King/Betkas Win USONP Mixed Dubs, Vliegen Takes Belgium, NCAA Champs US Open Track Record

It was a good day for former Michigan stars Evan King ('13) and Emina Bektas ('15) as the Wolverine duo won the US Open National Playoff Mixed Doubles Draw with a 7-5, 4-6, 1-0 (8) win over Sanaz Marand (North Carolina '11) and Malcolm Harrison (NW Missouri St '12). The win earned King and Bektas a main draw wild card into next week's US Open which will be the first main draw Grand Slam match for each.

Coaching Updates, US Open Qualies Wrap Up/Main Draw Released, USONP Mixed Doubles, Pro Circuit

Bucknell Athletics Director John Hardt announced the hiring of Bruce Myers as the new men's head coach of the Bison. Myers comes to Lewisburg after spending last season as the women's head coach at Longwood before departing to become the men's head coach at Delaware. Myers went 16-21 (.432) in one and half seasons at Longwood and 3-5 (.375) in his brief stay at Delaware. Myers also coached at North Carolina A&T in 2014 and prior to that was at Randolph-Macon for two seasons. He replaces Craig Schwartz who stepped down after four seasons to relocate to Boone, North Carolina, to be with his wife (Appalachian State head field hockey coach) and son.

David Macpherson Hired at GW, Meister/Quigley Win USONP Dubs, US Open Qualies Update, & More

George Washington Director of Athletics Patrick Nero announced the hiring of David Macpherson as the Colonials new men's tennis coach. Macpherson had been the Bryan Brothers coach since 2005 after having a successful pro career that lasted almost 20 years. Macpherson replaces Greg Munoz who resigned in the middle of his 10th season to become the Tennis Director at the Jakarta Tennis Academy in Indonesia. Torrie Browning, who recently became the women's head coach at GW, served as the interim coach and guided the team to a third straight conference title.

Cako & Lao Punch Ticket to the US Open, US Open Qualies Begin, Good Reads

Tuesday was a great day for a couple of former collegians as Jacqueline Cako (Arizona St '13) and Danielle Lao (USC '13) earned a main draw doubles wild card into this year's US Open after winning the US Open National Playoff Women's Doubles draw. Cako and Lao, who were the second seed, broke the top seed Ashley Weinhold and Caitlin Whoriskey (Tennessee '10) six times in route to a 6-2, 7-5 win in 1 hour and 23 minutes. Lao will make her Grand Slam debut while it'll be Cako's second appearance after playing in the 2014 US Open mixed doubles draw.

US Open Qualies Draw Announced, USONP Nears Finish, Coaching Updates

The US Open National Playoff singles tournament wrapped up today with both former collegians remaining in the draw falling in the finals. Jose Statham claimed the men's title with a 6-1, 6-2 over Nick Meister (UCLA '12) while Sophie Chang took the women's title with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Sanaz Marand (North Carolina '11). Both Statham and Chang earned wild cards into the US Open qualifying tournament, which begins tomorrow, although it doesn't look like they'll play their first round match until Wednesday.

The women's doubles tournament will be decided on Tuesday between the top two seeds as both Ashley Weinhold/Caitlin Whoriskey (Tenn '10) and Jacqueline Cako (Arizona St '13)/Daniell Lao (USC '13) pulled through today.

USONP Continues, Ellen Perez Earns USO Wild Card, Pro Circuit Recap

The singles finals of this year's US Open National Playoffs will take place on Monday with the women's final getting underway at noon eastern and the men's final starting shortly after that match finishes. Each winner will get a wild card into the qualifying tournament of this year's US Open.

Sophie Chang and Sanaz Marand (North Carolina '11) both won in straight sets on Sunday with Chang defeating Nika Kukharchuk (Ole Miss '08) 7-5, 6-2 while Marand ousted Julia Elbaba (Virginia '16) 6-4, 6-4.

Nick Meister (UCLA '12) will meet Jose Statham in the men's final after Meister defeated Gage Brymer (UCLA Sr) 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 and Statham rolled over Evan King 6-3, 6-2.

