cruising to a 4-0 win. The Trojans will play the winner of the Baylor-BYU match, currently in progress. Live streaming of two courts is available via Playsight, who provide the ITA Men's Indoor streaming last month.

Arconada, Di Lorenzo, Blumberg and Mateas Reach Grade A Quarterfinals in Brazil; Only Teens Remain at Orlando $10K; Tiafoe, Paul Reach Bakersfield Futures Quarterfinals

The US is guaranteed a semifinalist in the ITF Grade A Campeonato Internacional in Porto Alegre Brazil, with William Blumberg and Catalin Mateas winning today to set up a quarterfinal meeting.  No. 6 seed Blumberg, who lost his first match in the Banana Bowl last week, defeated qualifier Geronimo Espin Busleiman of Argentina 6-3, 6-1 in today's third round. Espin Busleiman is 32-7 (including qualifying) on the South American clay courts this year, so that is an impressive win for Blumberg.  Mateas, who played only one match on South American clay prior to this week, defeated No. 3 seed Bogdan Bobrov of Russia 6-3, 7-6(3) today, the second seed he's beaten in three matches. Mateas leads the head-to-head, having beaten Blumberg twice, both times in straight sets, in 2013.

Banana Bowl champion Usue Arconada had no trouble reaching the quarterfinals, with the No. 3 seed downing Lara Escauriza of Paraguay 6-3, 6-1. Arconada, who reached the quarterfinals of this tournament last year, will play No. 7 seed Chihiro Muramatsu of Japan, who defeated Maria Mateas 6-1, 6-1.

Banana Bowl finalist Francesca Di Lorenzo took the upper hand in her recent rivalry with Jaqueline Cristian of Romania, the sixth seed, beating her 3-6, 7-5, 6-1. The No. 10 seed had split her two previous decisions with Cristian this year.  Di Lorenzo will play doubles partner Luisa Stefani of Brazil, the No. 4 seed, in the quarterfinals. It is her first appearance in a Grade A quarterfinal.

Ulises Blanch is in the doubles semifinals with partner Manuel Pena Lopez of Argentina, and the girls doubles semfinals is full of Americans. No. 6 seeds Kayla Day and Alexandra Sanford, both of whom lost today in singles, defeated the top-seeded doubles team of Julieta Estable of Argentina and Maria Fernanda Herzao Gonzalez of Colombia 7-6(5), 5-7, 10-5. They will play No. 4 seeds Arconada and her partner Emilie Francati of Denmark in one semifinal.  In the other, No. 3 seeds Di Lorenzo and Stefani will face unseeded Meghan Kelley and Emiliana Arango of Colombia.

Live streaming of Stadium Court is available at the tournament website.

The quarterfinals are set for the $10,000 women's USTA Pro Circuit tournament in Orlando, with the oldest playing remaining 19-year-old top seed Irina Khromacheva of Russia.  Khromacheva will face 15-year-old qualifier Kylie McKenzie, who beat 27-year-old Alexandra Mueller 6-3, 6-2 for her second pro tour victory.  Wild card Claire Liu, 14, defeated 16-year-old Sonya Kenin 6-4, 6-2 and will play Canadian 17-year-old Ayan Broomfield.  Southern Cal recruit Rianna Valdes, who is 18, will play 16-year-old wild card Raveena Kingsley and 16-year-old qualifier Fanni Stollar of Hungary will play No. 2 seed and Gainesville champion Katerina Stewart, who is 17.

At the $15,000 Futures in Bakersfield, 17-year-olds Tommy Paul and Francis Tiafoe have advanced to the quarterfinals. Paul defeated Deiton Baughman 3-6, 6-2, 6-2, and wild card Tiafoe defeated qualifier Andre Dome(Cal Poly) 5-7, 6-4, 7-5.  Tiafoe will meet No. 3 seed Darian King of Barbados in the quarterfinals, after King thwarted a 2013 Orange Bowl final rematch by beating Stefan Kozlov 1-6, 6-1, 6-1.

Connor Farren, who has been unable to crack the top six with any regularity at Southern Cal, picked up a big win today, defeating No. 4 seed Connor Smith(Ohio State) 6-4, 6-1, and will take on Paul in the quarterfinals.

Qualifier Walker Duncan has yet to play his second round match.

The Oracle Challenge, in its second year, will begin on Friday at the BNP Paribas Open, with three of the top four Division I men's teams among the participants.  In addition to Oklahoma, Baylor and Southern Cal, Columbia, Tulsa, Cal, Purdue and BYU will compete in the tournament (UC-Irvine will fill in for BYU on Sunday).  The draw for the event is here.

Nine US Juniors Advance to Round of 16 at Brazil Grade A; Young Qualifiers, WCs Advance at Orlando $10K; Steve Johnson Tennisography Friday on Tennis Channel

It was another good day for American juniors at the ITF Grade A Campeonato Internacional in Porto Alegre Brazil, with six US girls and three US boys advancing to the round of 16.

