Big fall changes in college tennis — Quotes from Beijing and more from the week in women’s tennis
By Joey Dillon
The IX: Tennis Tuesday with Joey Dillon, Oct. 1, 2024
Howdy, y’all, Happy Tennis Tuesday and Happy October! With the China Open slowly entering their second week, I decided to pivot and talk a little about my favorite — and most underrated — product of the sport: college tennis.
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This past week, Cary, North Carolina, hosted the annual ITA Women’s All-American Championships. It’s the first major event of the collegiate season where players compete individually, saving the team portion for the Spring. Per the previous years, there’s a pre-qualifying draw where a select number advance to qualifying, where that process is repeated for the main draw. There are also consolation brackets for each draw.
Usually I would just mention the results in passing, but this year marks the first time that the NCAA individual tournament — usually held right after the Team finals in May — will be done in the Fall. NCAAs will be held at Baylor University from November 19-24 and All-Americans produced the first qualifiers for the event. All eight quarterfinalists will receive a berth, as well as the two consolation finalists. In doubles, the four teams that make up the semifinals will book their ticket to Waco.
In Cary, there was an all-unseeded matchup between Wisconsin’s Maria Sholokhova and Tennessee’s Elza Tomase, with Sholokhova becoming the first player — man or woman — to win the All-American title. In doubles, Gabriella Broadfoot and Maddy Zampardo of NC State bested UCLA’s Kimmi Hance and Elise Wagle to take the title. The country’s top two players in Mary Stoiana of Texas A&M and UGA’s Dasha Vidmanova were upset in the opening round and won backdraw matches through to the final, which was not played. The first ten singles and four doubles qualifiers for the NCAA tournament are as follows:
Maria Sholokhova, Wisconsin (Champion)
Elza Tomase, Tennessee (Runner-Up)
Thea Rabman, UNC (Semifinalist)
Tatum Evans, UNC (Semifinalist)
Oby Kajuru, Ok State (Quarterfinalist)
Savannah Broadus, Pepperdine (Quarterfinalist)
DJ Bennett, Auburn (Quarterfinalist)
Valerie Glozman, Stanford (Quarterfinalist)
Mary Stoiana (Consolation finalist)
Dasha Vidmanova (Consolation finalist)
Gabriella Broadfoot/Maddy Zampardo, NC State (Champions)
Kimmi Hance/Elise Wagle, UCLA (Runner-Ups)
Jessica Alsola/Mao Mushika, Cal (Semifinalists)
Lily Fairclough/Grace Piper, Southern Cal (Semifinalists)
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Now, how will the other qualifiers be determined? Next up will be the 13 ITA Regional Championships held across the country from October 12-20. All singles finalists and doubles champions from those events will qualify. Then, from November 7-10, there will be two major tournaments. The first is the ITA Conference Masters Championship in San Diego and all four singles finalists, the two doubles finalists and a third place team will advance. The draws will be be compiled of each NCAA AQ-eligible, Division I conference designating one singles player and one doubles team to participate. Those players can be designated through the use of a conference tournament to be completed no later than October 27, 2024, or through an alternate selection process determined by the conference office and its members. The final event are the four ITA Sectional Championships. The 13 regionals are divided into four events — West (Mountain, Southwest & Northwest), Central (Texas, Central & Midwest), South (Southeast, South & Ohio Valley Regions), and East (Carolina, Atlantic, Northeast & New England). Only those who have yet to earn entry into NCAAs are eligible to compete. At those events, 24 singles (all four semifinalists and two playoff winners from those who lose in the quarterfinals) and 12 doubles (both finalists and a third place team) qualifiers will round out the field.
The ITA also noted that:
- Players Qualifying for the NCAA Championships via All-Americans are eligible to participate in the Regional Championships but are not eligible to participate in the Sectional Championships or Conference Masters Championship. If a player has qualified in singles but not doubles (and vice versa) they are eligible to play in these events but only in the event (singles or doubles) they have not qualified for yet.
- Players Qualifying for the NCAA Championships via the Regional Championships are not eligible to participate in the Sectional Championships or Conference Masters Championships.
