Former College Stars Sweep USTA Pro Circuit Events; Nine US Juniors in First Round Action Monday at Wimbledon; Four US Juniors Take ITF Titles

©Colette Lewis 2015--
Wimbledon--

Wimbledon's Middle Sunday isn't really a break for the juniors, because only half of them have even begun the tournament, but it does provide me with an opportunity to catch up on what's gone on this week in the USTA Pro Circuit events and the lower level ITF tournaments away from SW 19.

NCAA champion Jamie Loeb won her first Pro Circuit event at the $25,000 tournament in El Paso today, defeating No. 2 seed Jennifer Brady 6-7(7), 6-4 6-2. UNC's Loeb, a qualifier, had lost to Brady, who left UCLA after her sophomore season ended in May, in the second round of the Sumter $25,000 tournament two weeks ago.  After losing in qualifying last week in Baton Rouge, Loeb won seven matches this week, beating top seed Taylor Townsend in three sets, Stanford's Carol Zhao(7) in three sets (a repeat of this year's NCAA final), and No. 3 seed Mayo Hibi in the semifinals.

Two other former college players, a bit farther removed from their university days, won the two men's Futures in Pittsburgh and Wichita.

Former USC Trojan Emilio Gomez of Ecuador(1) won his second straight title, following up his title last week in Rochester by defeating qualifier Mikael Torpegaard (Ohio State sophomore from Denmark) 6-4, 6-4 in the Pittsburgh $10,000 final today. Reigning Kalamazoo 16s champion John McNally made the quarterfinals before falling to Gomez 3-6, 6-3, 6-1.

Former University of Virginia standout Sanam Singh of India claimed the title at the $15,000 Futures in Wichita, with the No. 5 seed beating No. 4 seed Mitchell Krueger 7-6(6), 7-6(4). Singh had avenged his loss to NCAA finalist Noah Rubin last week in the semifinals. Jared Hiltzik (Illinois senior) reached the semifinals at the Futures level for the first time in his career.  Singh also won the doubles title with Darian King of Barbados, with the top seeds defeating No. 4 seeds Gonzales Austin(Vanderbilt) and Max Schnur(Columbia) 6-3, 6-3.

The men's USTA Pro Circuit now moves to the Winnetka $50,000 Challenger, where qualifying has begun.  Frances Tiafoe is in the field, and Stefan Kozlov, Jared Hiltzik, Tom Fawcett and Mackenzie McDonald received main draw wild cards. Be sure to check Jonathan Kelley's On The Rise blog for onsite coverage; he is credentialed media for the tournament.

There are no USTA Pro Circuit women's events this week.

After an opening day of play in which the US juniors won eight of nine matches at the Wimbledon Junior Championships Saturday, Monday has nine more Americans on the schedule. Five of the US boys are scheduled for Court 9, so if you are on the grounds, you can probably find me there. Feel free to stop and say hello. I'll have my straw hat with a leopard print hat band on, and I'll have a notebook in hand.

US juniors in action Monday are in bold.

Qualifier Alex De Minaur (AUS) v Reilly Opelka
Taylor Fritz [1] v wild card Jay Clarke (GBR)
Tommy Paul [7] v qualifier Benjamin Hannestad (DEN)
Geoffrey Blancaneaux (FRA) v Michael Mmoh [4]
Qualifier Emil Reinberg v Federico Bonacia (ITA)
William Blumberg [10] v Djurabeck Karimov (UZB)
Ulises Blanch v qualifier Charles Broom (GBR)
Sofia Kenin [9] v Bianca Vanessa Andreescu (CAN)
Raveena Kingsley v qualifier Destanee Aiava (AUS)

The complete order of play is here and the draws are here.

