The ATP and Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) have today announced a groundbreaking collaboration to accelerate the professional development pathway for players in the American Collegiate system.

The collaboration will see ATP Challenger Tour playing opportunities allocated to the highest-ranked ITA College players for the first time. This forms part of a long-term strategy to promote the rise of young talent in the professional game and builds on opportunities offered to the world’s top-ranked ITF Junior players through the Accelerator Programme, which came into play at the start of the 2023 season.

Players ranked in the Top 20 of the ITA final singles rankings at the beginning of June, who have finished their education, will be granted up to eight Accelerator Spots at Challenger 50 and 75 tournaments, with opportunities split between main draw (Top 10) and qualifying (11-20). Players who reach the quarter-finals or better of the individual NCAA Division I Tennis Championships will also qualify for the Accelerator Programme if not already eligible via their ITA ranking. These opportunities will be available from 1 July each season, beginning in 2023, for a period of 12 months.

In addition, players who remain in education and qualify for the programme will receive six opportunities over six months (July–December), enabling them to benefit from the programme during their college off-season and parts of their individual fall season.

Providing further opportunity, eligible college players who achieve direct acceptance into Qualifying of ATP Challenger events via their Pepperstone ATP Ranking will be eligible for promotion into the main draw.

Andrea Gaudenzi, ATP Chairman: “Today’s aspiring players are the future lifeblood of our sport, and we must do everything we can to provide them opportunities to reach their potential. We’re thrilled to be opening new doors to the American college system, which has been a bedrock of talent in our game for decades.”

Timothy Russell, ITA Chief Executive Officer: “College tennis is the connective tissue in the global tennis eco-system, an aspirational goal for junior tennis players around the world and a proven educational environment and competitive high performance arena in preparation for success in life, including as a career as a top professional tennis player. As an innovative leader in the world of American intercollegiate athletics, the ITA is honored to partner with the ATP in providing this new coordinated and motivational pathway to talented and dedicated college players.”

Ben Shelton, ATP Player and NCAA Champion: “College tennis is a great step to becoming a professional. You learn about playing for something bigger than yourself. I think it’s great that the top college tennis players will now have an opportunity when their season ends to jump into the pro game. To give players that are Top 10, Top 20 in the nation, opportunities to make big jumps quickly is really cool.”

College player eligibility for the 2023 Accelerator Programme will be based off the season-end singles ITA Collegiate Tennis Ranking sponsored by Tennis-Point, scheduled to be published on 1 June 2023.

More information about the Accelerator Programme announced in December can be found here.

Mackenzie McDonald upset a hobbled Rafael Nadal 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 on Wednesday in the second round of the Australian Open, eliminating the top seed after two hours and 32 minutes.

“I’m really happy with how I started that match,” McDonald said. “I thought I was playing really well, serving great, returning well too. I was really taking it to him.”

At 4-3 in the second set, Nadal moved to his left to chase a forehand on the first point of the game when he pulled up in pain with a left hip injury. At 5-3, the defending champion left the court with a physio for a medical timeout. 

Although the 22-time Grand Slam champion battled on, he was clearly not 100 per cent physically for the rest of the match. It is the earliest exit at a major for Nadal since he lost in the first round of the 2016 Australian Open in five sets against countryman Fernando Verdasco.

“It was actually pretty tough to stay mentally engaged a little bit there, but I found a way to just pull it out, so I’m happy,” McDonald said. “He’s an incredible champion. He’s never going to give up, regardless of the situation. Closing it out against a top guy like that is always tough.

“I was trying to stay so focussed on what I was doing, and he kind of got me out of the rhythm with that. I’m happy I just kept focussing on myself in the end and got through, I got it done.” 

McDonald is into the third round at the Australian Open for the second time, having advanced to the fourth round in 2021. This was his second victory against a Top 10 opponent (2-13) and he will next play 31st seed Yoshihito Nishioka or Czech qualifier Dalibor Svrcina. 

In the only previous ATP Head2Head clash between McDonald and Nadal, the Spaniard triumphed with the loss of just four games at Roland Garros in 2020. The American made clear from the start of the match that this encounter would not be as straightforward, breaking the lefty’s serve immediately.

“I think I’ve got the guns to [beat him]. I was blasting the ball, hitting really flat. Last time I played him was on Chatrier. He kicked my butt,” McDonald said. “On a clay court it’s tough to hit through, but here, I like my chances on hard. I really wanted to take it to him on a hard court. I’m happy I got that opportunity and got away with [a win].” 

McDonald would go on to break Nadal’s serve five times in the match, ultimately claiming the final break at 5-5 in the third set. The American hit a shoveled backhand passing shot up the line past Nadal, whose movement had been hampered.

But before the injury, McDonald showed no fear of the moment inside Rod Laver Arena. The Californian, who is coached by former World No. 15 Robby Ginepri, was comfortable in baseline rallies with the Spaniard.

McDonald did not shy away from Nadal’s forehand, and the lefty was not able to consistently put the World No. 65 on the back foot. The American hit 42 winners to just 22 unforced errors to earn the biggest win of his career.

Jannik Sinner earned his second straight-sets victory of the Australian Open fortnight on Wednesday, breezing past Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 in John Cain Arena.

While some first-round matches have yet to be completed due to rain, the 21-year-old Italian took full advantage of his opportunity on one of three roofed courts at Melbourne Park as he raced into the third round in one hour, 44 minutes.

“I am very happy to be in the next round,” Sinner said in his on-court interview, before thanking the fans for their support. “Very happy to play again here on this court, especially today, with the roof. Outside it’s raining a lot, so hopefully it’s not going to rain in the next days.

