The inaugural fall NCAA Division I individual championships, a sweep of the Junior Davis and Billie Jean King Cups for the United States and WTA and ATP Finals doubles champions from the collegiate ranks were among the top performances in November. Top juniors collected pro titles and former collegians swept all three singles championships on the ATP Challenger Tour in the United States last month, as tennis heads into its abbreviated off season in December.
Michael Zheng
An NCAA singles finalist in May of 2024, the Columbia junior stepped up to capture the title six months later in the inaugural fall edition of the Division I singles championships in Waco, Texas. The 20-year-old from New Jersey, seeded No. 2, defeated unseeded Ozan Baris of Michigan State 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 in the final at Baylor's Hurd Tennis Center, delivering a first NCAA title for the Lions and the first title for the Ivy League in modern NCAA history. Then, he jumped on a plane to France to help the team from the United States win its fifth consecutive Master'U BNP Paribas international collegiate team title.(Photo credit: Baylor Athletics)
Dasha Vidmanova
The Georgia senior started the month with a title at the USTA Pro Circuit W35 in Miami, beating 18-year-old Mayu Crossley of Japan 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 for her fourth title of the year, leading to a WTA ranking of 326. Two weeks later, the 21-year-old from the Czech Republic added a second NCAA title to her resume in Waco, with the No. 2 seed defeating unseeded DJ Bennett of Auburn 6-3, 6-3 in the final. Vidmanova, who claimed the May 2024 NCAA doubles championship, is the first Georgia singles champion since Chelsey Gullickson in 2010 and is one of only five women to win both NCAA singles and doubles titles during their careers. (Photo credit: Baylor Athletics)
Nishesh Basavareddy
An ace in Octoberfor his first ATP Challenger title, the 19-year-old Stanford junior kept right on winning last month, claiming the USTA's Australian Open Wild Card Challenge with two finals and a semifinal appearance at the three Challenger 75s in the United States. He then headed to Puerto Vallarta where he won that Challenger 50 as the top seed, beating former Kentucky All-American Liam Draxl, the No. 6 seed, 6-3, 7-6(4) in the final. Basavareddy, who has earned a spot in the upcoming ATP Next Gen Finals, is now at a career high of 138 in the ATP rankings.
Stefan Dostanic
The 23-year-old Californian won back-to-back titles last month on the USTA Pro Circuit, the first a $15K in Boca Raton, Florida, followed by a $25K in Austin, Texas. The fourth-seeded former USC All-American, who is scheduled to compete for Wake Forest as a graduate transfer this spring, defeated qualifier Ilgez Valiev of Russia 6-4, 6-2 in the Florida final. As the No. 6 seed in Austin, Dostanic took out the defending champion and No. 8 seed, Texas senior Pierre-Yves Bailly of Belgium, 6-3, 7-6(4) for his third and biggest career title. His ATP ranking is now a career-high 505.
Ethan Quinn
The 2023 NCAA singles champion as a freshman at Georgia, Quinn captured his first ATP Challenger title last month at the Challenger 75 in Champaign. The unseeded 20-year-old from California, who had lost in his only previous appearance in a Challenger final, posted five emphatic wins, beginning with his first ATP Top 100 win over former Tennessee star Adam Walton of Australia in the opening round. In the final, Quinn defeated No. 5 seed Nishesh Basavareddy 6-3, 6-1, with the title moving Quinn's ATP ranking to a career-high 203, guaranteeing himself a place in the Australian Open qualifying next month. (Photo credit: Simon Bruty/USTA)
Aidan Kim
The Ohio State sophomore, a recent transfer from the University of Florida, warmed up for the NCAA DI fall singles championships with his first USTA Pro Circuit singles title at the $25,000 tournament in Columbus, Ohio. The then 19-year-old from Michigan, seeded No. 5, defeated No. 3 seed Aristotelis Thanos of Greece, a sophomore at Michigan State, 7-5, 6-1 in the final. With just one day of rest, Kim won his first two matches at the NCAA championships to earn All-American status. He is now at a career-high ATP ranking of 630.