The seeded American girls advancing are Usue Arconada(3), Francesca Di Lorenzo(10), Alexandra Sanford(11) and Kayla Day(14).  Two other US girls defeated seeds today, with Meghan Kelley topping No. 6 seed Maria Fernanda Herazo Gonzalez of Colombia 6-2, 7-5, and Maria Mateas ousting No. 9 seed Thaisa Pedretti of Brazil 6-3, 6-3. It is the first Grade A third round appearance for Kelley and Mateas.  Di Lorenzo's win sets up her third meeting this year with No. 8 seed Jaqueline Cristian of Romania; they have split those two matches, with the winner surrendering only 2 games.

Arconada will play Lara Escauriza of Paraguay, who challenged Arconada in the first round of the Grade A in Mexico City late last year, losing 6-2, 6-7(4), 6-4.

Two unseeded US boys also advanced, making up for the two seeds who lost. Liam Caruana defeated Giovanni Fonio of Italy 6-1, 6-1 and Catalin Mateas downed Lucas Koelle of Brazil 5-7, 6-2, 7-5.  As with his sister, Catalin is in a Grade A third round for the first time. William Blumberg, seeded sixth, also advanced, but Emil Reinberg(13) and Ulises Blanch(7) lost in straight sets.

The tournament's Stadium court features live streaming, which can be found here.

Speaking of streaming, the ITF will stream the inaugural Junior Masters from China next month. In the lead-up to that tournament, they are providing profiles of the 16 participants. The first two are Gabby Ruse of Romania and Marcelo Zormann of Brazil.  Michael Mmoh and Taylor Fritz are the US juniors competing in the event.

In addition to the Grade A, there are two Grade 1s this week, in Croatia and in Malaysia.  Australian Open girls champion Tereza Mihalikova of Slovakia was the top seed in Croatia, but in her first junior action since Melbourne, she lost 6-4, 6-4 in the second round to 241st-ranked Silvia Chinellato of Italy. Mikael Ymer of Sweden is the top boys seed, and has advanced to the third round.

In Malaysia, Naiktha Bains of Australia, the top girls seed, and Jumpei Yamasaki of Japan the top boys seed, are through to the third round.

At the $10,000 Women's Pro Circuit event in Orlando, five young qualifiers have advanced to the second round, three of them from the US.  USTA 16s champion Kylie McKenzie won her first match in the main draw on the professional circuit today, a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory over Karolina Stuchla of the Czech Republic. Sophie Chang and Kelly Chen were the other US qualifiers to post victories.  Sonya Kenin, who received a special exemption after reaching last week's final in Gainesville, continued her excellent play, defeating No. 3 seed Petra Rampre of Slovenia 6-4, 7-5. Fourteen-year-old wild card Claire Liu picked up her first win on the professional circuit yesterday, defeating Petra Januskova of Canada 6-3, 6-1.

At the $15,000 men's Futures in Bakersfield, California, 18-year-old qualifier Walker Duncan claimed his first ATP point after failing to make the main draw in eight previous attempts (he received one main draw wild card). Duncan defeated Mico Santiago 6-2, 6-4.  Tommy Paul, Stefan Kozlov, Deiton Baughman, Francis Tiafoe and Connor Farren(Southern Cal) also picked up first round wins.

Tennis Channel is premiering its tennisography of Steve Johnson Friday at 7:00 p.m. in between coverage of a BNP Paribas men's quarterfinal and women's semifinal.  Obviously college tennis has played a huge role in Johnson's tennis life, and this preview shows him back at Southern Cal practicing with some of his former teammates.

USTA Spring Team Championships Recap; Sock into BNP Paribas Fourth Round; Mayotte Joins Harvard; 13 US Juniors Reach Grade A Second Round; North Carolina Women, Oklahoma Men Stay No. 1

My recap of a damp USTA Spring Team Championships in Mobile is available today at the Tennis Recruiting Network. Although this new format is undeniably popular with the players and coaches, I find myself missing the 18 Spring Nationals, where the gradual whittling down of the field as the tournament progresses provides me time to actually watch late round matches closely. Guaranteed matches are an attraction if you are spending the money to travel (although weather must permit them), but as a spectator, I find compass draws less compelling than the standard USTA main/consolation draw format.

Third round ATP matches are still going on at the BNP Paribas Open, but Jack Sock has made his way into the last 16 with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over No. 15 seed Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain. The 22-year-old Sock, who is playing his first tournament this year after hip surgery, had won only one ATP match after dropping the first set prior to this week, but after comeback wins over Yen-Hsun Lu, Gilles Muller and Bautista Agut this week, he now has three.  Sock, who has dedicated this tournament to his brother Eric, now healthy after a week in intensive care this winter due to an infection, plays the winner of the Roger Federer and Andreas Seppi match later tonight. For more on Sock's win, see this article from the ATP.  Steve Johnson lost to No. 9 seed Tomas Berdych this afternoon, and Donald Young fell to No. 3 seed Rafael Nadal this evening, by identical 6-4, 6-2 scores.

The volunteer assistant position at Harvard now belongs to Tim Mayotte, who takes it over from Eric Butorac, currently the president of the ATP Players Council and still active in doubles.  This Harvard Magazine article examines Mayotte's playing career and coaching experience and reveals that he is a candidate for the USTA Player Development General Manager's position.

