Pro Media & News

Team USA in Review: September 2019

October 11, 2019


Two wins over Top-10 players and a debut in the WTA's Top 20 earned Alison Riske Team USA Player of the Month honors for September, as the Grand Slam season wrapped and the tours took off to Asia.

 

Tommy Paul, meanwhile, cashed in on the ATP Challenger opportunities on home soil to break into the Top 100 and earn Team USA Player of the Month honors on the men’s side.

 

Riske, a Wimbledon quarterfinalist this summer, knocked out No. 3 seed Elina Svitolina and No. 7 Petra Kvitova at the Wuhan Open in China before falling to No. 14 Aryna Sabalenka in a three-set final that would help Riske break into the Top 20 for the first time in early October.

 

The Pittsburgh native’s performance in Wuhan was enough to edge out Sofia Kenin for Player of the Month honors. Kenin won her third WTA title of 2019 at the International-level tournament Guangzhou, beating 2011 US Open champion Sam Stosur in a three-set final. 

 

Back in the U.S., the 22-year-old Paul went 12-1 in singles matches in September to win ATP Challenger titles at both the Oracle 125 event in New Haven, Conn., and USTA Pro Circuit 100 event in Tiburon, Calif., and rise to a career-high No. 81 in the world rankings. By the end of the month, the former French Open boys’ champion was at a career-high No. 79.

 

Other WTA and ATP Tour-level highlights from September:

  • Another pair of American women in Madison Keys and Kristie Ahn also made quarterfinal appearances during the Asian swing in September, Keys at the Premier event in Osaka, Japan, and former Stanford standout Ahn in Seoul, South Korea. 
  • Former UNC star Hayley Carter won her first WTA doubles title, at the International-level event in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
  • American doubles No. 1 Nicole Melichar won her third doubles title of the year at the WTA Premier event in Zhengzhou. 

 

Challenger and Pro Circuit-level highlights:

  • Pan-American Games doubles gold medalist Usue Arconada reached both the singles and doubles finals—with former NCAA singles champion Jamie Loeb—at the Oracle WTA $125K Series event in New Haven, Conn. 
  • Shelby Rogers took home the singles title at the USTA Pro Circuit W60 event in Templeton, Calif., beating CoCo Vandeweghe in a final matchup of 2017 Fed Cup championship team members on the comeback trail. Former Tennessee Volunteer Caitlin Whoriskey also won her third Pro Circuit-level doubles title in Templeton.
  • Former Wofford standout Robert Galloway won his third and fourth Challenger doubles title of 2019, at the Oracle ATP Challenger 125 event in New Haven, Conn., with former SMU star Nate Lammons, and at the USTA Pro Circuit ATP Challenger 100 in Tiburon, Calif.
  • Former UCLA Bruin Martin Redlicki and former Texas A&M Aggie Jackson Withrow won the doubles title at the USTA Pro Circuit ATP Challenger 90 event in Columbus, Ohio, where former Ohio State star JJ Wolf reached the singles final
  • Michael Mmoh reached the singles finals and won the doubles title with Sekou Bangoura at the USTA Pro Circuit ATP Challenger 80 in Cary, N.C. 
  • Asia Muhammad won her first singles title of 2019 at the 25-level event in Cairns, Australia.
  • New Yorker and St. John’s Red Storm’s Jessica Livianu won her first career singles title, over American Dalayna Hewitt in Lubbock, Texas. 
  • UCLA Bruin Govind Nanda won his second M25-level singles title of 2019 in Harlingen, Texas.
  • UCLA recruit Vanessa Ong beat Anastasia Nefedova in an all-American W15-level final in Lawrence, Kan. 
  • Players to win 25-level doubles titles: Former Texas Longhorn George Goldhoff (Harlingen, Texas); Former Texas A&M Aggie Harrison Adams (Harlingen, Texas); Florida Gators Sam Riffice and Oliver Crawford (Houston); Former Texas A&M Aggie Junior Ore (Madrid); Chiara Scholl (Santa Margherita di Pula, Italy); Former Michigan Wolverine Emina Bektas (Redding, Calif.). 
  • Players to win 15-level doubles titles: Sofia Sewing (Lubbock, Texas); former Wake Forest Demon Deacon Dennis Uspensky (2; Cairo); Malkia Ngounoue (Lawrence, Kan.); USTA Boys’ 18s national champion Zach Svajda (Champaign, Ill.); former UCSB Gaucho Nicolas Moreno de Alboran (Sao Bras Alportel, Portugal).

TOURNAMENTS NEAR YOU


PROGRAMS NEAR YOU


Skip Advertisement

Advertisement

Related Articles

  • Visit the Collins reaches Miami SFs page
    Pro Media & News
    Collins reaches Miami SFs
    March 27, 2024
    Danielle Collins defeats former world No. 4 Caroline Garcia to advance to the women's singles semifinals at the 2024 Miami Open. Read More
  • Visit the Pegula, Collins into QFs page
    Pro Media & News
    Pegula, Collins into QFs
    March 26, 2024
    Jessica Pegula wins an all-American showdown with Emma Navarra and Danielle Collins upsets 19th seed Sorana Cirstea on Monday in the Miami fourth round. Read More
  • Visit the Damm, Rogers win in Miami page
    Pro Media & News
    Damm, Rogers win in Miami
    March 21, 2024
    Martin Damm won his first tour-level match on Wednesday in Miami, where Shelby Rogers scored her first WTA victory in 11 months. Read More