Four US juniors won singles titles in lower level ITF events last week. Andrew Fenty won his first ITF title at the Grade 4 in Aruba, beating fellow 15-year-old and Junior Tennis Champions Center training partner Brian Cernoch 6-1, 6-0 in the final. Both were unseeded.  Fourteen-year-old Jordan Harris won the girls title in Aruba, her first ITF title, defeating No. 8 seed Zoe Spence 7-5, 6-2 in the final. No. 2 seeds Ally Miller-Krasilnikov and Spence won the doubles title, beating Harris and partner Safiya Carrington 6-1, 6-2 in the all-USA final.

At the Grade 5 in Cuba, No. 2 seed Naomi Waters won the singles and doubles titles. She downed No. 1 seed Saya Usui of Japan 6-1, 2-6, 6-1 in the singles final. The top seeds in doubles, Usui and Waters took that championship match, defeating No. 2 seeds Karen Alvarez of Mexico and Rut Galindo of Guatemala 7-5, 6-2.

At the Grade 5 in Greece, top seed Nicole Anderson won the singles title, the first for the 17-year-old, beating unseeded Vasiliki Karvouni of Greece 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(4) in the final.

Eight American Juniors Celebrate Independence Day with Wimbledon Victories

©Colette Lewis--
Wimbledon--

Eight of the nine US juniors in action on a gorgeous English summer day celebrated the 4th of July with victories as the Wimbledon championship began at the All England Lawn Tennis Club.

Fifteen-year-old Claire Liu and 17-year-old Nathan Ponwith had markedly different paths to the second round, with Liu defeating No. 13 seed Luisa Stefani of Brazil 6-0, 6-1 in 45 minutes, while Ponwith had his first taste of an advantage third set, beating Yusuke Takahashi of Japan 4-6, 7-6(5), 8-6.

Liu, who is making her first appearance at Wimbledon, hadn't had an opportunity to practice at the site until she warmed up there this morning.

"Yesterday we practiced at another place and I was hitting at the Roehampton courts the whole time," Liu said. "But we went to Eastbourne before Roehampton for the Maureen Connolly Cup, so that was good."

Liu said she likes grass, despite her limited experience on the surface.

"Because I like to try to take time away and stuff, it's really nice that the courts are fast and it's hard to move on," Liu said. "If I can get the first good ball in, I can start the point well."

Liu said she was nervous in her Wimbledon debut, but having played the US Open juniors twice already, she wasn't overwhelmed.

"I was really nervous in the beginning, because I wanted to do well here," said Easter Bowl champion Liu, who is just returning to competition after a torn labrum that did not require surgery. "The first couple of matches in a grand slam, it's hard. The first time I was at the US Open, I was really nervous, people were watching me and that was the first time that had ever happened, but it certainly has helped me with dealing with my nerves better."

While Ponwith wasn't as convincing in his victory, he was happy with the way he played, particularly at the very end of the second set tiebreaker and in the final set. Ponwith had failed to serve out the set at 5-3, and Takahashi, serving at 5-6, saved a set point with a huge backhand winner. In the ensuing tiebreaker, Takahashi had the match on his racquet when Ponwith lost both points on his serve to go from 4-3 up to 5-4 down in the second set tiebreaker. The 17-year-old from Japan, who, like Ponwith, was playing in his first Wimbledon, netted a defensive slice for 5-5, and Ponwith got his set point with a forehand swing volley winner.  Taking his time, Ponwith collected himself, went to his towel, and hit one of his best serves of the match, which Takahashi could only get his racquet on.  Up a break at 2-1 in the third set, Ponwith lost it, but neither dropped serve until Ponwith got a break at 6-6 in the third.

"We were both playing well throughout the third, holding our serves," said Ponwith. "I faced a couple of break points at 3-4 and was lucky to not get broken. At 6-all 15-40, he hit a big serve and saved that break point, but I was able to break at 30-40 on a lucky shank return that he ended up missing. But I'm thankful for it. I played really well today and we both brought really good tennis."

Ponwith said that failing to serve out the second set never entered his mind when he went to serve out the third set. Down 0-30, he won the final four points of the match, finishing it with a forehand winner.

