Oracle ITA Masters & Oracle Cup Thursday Results

The Oracle ITA Masters got underway on Thursday morning in Malibu with mixed doubles and progressed through the singles draws as the day went on. 12 of the 16 men's singles matches were won by the higher seed with Columbia's Shawn Hadavi, Old Dominion's Adam Moundir, Denver's Diogo Rocha, and Valparaiso's Jeffrey Schorsch the four lower seeds to prevail.  On the women's side the higher seed won 15 of 16 matches on Thursday with the lone seeded upset coming when Penn's Kana Daniel, seeded No. 20, defeated Rice's Katherine Ip, seeded No. 13, 5-7, 6-4, 6-3.

You can view doubles and consolation bracket results on the tournament's home page. 

D1 - Men's 

[1] Yuya Ito (Texas 14.56) def. [32] Kei Ezaka (Quinnipiac 12.06) 6-4, 6-2

[16] Jack Findel-Hawkins (North Florida 13.80) def. [17] Lautaro Pane (Pepperdine 13.78) 6-4, 6-2

[8] Martin Redlicki (UCLA 14.22) def. [25] Jaime Barajas (Utah State 13.10) 7-6(3), 6-2

[9] David Biosca East Tennessee St 14.20) def. [24] Michael Feucht (Lamar 13.27) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3

[4] Ryan Peniston (Memphis 14.35) def. [29] Michael Nguyen (Army 12.45) 6-2, 6-4

ITA Oracle Cup - D2, D3, NAIA, JUCO

The ITA Oracle Cup (formerly Small College Nationals) gets underway today in Sunrise, Arizona, with the top players from D2, D3, NAIA, and JUCO competing for a chance to win the Oracle Cup. The participants earned their spots after winning an ITA Regional Championship in September with a few at-large selections awarded at the NAIA and JUCO level due to their being less than eight ITA regions.

There were nine qualifiers at D3 level due to their being nine ITA regions so a play-in match was held between the winners of the Northwest and Southwest Regions.

Oracle ITA Masters News and Notes

The draws are out for the second Oracle ITA Masters in Malibu with this year's format differing a good bit from last year. Last year the singles field was limited to 16 players with the field selected based on preseason ITA rankings; this year the field has been expanded to 32 players with the goal to have one player per conference. The other change relates to doubles - last year there was a men's and women's doubles draw but this year those have been scrapped in favor of a mixed doubles draw.

The seeding is completely based on Universal Tennis Rating using a UTR from a few days ago. Texas freshman Yuya Ito is the top seed in the men's draw while Pepperdine sophomore Luisa Stefani is tops in the women's draw.

Coaching Updates, PlayFair Challenge System, & Pro Circuit Recap

It took about a month but Monmouth Athletic Director Marilyn McNeil announced the hiring of Alex Kasarov as the Hawks new men's head coach. Kasarov was the men's assistant coach at Davidson for the last two season and replaces Kyle Bailey who departed after a few months to become the new men's assistant at South Carolina.

Hofstra Director of Atheltics Jeffrey Hathaway announced the hiring of Jason Pasion as the Pride's new men's and women's head coach. Pasion had a successful two-year stint at D2's NYIT where he won over 70 percent of his matches and led both the men's and women's program to deep runs at the NCAA Tournament. Pasion replaced Jeffrey Menaker who departed after one season for unknown reasons.

Petros Chrysochos Takes Tulsa, Bergevi/Lakat Tame North Florida, Holt Halts Schneider in Consol Final

Wake Forest sophomore Petros Chrysochos is your 2016 Saint Francis Health System Men's All-American Champion after overpowering Ohio State junior Hugo Di Feo.

Chrysochos entered the match as the higher ranked player but it was Di Feo that got off to the quick start after breaking from 30/40 to take an early 2-1 lead. Chrysochos immediately broke back, from 15/40, and then held at love to go ahead 3-2. Di Feo held from 40/15 and then went up 0/30 on Chrysochos's serve but the Demon Deacon took the next four points to hold for 4-3. After a pair of holds, Di Feo went up 30/0 on his 4-5 service game but Chrysochos won the next three points to take a 30/40 lead. Di Feo got it to the deciding no-ad (40/40) point after Chrysochos broke his string on the service return (which didn't make it back over the net) but Chrysochos got the break and the first set after hitting a forehand winner.

Di Lorenzo Wins Women's All-American; Chrysochos and Di Feo To Meet in Men's Finals

Ohio State sophomore Francesca Di Lorenzo just started her second year of collegiate tennis but she's already claimed two Grand Slams after winning the Riviera/ITA All-American Championships. Di Lorenzo was playing her fifth match of the week while her opponent, UCLA freshman Ena Shibahara, was taking the court the 11th time since beginning the pre-qualifying rounds nine days earlier.

