Pro Circuit Round-up: Rogers wins in Midland

Inspired by Team USA’s thrilling Fed Cup victory over Latvia, a number of Americans followed suit with winning weekends on the USTA Pro Circuit, with seven claiming titles. Shelby Rogers and the top-seeded doubles duo of Caroline Dolehide and Maria Sanchez completed a title sweep at the ITF World Tennis Tour W100 event in Midland, Mich., while Denis Kudla reached the singles final at the ATP Challenger 100 event in Dallas, where Dennis Novikov was a doubles champion.

There was another U.S. sweep at the M25 event in Palm Coast, Fla., where Alexander Ritschard won the singles title and the all-American pairing of Alex Rybakov and Justin Butsch took the doubles title. 

Rogers (pictured above), 27, won the sixth and biggest ITF title of her career via a final walkover at the Dow Tennis Classic, when Ukraine's Anhelina Kalinina was forced to pull out of the Midland championship match with a right-foot injury.

"I am a little bit speechless right now. It is a little bit hard to accept, and nobody wants to win this way," said Rogers. "You were playing so well,” she continued, addressing Kalinina, “and I was definitely preparing a little bit extra this morning to play you and bring my ‘A’ game.”

The No. 6-seeded American was dominant on her way to the title, notching straight-set victories in each of her four matches, including a 7-5, 7-6 decision over compatriot Irina Falconi in the semifinals.

Rogers, a 2016 French Open quarterfinalist, improved her WTA ranking to No. 114 with the title, her best position since knee surgery in May 2018. She holds a career high of No. 48, achieved in January 2017 after a first-round upset of No. 4 seed Simona Halep at the Australian Open.

WATCH: Rogers sits down for a wide-ranging interview at the Dow Tennis Classic

Jamie Loeb also reached the Midland singles semifinals, making it three Americans in the final four. Catherine Harrison and Caty McNally were quarterfinalists.

In Dallas, the No. 5-seeded Kudla defeated top-seeded Frances Tiafoe, 6-4, 7-6, in the quarterfinals before ultimately falling to Austria’s Jurij Rodionov, 7-5, 7-6, in the final. On the whole, the Ukraine-born American looked back at a positive week.

"I love coming to Dallas, it's one of the best Challengers on the USTA Pro Circuit,” he said. “I've made a lot of friends here over the years and hopefully will be back next year. I'm happy with the week, obviously would have loved to get the win, but at least I finally got my name on one of your banners."

In the doubles competition, Novikov teamed with Goncalo Oliveira of Portugal for the title.

Finally, in Palm Coast, recent TCU grad Rybakov reached the singles semis in addition to his doubles title run.

Other notable American results on the ITF Circuit include:

Women:

• Asia Muhammad won the singles title at the ITF World Tennis Tour W25 event in Launceston, Australia, where Sachia Vickery was a semifinalist.
• Dasha Ivanova reached the singles semifinals at the W15 event in Cancun, Mexico.
• Anastasia Nefedova was a singles finalist at the W15 event in Antalya, Turkey.

Men:

• Evan King was a doubles champion at the ATP  Challenger 80 event in Launceston, Australia.
• Nicolas Moreno de Alboran reached the singles semifinals at the M15 event in Monastir, Tunisia.
• Felix Corwin, Zane Khan and Vasil Kirkov all reached the singles quarterfinals at the M15 event in Cancun, Mexico.