"I actually forgot about that," Ponwith said of his previous inability to close. "I got a little bit nervous, but after 0-30, I calmed down, maybe hit a couple of big serves. And the big forehand, that was nice."

Like Ponwith, Michaela Gordon was also two points away from defeat before she reversed her fortunes with some aggressive play to beat Rebeka Masarova of Switzerland 6-7(2), 7-6(5), 6-2.  Trailing 5-3 in the second set, Gordon fell behind 5-3 in the second set tiebreaker after double faulting. But two aggressive, line-seeking winners made it 5-all and a forehand just wide by Masarova gave Gordon a set point. Another winner and she had the set, and the 15-year-old Californian, who was a quarterfinalist here last year, was into the second round.

Seconds later, Caroline Dolehide joined her there, defeating No. 14 seed Julieta Estable of Argentina 6-4, 4-6, 6-2. Dolehide's ability to finish a point with her forehand providing the difference in the match.

Ingrid Neel has always thought grass would be her favorite surface, and she does have a title on grass at last year's ITF Grade 4 in Philadelphia, but Wimbledon is obviously where she would have her best chance to prove it. Her debut went well, as she used her net instincts to outmaneuver 15-year-old British wild card Lauryn John-Baptiste 6-4, 6-2.

"Even before stepping on the court, just being around here, well, one, it's beautiful," said the 17-year-old Floridian, who reached the semifinals at Roehampton Thursday. "Two, the grass. It's my favorite surface. That sounds weird, since I've only played two weeks on it or less, but I think it will be my favorite surface throughout my career. Today the match went very well. I held serve nicely, which is very key on grass. There were some nerves, but I really couldn't ask for a better first day at Wimbledon."

Neel knew nothing about her opponent, but in that situation, she prefers to focus on her own game.

"I mostly think, I'm just going to try to get into net," Neel said. "Early on I just tried to figure out her weakness and strengths. Her forehand was her big shot, she loved it. But yeah, it's different when you've played a player many times, very different than when you've never seen them before. Both can be equally tough, so I'm glad it worked out today."

Fifteen-year-old Kayla Day also had a successful Wimbledon debut, defeating Tessah Andrianjafitrimo of France 7-6(5), 6-3.  Wild card Tornado Alicia Black, who reached the quarterfinals here last year, need just over an hour to dismiss Canadian Katherine Sebov 6-2, 6-1.

No. 6 seed Usue Arconada avenged her 2014 Orange Bowl loss to Monika Kilnarova, but it was far from easy, with Arconada taking a 7-6(7), 6-7(5), 6-3 victory over the 15-year-old from the Czech Republic.

Francesca Di Lorenzo was the US junior to lose Saturday, falling to 14-year-old wild card Anastasia Potapova of Russia 7-5, 6-3.

The doubles draws are out, with Taylor Fritz and Michael Mmoh the top seeds, Tommy Paul and William Blumberg are the No. 3 seeds and Reilly Opelka and Akira Santillan of Japan are seeded No. 4.

In the girls doubles, Arconada and Canadian Charlotte Robillard-Millette are the No. 2 seeds, and Stefani and Di Lorenzo are the No. 8 seeds.

Complete draws are available at the Wimbledon website.

June Aces; Mmoh Wins Roehampton; Wimbledon Junior Championships Begin Saturday

©Colette Lewis 2015--
Wimbledon--

There was a lot going on today, but in my attempt to minimize my jet lag and try to get over some sort of bug I picked up on the plane(s), I'll make this brief.

My monthly collection of outstanding performances, June version, is available now at the Tennis Recruiting Network.

Michael Mmoh won the ITF Grade 1 in Roehampton today. The No. 3 seed defeated No. 5 seed Viktor Durasovic of Norway 7-6(4), 6-3. No. 3 seed Dalma Galfi of Hungary took the girls title, beating top seed and world No. 1 Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic 7-6(3), 6-2.

