US College Signings 2017 (and general college tennis chat)

The Optimist · ATP qualifying

RE: US College Signings 2017 (and general college tennis chat)

The Optimist · ATP qualifying

Women's Midwest Regionals kicked off with a 64-place 2-round Q draw in East Lansing, Michigan

QR64

Flo Abbot (DePaul) bt Ayumi Sasaki (Bowling Green) 7-6(4), 6-3

QR32

Flo Abbot (DePaul) bt Isabella Spindler (Cleveland State) 6-4, 7-6(3)

MD R64

Mira Ruder-Hook (Michigan) bt Flo Abbott (DePaul) 6-2, 6-2

Dubs

R64

Daniela Pedraza-Novak / Alexis Casati (Illinois) bt Milica Tesic / Flo Abbott (DePaul) 8-2

Shannon Newnes / Ariadna Blinova (Akron) bt Dao Sysouvanh / Meg Modesto (Valparaiso) 8-2

R32

Mira Ruder-Hook / Brienne Minor (Michigan) bt Shannon Newnes / Ariadna Blinova (Akron) 8-2

The Optimist · ATP qualifying

Women's Northeast Regionals took place at New Haven, Connecticut

R128

Anna Woosley (Massachusetts) bt Natasha Gonzalez (Harvard) 6-1, 5-7, 6-4

R64

Devon Jack (Brown) bt Anna Woosley (Massachusetts) 6-4, 6-3

Dubs

R64

Ruth Crawford / Anna Woosley (Massachusetts) bt Christina Auyeung / Jamie Capisi (LeHigh) 8-4

R32

Clary Rodriguez-Cruz / Ryshena Providence (Drexel) bt Ruth Crawford / Anna Woosley (Massachusetts) 8-7(8)

The Optimist · ATP qualifying

Womens Ohio Valley Regionals took place in Nashville, Tennessee. There was a 32-place B draw, a 32-place 2-round Q draw and a 64-place MD

B Draw

R32

Zoe Manion (Xavier) bt Holly Horsfall (Middle Tennessee State) 7-6(4), 6-2

Gaby Paul (Memphis) bt Sara Bjork (Murary State) 6-2, 6-1

R16

Gaby Paul (Memphis) bt Helena Kuppig (Austin Peay) 6-2, 7-5

QF

Oleksandra Doroshenko (Southeast Missouri) bt Gaby Paul (Memphis) 6-2, 6-3

Bit surprised to see Holly relegated to the B-draw

Qualifying Draw

R32

Lidia Burrows (Middle State Tennessee) bt Vanessa Madrigal (Wright State) 4-6, 6-4, 6-1

Olivia Boesing (Louisville) bt Jemima Potter (Tennessee-Martin)

R16

Lidia Burrows (Middle State Tennessee) bt Caroline Morton (Cincinatti) 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(7)

Main Draw

R64

Anzhelika Shapovalova (Miami-Ohio) bt Elle Stokes (Louisville) 4-6, 6-2, 6-4

Anki Wind (Memphis) bt Kim Schmider (Indiana) 7-5, 6-0

Nelli Ponomareva (Miami-Ohio) bt Lidia Burrows (Middle Tennessee State) 6-1, 4-6, 7-6(6)

R32

Emily Smith (Vanderbilt) bt Thabile Tshatedi (Lipscomb) 6-2, 6-0

R16

Aidila Sutjiadi (Kentucky) bt Emily Smith (Vanderbilt) 7-6(14), 3-6, 6-4

Dubs

16-person, 2-round qualifying draw

R16

Olivia Boesing / Elle Stokes (Louisville) bt Nelli Ponomareva / Hannah Shteyn (Miami-Ohio) 8-2

Oleksandra Doroshenko / Isabella Krupa (Southeast Missouri) bt Holly Horsfall / Lidia Burrows (Middle Tennessee State) 8-2

R8

Olivia Boesing / Elle Stokes (Louisville) bt Burcu Tari / Asel Jomamukhambetova (Texas-Martin) 8-3

