The Stanford women played the first match at Stanford’s new Arrillaga Tennis Center (a drone overview can be viewed
here),
beating Virginia Tech 4-0 in an ACC conference match, but it was the men’s team who made the facility’s opening an especially memorable one, coming from 3-0 down against No. 3 Wake Forest
to claim their best win of the season. After Wake Forest took the doubles point and posted straight-sets wins from Luca Pow at line 3 and DK Suresh at line 1, Stanford went to work, getting a straight-sets win from Alex Razeghi at line 2. The matches at 4, 5, and 6 all went to third set, with Alex Chang making it 3-2 with a win at 5 and Hudson Rivera tying it up with a win at 4. Freshman Jagger Leach, who had been playing as high as 3 in the lineup earlier this season, trailed Joaquin Guilleme 5-2 in the third set at line 6, but fought back and won the third-set tiebreaker 6-4, 6-7(2), 7-6(4) to complete the comeback.
Currently ranked 25, Stanford, which has struggled with health issues all season (Kyle Kang had yet to make an appearance), is now up to 20 in the projected rankings and will have an opportunity to improve on that ranking in the ACC conference championships in Cary NC in two weeks, where they are the defending champions.
After falling 4-3 to the second-ranked Texas A&M women in College Station Thursday, No. 4 Auburn will leave Texas on a high note after posting
a 4-0 win over No. 6 Texas in Austin today. The Tigers took the doubles point and got straight-sets wins at lines 2, 5 and 6 for the shutout. Ashton Bowers, who played for Texas last season picked up Auburn’s third point with a 6-3, 6-2 win over freshman Elizabeth Ionescu at line 5.
The final of the USTA Pro Circuit women’s
W35 in Jackson Mississippi will feature two former collegians, with qualifier Sofia Johnson of Great Britain facing Aran Teixido Garcia of Spain.
Johnson, an All-American at Old Dominion in 2024, faced her first seed today, beating No. 5 Mio Mushika of Japan 6-1, 6-1, while No. 4 seed Teixido Garcia, who played at Memphis and LSU, took out No. 2 seed Victoria Hu(Princeton) 6-2, 7-5. Teixido Garcia beat Johnson in the first round of qualifying in this tournament in 2024, 6-4, 6-2.
In today’s doubles final between two unseeded teams, Kailey Evans(Texas Tech, San Diego) and Mio Mushika defeated Kylie Collins(Texas, LSU, Oklahoma State) and Carson Tanguilig(UNC) 7-6(5), 2-6, 12-10. It’s the second pro doubles title for Evans and the fourth for Mushika.
It was a great day for another Old Dominion All-American, with Yulia Starodubtseva reaching her first WTA final with a 6-1, 6-4 win over No. 5 seed Madison Keys at the
WTA 500 Credit One Charleston Open. Starodubtseva, a 26-year-old from Ukraine who was an All-American in singles and doubles in 2022, will face top seed and defending champion Jessica Pegula, who won her fourth consecutive three-set match, beating No. 4 seed Iva Jovic 6-4, 5-7, 6-3.
Another All-American from a Virginia school, Rafael Jodar, also reached a first tour final, with the former UVA star advancing to the final of the
ATP 250 in Morocco. The unseeded 19-year-old from Spain defeated unseeded Camilo Ugo Carabelli of Argentina 6-2, 6-1 in his first ATP semifinal and will face 36-year-old qualifier Marco Trungelliti of Argentina for the title. Trungelliti is the oldest player to reach his first ATP final and to enter the ATP Top 100, which he will do on Monday, regardless of the outcome.
Tommy Paul will also face an surprise Argentine finalist on Sunday, at the
ATP 250 U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship in Houston. Paul, the No. 4 seed, defeated No. 2 seed Frances Tiafoe 7-5, 4-6, 7-6(7) in a rain-interrupted semifinal and will play unseeded Roman Burruchaga for the title Sunday. Burruchaga, who just reached the ATP Top 100 for the first time in February, at the age of 24, defeated compatriot Thiago Tirante 6-1, 6-1 in the day’s first semifinal.
