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NCAA

USTA Quickly Announces US Open Wild Cards For American NCAA Champions

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Just five days after the conclusion of the 2024 NCAA tennis championships, the U.S. Tennis Association was quick to announce that the American winners of the tournament would be awarded wild cards into the 2024 U.S. Open.

On Thursday, May 30, the USTA announced that NCAA Division I women’s singles champion Alexa Noel and men’s doubles champions Robert Cash and JJ Tracy  will receive main-draw wild cards into those respective competitions at the 2024 US Open. Additionally, Michael Zheng, who reached the men’s singles final, will receive a wild card into qualifying. 

The USTA has traditionally awarded U.S. Open wild cards to the NCAA singles and doubles champions, but since about 2001 only to American winners of the collegiate tennis championships. Filip Planinsek of Alabama – and Slovenia – won the NCAA men’s singles title and the team of Ayssegul Mert (Turkey) and Dasha Vidmanova (Czech Republic) of the University of Georgia won the NCAA women’s doubles championship.

Noel (21; Summit, N.J.) defeated Georgia’s Anastasiia Lopata, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, in the women’s singles final to become the third University of Miami player to win the NCAA women’s singles title. The redshirt junior was the tournament’s No. 8 seed and knocked off the No 1-ranked player in the semifinals. She’ll be returning to the US Open for the first time since 2019 when she received a wild card into the women’s doubles main draw as the USTA Billie Jean King Girls’ 18s doubles champion and competed in the US Open Junior Championships. 

Cash (23; New Albany, Ohio) and Tracy (21; Hilton Head, S.C.) defeated Florida State’s Antoine Cornut-Chauvinc and Joshua Dous-Karpenschif in the men’s doubles final, winning the decisive match tiebreak to give Ohio State its second consecutive men’s doubles national title. Cash and Tracy were one of the top-ranked doubles teams in the country throughout the season, and helped lead the Buckeyes to a 34-2 record and an appearance in the semifinals of the NCAA team championships. 

Zheng (20; Montville, N.J.) fell in the men’s singles final against Alabama’s Filip Planinsek in three sets. The Columbia sophomore last competed at the US Open in 2022 as a junior. 

“The pathway from college to professional tennis is as strong as ever, and these wild cards reflect the USTA’s continued commitment to supporting our top-performing American collegians at the NCAA Division I level,” said USTA Player Development GM Martin Blackman. 

Currently there are six American former NCAA singles champions ranked in the ATP and WTA Top 100: Danielle Collins (Virginia; 2014, 2016), Marcos Giron (UCLA; 2014), Mackenzie McDonald (UCLA; 2016), Emma Navarro (Virginia, 2021), Ben Shelton (Florida; 2022), and Peyton Stearns (Texas; 2022). 

Alexa Noel

A Run Similar To Golf’s John Daly At The PGA Championship Ends For Georgia’s Nas Lopata In NCAA Singles Final

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By Randy Walker

@TennisPublisher

It would have been one of the biggest Cinderella stories ever in sports…. But it was still pretty awesome.

Anastasiia Lopata was the No. 4 player on the University of Georgia’s national runner-up team and, heading into the NCAA women’s singles championships, was the No. 9 alternate to get into the individual tournament. That means, “Nas” as she is nicknamed, wasn’t in the original 64 players in the field and needed nine players – NINE PLAYERS – to pull out of the tournament for her to even get in the event, which is not something that happens often at all.  However, incredibly, nine players did pull out of the singles field and Lopata, with an Intercollegiate Tennis Association singles ranking of No. 70, was able to get into the field, the day after Georgia lost the NCAA team championship match late the night before. Then, six days after she found herself in the singles tournament, she, absolutely incredibly, found herself in the championship match.

This fairy tale run to the championship match was like pro golfer John Daly when he won the 1991 PGA Championship, also getting into the field as the No. 9 alternate. It also is similar to the story of Emma Raducanu, who won the 2021 U.S. Open after getting into the main draw field through the qualifying rounds.

Colette Lewis of ZooTennis, the respected reporter of grass roots competitive tennis, called Lopata’s run “inconceivable” as Georgia’s No. 4 player beat en route to the final the No. 1 players from Cal (Valentina Ivanov), North Carolina (No. 5 Fiona Crawley), Old Dominion (Sofia Johnson), Vanderbilt (No. 9 Celia-Belle Mohr) and NC State (No. 2 Amelia Rajecki) 

Lopata’s Cinderella story had another angle to it as she hails from war-torn Kiev, Ukraine and her family has had to endure the hardships of the Russian invasion, as documented here: https://www.dawgnation.com/other-sports/anastasiia-lopata/WZOGLPQKP5BZVIKTMFM5HOLQUY/

Unfortunately for Lopata, the clock struck midnight in the third-set of the NCAA title match against Alexa Noel of the University of Miami as Lopata’s run ended in a 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 loss.

While Lopata’s run didn’t end with a win like Daly or Raducanu, her NCAA singles runner-up plaque still represents something extremely special.

Graphic from the University of Georgia

The Greatest Ever NCAA Men’s Singles Finals

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By Randy Walker
@TennisPublisher

One of the most prestigious and historic titles in tennis is the NCAA men’s singles championship. The title of the champion in collegiate tennis dates back to 1883. Many college tennis observers delineate different “eras” in college tennis, namely when a team tournament format was instituted in 1977 and before that when only a singles and doubles tournament was held to determine a team champion. It’s not unlike delineating from the “Open Era” of pro tennis in 1968 and amateur era that preceded it. So, below, I present the greatest NCAA men’s singles finals in the “Team Tournament Era.”

