Ohio State rising sophomore and No. 5 seed JJ Wolf advanced to the semifinals at the USTA Boys 18 National Championships in Kalamazoo, Michigan, after ousting the top seed Sam Riffice. Wolf, who enrolled at Ohio State last January a month after turning 18, came back after dropping the first set to defeat Riffice (2018 Florida commit) 5-7, 6-4, 6-1. Wolf’s semifinal opponent will be the No. 12 seed Alafia Ayeni after the Cornell commit came back from a set down to defeat the No. 8 seed Danny Thomas (2018 uncommitted) 6-7(6), 6-4, 6-4.
Ryan Goetz (2018 uncommitted) entered the week as the No. 29 seed but he’s now won all five matches in straight sets after taking out the No. 6 seed John McNally (Ohio State commit) 6-3, 7-6(4). Goetz, who also beat the No. 3 seed Trent Bryde in the fourth round, will now face the No. 2 seed Patrick Kypson (2018 uncommitted). Kypson has yet to drop a set either after the Greenville (NC) native defeated the No. 7 seed Sebastian Korda 6-4, 7-6(4).
The winner of Sunday’s championship match earns a main draw wild card into this year’s US Open while the runner-up earns a qualifying draw wild card.
To get match recaps along with plenty of quotes make sure you check out ZooTennis with Colette Lewis doing a fantastic job as always covering her hometown tournament.
5th-seeded JJ Wolf defeats the top seed, Sam Riffice, in the quarterfinals of the @ustaboys 18 singles. #natszoo17 pic.twitter.com/uIdMhlebRq
— Greg Ayers (@DiscvrKazooPrez) August 10, 2017
Players with college ties have done very well this week at the Edwardsville (IL) Futures with six of the eight singles quarterfinalists and all four doubles finalists having played college tennis.
Florida rising junior Alfredo Perez lost in the final round of qualies to South Carolina’s Gabriel Friedrich but after getting into the main draw as a lucky loser he’s definitely made the most of his second opportunity. Perez moved into his second career quarterfinal after a 6-2, 6-2 win over Liam Caruana which snapped Caruana’s six-match winning streak. Next up for Perez will be Hunter Callahan after the 2015 Ohio State graduate knocked off TCU rising junior Alex Rybakov 7-5, 7-5.
Ole Miss rising senior Gustav Hansson moved into his first career quarterfinal after defeating Illinois rising senior Aron Hiltzik 6-1, 7-5. Hansson, who has yet to drop a set in five matches, will face a tough test on Friday when he plays Kevin King with the 2012 Georgia Tech graduate seeking his fifth semifinal appearance of the year.
Or Ram-Harel, who recently wrapped up his four years at Tulsa, has also won five matches this week though the last two have come in three sets. Ram-Harel ousted the top seed Nik Scholtz (Ole Miss ’15) 6-7, 7-6, 6-3 in the first round and then today in the second round he defeated Chris Haworth 6-4, 1-6, 6-3. Ram-Harel will meet the No. 6 seed Harry Bourchier in the quarters.
Wake Forest rising sophomore Borna Gojo moved into his first quarterfinal of the year after getting a walkover win over Robert Galloway. Gojo started off the week a straight set win over the No. 2 seed Ante Pavic (ATP 483) and now in the quarterfinals he’ll play the No. 7 seed Genaro Olivieri (ATP 613).
Galloway was able to play in the doubles semifinals later in the day and he and Alex Lawson won in straight sets over Hunter and Yates Johnson to move into Friday’s final against Callahan and Hansson.
1. Kaitlyn McCarthy (Duke)
2. Anastasia Rychagova (Kansas)
3. Jessie Aney (North Carolina)
4. Lauren Proctor (Winthrop)
5. Felicity Maltby (Texas Tech)
6. Olivia Hauger (Cal)
7. Anna Rogers (NC State)
8. Liza Buss (SMU)
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