My annual article on the Wimbledon Junior Championships was posted today at the Tennis Recruiting Network, with an overview on the paths to the titles for unseeded Mia Pohankova of Slovakia and Ivan Ivanov of Bulgaria. In case you missed my other, less match-related impressions of this year’s Wimbledon, that post from last week can be found here.
Spizzirri, the only seed left in the bottom half, defeated wild card Michael Zheng(Columbia) 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(4), recovering from failing to serve out the match from 5-3, 30-0 up in the third set. Spizzirri took the initiative in the final set tiebreaker, coming in often and forcing Zheng to pass him, which he did on the first match point at 6-3. But on the second, Spizzirri traded ground strokes with Zheng until he saw a forehand approach he liked, and Zheng couldn’t handle it, netting his reply.
Spizzirri will face Yi Zhou of China, after the 20-year-old, who reached No. 3 in ITF junior rankings two years ago, defeated No. 4 seed Chris Eubanks(Georgia Tech) 7-6(5), 6-1.Â
A Yellow Jacket did move on however, with Martin beating Yuta Shimuzu of Japan 7-5, 6-3 to reach his fourth Challenger quarterfinal of the year. He will face Alexis Galarneau(NC State) of Canada, who beat Rio Noguchi of Japan 6-1, 6-4.Â
Results – Wednesday, 23 July 2025
Men’s Singles – Round of 16
[5] Eliot Spizzirri (USA) d [WC] Michael Zheng (USA) 64 46 76(4)
[WC] Andres Martin (USA) d Yuta Shimizu (JPN) 75 63
Alexis Galarneau (CAN) d Rio Noguchi (JPN) 61 64
[NG] Yi Zhou (CHN) d [4] Christopher Eubanks (USA) 76(5) 61
Men’s Doubles – Round of 16
[WC] Stefan Dostanic (USA)/Benjamin Kittay (USA) d Nicolas Mejia (COL)/Cristian Rodriguez (COL) 26 63 10-5
[4] Patrick Harper (AUS)/Joshua Sheehy (USA) d Kody Pearson (AUS)/Li Tu (AUS) 26 64 10-8
[WC] Theodore Winegar (USA)/Michael Zheng (USA) d Mac Kiger (USA)/Patrick Maloney (USA) 76(4) 61
[1] Blake Bayldon (AUS)/Trey Hilderbrand (USA) d Masamichi Imamura (JPN)/Yuta Shimizu (JPN) 64 46 10-8
Jason Jung (TPE)/Reese Stalder (USA) d Ryuki Matsuda (JPN)/Kelsey Stevenson (CAN) 63 75
[3] Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha (IND)/Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) d Jody Maginley (ANT)/Eliot Spizzirri (USA) 67(4) 64 10-8
ORDER OF PLAY – THURSDAY, 24 JULY 2025
Center Court – start 11:00
Yu Hsiou Hsu (TPE) vs [Q] Aidan Mayo (USA)
[Q] Tung-Lin Wu (TPE) vs [7] Li Tu (AUS)
[3] Alexander Blockx (BEL) vs [Q] Arthur Fery (GBR)
Mark Lajal (EST) vs [6] August Holmgren (DEN)
Court 2 – start 11:00
[WC] Stefan Dostanic (USA) / Benjamin Kittay (USA) vs [2] Anirudh Chandrasekar (IND) / Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND)
[3] Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha (IND) / Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) vs Jason Jung (TPE) / Reese Stalder (USA)
Not Before 14:00
[1] Blake Bayldon (AUS) / Trey Hilderbrand (USA) vs Yu Hsiou Hsu (TPE) / Tsung-Hao Huang (TPE)
Court 3 – start 11:00
[WC] Theodore Winegar (USA) / Michael Zheng (USA) vs [4] Patrick Harper (AUS) / Joshua Sheehy (USA)
Three Kalamazoo 18s competitors are through to the second round in Champaign, with Cooper Woestendick, wild card Maxwell Exsted and qualifier Jon Gamble picking up wins today. Gamble earned his first ATP point with a 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(11) win over fellow qualifier William Manning(NC State). 2024 Kalamazoo champion Matt Forbes(Michigan State), a wild card, beat Alexander Bernard 6-0, 6-3 to reach the second round. 2019 NCAA champion Paul Jubb(South Carolina) of Great Britain is the top seed, and will play Exsted in Thursday’s second round.
In Florence, qualifier Alyssa Ahn and wild card Kristina Penickova, both of whom are playing San Diego 18s next month, are through to the second round, with Ahn, a rising Stanford freshman, advancing when No. 3 seed Petra Hule(Florida State) of Australia retired trailing 6-3, 2-2. Penickova beat Carolyn Ansari(Auburn) 6-3, 7-5. Top seeds Robin Anderson(UCLA) and Lea Ma(Georgia) are among 13 Americans in the second round.Â
Wild card Valerie Glozman(Stanford), playing for the first time since winning the USTA’s USO Collegiate Wild Card Playoff, defeated Rachel Gailis(Florida) 6-2, 1-0 retired.
Play was delayed in Evansville, I believe due to excessive heat, with most second round matches being played this evening. Fiona Crawley, who received a special exemption into the main draw for reaching the W75 final in Granby last week, defeated Stanford rising freshman Monica Ekstrand, a wild card, 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-4 to continue her impressive form this summer.Â
2024 NCAA singles champion Dasha Vidmanova(Georgia), the No. 7 seed, defeated wild card Elvina Kalieva 6-4, 6-3.
