First qualifying round completed at ITF J300 Bradenton, two more rounds Sunday; Final round qualifying for 12s, 14s, 16 Sunday morning; Hance reaches ITF J500 Merida semi-finals

Part of that action this time of year sees top professionals hitting the hard court at IMG Stadium as they begin preparation for the 2026 season. Yesterday, 2024 NCAA champion Dasha Vidmanova batted with North Carolina’s Tatum Evans; Martin Damm had a practice session this morning, with Peyton Stearns following him on the field. There were others, but I wasn’t around regularly as there is only one green clay stadium pitch, next to the hard court.Because the girls’ qualifying draw was unfilled, there was no alternate list, leading to a number of walkovers due to late withdrawals and no-shows. The boys did have substitutes, but it was discovered that one of them, who actually played several games of a first round qualifier, had played a 16-second qualifier, which is not allowed under ITF rules. He was taken off the track and another alternate took his place, and lost.

The top seed in the boys’ qualifying, Agassi Rusher, was elevated to the main draw after a late withdrawal, and No. 2 seed Livas Eduardo De Carvalho Damazio of Brazil lost one of the closest and final matches of the day, falling to Jan Frohlich of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-7 (3), 11-9.

As the day drew to a close I had the chance to attend part of the match, which took place on a field next to the last match of the day. I was on the right before that, as Vincent Weaver defeated Brazil’s Mateus Nogueira 7-5, 7-6(4).

Weaver got two late breaks to steal the first set, but fell an early break in the second set. He managed to get that break back, and although both players had break points, neither could convert, leading to the tiebreak.

Weaver had shown a clutch serve in the second set to get out of trouble, but started the tiebreak with a double fault. That turned out to be an aberration, with Weaver getting the next two points on Nogueira’s serve and making every first serve the rest of the time.

“I didn’t want to go too far,” said the 17-year-old high school student from Roswell Georgia. “The courts are so slow that even if I hit a fast first serve, it’s probably going to come back. So I just tried to mix a lot of slice and a lot of kick, a high percentage on the first, and keep it in the box.”

Weaver felt he had an advantage on green clay, even though his father Jeff’s ACE Academy in Roswell has only hard courts.

“I train on this clay every time I get a chance, and I don’t think he has it,” Weaver said. “A lot of kids who trained at my father’s academy years ago are now tennis coaches in places with green clay, so that’s where we usually go. Today I said to myself, he’s not used to this and I am, so in the long rallies, the bad bounces, I know what’s coming. This clay is quite slow, but it’s still faster than the red one.”

Although Weaver wanted to avoid the third-set tiebreak used during qualifying on the ITF Junior Circuit, he thought remaining patient was the best strategy.

“I had to let him play,” Weaver said. “That’s what I got away from when I started losing points. I would play really well, long points, and then play a few points where I went for too much. That kept the match so exciting. A tiebreak can go either way, so I just tried to make as many shots as possible because I was winning the long rallies.”

In Sunday morning’s second round of qualifying, Weaver will face Kamil Stolarczyk of New York, who defeated No. 14 seed Roger Koike of Japan 6-3, 7-6(3).

After a windy, but season-packed day for the first round of qualifying, Sunday is forecast to be much warmer, with both the second and final rounds of qualifying scheduled.

The 12s, 14s and 16s The divisions will complete their qualifying on Sunday morning, while registration for the main event will continue throughout the day.

The singles semi-finals and doubles finals are scheduled for tonight ITF J500 in Merida, Mexicowith Keaton Hance facing top seed Yannick Alexandrescou of Romania. Hance, the No. 7 seed, advanced to his first J500 semifinal with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Poland’s Alan Wazny. No. 3 seed Luis Guto Miguel of Brazil will face No. 16 seed Linus Lagerbohm of Finland in the other semifinal.

The Czech Republic’s Kovackova sisters could face each other in the final if both win tonight. Alena, the No. 1 seed, will play unseeded Iva Marinkovic of Sweden, while No. 2 seed Jana will play No. 4 seed Victoria Barros of Brazil.

Thea Frodin and Annika Penickova, the No. 3 seeds in doubles, will face the top-seeded Kovackova sisters for the title. Dominick Mosejczuk and future Wake Forest teammate EmmanuelIvanisevic of Croatia, the No. 8 seed, will play top seeds Alexandrescou and Ryo Tabata of Japan in the boys’ doubles final later tonight.