Dubs Main Draw

R32

Olivia Boesing / Elle Stokes (Louisville) bt Anzhelika Shapovalova / Andrea Badileanu (Miami-Ohio) 8-5

Fernanda Contreras / Emily Smith (Vanderbilt) bt Thabile Tshatedi / Denise Buberl (Lipscomb) 8-1

Justina Mikulskyte / Lesedi Jacobs (Kentucky) bt Summer Dvorak / Georgina Sellyn (Vanderbilt) 8-0

Sarah Candeloro / Jemima Potter (Tennessee-Martin) bt Kelly Poggensee / Lauren Bellinger (Cincinatti) 8-2

Mdison Appel / Kim Schmider (Indiana) bt Sarah Sediri / Alory Pereira (Middle Tennesee State) 8-4

R16

Eve Repic / Sadie Hammond (Tennessee) bt Olivia Boesing / Elle Stokes (Louisville) 8-5

Fernanda Contreras / Emily Smith (Vanderbilt) bt Linsey Verstrepen / Haily Morgan (Wright State) 8-1

Madison Appel / Kim Schmider (Indiana) bt Sarah Candeloro / Jemima Potter (Tennessee-Martin) 8-7(5)

QF

Justina Mikulskyte / Lesedi Jacobs (Kentucky) bt Fernanda Contreras / Emily Smith (Vanderbilt) 8-3

Madison Appel / Kim Schmider (Indiana) bt Marianna Humberg / Abbie Pahz (Louisville) 8-7(5)

SF

Astra Sharma / Emma Kurtz (Vanderbilt) bt Madison Appel / Kim Schmider (Indiana) 6-2, 7-6(4)

Oakland2002 · All-time great

I see Karla Popovic who beat Emily in the round of 16 at the North West regionals one the whole thing. Now a junior it's looking like she will be one of the better college players this year and Cal a strong team!

The Optimist · ATP qualifying

Cal is always there or thereabouts! And yes, a really strong regional to win.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Oakland2002 wrote:
I see Karla Popovic who beat Emily in the round of 16 at the North West regionals one the whole thing. Now a junior it's looking like she will be one of the better college players this year and Cal a strong team!

Karla Popovic was WTA WR 531 when she was only 17 years and three weeks old.

One of those players who most certainly could have turned pro immediately if she'd wanted to.

The Optimist · ATP qualifying

Women's Carolinas Regionals took place at Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Started with a 32-place 2-round qualifying draw

QR32

Beth Taylor (Presbyterian) bt Catherine White (Gardner-Webb) 6-1, 6-1

Alisa Soloveva (Winthrop) bt Rebecca Smaller (Duke) 6-2, 6-1

QR16

Beth Taylor (Presbyterian) bt Sabrina Barisano (North Carolina-Wilmington) 6-2, 2-6, 6-4

MD

R64

Katty Weymouth (Furman) bt Annika Sillanpaa (North Carolina-Wilmington) 6-2, 6-2

Brigit Folland (South Carolina) bt Pierina Imparato (North Carolina-Charlotte) 6-3, 6-0

Ellyse Hamlin (Duke) bt Alice Taylor (North Carolina-Greensboro) 7-5, 6-2

Jessie Aney (North Carolina) bt Beth Taylor (Presbyterian) 6-2, 6-3

R32

Sara Daavettila (North Carolina) bt Katty Weymouth (Furman) 6-3, 6-3

Brigit Folland (South Carolina) bt Emma Davis (Wake Forest) 3-6, 6-4, 6-3

R16

Meible Chi (Duke) bt Brigit Folland (South Carolina) 6-2, 6-3

Dubs

R64

Katarina Kozarov / Katty Weymouth (Furman) bt Sydney Riley / Daniella Ruiz (Clemson) 8-3

Corinne Blythe / Alice Taylor (North Carolina-Greensboro) bt Lea Cutura / Alex Nicoara (Campbell) 8-7(5)

Cristina Makarova / Rebecca Smaller (Duke) bt Ali Mills / Hannah Templeton (South Carolina) 8-6

