Edwardsville Futures top seed advances to semifinals
Johannus Monday erased a three-game deficit in the second set Friday to reach the Edwardsville Futures semifinals, where the top seed will face fifth-seeded Ozan Baris on Saturday.
Monday and Baris will meet at 8:30 a.m. at the EHS Tennis Center. In the other semifinal, seventh-seeded Bruno Kuzuhara faces Vignesh Gogineni. Both are first-time matchups.
The four semifinalists have combined for 14 Futures singles titles, with Monday seeking his ninth and Gogineni chasing his first.
Friday’s quarterfinals were suspended for more than seven hours by rain, but Monday closed out Andreja Petrovic 6-3, 6-4 after falling behind 4-1 in the second set. The 6-foot-6 left-hander won the final five games to advance.
Ranked No. 315 in the world, Monday has won eight Futures titles, all in straight sets. His most recent title came in Bakersfield, California, in March 2025.
Monday was a six-time ITA All-American at Tennessee, where he earned singles All-America honors in each of his four seasons. He was a two-time SEC Player of the Year, a former No. 1-ranked collegiate singles player and the top seed in the 2024 NCAA singles championship.
Baris advanced with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Maxwell Exsted.
Ranked No. 586, Baris owns two Futures singles titles. The former Michigan State standout was a four-time ITA All-American, the 2023 Big Ten Freshman of the Year and 2024 Big Ten Player of the Year. He also became the Spartans’ first NCAA singles finalist.
Kuzuhara moved within two wins of a singles title five years after finishing second in doubles at the Edwardsville Futures. He beat Jack Anthrop 6-4, 6-4 in Friday’s quarterfinals.
Ranked No. 616, Kuzuhara has won four Futures singles titles. He turned professional in 2022 following a junior career highlighted by boys singles and doubles championships at the 2022 Australian Open.
Gogineni rallied past second-seeded Karim Bennani 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 to reach the semifinals. It will be his second Futures semifinal appearance and his first since Louisville in 2025.
Gogineni entered the tournament ranked No. 970. A former Yale No. 1 singles player, he earned second-team All-Ivy honors in 2024 before being named a unanimous first-team All-Ivy singles selection and first-team doubles honoree in 2026. He helped Yale reach its first NCAA team tournament since 1977.
