Once ranked among the likes of Taylor Fritz, Reilly Opelka, Frances Tiafoe and Tommy Paul, William Blumberg has now led his UNC Tar Heels to their first-ever No. 1 ranking in the Tennis Channel/USTA College Tennis Top 25.

 

The 2017 NCAA singles runner-up, who was ranked as high as No. 4 in the world among juniors alongside those four now-Top-100 pros, showed his form over the weekend in leading UNC to 4-0 victories over South Carolina and Illinois. Blumberg (pictured above) beat both reigning NCAA singles champion Paul Jubb in the matchup with the Gamecocks and 2019 NCAA singles semifinalist Aleks Kovacevic vs. the Illini to earn himself ACC and National Player of the Week honors. 

 

After the UNC senior from Greenwich, Conn., dealt with injuries over the past two seasons, head coach Sam Paul is happy to see his No. ADVERTISEMENT 1 singles player back in top form.

 

"He's worked really hard. He's had consistent training, and he's very fit now," Paul told USTA.com. "He's had a lot of really good court time, and he's been working really hard with our associate head coach, Tripp Phillips."

 

Coach Paul was also quick to point out the depth in his roster, and that strong top-to-bottom unit has led the Tar Heels to a perfect 6-0 record, with each team victory coming by way of shutout. But the Chapel Hill outfit remains grounded after the blistering start, keeping its focus inward.

 

"It's an honor to be voted the No. 1 team in the Tennis Channel/USTA poll, but we're just focused on being the best team we can be. We know there are a lot of tremendous teams out there. We've got to keep pushing the envelope, and we've got to stay healthy."

 

Ohio State was the big jumper in the women's poll, rising from No. 11 to No. 7, thanks to a 4-2 home toppling of Duke, last week's No. 4. Meanwhile, Princeton represented the Ivy League with aplomb in a 5-2 road win against Northwestern to jump up to 13th. 

 

Each team's point total, specified below, is the sum of its ranking points from the USTA's panel of 14 voters (listed below). Each voter ranked 25 teams from Nos. 1 to 25, with the first-place team receiving 25 points and the last-place team receiving one. For control, the highest and lowest outlying ranking for each team on the ballot was removed. First-place votes were not tallied. The maximum points a team can earn this week is 300.

 

The weekly rankings will rate the Top 25 men’s and women’s teams in NCAA Division I and will be released each Wednesday on Tennis Channel’s and the USTA’s platforms, including the USTA’s new Top 25 homepage, through the conclusion of the NCAA Championship.

 

The full voting panel includes: Casey Angle (former Intercollegiate Tennis Association Director of Championships); Jordan Bishop (The News Press; Stillwater, Okla.); Virgil Christian (USTA); Richard Croome (The Eagle; Bryan, Texas); Sonny Dearth (Daily Press; Newport News, Va.); Judy Dixon (former UMass women’s head coach); David Fish (Universal Tennis Ratings); Granger Huntress (Texas College Tennis); Andy Katz (NCAA.com); Bobby Knight (College Tennis Today); Brandon Moglen (Tennis Channel); Peter Smith (former USC men’s head coach); Lisa Stone (Parenting Aces); and Caitlin Thompson (Racquet Magazine).

 

Men

Rank (Last Week) – Points

1. (2) North Carolina – 292

2. (4) Ohio State – 291

3. (1) Texas – 266

4. (3) Florida – 264

5. (7) USC – 259

6. (6) Wake Forest – 243

7. (11) Texas A&M – 213

8. (10) Columbia – 210

9. (5) Baylor – 197

10. (12) Stanford – 193

11. (15) NC State – 175

12. (14) Tennessee – 152

13. (8) TCU – 145

14. (20) Michigan – 138

15. (16) Georgia – 127

16. (13) South Carolina – 126

17. (9) UCLA – 113

18. (19) California – 89

19. (17) Mississippi State – 72

20. (23) UCF – 56

21. (NR) Duke – 40

22. (22) Florida State – 33

23. (NR) Mississippi – 29

24. (24) Oklahoma – 27

25. (25) Kentucky – 23

Receiving Votes: Virginia 22, Arizona 16, Illinois 15, Oklahoma State 9, Arkansas 7, Harvard 6, Dartmouth 4, San Diego 3

Dropped Out: Illinois (18), Virginia (21)

 

Women

Rank (Last Week) – Points

1. (1) Stanford – 299

2. (2) Georgia – 284

3. (3) North Carolina – 280

4. (5) UCLA – 264

5. (6) Pepperdine – 246

6. (7) Texas – 244

7. (11) Ohio State – 219

8. (4) Duke – 210

9. (9) NC State – 197

10. (10) Florida State – 195

11. (12) Virginia – 176

12. (8) Michigan – 169

T13. (17) Princeton – 126

T13. (14) UCF – 126

15. (16) Oklahoma State – 115

16. (18) Arizona State – 112

17. (13) Vanderbilt – 109

18. (15) South Carolina – 104

19. (21) California – 83

20. (22) USC – 76

T21. (23) Tennessee – 53

T21. (19) Texas A&M – 53

23. (20) Georgia Tech – 42

24. (24) Washington – 32

25. (NR) Wake Forest – 16

Receiving Votes: Baylor 9, Florida 7, Old Dominion 4

Dropped Out: Kansas (25)

 

Note: The ITA men's and women's Top 25 polls are available here.

 

In addition to the polls above, each week this space will highlight the former and current American collegians in the ATP's and WTA's Top 300. The below reflects the rankings released on Feb. 4, 2020, with current college players in bold.

 

ATP

No. 18 John Isner (Georgia)

No. 56 Tennys Sandgren (Tennessee)

No. 75 Steve Johnson (USC)

No. 111 Marcos Giron (UCLA)

No. 123 Bradley Klahn (Stanford)

No. 142 Mackenzie McDonald (UCLA)

No. 181 Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (Virginia)

No. 183 JJ Wolf (Ohio State)

No. 208 Chris Eubanks (Georgia Tech)

No. 259 JC Aragone (Virginia)

No. 260 Maxime Cressy (UCLA)

No. 268 Noah Rubin (Wake Forest)

No. 272 Jenson Brooksby (Baylor)

 

WTA

No. 50 Danielle Collins (Virginia)

No. 52 Jennifer Brady (UCLA)

No. 97 Kristie Ahn (Stanford)

No. 118 Francesca Di Lorenzo (Ohio State)

No. 126 Nicole Gibbs (Stanford)

No. 184 Robin Anderson (UCLA)

No. 195 Danielle Lao (USC)

No. 278 Catherine Harrison (UCLA)

 

(Photo courtesy of the University of North Carolina)