Tommy Paul and William Blumberg lost in the boys doubles final to Australians Jake Delaney and Marc Polmas 6-7(3), 6-1, 10-7.  The outstanding play of top girls doubles seeds Miriam Kolodziejova and Vondrousova continued with their 6-3, 6-3 win over Australians Destanee Aiava and Olivia Tjandramulia.

Alejandro Tabilo of Canada and Tornado Alicia Black

Emil Reinberg qualified for the Wimbledon boys junior championships today, defeating Alexandar Lazarov of Bulgaria 2-6, 6-4, 8-6. Reinberg will join 17 other Americans in the boys and girls singles draws, but as with all qualifiers, he will have the day off on Saturday and will begin play on Monday, as do all the Roehampton finalists. Top seed Taylor Fritz plays a qualifier, so he too will begin play on Monday.

US boys seeded, in addition to Fritz, are Michael Mmoh(4), Tommy Paul(7) and William Blumberg(9).  Two US girls are seeded: Usue Arconada(6) and Sonya Kenin(9).

The US juniors in action on Saturday in bold:

Wild card Anastasia Potapova (RUS) vs Francesca Di Lorenzo

Luisa Stefani (BRA) [13] vs Claire Liu

Wild card Lauryn John-Baptiste (GBR) vs Ingrid Neel

Usue Arconada [6] vs Monika Kilnarova (CZE)

Yusuke Takahashi (JPN) vs Nathan Ponwith

Rebeka Masarova (SUI) vs Michaela Gordon

Kayla Day vs Tessah Andrianjafitrimo (FRA)

Katherine Sebov (CAN) vs wild card Tornado Alicia Black

Caroline Dolehide vs Julieta Lara Estable (ARG) [14]

There will be live scoring at the Wimbledon website.  The complete draws are here.  The complete qualifying results are here.

Congratulations to unseeded Americans Denis Kudla and CoCo Vandeweghe for making the second week at Wimbledon with wins today.  

Mmoh Reaches Grade1 Final in Roehampton; Boys Team USA Summer Playoffs Begin Sunday

A travel day and night for me as I head over to Wimbledon, so this early post will not include all the day's Wimbledon results.

The finals are set for the ITF Grade 1 in Roehampton, with Michael Mmoh reaching the championship match.  Mmoh, seeded No. 3, defeated Reilly Opelka, seeded No. 16, 6-3, 6-2 in today's semifinal.  Mmoh will play Viktor Durasovic of Norway, the No. 5 seed in the final. Mmoh is 2-0 against Durasovic, including a quarterfinal win at the International Hard Courts Grade 1 last August.

The girls final will feature No. 3 seed Dalma Galfi against top seed Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic.  Galfi defeated Ingrid Neel 6-2 7-6(6), while Vondrousova advanced to the final via a walkover from No. 5 seed Katie Swan from Great Britain. I hope it's nothing serious so Swan can play Wimbledon Juniors.

Tommy Paul and William Blumberg have reached the doubles final. The No. 2 seeds defeated Ulises Blanch and Juan Pablo Ficovich of Argentina 6-2, 6-4 in the semifinals today.

The USTA Junior Summer Team for girls was decided back in May; the boys playoffs will be held this Sunday at Boca Raton.  Sam Riffice and Vasil Kirkov are already on the team, with six players to be chosen from the 16 players listed below.  Those invited to participate in the playoffs, with the names of their coaches:

Player    Hometown    Personal Coach
Gianni Ross  -- Burr Ridge, IL  -- Jack Sharpe