Historically, an American winner of the NCAA tournament receives a main draw wildcard into the U.S. Open, but because of this move, that’s no longer the case. It’s been announced that the USTA will hold special four-player and four-team playoffs after the collegiate season to determine who will get their bid to New York. I’m not mad at the playoff because there’s so much time between November and June and there are technically players choosing to try out the professional tour in the Fall and will be missing out on qualifying this way.
The ITA also revised their criteria for players earning All-America honors. Historically at NCAAs, a Top 16 seed in singles/Top 8 in doubles or reaching the singles round of 16 or doubles quarterfinals would warrant that status. Because of the calendar change, that’s no longer the case:
Mind you, this is a two-year pilot program and just for the 2024 and 2025 seasons. I expect there to be some confusion and mayhem this specific cycle, but I am trying to keep an open mind. I admit, I’m a traditionalist and love the May Madness the tournament brings, but it can be extremely taxing on players and staff, so again, we’re open. I’ll be sure to predict and recap NCAAs once they wrap up in November.
On to links!
Stathead Stat of the Week
Breanna Stewart had 21 points, five assists, seven steals, and eight rebounds in the Liberty’s Game 2 victory. She’s just the second player in WNBA history to have 20-5-5-5 in the Finals.
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This Week in Women’s Tennis
Zhang Shuai was on the unfortunate end of professional tennis’ longest losing streak at 24 consecutive matches, but to the delight of the Beijing crowd, she’s earned four in a row to stun the world and make the China Open quarterfinals.
Diana Shnaider sat down with the WTA Insider podcast to share how college tennis was the benefactor of her rise into the Top 20.
Wimbledon has shared that their plans to expand the grounds with 39 more courts and an extra roofed stadium has finally been approved after a battle with local residents.
If there’s one player that deserves a small rest, it’s Rebecca Sramkova who’s halved her ranking over the last month and is knocking on the Top 50.
Emma Navarro and Simona Halep have accepted wildcards into the WTA 125 in Hong Kong this week, marking Halep’s return to the tour for the first time since May.
Coco Gauff has added coach Matt Daly, who focuses on grip changes, to her team following her split with Brad Gilbert.
After tough starts and injuries, Jessica Pegula and Beatriz Haddad Maia have been able to find their form in the second half of the season.
As the unofficial face of Wilson tennis, Marta Kostyuk opened up about her own evolution with fashion and styling.
Sara Sorribes Tormo has always been known to have long matches, but she etched herself in the history books this week with the fourth-longest women’s match in the Open Era.
Renata Zarazua won the W75 ITF World Tour event in Templeton, California and capped off the week by creating a new Templeton tradition.
With players like Jasmine Paolini eyeing a berth into the WTA Finals Riyadh, the area is already buzzing with pre-tournament excitement.
Angelique Kerber thinks she’ll be able to enjoy tennis more as a spectator after taking in Laver Cup, her first tennis action since retiring after the Paris Olympics.
The ITF conducted a study that shows that tennis players lead longer and healthier lives, prompting the U.S. Open to claim tennis as the “world’s healthiest sport.”
Congrats to Serena Williams, who was named a 2024 Glamour Global Woman of the Year, while Billie Jean King will be the first female athlete to be honored with the Congressional Gold Medal.
With the rise of pickleball and padel tennis, the United States Professional Tennis Association is rebranding into the Racquet Sports Professionals Association.
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Tweet of the Week
A crossover we would stan at The IX:
Five at The IX: China Open Week 1
Q. You’ve had these situations where you win your first match here 15 years ago, you beat the No. 1, you lose 14 Grand Slams, beat No. 2, you make the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. Now 24 matches you lose, you beat the No. 6 seed here. What is the secret doing that, going from cold to hot kind of overnight?
ZHANG SHUAI: I think maybe that’s my life (smiling). Yeah, I like to give to everybody surprise. If I keep winning, everybody feel like nothing surprise.
I mean, I really want to win every week, for sure. Sometimes when you get injury, when you getting older, you can’t control many things. But if nothing change, is training hard, working hard, that’s the key.
I think nothing secure. Only the keys of working hard day by day. You can see no one without working hard comes feeling easy on this court. I try my best. Still waiting for the one winning for singles like almost two years, one and a half years.