Shibahara started the match off with a hold and break but Di Lorenzo broke back and held to even it at 2-2. It stayed on serve until Di Lorenzo broke to go up 5-4 and then she served it out from 40/30 to take the opening set 6-4. There were four straight holds to start the second set until Di Lorenzo broke from 15/40 to go ahead 3-2. Di Lorenzo fell behind 30/40 on her next service game before coming back to hold on the no-ad point to extend her lead to 4-2. After a love hold by Shibahara, Di Lorenzo faced a big point at 30-all on her 4-3 service game.  Di Lorenzo hit a service winner to go up 40/30 and then she hit another service winner to hold for 5-3. Shibahara was now serving to stay in the match but she quickly went down 15/40. Di Lorenzo didn't waste any time and closed it out on the next point after using her wheels to track down a Shibahara drop shot.

Day of Upsets in Tulsa; Di Lorenzo and Shibahara Will Meet in Women's Final

Six of the top eight seeds began the day in Tulsa but by mid-afternoon Wake Forest sophomore Petros Chrysochos would be the only one left with a number beside his name.

Chrysochos and Arkansas senior Jose Salazar slugged it out for 2 hours and 40 minutes in their Round of 16 match. Chrysochos was broke serving for the first set at 5-4 and 6-5 before rolling 7-1 in the tiebreak. Chrysochos led 3-1 in the second set but Salazar won four straight games to go ahead 5-3 and would eventually serve the second set out to take it 6-4. Chrysochos jumped out to a single break 4-1 lead in the third set but Salazar got it back on serve and forced a third set tiebreak. Chrysochos would take the third set tiebreak 7-4 to move on to the quarterfinals against the top seed Ohio State's Mikael Torpegaard.

Kwiatkowski Survives; Wake Trio Triumphs, Texas Freshmen Too Tough; Shibahara Shines

While the men's top seed Mikael Torpegaard cruised into the Round of 16 the second seed and defending champion Thai-Son Kwiatkowski got all he wanted and more from UCLA junior Martin Redlicki. The Bruin lefty used his big serve and forehand to keep Kwiatkowski at arms length but the Cavalier senior hung around long enough to turn it around.

Redlicki took the opening set 6-3 after picking up the lone break to go up 4-2. Kwiatkowski broke Redlicki to go up 3-1 in the second but Redlicki broke back and held to even it at 3-3. Redlicki came back from 15/40 down to send the set to a tiebreak but Kwiatkowski rolled 7-3 to force a deciding third set. Redlicki held to start the third set and kept the pressure on but Kwiatkowski was awfully tough on his own serve. Kwiatkowski held from 40/30 to even it at 5-5 and then he got the pivotal break to go up 6-5. Redlicki was up 40/30 in his 5-5 service game but a Kwiatkowski forehand winner brought up the no-ad point and when Redlicki netted a forehand Kwiatkowski had the break. Kwiatkowski hit back-to-back service winners from 30-all to close out the 3-6, 7-6(3), 7-5 win.

Cowgirls and Tar Heels Roll Through The Riviera First Round While Several Seeds Hit The Rocks

Three of the five seeds were knocked out of the main draw on Thursday with North Carolina's Hayley Carter and Ohio State's Francesca Di Lorenzo the lone survivors. Florida's Kourtney Keegan knocked off the second seed Pepperdine's Luisa Stefani, Vanderbilt's Astra Sharma defeated the fourth seed Miami's Sinead Lohan, and Oklahoma State's Vladica Babic held off the fifth seed Mississippi State's Jasmine Lee.

Three of the top four seeds lost in doubles with Florida's Brooke Austin and Kourtney Keegan, the No. 2 seeds and defending NCAA Champions, the only ones to move on to the quarterfinals.

Oklahoma State went a perfect 3-0 in singles with Babic, Katarina Adamovic, and Viktoriya Lushkova posting Ws while North Carolina went 2-0 in singles and 2-0 in doubles thanks to Hayley Carter (dubs), Sara Daavettila, and Jessie Aney (dubs)

Torp and Thai-Son Move On To Round 2 & Let's Up The Flo

Each of the top seven seeds picked up wins on a hot, humid, and windy day in Tulsa with straight set matches the norm. 25 of 32 first round matches finished in straight sets though several of those were tightly contested.