1978 John McEnroe (Stanford) def. John Sadri (NC State) 7-6, 7-6, 5-7, 7-6

This match is considered the greatest college tennis match ever played and among the greatest matches period ever played. Played for four hours and 13 minutes in front of capacity crowd of about 5,000 fans at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, McEnroe, the 1977 Wimbledon semifinalist and a freshman at Stanford, claimed the singles championship by winning the best-of-five set championship match by winning three sets in tiebreakers. McEnroe actually won only one more point (144-143) and one more game (26-25) than Sadri in the titanic tilt. To boot, McEnroe won each tiebreaker 5-4, on sudden-death points at 4-4, simultaneous set points for both players. The match is immortalized in this video, narrated by the one and only Bud Collins here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZ3cVebBkQw

McEnroe, of course, went on to become one of the greatest players of all time winning four U.S. Open singles titles and three Wimbledon titles as well as 77 singles titles and 78 doubles titles. Sadri also went on to a stellar career achieving a career-high ranking of No. 14 that included two ATP single titles and runner-up finish at the Australian Open in 1979, losing to Guillermo Vilas.

2007 Somdev Devvarman (Virginia) def. John Isner (Georgia) 7-6(7), 4-6, 7-6(2)

If you are going to beat the nearly seven foot tall big serving Isner in a match, you sometimes may have to do it without breaking his serve, which is exactly what Somdev Devvarman of Virginia did by winning two tiebeakers in his 7-6 (7), 4-6, 7-6(2) win over the Georgia senior. Isner, playing in front of a capacity crowd on his home court in Athens, Georgia, had just led his team to a perfect 32-0 season, capped with the NCAA team title, but was not able to also claim the individual title. Neither the No. 2-seeded Devvarman or the top-seeded Isner hit a double fault in the match and Isner slammed 22 aces in the final. “I definitely served well in the breakers,” said Devvarman, who hit his fifth ace of the match on match point. “I took advantage of the first serves he missed in the tiebreaker.” Said Isner, “I knew this match would be a coin flip. I thought I played exceptionally well. We both played high-quality tennis.” The win for Devvarman, a junior from Chennai, India, was the first NCAA singles tennis title for the University of Virginia. He lost in the NCAA singles final the year before, falling to UCLA’s Benjamin Kohlloeffel 6-1, 6-4. The following year, Devvarman repeated as champion defeating Tennessee’s J.P. Smith 6-3, 6-2 in the final.

Devvarman went on to a decent career as a professional, earning a career-high ranking of No. 62 and representing India in Davis Cup and the Olympic Games. Isner had a storied pro career winning 16 singles titles, earning a career-high ranking of No. 8, reaching the Wimbledon semifinals in 2018 and representing the United States in Davis Cup and at the Olympics. He is perhaps best known for his 11 hour and five minute win over Nicolas Mahut at Wimbledon in 2010 that concluded with a 70-68-fifth set.

1999 Jeff Morrison (Florida) def. James Blake (Harvard) 7-6(2), 2-6, 6-4

Top-seed James Blake of Harvard faced No. 2 seed Jeff Morrison of Florida in Athens, Georgia in an NCAA final between sophomores that went down to the wire. Morrison broke Blake’s serve at love in the final game to claim the NCAA title with a 7-6(2), 2-6, 6-4 victory. Blake was attempting to become the first player from Harvard to win the national collegiate singles title since George Caner in 1916. Morrison was able to overcome his serving woes, connecting on only 44 percent of his first serves, to defeat Blake ”I felt I was just hanging on with my serving today,” Morrison said. ”That is not a fun thing to do at this level. At least I was attacking him off the baseline.”

Blake went on to one of the best pro careers of any college player, reaching a career-high ranking of No. 4 and winning 10 singles titles and helping the U.S. win the Davis Cup in 2007. Morrison reached a career high of No. 85 in the world and had a memorable Centre Court at Wimbledon win over future No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero en route to a third round finish at the All England Club.

Ethan Quinn (Georgia) def. Ondrej Styler (Michigan) 6-7(2), 7-6(5), 6-2

In the greatest comeback in the history of the NCAA singles final, Georgia’s Ethan Quinn came back from down quadruple match point to defeat Ondrej Styler of Michigan at the U.S. Tennis Association National Campus in Orlando, Florida. Quinn was one point from losing the final four times when Styler served at 5-4, 40-0, meaning Styler had four straight match points including the sudden-death deuce point that is used in college tennis. Quinn fought through each opportunity, capped with a forehand mishit from Styler. Quinn, from Fresno, Calif., was able to fight to win the second-set tiebreaker and play aggressive tennis in the third set to prevail and win Georgia’s fifth NCAA singles championship. “I was as close as I could possibly have been to winning this match,” said Styler, a senior from the Czech Republic. Quinn, a redshirt freshman, joined UCLA’s Jimmy Connors (1971), Stanford’s John McEnroe (1978), USC’s Cecil Mamiit (1996) and Mississippi’s Devin Britton (2009).

Quinn turned professional weeks later and Styler stopped playing competitive tennis went into a career in finance as an Investment Banking Analyst at Credit Suisse in New York City.

Date Unknown: Dick Gould, John McEnroe.

A Hollywood Career Without The Hollywood Ending For Georgia’s Manny Diaz

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By Randy Walker

@TennisPublisher

During the 2019 U.S. Open, University of Georgia men’s tennis alums gathered at the mid-town New York City bar American Whiskey to watch the Georgia football team play Vanderbilt in its opening game of the season. Former Georgia tennis All-Americans and walk-ons alike exchanged old stories and showed off their Southeastern Conference and NCAA Championship rings while cheering on the football teams rout of the Commodores

In the center of it all was Georgia’s legendary men’s tennis coach Manuel Diaz.

Robbie York, one of the co-owners of American Whiskey, which is the official Georgia Bulldog football viewing venue in New York, turned to yours truly and said, “It’s really amazing to me to see the reverence and awe that all the players have towards Coach Diaz.”