USONP Update, Torpegaard Sweeps Finland, Eshmade Wins First Title, Begemann Wins Dubs Challenger in Italy

The US Open National Playoff is down to the final four with the top two seeds still alive on the men's side and only one seed left on the women's side. Nick Meister (UCLA '12) and Gage Brymer (UCLA Sr) both won in straight sets and will face off in the top half semifinal while Evan King (Michigan '13) will meet Jose Statham in the bottom half. Statham fought off match points in his 7-6(6) win in the third over Jesse Witten.

Three of the four semifinalists on the women's side have college ties with the bottom semifinals set to be an All-ACC affair. Sanaz Marand (North Carolina '11) will meet Julia Elbaba (Virginia '16) after each won in straight sets while Nika Kukharchuk (Ole Miss '08) meets Sophie Chang with Chang winning the only three-set match of the day. Chang was originally committed to Virginia but chose to go pro instead.

US Open National Playoff Underway, Sonia Hahn To UTRGV, More Schedules Released, PlaySight adding more schools

The US Open National Playoff got underway today in New Haven with three of the four men's seeds and two of the four women's seeds advancing to the quarterfinals. The men's third seed Eric Quigley (Kentucky '12) was knocked off by UCLA senior Gage Brymer in two tiebreak sets while both the second and fourth seeds, Evan King and Jose Statham, came back from a set down to win in three sets. The top seed Nick Meister (UCLA '12) won the most lopsided match of the day 6-1, 6-1 over Philip Major.

The women's top seed Ayaka Okuno, who spent a semester at Georgia in 2013, was knocked off in straight sets by Sophie Chang while the fourth seed Ashley Weinhold lost in three-sets to North Carolina freshman Sara Daavettila. There was a Universal Tennis Rating upset as Eva Raszkiewicz rolled over Fernanda Contreras 6-3, 6-1 - Raszkiewicz's UTR was 1.52 lower but that didn't seem to bother her at all. All the results are listed in the table down below (two tabs) along with the quarterfinal matchups.

USONP, ACI, Coaching/Scheduling/Facility News

The draws for the US Open National Playoff were released today with Nick Meister (UCLA '12) the top seed on the men's side and Ayaka Okuno (semester at Georgia in 2013) is the top seed on the women's side. The doubles draws should be out soon with singles getting underway on Friday in New Haven, CT. Below are the draws with Universal Tennis Ratings listed as of 8/19.

The participants for this year's American Collegiate Invitational were release today. The tournament will take place during the second week of the US Open with the winner earning a wild card into the following year's US Open if they meet certain criteria.

Coaching Updates, ITA Summer Championships, US Open Wild Cards

New Oklahoma men's head coach Nick Crowell announced the hiring of Nate Feldman as the Sooners' new assistant coach. Feldman, who played at Minnesota from 2002 to 2004, was the assistant coach under Jay Udwadia at Oklahoma State for the last two seasons. He also has head coaching experience after leading both the men's and women's teams at Norfolk State from 2011 to 2014. Bobby Reynolds, who was OU's assistant last year, is now the head coach at Auburn.

US Open National Playoff Recap

All 15 sectionals of the US Open National Playoff have been completed so now those winners will meet in another tournament to determine who gets wild cards into the 2016 US Open. The tournament will take place in New Haven, Connecticut during the WTA's Connecticut Open from August 19-27. Each draw will have 16 entries so that means at least one sectional runner-up will make it in.

The Men's and Women's Singles Championships will take place August 19-22 with the winners earning wild cards into the US Open Qualifying Tournament.

Below are the 15 men's sectional winners sorted by Universal Tennis Rating (UTR). Jesse Witten, Martin Joyce, and Henry Craig were the three repeat winners though Witten won a different section last year. Witten won last year's tournament but fell in the opening round of qualies 7-6, 6-1 to former Tennessee Vol JP Smith.

Pro Circuit Wrap Up - Norrie Bags #2 & Lots of Doubles Success

It was a tremendous week on the pro tour with four guys winning singles titles and another nine winning doubles titles. If you forgot to check out my Saturday recap may sure you give that a read to see how Steve Johnson, Benjamin Lock, and Roberto Cid won singles titles and Nate Lammons and Dane Webb won doubles titles.