Tyra Grant
After starting the month with a women's ITF WTT doubles title at the W50 in France, then going undefeated in the Junior Billie Jean King Cup early in the month, the 16-year-old continued her string of impressive results by closing out the month with her second ITF women's WTT singles title at the W50 in Italy. After coming through qualifying, Grant defeated top seed Kathinka Von Deichmann of Liechtenstein in the second round and No. 4 seed Viktoria Hruncakova of Slovakia in the semifinals before taking out No. 9 seed Stacey Fung of Canada 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 in the final. Grant, currently the ITF Junior No. 2, is now at a career-high 581 in the WTA rankings.
US Junior Billie Jean King Cup Team
The American girls continued their dominance of the International Tennis Federation's global team competition for 16-and-under players, winning their sixth title in the last seven years last month in Antalya, Turkey. The team of Tyra Grant, Julieta Pareja and Kristina Penickova took on Romania in the final, coming from behind for a 2-1 win after Grant claimed No. 1 singles and partnered with Pareja for the deciding doubles point. USTA National Coach Georgi Rumenov guided the team to a 6-0 record in the round robin and knock-out rounds. (Photo credit: Gokhan Taner/ITF)
US Junior Davis Cup Team
The US boys won their first Junior Davis Cup title in 10 years in an even more dominating display than the girls, with the team of Jack Kennedy, Keaton Hance and Jack Secord, captained by USTA
National Coach Jose Caballeros, clinching all six of their matches before the doubles point was played. Playing No. 1 singles, Kennedy clinched the title in the final with Romania, after Hance had given the US a 1-0 lead at No. 2 singles. This is the first year American teams have swept both Junior Davis Cup and Junior Billie Jean King Cup titles since 2014. (Photo credit: Gokhan Taner/ITF)
Emerson Jones
An Ace in October for her title at the ITF Junior Finals in China, the 16-year-old Australian won her first ITF women's World Tennis Tour title two weeks later at the W75 in Sydney. An unseeded wild card, Jones defeated top seed Talia Gibson of Australia 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 in the semifinals and No. 2 seed Taylah Preston of Australia 6-4, 7-6(3) in the final. Jones, a finalist at the 2024 Australian Open and Wimbledon junior championships, is No. 1 in the ITF junior rankings, and with the Sydney title is now at a career-high 379 in the WTA rankings.
Clervie Ngounoue
The 18-year-old American won her third ITF women's WTT singles title at the W35 in the Dominican Republic last month. Seeded No. 5, the 2023 Wimbledon junior and 2023 USTA 18s champion defeated No. 7 seed Cagla Buyukakcay of Turkey 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 in the Santo Domingo final after taking out No. 2 seed Ana Sofia Sanchez of Mexico 5-7, 6-1, 6-4 in the semifinals. Ngounoue, who won a W35 in Naples, Florida and a W50 in Dallas, Texas earlier this year, moved to a career-high WTA ranking of 293 with the title. (Photo credit: Paul Ballard)
Malaika Rapolu
An ace in October for her first two ITF women's WTT titles in Mexico, the recent University of Texas graduate received a wild card to compete in the W50 on her alma mater's courts last month. The 21-year-old Texan, now on a 15-match winning streak, defeated fellow wild card and recent University of Michigan graduate Kari Miller 6-4, 6-2 in the final, boosting her WTA ranking from 1249 when she finished school in May to a career-high 559.
