The run of the two qualifications in the semi -final of the ATP Challenger 75 in Columbus I came to an end with Michael Zheng and no. 7 Seed Martin Damm progressed to the final of Sunday in straight sets today in the Ty Tucker Tennis Center in Ohio State.
Zheng, a 21-year-old senior in Columbia, defeated Daniel Masur from Germany 6-3, 6-2 to make his second consecutive Challenger final after winning his first Challenger title in Chicago last month.
Damm, who turns 22 in 10 days, plays on Sunday before his first Challenger title after beating Stanford senior Samir Banerjee with 6-4, 6-2. Damm reached his only other challenge final in January 2024.
In the double final today, Patrick Harper (Tennessee) and Johannus defeated Monday (Tennessee) nr. 2 seeds George Goldoff (Texas) and Theo Wineegar (Columbia, Duke) 6-4, 6-3. It is the second Challenger title for Monday and Harper, who won their first last fall at the Knoxville Challenger.
By the Challenger 125 in France This week Mac Kiger (North Carolina) and Trey Hilderbrand (Central Florida, Texas A&M) won their first title as a team. The unaduced pair defeated ungusted Patrik Niklas-Salminen from Finland and Matej Vocel (Oklahoma State, Ohio State) of the Czech Republic 7-6 (5), 7-5.
No. 3 Seed Keegan Smith (UCLA) plays for his fourth ITF Men’s World Tennis Tour Singles title and his second this year on the M15 in Fayetteville Arkansas After fought the Sebastian Eriksson van Sweden qualifying match, a second-year student in Texas, 7-6 (1), 6-7 (5), 6-3 in two hours and 45 minutes. His opponent in Sunday’s final is no. 4 seed Luis Alvarez from Mexico, a senior in Oklahoma, who spent an hour less on the field today. After playing almost four hours on Friday to get past the Alex Kotzen qualifying match, Alvarez still had enough today to beat number 5 Raphael Perot (Texas A&M) of France 6-4, 6-4 today.
Maxwell Exsted, who this year won the Kalamazoo 18S Doubles title with Cooper Woesendick and won a round on the US Open with their wildcard, today claimed his first pro title on the ITF M15 in Turkey. This week no. 1 with the 26-year-old Ivan Marrero Curbelo of Spain, the 18-year-old from Minnesota no. 2 seeds Constantin Bittoun Kouzmine from Francd and Semen Pankin of Russia 6-2, 4-6, 10-7 in the final.
The United States has been through to his first Billie Jean King Cup final since 2018 after beating Great Britain today with 2-0, with Emma Navarro and Jessica Pegula both from a set to claim Singles victories. The final against Italy, the title defender, is early on Sunday morning. The release of the USTA is below:
The United States are back in the Billie Jean King Cup final for the first time since 2018 Emma Navarro and Jessica Pegula score every scoring comeback singles victories to lift the Americans past Great Britain, 2-0, in a semi-final on Saturday in Shenzhen, China.
Navarro and Pegula each came from a set to beat Sonay Kartal and Katie Boulter, respectively to improve the US record against Great Britain until 10-1. The two countries had not played since 1992 and the British have not been defeated the Americans in Billie Jean King Cup since 1970.
The US will now come across defensive champions Italy Sunday’s final, which starts at 5 p.m. local time (5 hours et). The Italians, They are led by World No. 5 Jasmine Paolini, Ukraine defeated in a semi -final on Friday.
The US and Italy have an extensive history in this competition that goes back to its debut year in 1963. While the US leads the all-time head-to-head with a 10-5 record, the Italians have won the last five matchups, all played between 2009-15. Italy won the title four times between 2006-13.
The US has won the title of the Billie Jean King Cup 18 times a record. The last victory came in 2017 at Wit -Russia in Minsk.
The Line -ups for the Sunday final are set an hour prior to the start of the draw. The first team to win two of the three games.
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