“For sure the level today was good. I served well. I returned very good also today because I think he’s a very good server.”

That was some performance 😳

Jannik Sinner drops just 7️⃣ games against Etcheverry!

#AusOpen • #AO2023 pic.twitter.com/JtK8q4g3IE

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 18, 2023

The 15th-seeded Sinner cruised to victory by converting on all five of his break points, while not allowing a break chance on his own deal. Dictating the bulk of the rallies both on serve and return, firing 32 winners, he drove home his advantage by attacking the net 22 times, winning 20 of those points.

A six-time champion on the ATP Tour, Sinner reached the AO quarter-finals for the first time last year before falling to Stefanos Tsitsipas. The pair is seeded to meet again in this year’s fourth round, though the Italian must first beat Lloyd Harris or Marton Fucsovics.

With Matteo Berrettini’s five-set defeat to Andy Murray in the first round, Sinner is now the top-ranked Italian in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings. Holding firm at No. 16 this week, Sinner is one place ahead of countryman Lorenzo Musetti, who lost to Harris in the opening round.

Argentina’s Etcheverry, 23, was bidding to reach the third round at a Grand Slam for the first time in five attempts. The World No. 79 finished the 2022 season with the second-most match wins on the ATP Challenger Tour (41), winning his third title at that level and reaching four additional finals on the year.

Dante Bottini first watched Shang Juncheng play tennis at the age of 15. Bottini was coaching Chilean Nicolas Jarry, who practised with the teen. His first impression of ‘Jerry’ was simple.

“Amazing,” Bottini told ATPTour.com. “Very nice. Amazing player. I mean obviously he was very young, but I already could tell that he had great potential.”

It has not taken long for Shang to prove the Argentine’s instincts right. Aged 17, the Chinese star on Monday became the first man in history from his country to win a match at the Australian Open. That came after the teen successfully qualified for a Grand Slam on his first attempt.

“I’m a little surprised that I came this fast, but at the same time, I think it’s all the hard work from my team and myself that paid off,” Shang said. “I think I’m just nothing else but excited about what’s coming next.”

The World No. 194 has been a hot prospect for years. The son of two professional athletes — father Shang Yi played football and mother Wu Na was a world-championship winning table tennis player — trained at the Chinese branch of Emilio Sanchez’s academy before transitioning to the Florida site aged 12. Shang then moved as he neared age 15 to the IMG Academy, where he developed into the world’s No. 1 junior as a 16-year-old.

Through IMG, Shang has been able to train with some of the best players in the world, including Denis Shapovalov. The Canadian was quickly impressed.

“The first impression — and I hit with him a while ago the first time — was that I loved his attitude. I think a lot of juniors when they’re good, they get this little cocky attitude,” Shapovalov said. “But he was completely different. He was always very, very smiley, very happy to be on the court and obviously an unbelievable talent, but I think he works really well.”

Although Shang was clearly talented with the racquet, how he played the game from a young age caught Bottini’s attention.

“He was always very smart when he would play,” Bottini said. “Obviously when he was 15, he didn’t have enough power yet. But he would be very smart and take some decisions during the points that you would say, ‘Wow’.”

Shang climbed nearly 500 spots in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings in 2022, from World No. 666 to as high as World No. 184. With his first-round victory in the main draw against Oscar Otte, the 17-year-old ascended to No. 150 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings.

But Shang nor his team will get ahead of themselves. They are taking each day as an opportunity to learn and improve. Bottini has plenty of experience in that department.

Shang Juncheng earns his maiden Grand Slam victory on Monday in Melbourne. Credit: Paul Crock/Getty Images

The Argentine was the longtime coach of Kei Nishikori, who like Shang was a rising star with a bright spotlight on him. The pair worked together for nearly a decade, and Bottini helped Nishikori to as high as World No. 4.

“What I remember we did good that helped us is to not rush things. Don’t rush things and keep working on developing his game,” Bottini said. “Obviously Jerry is 17, he has a great game, but he’s still growing up as a human being, as a person. He’s still growing up. We need to be very careful and guide him on the right path.”

Bottini began working with Shang this offseason. The Chinese player has quickly grown to enjoy working with the veteran coach, who also mentored former World No. 3 Grigor Dimitrov.

“Dante, I’m very lucky to have him on my side. I mean, his opinions mean a lot to me. We often talk about how to play the game,” Shang said. “In the team, we all agreed that everything is mental, that everybody can play good tennis, and just having the positive mindset in the big moments can change the whole game.”

Bottini explained that it is not just about having the right mindset now, but instilling it early on in Shang’s career to help in the future.

“I’m always very positive and also try to be aggressive with an aggressive mentality on the court. Obviously it’s been [that way] since we started working together. All the drills that we do too is to keep coming a little more forward,” Bottini said. “I’m not saying to the net, but be a little more aggressive. He’s been doing great in practice and obviously in the matches too. Also on the court he’s been very positive and with an aggressive mentality. That’s why he’s been playing some great tennis I think and closing the matches the way he’s been closing.”

With four victories in the bag — three in qualifying and another in the main draw — Shang is high on confidence. He will be able to swing freely on Wednesday against 2022 US Open semi-finalist Frances Tiafoe.

“I think overall this whole week was different for me. Playing my first Slam, every day I was pretty nervous getting on the court,” Shang said. “But at the same time, it’s one of the best moments I have had so far in my career, so like I said, I’m just very excited to be on court, and everything is a learning process for me. I’m just super happy to be here.”