Tim Puetz
The 37-year-old from Germany had a stellar career at Auburn, earning All-American status in both singles and doubles, won the Roland Garros mixed doubles title in 2023, and advanced to the US Open men's doubles final this year. He reached another pinnacle last month at the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin, Italy, partnering with Kevin Krawietz to claim the title, becoming the first all-German team to win the year-end championship. Puetz and Krawietz, seeded eighth, defeated top seeds Marcelo Arevalo of El Salvador, a former Tulsa star, and Croatia's Mate Pavic 7-6(5), 7-6(6) in the final after having also beaten the year-end No. 1 team in the round robin stage of the tournament. (Photo credit: Jennifer Pottheiser/USTA)
Erin Routliffe
A two-time NCAA doubles champion at the University of Alabama, the 29-year-old Canadian, now representing New Zealand, won the WTA Finals last month with longtime partner Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada. The 2023 US Open women's doubles champions, seeded No. 2, defeated No. 8 seeds Taylor Townsend of the United States and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic 7-5, 6-3 in the championship match to finish the year-end championships undefeated in the round robin and knockout stages. Routliffe is now No. 2 in the WTA doubles rankings. (Photo credit: Paul Ballard)
Diana Shnaider
The rapid rise up the WTA rankings continues for the 20-year-old Russian, who played for North Carolina State in 2023. Last month, Shnaider collected her fourth WTA 250 title of the year in Hong Kong, with the top seed defeating No. 2 seed Katie Boulter of Great Britain 6-1, 6-2 in the final. With two 250 titles on hard courts, along with a clay 250 title and a grass 250 title sandwiched in between, Shnaider has proven she can compete on any surface, with her Hong Kong title moving her WTA ranking to a career-high of 12. (Photo credit: Paul Ballard)
Tristan Boyer
The 23-year-old Southern Californian opted for South American clay rather than the US indoor hard court swing on the ATP Challenger circuit this fall and it paid off with two titles, one in Brazil in October and last month in Uruguay. The former Stanford standout was unseeded in Montevideo, but took out four seeds in his five straight-sets victories, beating No. 5 seed Hugo Dellien of Bolivia 6-2, 6-4 in the final. Boyer has halved his ATP ranking this year going from 268 at the start of the 2024 to a career-high 133 now. (Contributed Photo)
Christopher Eubanks
The former Georgia Tech All-American saw his ATP ranking drop from a career-high 29 in 2023, but the 28-year-old from Georgia got a much-needed ATP Challenger title last month at the Knoxville 75. Seeded No. 2, Eubanks defeated No. 3 seed Learner Tien 7-5, 7-6(9) in the final, claiming his second title in Knoxville and his fourth overall. Although he needed three sets in three matches to advance, he was clutch in tiebreakers throughout the week, winning all four he played, including two in third sets. Eubanks now sits at 107 in the ATP rankings. (Photo credit: Paul Ballard)
James Trotter
His first full year on the ATP Challenger Circuit has proven fruitful for the 25-year-old from Japan, reaching three finals and winning two titles, the most recent at the W75 in Charlottesville. The 2023 NCAA doubles champion as a senior at Ohio State, Trotter defeated ATP Next Gen American teens Learner Tien and Nishesh Basavareddy back-to-back in Virginia, the latter in the championship match by a score of 6-3, 6-4. Trotter, 25-18 in Challengers this year, is now 194 in the ATP rankings after starting 2024 at 464. (Photo credit: Manuela Davies/USTA)
AEON School is proud to sponsor the
Aces
series of articles at TennisRecruiting.net.
Imagine if your child's school fully supported their interests outside of school.
AEON School
is the virtual campus of AEON School. We are an
accredited Tier 1 private school designed for students from Toddler
through 12th grade who want to pursue a world-class education freed
from the constraints of a physical school. Learn alongside peers
living on six continents and more than 20 countries with a global
faculty leading the way.
AEON School
offers flexible schedules and personalized calendars which allow
tennis players to fully commit to their athletic goals while pursuing
a world-class education.
1-Nov-2024 Scary Good Results in October for Collegiate Stars
College tennis continues its time in the spotlight, with current Division I stars earning five titles last month, and recent collegians picking up 10 more. The ITF also crowned champions at the World Junior Finals, two Americans claimed titles at the Pan American Closed and two 16-year-olds captured ITF women's World Tennis Tour title at the $75,000 level.
4-Oct-2024 First-Time Winners Highlight September Aces
September produced first-time titles for teenagers on both the junior and pro circuits. Division I college tennis crowned its first champions of 2024-25, while current and recently graduated collegians also earned their share of the spotlight as summer turned to fall.
30-Aug-2024 August Standouts Shine on Hard Courts
The hard courts take center stage in August leading up to the US Open, and many former collegiate stars had great performances that landed them a spot in the Aces column for the month.
Colette Lewis
has covered topflight U.S. and international junior
events as a freelance journalist for over a decade.
Her work has appeared in Tennis magazine, the Tennis
Championships magazine and the US Open program. Lewis is active on
Twitter,
and she writes a weekly column right here at TennisRecruiting.net.
She was named
Junior Tennis Champion
for 2016 by Tennis Industry Magazine.
Lewis, based out of Kalamazoo, Michigan, has seen every National
Championship final played since 1977, and her work on the
tournament's ustaboys.com website
led her to establish
ZooTennis,
where she comments on junior and college tennis daily.
Colette Lewis has covered topflight junior events as a freelance journalist for over a decade.
Read her weekly column, follow her on Twitter, and
and find more of her daily commentary at ZooTennis.