R32

Erica Braschi / Kirsten Ward (Elon) bt Tracy Johnson / Beth Taylor (Presbyterian) 8-1

Katarina Kozarov / Katty Weymouth (Furman) bt Brigit Folland / Hadley Berg (South Carolina) No score given ?w/o

Rachel James Baker / Chloe Ouellet-Pizer (North Carolina) bt Corinne Blythe / Alice Taylor (North Carolina-Greensboro)

Cristina Makarova / Rebecca Smaller (Duke) bt Melissa Machado / Rebecca Morse (Appalachian State) 8-2

R16

Ellyse Hamlin / Samantha Harris (Duke) bt Katarina Kozarov / Katty Weymouth (Furman) 8-4

Bianca Moldovan / Claudia Wiktorin (North Carolina State) bt Cristina Makarova / Rebecca Smaller (Duke) 8-2

End of British interest

The Optimist · ATP qualifying

As a nation, the Brits have done remarkably well in the regional events.

We had 7 singles QFs:

Georgie Axon - Auburn

Charles Broom - Dartmouth

Josef Dodridge - Wisconsin

Ricky Hernandez-Tong - New Mexico

Euan McIntosh - Fresno State

Sebastian Rey -Tulane

Alex Sendegeya - Texas Tech

1 Singles SF

Julian Cash - Oklahoma State

And 1 Singles winner

Ryan Peniston - Memphis

And in the Dubs we had 9 QFs

Max Andrews+ - Miami-Florida

Georgie Axon+ - Auburn

Jamie Malik+ - Rice

Euan McIntosh / Youssef Hassan - Fresno State

Ryan Peniston+ - Memphis

Louise Ronaldson+ - Colorado

Emily Smith+ - Vanderbilt

Andrew Watson+ - Memphis

And 4 Dubs SFs

Jack Findel-Hawkins+ - North Florida (although going to the Nationals anyway due to his performance at the Oracle Masters)

Ricky Hernandez-Tong+ - New Mexico

Kim Schmider+ - Indiana

Alex Sendegeya+ - Texas Tech

And 1 Dubs Finalist

Sabrina Federici+ - Texas Tech

And 3 Dubs winners

Julian Cash+ - Oklahoma State

Alex Gasson+ - Denver

Jathan Malik+ - Michigan

Although the regionals vary a bit in strength and are not a national competition, they are large events with generally 128 players in singles and at least 64 pairs in dubs so I think those players coming through to the QFs or better are probably having a more than solid college career and worth keeping an eye on. Shame not more women feature as we only have a handful fewer women than men out there. Still well done one and all and good luck to Julian, Alex, Jathan and Ryan in the Indoor Nationals at Flushing Meadows. I've heard it's a great trip.

The Optimist · ATP qualifying

Also, whist looking up the regional results, I spotted a couple of British winners in the lower divisions.

Molly Worden+ (Northeastern State) won the dubs in her region in Div 2

Ella Riddle+ (Linfield College) won the dubs in her region in Div 3

Jasmine Asghar won the singles and dubs in her region in the Junior College event

-- Edited by The Optimist on Sunday 30th of October 2016 07:53:53 AM

The Optimist · ATP qualifying

Daneika Borthwick who graduated this summer has decided to pursue a career as a college coach having to taken the position of Assistant Coach at Colombia.

The Optimist · ATP qualifying

Added Damian R to the list of those going next year.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

The Optimist wrote:
Added Damian R to the list of those going next year.

Good luck to him.

I like Damian's game.

And he's just won his first ITF adult match over in Sheffield, against a Romanian. (Only the second tournament I think he's played - another youngster who's barely tried out in adults..... cry )

The Optimist · ATP qualifying

Believe Damian is a Reeds School student.

Spectator · All-time great

I was intrigued by your notice about Daneika Borthwick - that's quite a job, as from what I can see, Columbia is rapidly emerging as something of a tennis powerhouse. There's a nice article about her here: www.gocolumbialions.com/ViewArticle.dbml Impressive person: I hope she does really well.