Three teens reach semifinals at W35 in Las Vegas; Tien survives Tiafoe at Delray; Men’s D-III and Women’s D-II ITA team indoors on the road; Gardner-Webb retires from tennis; DI Indoor All-Tournament Teams

Seventeen-year-old Julieta Pareja and sixteen-year-old Melije Clarke and Kristina Liutova have advanced to the American semi-finals of the USTA Pro Circuit W35 in Las Vegasand even though temperatures were in the 50s, it was sunny there today, allowing the tournament to complete its second round and play all four quarterfinals after a wet day Thursday.

Pareja, the No. 3 seed, was given a bye by LSU freshman Ella McDonald, the No. 8 seed, after Pareja won the first set 6-1. Pareja will face unseeded Liutova, who defeated Texas freshman Anastasia Abbagnato of Italy 6-3, 7-5 in the second round and drew a retirement from top seed Vivian Wolff (Georgia, UCLA) with Liutova leading 7-5, 1-0.

Clarke defeated fellow wild card Savannah Broadus (Pepperdine) 6-4, 7-5 and will play unseeded Salma Ewing (USC, Texas A&M) on Saturday.

At the M15 in Naplesboth Michael Antonius and qualifier Teodor Davidov lost in the quarterfinals, with wild card Hunter Heck (Illinois) being the only American to reach the semifinals. But at the W15 in Palm Coasttwo teenagers have reached the semifinals: wild card Carlota Moreno, playing her first professional event, and No. 6 seed Bella Payne.

At the WTA 125 Dow Tennis Classic in MidlandNo. 2 seed Dasha Vidmanova (Georgia) of the Czech Republic defeated UNC freshman Anna Frey 6-2, 6-2 to reach the semifinals. Vidmanova’s college rival Mary Stoiana (Texas A&M), seeded eighth, defeated Canada’s Katherine Sebov 6-3, 6-4, but they will only renew that rivalry if they both win on Saturday.

Tonight at the ATP 250 in Delray BeachNo. 4 seed Learner Tien defeated No. 8 seed Frances Tiafoe 7-6(5), 3-6, 7-5 to avenge his first round loss at the 2023 US Open. It was a rollercoaster of a match, with Tien leading 3-0 in the first and then trailing 4-5 with Tiafoe serving for the set. He had two set points, but Tien broke, lost his serve and then broke Tiafoe again to force the tiebreak. Leading 2-0 in the second inning, Tien lost six of its next seven games after Tiafoe took a medical timeout. Tiafoe’s momentum continued at the start of the third set, leading 2–0, but Tien saved three break points to avoid going down 5–2 and then broke Tiafoe when serving for the match at 5–4, winning nine of the last 10 points to wrap up the two-hour, twenty-minute match.

Ten will play tonight against the winner of the quarterfinal between top seed Taylor Fritz and No. 5 seed Tommy Paul, a rematch of the 2015 Roland Garros and US Open boys finals.

Sebastian Korda, who defeated No. 2 seed Casper Ruud of Norway 4-6, 6-2, 6-2, will face No. 3 seed Flavio Cobolli of Italy in the other semifinal.

While I was focused on the Division I Team Indoor Championships, both the NAIA Indoor Championships and the Men’s Division II Championships were decided this month. The Georgia Gwinnett men won their third straight NAIA Team Indoor title, beating Tennessee Wesleyan 4-1 in the final. The Keizer women won their second straight NAIA Team Indoor title, beating Lindsey Wilson 4-1 in the championship match. Perennial D-II powerhouse Barry avenged last year’s final loss to West Florida, defeating them 4-0 in Sunday’s final in Indianapolis. There is no update on the ITA website, but the box score is here.

The Division II Women’s Indoor Teamalso in Indianapolis, started today with the Barry women, seeded No. 1, hoping to make it two titles for the Buccaneers this month.

The Division III Men’s Indoor Team Championships are underway in Minnesota, with reigning NCAA champion Denison as the top seed. Live scoring for both current Team Indoor events is available on the iOnCourt site.

The Division III Women’s Team Indoor Championships are in Tennessee next weekend, with Washington-St. Louis the best seeds.

College tennis lost another, actually two, programs this week, with Division I Gardner-Webb eliminating both the men’s and women’s tennis teams after this season. Tennis recruiting network has more on the athletic department’s announcement.