Pro Circuit Round-up: Wolf, Nanda take titles

JJ Wolf and Govind Nanda claimed the two USTA Pro Circuit singles titles on offer last week, as Wolf won the ATP Challenger 80 event in Columbus, Ohio, and Nanda finished as the top man at the ITF World Tennis Tour M25 event in Tucson, Ariz.

The trophies were not the only thing the two Americans had in common; both were wild-card entrants into their events, both knocked off two seeded opponents on the week, and both dropped just two sets on their path to victory. Continuing the similarities right through their respective finals, both youngsters showed fight and maturity to come back from a set down in the championship match.

For Wolf (pictured above), 20, it was the second ITF title of his career, along with a Futures title in Harlingen, Texas, in 2017. The Ohio State junior took advantage of familiar surroundings to win the biggest title of his career on the Buckeyes’ home courts and campus. In an all-Ohio State final, Wolf defeated Mikael Torpegaard, who completed his senior season at OSU in May, 6-7, 6-3, 6-4, on the indoor hard courts.

His run to the final was highlighted by a 6-0, 6-0 route of No. 2 Filip Peliwo of Canada in Round 3.

Last year, Wolf fell to current world No. 62 Denis Kudla at the event. A fixture near the top of the Buckeyes lineup, the Cincinnati native finished his sophomore year with a 25-9 singles record, including a perfect 4-0 from the No. 1 spot. The title, which nicely complements Wolf’s hardware as men’s singles champion at the ITA All-American Championships in Tulsa, Okla., in October, is the perfect buildup for Ohio State’s season opener against Xavier on Jan. 20.

In the Columbus doubles event, American Maxime Cressy teamed with Portugal’s Bernardo Saraiva to win the title, defeating the No. 2-seeded American pairing of Nathaniel Lammons and Robert Galloway in the final.

It was an all-American final on the Arizona hard courts, where Nanda outlasted No. 3 Martin Redlicki, 4-6, 7-6, 6-0, for his first career ITF title. Currently at a career high of No. 32 in the ITF World Junior Rankings, the 17-year-old also won the Pan American ITF Championship, a Grade B1 junior event, in October. 

Jordi Arconada, Felix Corwin and Peter Kobelt all reached the singles quarterfinals in Tucson.

Other notable American results on the ITF circuit include:

Women:

• Dalayna Hewitt was a doubles finalist at the ITF World Tennis Tour W15 event in Fort-de-France, Martinique, an overseas region of France.

Men:

• Thai-Son Kwiatkowski reached the singles semifinals at the Da Nang Challenger 80 in Vietnam.