This admiration and respect is the result of the culture of brotherhood and success that Diaz created during his 36 years leading the Georgia men’s program. Not only did Diaz lead Georgia to four NCAA team titles, two Intercollegiate Tennis Association national team indoor titles, 29 SEC team titles, but he fostered an ethos of class, hard work, player development, fun and a championship-minded attitude

The Diaz coaching era, unfortunately, is now over. His 2024 squad was defeated 4-3 to Arizona State in the first round of the NCAA team tournament in Winston-Salem, N.C. It was not the way Diaz deserved to go out as one of the all-time greatest college tennis coaches. It was not a Hollywood ending, only a Hollywood career. The head coaching torch that Diaz took from Dan Magill, his legendary predecessor, will now be passed to Jamie Hunt, the former U.S. Open junior doubles champion and member of Georgia’s 2007 and 2008 NCAA championship teams. 

Diaz’s second-to-last season in 2023 was one of his many banner years, leading Georgia to the SEC Championship and an NCAA quarterfinal finish and a season-capping NCAA singles title for redshirt freshman Ethan Quinn. The 2024 season was supposed to a blockbuster year for Diaz and his Dogs with potentially one of the greatest 1-2-3 punches ever in college tennis with incoming recruits Alex Michelsen and Ignacio Buse joining Quinn. However, as many have said, Diaz recruited too well as Michelsen opted to turn pro after reaching the ATP Tour event final in Newport, R.I. and Buse did the same after registering a top 20 win over Nicolas Jarry of Chile while playing Davis Cup for Peru. Quinn also chose to use the momentum from his NCAA win to turn pro. So instead of an NCAA team title contending team, Diaz’s last team finished with a 14-14 record. They were a young scrappy team that won some inspiring matches but also suffered more than a few heart-breaking, tight losses. The fighting spirit and pride never left the young 2024 Georgia team until the last ball was struck, despite suffering from many losses that would have left many despondent. It was the hallmark of Diaz’s teams — fight until the very end.

While much has been written and documented about the championships and titles under the Diaz watch, what might be more important is the culture of brotherhood that he brought to the Georgia tennis community. Being part of the Georgia tennis program is like having a second family. A few years ago, Diaz created a “WhatsApp” group chat for all the Georgia tennis alums where all could exchange old war stories, birthday greetings and other celebrations of life, including wins by players in pro tennis as well as live updates on the Georgia tennis matches. The group features alums from the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and 1980s from the time when Magill coached the team, up through the 1990s until the graduating class of 2023, including the new pro Quinn, that were in the Diaz head coaching era.

In 2022, Diaz pulled together many former tennis alums back to Athens for an Alumni reunion and fun scrimmage match, that you watch the highlights of here: https://youtu.be/rkbXKK0us6s?si=Z2XUBLzZ0pNqFHjL

When Diaz announced his retirement to the group of tennis alums in February, and after he coached his last match in May, the outpourings of appreciation overflowed on the Georgia Tennis WhatsApp chat from all generations of tennis Dawgs, from Hill Griffin dating back to the 1959 Georgia team all the way to members of the 2023 Georgia team. Perhaps Will Reynolds, a tennis Dawg under Diaz from 2009 to 2012 and a volunteer assistant coach in 2022 and 2023, summed it up best when he wrote in the WhatsApp chat, “Coach, while it’s been mentioned, I think it should be emphasized – arguably your greatest achievement is the impact you’ve had on the people in this group, and that can be overlooked by those on the outside looking in. The trophies – and there are a lot of them! – will rust and memories will fade, but your influence has lasted and will continue to last quite literally for generations.”

Amen.

Georgia Bulldog Ethan Quinn Talks Following 2023 U.S. Open First-Round Loss

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Following his 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 first round loss to Spain’s Bernabé Zapata Miralles at the 2023 U.S. Open, NCAA singles champion from the University of Georgia Ethan Quinn answered questions from the press in Media Room No. 6 at the Bud Collins Media Room inside Arthur Ashe Stadium at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

QUESTION:

So just talk a little bit about the match, just how the flow went and so forth. You got off to a big start and then loose game and then kind of playing catch up after that.

ETHAN QUINN:

Yeah, I mean it’s never fun losing, obviously. I felt like I was definitely in the match the entire time. I never felt like I was blown off the court. I mean credit to him, he was able to make it a really physical match. I think that’s what he does so well. I mean that’s why he is top 100 in the world. He’s able to really put you in uncomfortable positions and my coach before the match, he was like be comfortable with the uncomfortable and I think he just got the better me a little bit there. I mean from the start definitely had the energy from the crowd, which was really nice for me. Really made me feel like I was back in Athens, which I really appreciated. I mean that’s something that I’m always going to miss, probably being in the professional tours, just not having that Athens energy in the Athens crowd, but for the most part, yeah, from the start had a good start, got broken in the second game after being up, which was unfortunate and had to battle back, but definitely had my opportunities throughout the match, had break points  Third set was even… up a break, wasn’t able to convert. But like I said, him making it a physical match made it a little bit tougher for me to continue at the level I was at. I mean I started really feeling it late in the second, early in the third with my forehand doing what I was doing really well, but he was able to really make it physical and make it tough for me to continue that level.

QUESTION

But what can you draw from this experience? I mean it’s like a first you got to get your feet wet. It’s like your first Grand Slam main draw  but what can you draw from having this experience playing in the US Open, playing in front of a big crowd, playing the number 76 guy in the world. Really only a couple points here or there, really separated you

ETHAN QUINN

Yeah, I mean you can definitely take away how physical this level is. Always room to improve physically. I mean I’m only 19 years old so I definitely have a lot of room to improve there. Definitely have a great team behind me that’s given me the opportunity to really improve in that level and improve in that aspect. I think that’s probably the number one thing, just getting to that physicality there and then honestly just the discipline on court and he’s a prime example of just really making you earn your points. I feel like I definitely could have done a better job in that area, just making him try and win more points. Gave him a little bit too many unforced errors. Definitely had the right intention behind my shots, but just was giving a little bit, giving too many free points, easy buckets is what some coaches, one of my coaches like to say from Georgia. And so just really making it tougher on him would be the second thing I could definitely use and learn.