A baker's dozen of US juniors remain alive after the first round of the Grade A in Porto Alegre Brazil.  Seeds Emil Reinberg(13), Ulises Blanch(7), William Blumberg(6) and unseeded Anudeep Kodali, Catalin Mateas and Liam Caruana were the American boys advancing.  Kodali defeated No. 9 seed Sora Fukuda of Japan 7-6(4), 6-2 and Mateas ousted No. 14 seed Felipe Cunha Silva of Portugal 6-3, 2-6, 6-4.

Mateas' younger sister Maria moved through to the second round, as did qualifier Abigail Desiatnikov, Meghan Kelley and seeds Usue Arconada(3), Francesca Di Lorenzo(10), Alexandra Sanford(11) and Kayla Day(14).

There was a big upset in the boys first round, with No. 2 seed Franco Capalbo of Argentina, who has won three South American clay court titles already this year, losing to Yosuke Watanuki of Japan 6-3, 6-3.

The latest Division I team rankings were released today by the ITA, with the North Carolina women and Oklahoma men continuing to hold the top spot.

The men's Top 10:
1. Oklahoma
2. Illinois
3. Baylor
4. Southern Cal
5. Georgia
6. Duke
7. Texas A&M
8. Texas
9. Virginia
10. North Carolina

The women's Top 10:
1. North Carolina
2. Florida
3. Cal
4. Georgia
5. UCLA
6. Baylor
7. Southern Cal
8. Virginia
9. Alabama
10. Stanford

Grade A Underway in Porto Alegre Brazil; 14-year-old Auger-Aliassime Qualifies for Challenger; Fritz Selected in World Team Tennis Draft; TCU Men Top Illinois; Corsillo Wins Longines Event, Trip to Paris

The ITF Grade A in Porto Alegre Brazil is underway, with 18 US juniors in the main draw.

US boys competing in the year's second Grade A are Emil Reinberg(13), Anudeep Kodali, Hady Habib, Ulises Blanch(7), William Blumberg(6), Catalin Mateas, Liam Caruana and Sameer Kumar(15).

The US girls are Olivia Hauger, Alexandra Sanford(11), qualifier Abigail Desiatnikov, Francesca Di Lorenzo(10), Andrea Kevakian, Maria Mateas, Ndindi Mwaruka, Meghan Kelly, Kayla Day(14) and Banana Bowl champion Usue Arconada(3).

The top boys seed is Banana Bowl champion Orlando Luz of Brazil, who is defending his title this week.  The girls No. 1 seed is Julieta Estable of Argentina.

In my February Aces, I featured 14-year-old Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada, who won two ITF junior singles titles along with one in doubles in Mexico.  Today Auger-Aliassime made a huge splash on the ATP Challenger circuit, winning his third match to qualify for the $50,000 event in Drummondville Canada.  Auger-Aliassime's first round qualifying win was over 15-year-old Canadian Jack Lin, but his second, over Australian veteran Chris Guccione was notable, even if Guiccione's ranking was barely inside the top 1000.  Auger-Aliassime's victory today, over 29-year-old South African Fritz Wolmarans, the fourth seed, ranked 433, put his prospects in a different realm, as he became the youngest Challenger qualifier since Patricio Alvarado in 2004.

The match was streamed on the ATP Challenger site, and Auger-Aliassime wowed everyone who tuned in with his movement, technique, court sense and power. His patience, given the circumstances, was also impressive.  Unfortunately, Auger-Aliassime suffered an abdominal strain and pulled out of the main draw, with Wolmarans taking his place as a lucky loser.  If you are interested in seeing some of the highlights of the match, Joey Hanf has assembled some on You Tube.

The World Team Tennis draft took place today, and early in the proceedings, the first round in fact, the San Diego Aviators selected 17-year-old Taylor Fritz.  Fritz, the only amateur selected, will be joined by Raven Klaasen, Chanelle Scheepers, Kveta Peschke and marquee player Madison Keys on the team coached by John Lloyd. Former collegians Irina Falconi, Nicole Gibbs, Jarmere Jenkins, Tennys Sandgren and Chase Buchanan were also drafted. The complete draft can be found here.

The fourth-ranked Illinois men won two matches against Top 10 opponents in two days, but a third, against No. 17 TCU in Fort Worth, was too much to ask. After picking up 4-2 road wins over No. 8 Texas and No. 9 Texas A&M Saturday and Sunday, Illinois lost to the Horned Frogs 4-0 in a match that lasted a mere hour and forty minutes, according to College Tennis Today.  In this article from the Daily Illini, breaking team rules is the reason given for Farris Gosea's indefinite suspension.

Each year, one 12-and-under player from the US wins an opportunity to compete in Paris during the French Open with other international qualifiers in the Longines Future Tennis Aces competition. Boys and girls alternate each year and this year the boys will be competing in Paris.  This past weekend Jameson Corsillo earned the all expenses paid trip for himself and a parent or guardian, defeating Saiprakash Goli 6-1, 6-7, 6-3 in the final of the eight-boy round robin event in Delray Beach.  Complete results from the US tournament and more about the Paris event can be found here.