$25K Tulsa, OK, USA F21 (Hard) - TCU rising junior Cameron Norrie won his second career Futures singles title with a quick 53-minute win over Ryan Haviland (Stanford '02). Haviland held in a three-deuce game to start the match but Norrie won the next nine games to take an insurmountable 6-1, 3-0 lead. Haviland held from 40/30 to pull within 3-1 but Norrie won the next three to close it out 6-1, 6-1. (Will post a picture if I see one)

Johnson, Lock, and Cid Win Titles on the Tour + USONP Update

Saturday was a great day for former collegians with Steve Johnson, Benjamin Lock, and Roberto Cid each winning pro singles titles.

ATP 250 Nottingham, Great Britain (Grass) - Steve Johnson (USC '12) won his first-ever ATP level singles title after knocking off #25 Pablo Cuevas in straight sets. There were no breaks of serve in the opening set but Cuevas got the first mini-break in tiebreak and led 3-1. Johnson took the next four points to go up 5-3 and would end up taking the tiebreak 7-5. Johnson opened up a 4-2 lead in the second set but Cuevas fought off a break point to hold in a two-deuce game, broke from 30/40, and then held at love to go up 5-4. Johnson then held from 40/15, broke from 15/40, and then served it out in a one-deuce game to win it 7-6, 7-5 in 1 hour and 33 minutes.

McDonald & Collins Named National Players of the Year, ITA All-Star Team Announced, USONP Update, College Tennis Weekly Featuring Harvard, Pro Circuit Update

The ITA announced its 2016 All-Star Team which included the year-end number one in the singles and doubles rankings, the NCAA D1 Singles and Doubles Champions, and the winners from last fall's National Indoor Intercollegiates. UCLA junior Mackenzie McDonald was named the ITA National Men's Player of the Year while Virginia's Danielle Collins was named the ITA National Women's Player of the Year. I have all the winners listed below and for the full release from the ITA which includes more information about the winners you can click here.

James Wilson Named Head Coach at Utah State, USONP Update, Evan King & Tennys Sandgren Win Futures, Other Pro Notables

I wanted to start off by giving a congratulations to Texas Tech assistant James Wilson on landing his first heading coaching job at Utah State. Wilson, who had been an assistant for the last three years at his alma mater, replaced Clancy Shields who recently took the head coaching job at Arizona. I'm still showing there are 13 D1 men's head coaching jobs open and another 16 on the women's side. If anyone knows of another opening or one that's been filled let me know.

6 of the 15 US Open National Playoff Sectionals have been completed with all 6 men's singles winners and 5 of the 6 women's singles winners having college ties. The New England sectional is scheduled to wrap up today while the Midwest will wrap up tomorrow. To view all current winners you can check out this sheet which also lists any college ties and this link has more details about the USONP.

Roditi Named Mexico Davis Cup Captain, Change at Clemson, Update On US Open National Playoff

TCU head coach David Roditi added another title today when he was named captain of the Mexico Davis Cup team. Roditi who just finished his sixth year at the helm of his alma mater played in several Davis Cup ties for Mexico from 1997 to 2000. Roditi's first tie will take place on July 15-17 when Mexico travels to Peru.

Clemson made a coaching change on Tuesday with eight year assistant John Boetsch taking over for Chuck McCuen who had been head coach for the last eight years. McCuen, who went 110-96 in those eight seasons with two NCAA appearances, will remain on as the Director of Tennis Operations.

The US Open National Playoffs are well underway with four sectionals already completed. Many of the names below should be familiar to those that follow college tennis and I'm sure that plenty of the upcoming winners will be as well. You can look at all upcoming events at this link.

US Open National Playoff

The US Open National Playoff gets started on Friday and will finish on Monday. 32 sectional winners/runner-ups (16 men/16 women) from across the county will meet in New Haven, CT and the winners of each draw will get a wild card into qualifying at this year's US Open.

Updates scores in the google doc below as well on the men's & women's tournament home page.

Men's Singles Draw