QUESTION:

As Randy was asking right there towards you and you mentioned this Brad Stine, to get a guy like him and to be your coach, how did that come to be for you and how did you have that full trust with how he’s so respected, but you still have to vibe with the coach no matter who it is. What made that be the sell point for you to be the coach for you?

ETHAN QUINN

I mean, he’s been coaching me since I was six years old. He was one of my first coaches I ever even had being both of us from Fresno, California, and he lives five minutes from me. It really was a no brainer, honestly. We were both members at the same club. Whenever he would come back home from coaching, whoever he was coaching at the time, whenever he would come back home, I mean he was still my coach and then when he was on the road, we would be texting every single day about whatever it was on court stuff and even off court information. It was really an easy choice for me to be part of that team. And then honestly, COVID was when it really made sense to me the most. He was kind of stuck at home, if you’d like to say he was stuck in Fresno. Me and him got to practice every single day and really from there my game shot up. That’s when I became number one recruit in the country. I had my best results in junior ITFs there. And honestly, I think it was a result of just being with Brad every single day, being with such a high level coach every single day.

QUESTION:

We had John Isner of course say that this was going to be his final US Open. And have you had a chance to talk with him or engage with him? Just your whole thoughts on with him and if you had any experience with

ETHAN QUINN:

Yeah, he’s been a great mentor even starting from last year at the US Open. That’s where I met him the first time here, just upstairs after one of my first qualifying match. So he’s been a great mentor for me. I got added to the UGA alumni chat even though I’m not an alumni and he’s been great.

QUESTION:

He added you?

ETHAN QUINN:

No, Manny Diaz. He’s the leader of the pack, so he added me to it and John was one of the first people to welcome me into it, both physically and in a message in the chat. So yeah, it’s great getting to have him in my corner and honestly, there’s a few other college guys like Steve Johnson who he’s been great. A few of these challenger tournaments this summer. He’s been there with me just talking, me practicing with him, just getting to hear his perspective has been great for me.

QUESTION:

That Georgia experience for you to be on a campus, going for a third time national championship football, tremendous success in track and many other sports, just the whole vibe of being down there in Athens for you, how’s it been?

ETHAN QUINN:

Absolutely incredible. Honestly, I didn’t think that getting to college would’ve been as productive as it was. Obviously my first semester being a Redshirted student, it gave me the chance to kind of dip my toes into a little bit of the distractions, really get my ability to know when and where I should be, getting that opportunity was really good for me leading into my first season. Once I was able to get into my first season, I realized that I had already had the college experience. I had already had all the experiences that I could have imagined, and so then I was able to focus on tennis and really felt like I wasn’t missing out getting to be surrounded by such professional athletes. I mean, I think the USA World track. I don’t even know someone in track. Matt

QUESTION:

Matt Boling. Yep, Matt

ETHAN QUINN: Boling. I mean just being surrounded by him and there’s plenty of other guys on the track team that are just world-class athletes and then obviously the football team just being surrounded by such world-class athletes, it really brings up your level and I really appreciate all of that.

QUESTION:

So Manny and Jamie are obviously great coaches and they put great stuff in your ear, but what kind of interaction did you have with Kirby? I know his son plays, but have you had any interaction with him or has he ever told you be the hunter or something?

ETHAN QUINN:

Actually on my first day on campus actually when I was on my visit, I got to meet Kirby. Maybe that was the selling point for Manny and Jamie, but then before the SEC Championship and I think actually no, it was before we played Harvard. Kirby came into our room and he was into our lounge and he really gave us one of those football talks. There definitely was a lot of swearing. I think he put it down a little bit for us because it wasn’t a room of 60 guys like the football guys. So toned it down a little bit for us, but still had the same message, same intensity, and then we came out and played Harvard biggest crowd we had with the incredible level of energy and honestly, I was thinking about him and everything he said the entire time.

QUESTION

I want to ask you real quick, because Ben Shelton, who’s on the other side in terms of Florida side of the world’s largest cocktail party. He had an incredible rise last year and then this year Australian Open. And just seeing that and how you definitely could replicate that even though it is something that is not just easy to do, but something that is possible to do. Just your whole thoughts on this whole year with that and how that gives you inspiration to make the impact right away on tour.

ETHAN QUINN

Yeah, definitely. It’d be great to replicate that. Obviously there’s a possibility that I don’t, and I mean obviously it was a really incredible thing that he did. So I’ve kind of realized that I needed to not have my expectations quite as high. I just need to realize that my pathway might be a little bit different, might take a little bit longer, but whatever pathway it is, I’m sure I’ll get to the same level as him and maybe I’ll be playing him and Grand Slam finals eventually.

QUESTION:

You’re a thoughtful guy, man. It’s been a pleasure talking to you, man.

ETHAN QUINN

Thank you. I appreciate it.

QUESTION:

So speaking of that, I remember you were saying last year at the U.S. Open that you wanted to follow in Ben’s footsteps. You wanted to be the next guy and maybe you said that in Vero Beach, and then sure enough you get the Kalamazoo final, like Ben did you win the NCAA title like Ben did and you got to the US Open here. Ben played the first round of the US Open. He lost. Now are you going to be probably playing in that USTA Pro Circuit challengers this fall where you’re playing like Fairfield and Charlottesville and Champaign and so forth. So talk a little bit about that and that’s really where he made his moves.

