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Hope everyone had a nice Labor Day weekend! Other than not being able to wear white anymore, Labor Day also signals that we’re just a few days away from college tennis action. A few weeks ago, I shared my list of 5 women’s players to watch this upcoming season . Now, with action fast-approaching, let’s turn our attention to the men. As a reminder, I’m picking 5 players based on season-ending ITA rankings from the following categories: Top 10 #11 - 50 #51+ Incoming Freshman Wild card In this edition, I’m also including an Honorable Mention for each category. There’s so much talent in college tennis right now, so making this list was frustrating (who do I choose?!), but it also made me ridiculously excited for the season to start. Let’s get to the list! 1. Top 10: #9 Johannus Monday, Tennessee The 6’5 lefty from England took the college tennis world by surprise last season. Monday entered college tennis as an unknown quantity; he only played 1(!) ITF junior event in his career, and he wa...

A few weeks ago, the Tennis Channel aired a segment with Andy Roddick discussing the recently announced 2021 US Open wild cards. Venus Williams, the 7-time major champion, headlined the list of otherwise mostly rising American stars. Included in that list were 2021 NCAA singles winners Emma Navarro of UVA and Sam Riffice of Florida. After the segment, and without giving it much thought, I asked Roddick (via Twitter) if he thought non-American NCAA winners should receive a US Open wild card. Here was his response: I wasn’t surprised by his stance; I understand the argument that the US Open wild cards should be reserved for Americans. With that said, I was disappointed in his reasoning. There are only 4 countries who host major tournaments: Australia, England, France, and the US. Firstly, I don’t think precedence for how other countries handle their wild cards should determine how the US operates, and, secondly, it’s a total strawman argument. There is no equivalent to college tennis in ...