2017 Top 10 Russians in College Tennis … Here is our listing of today’s Top 10 Russian student-athletes in college tennis. Sign up for your own Universal Tennis Ratings account to view tennis ratings for thousands of players at www.universaltennis.com
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1. Ronald Slobodchikov Jr Southern Methodist University
The junior from Krasnoyarsk had a solid first season in Dallas going 18-6 in singles including 16-5 in dual-match with most of his matches coming at No. 4 and No. 5 in the lineup. This past fall Slobodchikov played mostly professional events and made a semifinal at the Russia F2 Futures and won three qualifying matches and one main draw match at the USA F39 Futures. Slododchikov has spent most of this season at the No. 1 spot in the singles lineup winning 11 matches with four of those coming over ranked opponents. Slobodchikov is currently ranked No. 66 in the latest Oracle/ITA singles rankings.
5. Svyatoslav Shainyan Fr University of Utah
The freshman from Moscow began his collegiate career in the fall by winning a singles flight at the Utah Invitational. A month later Shainyan won three matches at the ITA Mountain Regional Championships which closed out his fall with an 8-4 record. Shainyan began the dual-match season by winning his first 10 matches while splitting time between No. 5 and No. 6 in the singles lineup. After the hot start, Shainyan was moved up to No. 4 in the singles lineup and he’s since been bumped up to No. 3 for the Pac-12 Championships. Shainyan is 14-3 in dual-match play with 10 of those wins coming in straight sets.
7. Nikita Lis Sr Lamar University
The senior from Kaliningrad has been a mainstay in the upper half of the Cardinals singles lineup since he stepped foot on campus four years ago. Last season, Lis was named All-Southland Conference in both singles (second-team) and doubles (first-team) after going 19-12 in singles and 16-13 in doubles. This past fall, Lis went 3-1 at the UTSA Cup plus he won his first two matches at the ITA Texas Regional Championships. Lis has won 10 dual-matches so far this spring and he finished the regular season by winning six of his last seven with all but one coming at the No. 2 spot in the lineup.
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The junior from Moscow began her collegiate career a year ago and was named the ITA Southeast Region Rookie of the Year after going 30-7 in singles including 21-2 in dual-match play. This past fall, Danilina won the Dick Vitale LWR Clay Court Classic, she made the quarterfinals at the ITA Southeast Regional Championships, and she also qualified for the main draw at the ITA All-American Championships. Danilina was just named named Second Team All-SEC after going 14-4 in dual-match play while splitting time between No. 3 and No. 4. Danilina is currently ranked No. 39 in the latest Oracle/ITA singles rankings.
2. Anastasia Rychagova So University of Kansas
The sophomore from Moscow had a tremendous freshman year after going 27-9 in singles and 29-6 in doubles. Rychagova was named the ITA Central Region Rookie of the Year, the Big 12 Freshman of the Year, and All-Big 12 First Team. This past fall, Rychagova won the Country Club of Little Rock Collegiate Invitational, she advanced to the semifinals at the ITA Central Region Championships, and she also made it to the quarterfinals at the Riviera/ITA All-American Championships. For the second year in a row Rychagova played every dual-match at the top spot in the singles lineup and so far this season she is 10-4 with two wins over ranked opponents. Rychagova is currently ranked No. 73 in the latest Oracle/ITA singles rankings.
3. Maria Kononova Jr University of North Texas
The sophomore from Ufa was a First-Team All-Conference USA selection in both singles and doubles last season and in the next week she’s expected to earn those honors for the second year in a row. As a freshman Kononova won 15 singles matches and went 8-11 in dual-match play with all starts coming at No. 1. This season Kononova increased her win total to 25 while going 18-5 in dual-match play with all her starts coming at the top spot in the singles lineup. Kononova and her doubles partner Tamuna Kutubidze won their first 17 matches this season with two coming over ranked opponents. Kononova is currently ranked No. 78 in the latest Oracle/ITA singles rankings
This is our first time highlighting the top collegiate Russians so it’ll be interesting to see who is back in the top 10 at this time next year.
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- Ronald Slobodchikov Jr Southern Methodist University
- Lev Kozakov Fr Cornell University
- Max Lunkin Sr Texas A&M University
- Georgiy Malyshev So North Carolina State University
- Svyatoslav Shainyan Fr University of Utah
- Alexey Nesterov Fr University of Alabama
- Nikita Lis Sr Lamar University
- Vasily Kichigin Sr College of Charleston
- Fedor Andrienko Jr Yale University
- Daniil Tarantinov Jr Ferris State University
- Anna Danilina Jr University of Florida
- Anastasia Rychagova So University of Kansas
- Maria Kononova Jr University of North Texas
- Liza Buss So Southern Methodist University
- Aleksandra Zenovka So Texas Christian University
- Ksenia Laskutova Jr University of Tulsa
- Ekaterina Stepanova Jr College of William and Mary
- Fatima Bizhukova Fr Wichita State University
- Nina Khmelnitckaia So University of Kansas
- Tina Bokhua Sr Texas A&M University