After just over two months of WTA and ATP Tour play, numerous former collegians have continued their impressive showings at the highest of levels with many players achieving career-high rankings to start the year.
Leaving “Tennis Paradise” and the BNP Paribas Open, both tours will now head to Miami where former collegians will once again look to make a splash, as entering the tournament, five players with college ties rank in the WTA Top 100 Singles Rankings and 15 players with college ties rank in the ATP Top 100 Singles Rankings. Meanwhile, 15 players with college ties rank in the WTA Top 100 Doubles Rankings and 39 players rank in the ATP Top 100 Doubles Rankings.
To start 2024, some of the tour’s biggest rising stars have come from the college ranks as Emma Navarro (Virginia) has been one of the toughest players to beat to start the year. As the 2021 NCAA Singles Champion, Navarro has hit her stride professionally in 2024, winning her first WTA Tour Singles Title in Hobart, reaching the quarterfinals at Indian Wells, and compiling the most WTA Tour level victories to start the 2024 season across all players.
Similarly to Navarro, Diana Shnaider (NC State) has also flown up the WTA Singles Rankings in her first year as a full-time pro. Now ranked No. 62 in the WTA Singles Rankings, Shnaider has won her first WTA Tour Singles Title in Thailand this year and has gone 12-6 across all events to this point in the year.
For the men, Nuno Borges (Mississippi State) has had some standout performances to help him reach a career-high ATP Singles Ranking of No. 46 just after the Australian Open. Reaching the fourth round in the 2024 Australian Open, the furthest he has reached in a major, Borges has compiled numerous impressive wins to start the year and has just recently defended his title at the Phoenix Challenger.
In Miami, names such as Ben Shelton (Florida), Francisco Cerundolo (South Carolina), Cameron Norrie (TCU), Christopher Eubanks (Georgia Tech), and Emma Navarro (Virginia) will all be seeded players in the singles draws at the Miami Open.
Last year, both Cerundolo and Eubanks made the quarterfinals of the men’s singles draw. For Eubanks, this success kickstarted his rise into the ATP Top 100 and was a big factor in his confidence heading into Wimbledon where he would also reach the final eight. In doubles, Ellen Perez (Georgia) reached the women’s doubles semifinals, while Nathaniel Lammons (SMU), Jackson Withrow (Texas A&M), and Austin Krajicek (Texas A&M) all reached the men’s doubles semifinals.
Qualifying play has begun in Miami and main draw play is slated to begin on Tuesday for the women and on Wednesday for the men. Be sure to check out some of the best players on tour over the next week and a half, and be sure to cheer on all of these former collegians who will be competing in both the singles and doubles draws in Miami.
Former Collegians In the WTA Top 100 Singles Rankings
| Player | School | Ranking |
|---|---|---|
| Emma Navarro | Virginia | No. 20 |
| Danielle Collins | Florida/Virginia | No. 53 |
| Diana Shnaider | NC State | No. 62 |
| Peyton Stearns | Texas | No. 67 |
| Mayar Sherif | Fresno St/Pepperdine | No. 70 |
Former Collegians In the ATP Top 100 Singles Rankings
| Player | School | Ranking |
|---|---|---|
| Ben Shelton | Florida | No. 17 |
| Francisco Cerundolo | South Carolina | No. 21 |
| Cameron Norrie | TCU | No. 31 |
| Christopher Eubanks | Georgia Tech | No. 32 |
| Dominik Koepfer | Tulane | No. 50 |
| Marcos Giron | UCLA | No. 51 |
| Yannick Hanfmann | USC | No. 56 |
| Nuno Borges | Mississippi State | No. 61 |
| Aleksandar Vukic | Illinois | No. 65 |
| Mackenzie McDonald | UCLA | No. 69 |
| Rinky Hijikata | North Carolina | No. 81 |
| Arthur Rinderknech | Texas A&M | No. 82 |
| Brandon Nakashima | Virginia | No. 92 |
| J.J. Wolf | Ohio State | No. 94 |
| Aleksandar Kovacevic | Illinois | No. 98 |
Former Collegians In the WTA Top 100 Doubles Rankings
| Player | School | Ranking |
|---|---|---|
| Erin Routliffe | Alabama | No. 5 |
| Ellen Perez | Georgia | No. 8 |
| Luisa Stefani | Pepperdine | No. 14 |
| Desirae Krawczyk | Arizona State | No. 15 |
| Ena Shibahara | UCLA | No. 20 |
| Giuliana Olmos | USC | No. 25 |
| Aldila Sutjiadi | Kentucky | No. 33 |
| Ingrid Neel | Florida | No. 38 |
| Anna Danilina | Florida | No. 44 |
| Elixane Lechemia | South Carolina | No. 83 |
| Sabrina Santamaria | USC | No. 89 |
| Danielle Collins | Virginia | No. 90 |
| Peyton Stearns | Texas | No. 92 |
| Jennifer Brady | UCLA | No. 96 |
| Angela Kulikov | USC | No. 99 |
Former Collegians In the ATP Top 100 Doubles Rankings
| Player | School | Ranking |
|---|---|---|
| Austin Krajicek | Texas A&M | No. 1 |
| Joe Salisbury | Memphis | No. 6 |
| Rajeev Ram | Illinois | No. 7 |
| Neal Skupski | LSU | No. 11 |
| Tim Puetz | Auburn | No. 16 |
| Jean-Julien Rojer | UCLA | No. 17 |
| Michael Venus | LSU | No. 19 |
| Jackson Withrow | Texas A&M | No. 20 |
| Marcelo Arevalo | Tulsa | No. 21 |
| Jan Zielinski | Georiga | No. 22 |
| Nathaniel Lammons | SMU | No. 24 |
| Sander Gille | ETSU | No. 28 |
| Joran Vliegen | East Carolina | No. 28 |
| Sadio Doumbia | AUM, Georgia | No. 31 |
| Lloyd Glasspool | Texas | No. 34 |
| Andreas Mies | Auburn | No. 37 |
| John Peers | Middle Tennessee, Baylor | No. 40 |
| Robert Galloway | Wofford | No. 42 |
| Aleksandr Nedovyesov | Oklahoma State | No. 46 |
| Julian Cash | Mississippi St./Oklahoma St. | No. 47 |
| Rinky Hijikata | North Carolina | No. 56 |
| Gonzalo Escobar | Texas Tech | No. 58 |
| Henry Patten | UNC Asheville | No. 63 |
| Constantin Frantzen | Baylor | No. 65 |
| Reese Stalder | TCU | No. 66 |
| Hendrik Jebens | San Diego State | No. 67 |
| John-Patrick Smith | Tennessee | No. 68 |
| Evan King | Michigan | No. 70 |
| Diego Hidalgo | Florida | No. 77 |
| Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela | Texas | No. 78 |
| Boris Arias | LSU | No. 80 |
| William Blumberg | North Carolina | No. 84 |
| Sem Verbeek | Pacific | No. 89 |
| Ben Shelton | Florida | No. 90 |
| Skander Mansouri | Wake Forest | No. 91 |
| Mackenzie McDonald | UCLA | No. 92 |
| Dominik Koepfer | Tulane | No. 96 |
| Andre Goransson | California | No. 98 |
| Luke Johnson | Clemson | No. 100 |