ETHAN QUINN

There’s definitely a lot of chances for our similarities in our pathway to be very linear. Again, Ben had a phenomenal fall last year, which was impressive, knowing that he was still taking classes at the time, which I’m still taking classes. I think that’s another thing that most people don’t realize is so similar about us. I mean, we both really want to get our degree and we’re very passionate about getting that second portion of our life once our tennis career is over, kind of having that set. But there’s definitely a lot of opportunity in these challengers coming up after the US Open. It’ll be nice getting to kind of prepare this week. I still have doubles, but getting to still be in this image, in this picture, in the training room with all these guys will be really nice for me. Getting another few days here with Brad, it’ll be really good preparation leading up to all the challengers this fall.

QUESTION:

Last question, how have you felt since you made the announcement, you’re protest player now, how do you feel just walking around, I mean, bigger shoulders up, I mean you’re pro tennis player. Is there anything that you feel differently than when you were?

ETHAN QUINN I mean, definitely it’s a little bit lonelier, I feel like. I mean, that’s probably the thing that you don’t really see the most. I mean, you’re traveling a lot. I’ve been fortunate enough to have a lot of friends at these tournaments to spend time with. I mean a lot of them are on college campuses and since I was in college I have plenty of friends from other teams. So it’s been nice getting to see some of them and rekindle friendships. But then also I’ve been fortunate enough to have, I mean some of the coaches travel with me for USTA. Getting to kind of create friendships with them has been really, really nice. But I mean it’s definitely a different thing. I mean, being a professional tennis player is a lot different than just being an amateur college tennis player. I felt like when I was in college I still walked pretty tall, but now it’s a little bit different. Being on the Challenger tour, I’m kind of new to it. So I definitely could improve in that aspect, making sure I feel like I’m the guy that’s probably somewhere I can improve.

Ethan Quinn at the 2023 U.S. Open

Georgia Bulldog NCAA Champ Ethan Quinn Loses Tight Straight-Set U.S. Open Opener

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By Randy Walker

@TennisPublisher

While NCAA singles champion from the University of Georgia Ethan Quinn lost his first round match at the U.S. Open in straight sets to world No. 76 Bernabe Zapata Miralles of Spain, there was not a lot separating the two. Perhaps it was just a little bit more experience that paid off for Zapata Miralles, playing in his 10th career Grand Slam tournament, in his 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 win over Quinn, who was playing in the main draw of singles at a Grand Slam for the first time.

“I mean it’s never fun losing, obviously,” said the 19-year-old Quinn following the match. “I felt like I was definitely in the match the entire time. I never felt like I was blown off the court. I mean credit to him, he was able to make it a little really physical match.”

Quinn was broken only once in the first set, in the third game of the match, and then again only once in the second, a missed overhead and a fluke floating bird mishit lob shot from the Spanaird landing just in playing a part in deciding that game. Quinn actually rolled to win three straight games in the third set after being broken to open the set, but then lost the last five games of the match.

“I had a good start, got broken in the second game after being up, which was unfortunate and had to battle back, but definitely had my opportunities throughout the match, had break points,” said Quinn, ranked No. 475 in the ATP singles rankings. “In the third set was even up a break, wasn’t able to convert. But like I said, him making it a physical match made it a little bit tougher for me to continue at the level I was at. I mean I started really feeling it late in the second, early in the third, but he was able to really make it physical and make it tough for me to continue on that level.”

With a win, Quinn would have had the opportunity to play 23-time major champion Novak Djokovic likely in Arthur Ashe Stadium. However, he does pocket a first-round paycheck of $81,000 which will help with his expenses as he embarks on his professional career. He also received sponsorship opportunities with Prudential (watch here https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Culture/video/ethan-quinns-road-us-open-102525203 and for the 2023 U.S. Open with FICO.

Zapata Miralles, who had former Top five player and former French Open runner-up David Ferrer in his box supporting him, was complementary of the young Quinn.

“I know from the beginning that it’s very tough match because Ethan has amazing talent,” said Zapata Miralles. “He’s very young and he plays very good, he plays too much aggressive. So I’m very happy with the victory and I am sure that Ethan, with more matches, will go up in the rankings.”

The 26-year-old Spaniard, however, said that his consistency made him prevail in the end.

“I think the important thing of the match today is that I played so solid without mistakes,” said Zapata Miralles. “I start to return better, more and more and start to feel better physically. I played very solid and waited a little bit, the mistake from Ethan and I’m very happy with my performance today.”

Quinn incredibly won the NCAA singles title for the Georgia Bulldogs last May in Orlando, Florida, coming back from quadruple match point down to win the singles title, which you can read about here: https://www.worldtennismagazine.com/archives/22002 He joined the likes of John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors as freshman to win an NCAA men’s singles title. Weeks after winning the title, Quinn announced that he would turn professional. However, he will continue to be a student at Georgia, taking classes online.

He will also play in the U.S. Open men’s doubles tournament pairing with incoming Stanford University freshman Nico Godsick, with whom he won the USTA Boy’s 18s doubles title last year and reached the second round of doubles at the 2022 U.S. Open.

USTA Officially Awards U.S. Open Wild Cards To NCAA Champs Ethan Quinn, Crawley/Tanguilig

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The USTA officially announced that NCAA men’s singles champion Ethan Quinn of Georgia and women’s doubles champions Fiona Crawley and Carson Tanguilig of UNC will receive main draw wild cards into those respective competitions at the 2023 US Open.

Quinn, 19, of Fresno, Calif., defeated Michigan’s Ondrej Styler, 6-7(2), 7-6(5), 6-2, in the men’s singles final after saving four match points. (as you can read about here: https://www.worldtennismagazine.com/archives/22002 Quinn was the tournament’s No. 2 seed and the 2023 SEC Freshman of the Year. In 2022, he was ranked as high as No. 14 in the world junior rankings and reached the second round of Qualifying at the US Open after receiving a wild card as the USTA Boys’ 18s singles runner-up.