The top seeded Mikael Torpegaard cruised to a 6-2 first set against Virginia senior J.C. Aragone but the hard hitting Cavalier fought back in the second set. Aragone broke Torpegaard on a disputed line call on the no-ad point to take a 4-2 lead but a fired up Torpegaard broke back from 15/40 and then held for 4-4 after Aragone netted a forehand on the no-ad point. Torpegaard broke for 6-5 when Aragone netted another forehand on the no-ad point and then the Buckeye junior held from 40/30 to close it out 6-2, 7-5.

Women's AA Wraps Up Qualies - Main Draw Begins Thursday

Players from the Power 5 conferences claimed 7 of the 8 qualifying spots in California with Pepperdine's Mayar Sherif Ahmed being the lone exception. UCLA freshman Ena Shibahara was the only player from the pre-qualifying draw to make it all the way to the main draw after the Bruin won all six matches in straight sets.

Men's All-American Main Draw Breakdown

It's time for the main event in Tulsa with all 64 competitors known after the conclusion of the qualifying rounds. The main draw is out and there are going to be some juicy opening round matches. I thought I would take a look at the composition of the men's field and show you where the 64 players came from and how they made the field.

40 players made the main draw based off the ITA's preseason ranking with the last acceptance being USC's Logan Smith who was ranked No. 48.

Men's AA Qualies Wrap Up While the Women Start Back Up

The men's pre-qualifying and qualifying rounds in Tulsa have come to a close as the 16 qualifiers will get a day off before the main draw begins on Thursday.

South Florida junior Peter Bertran, Texas freshman Christian Sigsgaard, and Columbia freshman Alex Keyser each qualified for the main draw after starting play back on Saturday in pre-qualies. Four freshman qualified for the main draw, three schools had multiple qualifiers, and 11 of the 16 qualifiers came from schools in Power 5 conference.

Pro Circuit Recap & College ATP Rankings

12 players with collegiate ties won pro titles last week with 10 of those titles coming within the United States.

Jarmere Jenkins (Virginia '13) won his first singles title of the year, seventh of his career, with a 6-1, 7-5 win over #292 Marc Polmans in the final of the $25K Australia F6 Futures in Brisbane. Interesting to note that five of Jenkins's seven career titles have come in Australia. Here was article on the match from Tennis Australia.

Bechard and Jacobs Pull Off Qualifying Day 1 Upsets in Tulsa

The opening day of the singles qualifying draw is in the books with four of the top 10 seeds, including the top seed, making an early exit. There was one Universal Tennis Rating (UTR) upset with South Alabama's Tuki Jacobs (13.23) knocking off the No. 4 seed Memphis's Ryan Peniston (14.36) in straight sets.

Qualifiers from the pre-qualifying draw went a stout 10-6 while both lucky losers were defeated for the second match in a row. Freshmen went 11-5 on the day with 4 of the winners coming through pre-qualies which meant they've now won 5 matches in the last 3 days.

Women's All-America Qualifying Draw with UTRs

The women are taking the day off in California but play will resume on Tuesday with the start of the Riviera/ITA All-American qualifying draw. I've got the qualifying draw broken down by Universal Tennis Rating, seed, and school and it's interesting to note that none of the top eight seeds have a top eight UTR. There actually isn't a huge difference in UTR level between the pre-qualifying draw and qualifying draw due to the pre-qualifying draw being restricted to 64 (unlike the men's open pre-q draw).

All-American Pre-Q's Wrap Up & Men's Qualifying Draw Broken Down by UTR

The All-American pre-qualifying rounds are in the books with 8 women moving on to the qualifying rounds while 16 men move on to the qualifying round. Below are all the Sunday scores and down at the bottom I have the qualie draw broken down by UTR, school, and seed.

Women's Pre-Q by Conference:
SEC (4) - Foster (Jr), Pierson (Sr), Liang (Sr), Kulhman (Jr)
Pac 12 (2) - Westby (Jr), Shibahara (Fr)
ACC (1) - Chi (Fr)
WCC (1) - Lahey (Fr)

All-American Pre-Qs Underway

The scores trickled in throughout the day in Tulsa and Pacific Palisades as both the men and women played two rounds in the pre-qualifying draw. The top three seeds in the women's draw were removed with two (Neda Koprcina/Madison Harrison) getting bumped up to the qualifying draw and the other withdrawing (Rianna Valdes). Women's top 16 seeds went 11-2 in the Round of 64 and 7-4 in the Round of 32. 5 of the top 8 seeds on the men's side advanced to the Round of 64 after each got a bye in the Round of 256.

