American collegiate players were everywhere at the 2017 US Open. Several of these current and former student-athletes trained at the USTA National Campus, working to perfect their craft before they traveled to the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

 

(See the full list of collegiate players at the Open below)

 

Making a remarkable run in the women’s draw, former UCLA standout Jennifer Brady reached the round of 16, defeating No. 23 seed Barbora Strycova along the way before falling to the top seed, Karolina Pliskova, in Arthur Ashe Stadium. Earlier in the year at the Australia Open, Brady went through qualifying before stunning the field with a spot in the round of 16.

 

There were four American women with collegiate ties who were in the main draw, including qualifiers Nicole Gibbs (Stanford) and Danielle Lao (USC).

 

For the men, three Americans who were in college in 2017 earned spots in the main draw: qualifier J.C. Aragone (Virginia), Christopher Eubanks (Georgia Tech) and Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (Virginia). When adding the U.K.’s Cameron Norrie who was at TCU last year, it was the first time since 1987 that four college men were in the US Open main draw during the same season they were in school.

 

In all, six collegiate Americans were represented in the main draw in 2017, with Michigan’s Evan King joining Aragone as qualifiers.

 

2017 US Open – American Collegiate Players

Main Draw: Men

-J.C. Aragone* (Virginia)

-Christopher Eubanks* (Georgia Tech)

-Steve Johnson (USC)

-Evan King (Michigan)

-Thai-Son Kwiatkowski* (Virginia)

-Tennys Sandgren (Tennessee)

 

Main Draw: Women

-Jennifer Brady (UCLA)

-Nicole Gibbs (Stanford)

-Danielle Lao (USC)

-Brienne Minor* (Michigan)

 

Qualifying Tournament: Men

-J.C. Aragone* (Virginia)

-Sekou Bangoura (Florida)

-William Blumberg* (North Carolina)

-Marcos Giron (UCLA)

-Jared Hiltzik (Illinois)

-Evan King (Michigan)

-Bradley Klahn (Stanford)

-Austin Krajicek (Texas A&M)

-Daniel Nguyen (USC)

-Noah Rubin (Wake Forest)

-Alexander Sarkissian (Pepperdine)

-Raymond Sarmiento (USC)

-JJ Wolf* (Ohio State)

 

Qualifying Tournament: Women

-Kristie Ahn (Stanford)

-Jacqueline Cako (Arizona State)

-Kelly Chen^ (Duke)

-Danielle Collins (Virginia)

-Francesca Di Lorenzo* (Ohio State)

-Irina Falconi (Georgia Tech)

-Nicole Gibbs (Stanford)

-Ashley Lahey* (Pepperdine)

-Danielle Lao (USC)

-Jamie Loeb (North Carolina)

*-Currently in school or just completed collegiate career in 2017

^-Incoming Freshman in 2017-18

 

In men’s and women’s doubles play, there were nine American men and seven American women who attended college in the US Open field.

 

American Collegiate Invitational

Spotlights current college tennis players (as of spring 2017) in New York. It features eight men and women with the winners receiving a wild card into either the 2018 US Open main draw or qualifying tournament, depending on their ranking next summer.

 

The 2017 edition of the American Collegiate Invitational featured a massive crowd on Court 5 as it witnessed a huge comeback for Ohio State’s Francesca Di Lorenzo. After falling in the first set to Florida’s Ingrid Neel, Di Lorenzo trailed 3-0 in the final set before taking a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 decision.

 

Stanford’s Tom Fawcett also fought through an incredible match on Grandstand against Arkansas’ Michael Redlicki. The pair split tiebreaks in the first two sets until Fawcett secured the trophy, 7-6, 6-7, 6-4.

 

Men

-William Bushamuka (Kentucky)

-Christopher Eubanks (Georgia Tech)

-Tom Fawcett (Stanford)

-Brandon Holt (USC)

-Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (Virginia)

-Alfredo Perez (Florida)

-Michael Redlicki (Arkansas)

-Alex Rybakov (TCU)

 

Women

-Sydney Campbell (Vanderbilt)

-Hayley Carter (North Carolina)

-Sara Daavettila (North Carolina)

-Francesca Di Lorenzo (Ohio State)

-Alexa Graham (North Carolina)

-Brienne Minor (Michigan)

-Ingrid Neel (Florida)

-Ena Shibahara (UCLA)