Crawley and Tanguilig defeated UNC teammates Reese Brantmeier and Elizabeth Scotty in the women’s doubles final, 6-1, 2-6, [11-9]. Crawley, a 21-year-old junior from San Antonio, was the ITA’s top-ranked singles player much of the year, while Tanguilig, a 19-year-old sophomore from Alpharetta, Ga., clinched victory for UNC in the NCAA women’s team championship the week prior. The duo talked about the potential to play in the U.S. Open here: https://www.worldtennismagazine.com/archives/22017

“These wild cards reflect the USTA’s continued commitment to supporting a pathway into pro tennis for our top-performing American collegians at the NCAA Division I level,” said USTA Player and Coach Development GM Martin Blackman. 

Georgia’s Ethan Quinn, Down Quadruple Match Point, Wins All-Time Classic NCAA Singles Final

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By Randy Walker

@TennisPublisher

They say a cat has nine lives.

How many lives does a dog have? Or a Georgia Bulldog tennis player playing in the NCAA Championships?

In the case of Georgia Bulldog Ethan Quinn, the answer is five….as in match points saved en route to winning the 2023 NCAA singles championship at the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona, Florida.

Quinn pulled off one of the most incredible comebacks in the history of this event that started in 1883 when he fought his way back from being quadruple match down to dig out a 6-7(2), 7-6(5), 6-2 victory over University of Michigan’s Ondrej Styler in the NCAA singles final.

Quinn was one point from losing the final four times when Styler served at 5-4, 40-0, meaning Styler had four straight match points including the sudden-death deuce point that is used in college tennis. Quinn fought through each opportunity, capped with a forehand mishit from Styler. Quinn, from Fresno, Calif., was able to fight to win the second-set tiebreaker and play aggressive tennis in the third set to prevail and win Georgia’s fifth NCAA singles championship.

“I was as close as I could possibly have been to winning this match,” said Styler, a senior from the Czech Republic.

The No. 2-seeded Quinn was an escape artist for his entire six-day run to the championship, saving a match point in his first round 6-7(7), 6-2, 7-5 win over Luc Fomba of TCU (at 4-5, deuce in the third set), while also winning close matches in the round of 16 against Nishesh Basvareddy of Stanford (6-3, 4-6, 7-5) and the semifinals against Chris Rodesch of Virginia (2-6, 6-2, 6-4.)

“I guess I’d already been in that situation before, so definitely … It was something I was used to, I guess,” said Quinn trying to explain how he was able to escape defeat against Styler. ” I wouldn’t say used to, but I had already seen it before. Knowing that I’ve been in that position before, I could just continue playing the way I’ve been playing. I’d been in a lot of return games early in the match, throughout the entire match.”

Quinn actually jumped to an early double-break lead at 5-2 but was unable to serve out the first set on two occasions, then lost the first set tiebreaker. Styler performed one of the great acts of sportsmanship when he gave Quinn the point for a double-break lead when facing break point down 2-4 on a call that was called out, but was clearly in.

Quinn, a 19-year-old redshirt freshman, is the fifth college freshman to win the NCAA men’s singles title, joining Jimmy Connors of UCLA (1971), John McEnroe of Stanford (1978), Cecil Mamiit of Southern Cal (1996) and Devin Britton of Ole Miss (2009).

His journey from arriving to Athens so his impressive showing at the U.S. qualifying tournament in 2022 can be read here: https://www.worldtennismagazine.com/archives/21195?fbclid=IwAR33rK2F5g_O_xhe8bc43JCfOsjjhJfxXwdwpLRHgHEXV7MhjVDv-z3EU5k

Quinn joins two Georgia Bulldog greats, Mikael Pernfors and Matias Boeker, as NCAA men’s singles champions, Pernfors winning back-to-back titles in 1984 and 1985 and Boeker winning in 2001 and 2002.

Ethan Quinn, NCAA men’s singles champion from University of Georgia

NCAA Men’s Singles Quarterfinalists Clinch Valuable ATP Challenger Entries

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by Randy Walker

@TennisPublisher

The NCAA singles championships used to have two benchmark rounds that players targeted. Now there are three.

When singles draws were made in the past at the NCAA Tennis Championships, many players, coaches and observers would focus on reaching the round of 16 by winning two singles matches, which would earn a player All-American status. The other target was, of course, winning the title outright, which also, in the past, earned an automatic wild card entry into the U.S. Open, but is now generally only given to American winners of the event by the U.S. Tennis Association.

Now, with the men’s singles tournament, players will also focus on reaching the quarterfinals as that will now qualify a player for special exemption entries in the ATP Challenger level tournaments, which will give them valuable opportunities to gain a foothold in professional tennis.

The ATP Tour and the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) recently announced a collaboration whereas ATP Challenger Tour special exempt spots will be awarded to the highest-ranked and achieving collegiate male players. Opportunities to gain entry into Challenger events – in the qualifying rounds or main draw – to the top 20 ranked players in the season-end ITA men’s singles rankings and the quarterfinalists at the NCAA singles championships.

Officially clinching spots with victories in round of 16 matches at the 2023 NCAA championships at the USTA National Campus were

Eliot Spizzirri (University of Texas, USA – Greenwich, CT, No ATP Ranking)

Ondrej Styler (University of Michigan, Czech Republic, No ATP Ranking)

Arthur Fery (Stanford, Great Britain – ATP 422)

Murphy Cassone (Arizona St., USA – Overland Park, Ks. – ATP 531)

Chris Rodesch (University of Virginia, Luxembourg, ATP 742)

Alex Bernard (Ohio State, USA, Naples, Florida – ATP 648)

Ethan Quinn (University of Georgia, USA, Fresno, Calif. – ATP 512)

Andrew Fenty (University of Michigan, USA, Washington, D.C.  – No ATP Ranking)

Players ranked in the Top 20 of the ITA final singles rankings after the NCAA Championships, who have finished their education, will be granted up to eight (8)  Accelerator Spots at ATP Challengers at the 50 and 75 level , with opportunities split between main draw (Top 10) and qualifying (11-20). Players who reach the quarterfinals or better at the NCAAS will also qualify for the Accelerator Programme if not already eligible via their ITA ranking. These opportunities will be available from 1 July each season, beginning in 2023, for a period of 12 months.