Men's All-American Pre-Qualie Draw with UTRs

The pre-qualifying singles draws is out for the Saint Francis Health System Men's All-American Championships with play beginning on Saturday morning in Tulsa, Oklahoma. 16 of the 242 singles participants will advance to the 64-person qualifying draw. I also ran the Universal Tennis Ratings on each of the 242 singles participants which you can view in the table below.

Pre-Q Singles Draw
Host Site

Women's All-American Pre-Qualie Draw with UTRs

The pre-qualifying singles and doubles draws are out for the Riviera Women's All-American Championships with play beginning on Saturday in Pacific Palisades, California. I also ran the Universal Tennis Ratings on each of the 64 singles participants which you can view in the table below.

Pre-Q Singles Draw

Pre-Q Doubles Draw

What's Coming Up - All-Americans & More

The first major of the year gets started on Saturday with the Saint Francis Health System Men's All-American Championships taking place in Tulsa while the Riviera Women's All-American Championships gets going in Pacific Palisades.

The Men's All-Americans will have an open pre-qualifying draw that runs Saturday and Sunday with 16 advancing to the qualifying draw (draw out on Friday). The 128 player qualifying draw takes place on Monday and Tuesday with 16 advancing to the 64 player main draw.  The guys take Wednesday off and then the main draw runs from Thursday through Monday. For information about the selection criteria, schedule, and how wild cards are distributed click here. The list of players expected to play is listed at the ITA's tournament page.

College ATP Rankings

Several current college players made sizable jumps last week based off recent performance at Futures and Challenger events. Ohio State junior Mikael Torpegaard jumped 271 spots up to #371 after winning the Columbus Challenger while UCLA freshman Evan Zhu rose 876 spots to #990 after finishing as the runner-up at the Claremont Futures the week before last. UCLA junior Martin Redlicki also made a big jump by coming up 435 spots to #1123 after making the semifinals in Claremont.

TCU junior Cameron Norrie is still the top ranked current college player at #278 which is up 7 spots from last week. Norrie won his opening round match in Columbus before falling to Mikelis Libietis in the second round.

Mike Redlicki Wins the Southern Intercollegiates; Pro Circuit Recap

Arkansas senior Mike Redlicki (14.31) started off his junior season by winning the Georgia Tech Invitational in Atlanta and today he began his senior season by winning the top singles flight at the Southern Intercollegiates in Athens. Redlicki, who was the top seed, won six matches (all in straight sets) over the last four days including today's 6-4, 6-4 win over the No. 11 seed Oklahoma junior Spencer Papa (14.15). Papa also had a strong week by winning four straight matches over ranked opponents before falling in today's final.

“Mike played a beautiful match against Spencer in the final,” head coach Andy Jackson said. “He beat a quality field in brutally hot conditions this weekend. He earned the title with hard work and smart play. The Razorbacks are very proud of him. Next up for us is the ITA All-American as we continue to get ready for the team season in January.”

Torpegaard At Home in Columbus, Bellamy Basks in the Bay, Scott Spices the Cajun, Belga Burns Through the Bedford

What a successful week it was on the pro tour for several current, future, and former collegians. The biggest news came in Columbus (OH) as Ohio State junior Mikael Torpegaard won the $50K Columbus Challenger by defeating the top seed Benjamin Becker (Baylor '05) in three sets.

Torpegaard earned the only break of the first set when he broke Becker from 30/40 to go up 5-4 and then he held at love to take the opening set 6-4. Becker flipped the script in the second set and won 30 of 44 points (68%) in route to a 6-1 set. Torpegaard fell behind 0-40 on his serve to start the third set before coming back to get an important hold. After five consecutive holds, Torpegaard broke Becker in a two-deuce game to go up 4-2 and then he broke him one more time from 15/40 to close out the 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 win in 1 hour and 31 minutes.

Torpegaard Into the Finals in Cbus & Plenty of Fall Tournament Results

Ohio State junior Mikael Torpegaard got a wild card into the $50K Columbus (OH) Challenger, which is played at the Ohio State Varsity Tennis Center, and he has thanked the tournament organizers with his stellar performance on the court this week. Torpegaard had never played a Challenger-level event prior to this week but a 7-5, 7-6(5) win over former Tennessee Volunteer and ATP #263 Tennys Sandgren has him in the finals where he'll meet former Baylor Bear and 2004 NCAA Singles Champion ATP #97 Benjamin Becker. Torpegaard, who entered the tournament with an ATP ranking of 642, has won 13 of his last 14 pro matches and with a win tomorrow he'd see his ATP ranking climb to roughly 368; with a loss he'd be just inside 445.