Also I think the special things is I have five years not back to the Chinese season for any tournament. I always play really good in China, in Japan, in Korea, the whole Asian season. Also I grew up from the Tianjin, Beijing, this area. The court, the weather, the air, everything I feel so comfortable. I play very natural. I can play Zhang Shuai tennis. That’s totally different than when I’m on clay, on grass, States, the hard court. That’s totally different. I can play best my tennis. That’s I think little different.
When you go clay, you have to learn how to play clay. Even sometimes I can win some match, sometimes I can play well on grass, but when I go there, I have to start beginning, start from the easy, like the kids learn tennis.
When I’m back to Beijing, play China Open, I feel I don’t need to go back. I start from here. So that’s easy to show you best.
Q. The No. 1 ranking is now within sight, within reach. How important is it for you to be world No. 1 at the end of the year? Obviously we have no idea what it feels like to be called ‘the best tennis player in the world’. What does that feel like?
ARYNA SABALENKA: Hmm… Well, yeah, of course, that’s one of my goals, to finish the season at world No. 1. I’m not trying to focus on that. I’m trying to focus on my game. There is only three tournaments left. I’m just trying to bring my best tennis on court.
After the season, I’ll see if it was enough to finish the year at world No. 1 or have to improve something else to get to world No. 1.
To be called as best player in the world, that’s really means a lot. My whole life, I’ve been working so hard to get to the top hundred, then top 50, then top 10, get to the top two. If one day I’ll be world No. 1, to be called best player in the world, that means everything. It’s good to know that you’ve been doing the right thing, all of that, hours of training, wasn’t a wasting of time.
I think as the best player in the world, you inspire young generation. For me, that’s been the main goal, always been the main goal for me. That would be really, really cool (smiling).
Q. I’m not sure if this is your first press conference coming back to China. You had a wonderful performance at the Olympics. You also went to the Great Hall of the People. How did you feel about this?
WANG XINYU: Indeed, it’s very magical, wonderful, this Olympics for me. After I finished the Olympics, I got this surprise. I got the silver medal at the Olympics. Very happy. I felt very proud of myself.
I’m really happy to win this silver medal with Zhang Zhizhen. Before that, I didn’t really know him. After playing these matches together, I feel he is a really good player. We get along very well.
After the Olympics, we did not know there was a reception at the Great Hall of the People. Right after that, I had an event, a tournament, right before the US Open. I thought about it. I was there. So I played the matches. I’m very sorry I wasn’t able to come to the reception at the Great Hall of the People.
Now I’m back in China. The next few tournaments will be in Asia. Really happy about it.
Q. Obviously the first time we’ve spoken to you since New York. Can you give us a little bit more insight into the decision with Wim first of all. Also, how much has your team changed? I see Simone and Flo. Just a little bit more detail on that.
NAOMI OSAKA: You know me, I think Wim is one of my favorite people. I don’t want to say ‘one of’, but definitely one of my favorite coaches.
It wasn’t, like, anything personal. Like nothing crazy happened. I just felt like I needed a change. It sucks because I wanted to lift trophies with him. I know we went into that relationship wanting to do that together.
I think I’m at a stage in my life that I don’t want to have regrets. I’d rather, like, pull the trigger on something and I don’t want to say ‘fail’, but I feel like I really need to learn as much as possible in this stage of my career. Patrick seemed like the guy with I guess the information that I wanted to learn from.
I didn’t answer the second part (smiling).
I think other than that, Flo and Simone are pretty much staples in my box. And Matee, you’ve seen him around, too.
Q. How important for you playing in Beijing, Wuhan, is it with the WTA Finals kind of looming, qualifications and things like that? How much of that is in your mind as you play these events?
ZHENG QINWEN: I can just tell you like this. After US Open, first thing come in my mind is the China tour, China Open, Wuhan Open.
People start to get tired at the end of the season. For me it’s different. I’m really motivated to come play in China, in front of my people. I know they’re going to support me.
I feel right now I’m quite fresh for all those tournament ’cause I have a big expectations ’cause last year for the Asia Games, I was not able to prepare well in the China Open. But this year I had a good preparation. I really wants to see how it goes.
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