In addition, players who remain in education and qualify for the programme will receive six opportunities over six months (July–December), enabling them to benefit from the programme during their college off-season and parts of their individual fall season.

Providing further opportunity, eligible college players who achieve direct acceptance into Qualifying of ATP Challenger events via their ATP Ranking will be eligible for promotion into the main draw.

Said Andrea Gaudenzi, the ATP Chairman, in the official press release announcing the program, “Today’s aspiring players are the future lifeblood of our sport, and we must do everything we can to provide them opportunities to reach their potential. We’re thrilled to be opening new doors to the American college system, which has been a bedrock of talent in our game for decades.”

Said Tim Russell, ITA Chief Executive Officer in the press release, “College tennis is the connective tissue in the global tennis eco-system, an aspirational goal for junior tennis players around the world and a proven educational environment and competitive high performance arena in preparation for success in life, including as a career as a top professional tennis player. As an innovative leader in the world of American intercollegiate athletics, the ITA is honored to partner with the ATP in providing this new coordinated and motivational pathway to talented and dedicated college players.”

Andrew Fenty of Michigan and Washington, D.C. receives good wishes from his assistant coach and former ATP standout Benjamin Becker.

Here’s A Better NCAA Tennis Schedule – And How About A Tennis Final Four?

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By Randy Walker

@TennisPublisher

There has been a fair amount of chatter about NCAA tennis scheduling. Frankly, it has been the subject for many years.

“The Final Four” is something that is very much part of the college sports vernacular, most notably in the college basketball as the semifinalists in the NCAA Basketball Championship event descend on one location to conclude the event and crown a champion. In hockey, they call it the “Frozen Four.”

For tennis, rather than having the final EIGHT teams descend on the NCAA Tennis Championships “Finals” site, which is how it is now, why not pair it down to four so it is consistent with other big NCAA team championship sports like basketball, hockey and lacrosse?

As the NCAA team tournament works now, it is made up of 64 teams and the first two rounds are played (usually) on the home courts of the top 16 seeded teams. The teams that emerge from those rounds then advance into a “Super Regional” – which is the round of 16 that is played (usually) on the home courts of the top eight seeded players the weekend after the first two rounds. Rather than just play one match over that “Super Regional” weekend, why not play two and have the Super Regional feature two rounds? This also will help teams with their travel budgets and be less of a travel strain for players, coaches, fans and parents. It also creates more of a “mini-NCAA tournament” atmosphere at each site with four teams competing at one location over a weekend. These first and second rounds and “Super Regionals” provided for excellent college tennis atmospheres in many venues in 2023, including the University of Georgia which drew about 3,000 fans for each of its matches on their homes courts in Athens, Georgia.

Sending only four teams to a “Tennis Final Four” also allows for better rest for players and easier to schedule in case of rain, which has been the case in the past and was the case at the 2023 event in Orlando at the USTA National Campus. Here’s how the schedule will work out:

The women’s tennis “Final Four” can be held on a Thursday with two matches, followed by the two men’s semifinals the next day on Friday. If the women’s semifinals are rained out or if only one gets played, it can always be played the following day – a rest day on Friday – on the day when the men’s semifinals are scheduled. The women’s team final would be played on Saturday and the men’s team final would be played on Sunday. I personally like the men’s and women’s team finals to be played on separate days so it gives each respective winning team their spotlight alone in the collegiate and tennis space so they get the headlines alone. Again, if the women’s final on Saturday is rained out, it can be played on Sunday. If the men’s final is affected by rain, it can played on… Monday as it would not conflict with first round matches as the first day of the individual event would only feature women’s matches.

Since there has always been the issue of players who play in the NCAA Team Tournament Final not being 100 percent physically, mentally and emotionally ready to immediately turn around the next day and play the individual tournament, what I suggest is that each respective gender tournament have a day off after their gender’s team final. So if the men’s team final is played on the Sunday, the next day, on Monday, should only have the 32 first round women’s singles matches. Then the next day, on Tuesday, the 32 men’s first round matches would be played and women would have a day off (or perhaps the women’s doubles event can start that day.)

As it stands now, the opening day of the individual event features 64 matches (32 men and 32 women) which is a long and drawn out day. Therefore you have each of the 12 match courts having five straight matches in the least being played on them. That doesn’t leave much wiggle room in case of rain or extra-long matches which would bring the matches late into the evening, which is not ideal. If it rains on this opening day with 64 matches to play and have limited (six?) indoor courts, you are in real trouble. This was the case in the opening day of the 2023 NCAA singles tournament at the USTA National Campus where early afternoon rain caused for backups and for play to move to the six indoor courts on the campus.

The men’s and women’s second round matches would then both be played on Wednesday, the round of 16 on Thursday, the quarterfinals on Friday, the semifinals on Saturday and the finals on Sunday. This is one day later that the NCAA tennis schedule for 2023 and from other years (but it is also starting one day later), but having NCAA tennis – and team finals and individual semifinals and finals on both weekend days of the entire duration of NCAA tennis at a location – will be a lot more attractive to fans who can watch NCAA tennis when off for the weekend. Fans will also be more willing to actually travel to a destination to watch if they can watch NCAA Championship tennis over two days of a weekend. As it stands now in the current 2023 NCAA schedule, there was no Division I tennis on the first Sunday and the schedule has the event ending on Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, with no play on that Sunday or even Monday.

Also, one frustrating thing with NCAA tennis through the years is scheduling the men’s and women’s singles and doubles finals AT THE SAME TIME. College tennis has a passionate fan base and many want to watch BOTH FINALS. Can anyone name to me a tennis tournament of any significance that plays the men’s and women’s singles finals at the same time??