Trent Bryde --  Suwanee, GA  --  Will Wright

Alafia Ayeni --  San Diego, CA -- Brian Teacher/Anthony Ayeni

Alexandre Rotsaert -- Boca Raton, FL -- Hafeez Hameed

Alexander Brown -- Urbandale, IA -- Elliott McDermed/Zach Buenger

Kyrylo Tsygura -- North Potomac, MD --Vesa Ponkka

Brian Shi -- Jericho, NY -- Mihai Grecu

Oliver Crawford -- Spartanburg, SC --  Kelly Jones/Anthony Stewart

Austen Huang -- Elk Grove, CA -- James Roberts

William Howells -- Boca Raton, FL -- Cyril Saulnier

Matthew Tsolakyan -- Glendale, CA -- Greg Grigorian

Steven Sun -- Boca Raton, FL -- Andres Pedroso

Trey Hildebrand -- San Antonio, TX -- Mark Hildebrand

Ryan Goetz -- Greenlawn, NY -- Keith Kambourian

Matthew Rodriguez -- Highland Beach, FL -- Maurice Trail

Danny Thomas -- Boca Raton, FL -- Maurice Trail

Joffe Leaves Texas A&M for Texas; Neel, Mmoh and Opelka into Semifinals at Roehampton; Wimbledon Junior Qualifying Draws

The highest profile women's head coaching position open this summer has been filled, with Texas A&M's Howard Joffe leaving College Station to take over the University of Texas job in Austin.

Joffe was at Texas A&M for four years and led the Aggies to the finals of the NCAAs in 2013. Prior to his four years in College Station, Joffe was head coach at the University of Maryland and Miami of Ohio, and an assistant at Southern California, all in the women's programs.  The complete release is here.

At the ITF Grade 1 in Roehampton, all three American juniors who reached the quarterfinals won today to move into the semifinals. Ingrid Neel, who has something of an old-school grass game, defeated No. 2 seed Shilin Xu of China 7-5, 6-1 and will play No. 3 seed Dalma Galfi of Hungary in Thursday's semifinal.  Top seed Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic will play No. 5 seed Katie Swan of Great Britain in the other girls semifinal.

No. 3 seed Michael Mmoh downed No. 6 seed Marcelo Barrios Vera of Chile 6-2, 6-3 and No. 16 seed Reilly Opelka defeated No. 12 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece 6-7(7), 6-4, 7-6(5) to set up their fifth meeting since last August, with each having won twice. Mmoh defeated Opelka in the quarterfinals of the French Open junior championships last month.  The other boys semifinal will feature No. 7 seed Akira Santillan of Japan against No. 5 seed Viktor Durasovic of Norway.

Three US boys have reached the doubles semifinals.  Tommy Paul and William Blumberg, the No. 2 seeds, and unseeded Ulises Blanch and his partner Juan Pablo Ficovich of Argentia will play for a place in the final.

The qualifying draws for the Wimbledon Junior Championships are out, with play beginning at Roehampton on Thursday.  Seven US juniors are in qualifying: Raquel Pedraza, Mia Horvit, Meghan Kelley, Gabby Pollner, Catalin Mateas, Liam Caruana and Emily Reinberg.  Draws and the order of play can be found at the ITF junior website.

In the men's and women's second round Wednesday, seven Americans advanced, two men and five women making the third round, with No. 21 seed Madison also finishing off her first round match against Stefanie Voegele of Switzerland. No. 17 seed John Isner defeated wild card Matt Ebden of Australia 6-2, 7-6(8), 6-4 and wild card Denis Kudla topped 18-year-old Alexander Zverev 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(2), 6-4.

Top seed Serena Williams (d. Timea Babos of Hungary 6-4, 6-1), Venus Williams (d. Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan 7-6(5), 6-4) and Sloane Stephens (d. Lauren Davis 6-4, 6-4) all won as expected. CoCo Vandeweghe and Bethanie Mattek-Sands pulled off upsets, with Vandeweghe taking out No. 11 seed Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic 7-6(5), 6-4 and Mattek-Sands outplaying No. 7 seed Ana Ivanovic of Serbia 6-3, 6-4.

Keys, Christina McHale and Sam Querrey are the Americans on the schedule for Thursday's singles play.

The links to the draws are here.