A proposed final-day schedule would be an 11 am start with a men’s or women’s doubles final – provided one of the players in the singles final is not also in the doubles final, whereas the singles final would be played before the doubles final. So you could have one doubles final at 11 am, followed by another at 1:00 and then the first singles final at about 3 pm and the final singles final at 5:00 pm. That is a great card of top quality tennis that is bound to be attractive to ticket buyers! And great value if it is all on one ticket!

This all makes common sense. When will it be implemented?

Virginia Now Third Place All-Time In NCAA Men’s Team Tournament Titles With 2023 Victory

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by Randy Walker

@TennisPublisher

The Virginia Cavaliers tennis program is fast becoming one of the all-time great legendary programs.

When followers of tennis think of the great men’s college tennis programs they will often say Stanford, Southern Cal, UCLA and Georgia but you have to start saying Virginia now after the Cavaliers won their sixth NCAA team title in 2023.

The Cavaliers, the defending NCAA team champions, played their best tennis at the end of the season, shutting out No. 3-seeded Ohio State 4-0 in the NCAA team tournament final at the USTA National Campus in Orlando.

With their sixth title, the Cavaliers tie the Georgia Bulldogs for third place for most NCAA team titles won in the “team tournament” era (since 1977). Stanford has won the most NCAA team tournament titles with 15, followed by Southern Cal with nine.  Virginia and Georgia now are tied for third with six and UCLA lands next with four.

After UVA coach Brian Boland engineered the first four NCAA titles for UVA in 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017, the last two titles have been under the stewardship of coach Andres Pedroso.

Ohio State seemed to the favorite against Virginia, having beaten them twice during the regular season. Ohio State won 4-1 in Charlottesville and blanked the Cavaliers 4-0 at the ITA National Team Indoor Championship. To boot, the Buckeyes have five singles players who qualified for the NCAA singles championship. However, the Cavaliers dominated, winning the doubles point and winning three quick singles matches to run away with the title. Jeffrey von der Schulenburg posted a 6-2, 6-1 win over JJ Tracy at No. 3 singles and Chris Rodesch gave UVA the 3-0 lead beating Justin Boulais at No. 1 singles 5-4, 6-2. Inaki Montes clinched the victory beating Cannon Kingsley 6-4, 6-2 at No. 2 singles.

Last year, the Cavaliers started the year 5-5 before going on a 23-match winning streak to claim the ACC regular season title, ACC Tournament Championship, and NCAA National Championship. In 2023, UVA won 22 consecutive victories to again win the ACC regular season and tournament titles and repeat as NCAA champions.

UVA wins 2023 NCAA men’s tennis team championship (Photo by Justin Cohen Photography)

North Carolina, With A Roster Entirely of American Players, Wins NCAA Women’s Tennis Title At USTA National Campus

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By Randy Walker

@TennisPublisher

The University of North Carolina women’s tennis team, made up entirely of American players, won its first NCAA championship Saturday night with a 4-1 win over state rival North Carolina State 4-1 at the U.S. Tennis Association National Campus in Orlando, Florida.

After winning the doubles point, the Tar Heels got a clutch victory at No. 2 singles by the bubbly Fiona Crawley of San Antonio, Texas, who beat N.C. State’s Alana Smith of Fort Washington, Md.,  6-2, 7-6(2). Crawley, ranked No. 1 in the ITA national college singles rankings but playing in the No. 2 position on her team, won a tenacious sudden-death deuce point that was a set-point with Smith serving at 6-5 in the second-set. The point seemed to have a lasting effect on Smith as Crawley cruised to win the second-set tiebreaker 7-2 to give North Carolina its second point. About 20 minutes later, both Elizabeth Scotty of Annapolis, Md., at No. 4 singles and Carson Tanguilig of Alpharetta, Ga., at No. 3 singles were just points away from winning their respective matches and clinching the title for North Carolina. Both had match point at the same time and Scotty started and finished her match point first and defeated Abigail Rencheli of Sarasota, Fla., 7-6 (7), 6-3. Then Tanguilig clinched the title for the Tar Heels winning her match point and defeating Amelia Rajecki of Nottingham, England 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.

 “I don’t think that I believed that I won the match when I did, and I don’t remember that match point at all,” said Tanquilig. “So when people are sending me videos. I don’t remember that at all. But it’s just like I can’t describe it….It’s just what we’ve been working for all year. I have never been a part of a closer team. I’ve only been here two years, but these girls are my best friends and I think our closeness definitely helped us today and our edge and our willingness to change things up a little bit when necessary as a team. It just means the world to me, and we got the big one finally.”

The Wolfpack won their lone point at No. 1 singles where Diana Shaider of Russia, the amazing freshman who reached the second round of the Australian Open this year and holds a No. 104 WTA world ranking, defeated North Carolina’s Reese Brantmeier of Wisconsin 6-3, 6-4.

Shnaider is one of the five non-American players on the nine-player N.C. State roster.

While the title is the first for the Tar Heels in the NCAA team tournament, the did win the last four ITA National Indoor Team Championship. It was the third meeting of the season between the Tar Heels and Wolfpack. UNC beat NCSU, 7-0, during the regular season in Chapel Hill, only to see NC State hand Carolina its lone loss of the season prior to Saturday, beating the Tar Heels, 4-1, in the ACC Championship match in late April. UNC was making its first appearance in the NCAA championship match since 2014.

Said UNC coach Brian Kalbas, “When I first came to Carolina, my dream was to be a part of the National Championship club. We won seven indoor titles and we’ve never won this one. It just was very elusive. For it to be this year with this team means the world for me personally, because I know we’ve had great teams in the past and every every team every year kind of led to this year.”

UNC wins NCAA women’s tennis title in 2023