Reese Brantmeier couldn’t help but laugh at the irony of her winning the NCAA women’s singles tennis championship after a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Berta Passola Folch of the University of California, Berkeley on Sunday afternoon.
“A few people pointed it out to me,” she said, before taking a more serious tone during an interview Sunday afternoon.
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“This title is so meaningful, it’s the pinnacle of college tennis,” she said. “This is a great achievement, regardless of some of our legal disagreements.”
Brantmeier, 21, is arguably the most famous player in college tennis. The University of North Carolina player is the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit against the NCAA, which seeks to overturn the rule prohibiting tennis players from collecting prize money of more than $10,000 per year at professional tournaments.
Upon pre-registration, any prize money over $10,000 must be used as expenses for the tournament in which it was won; After registration, prize money is awarded towards annual expenses.
Brantmeier, a senior with a double major in exercise science and studio art, and a minor in world cinema, filed a lawsuit last year, calling out the organization for hypocrisy over the ability of student-athletes to sign name, image and likeness (NIL) agreements while being unable to keep the money they earn in competition.
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A quarterback, or any other type of athlete, can collect a seven-figure payment to get his picture on a billboard or to sign autographs at a local car dealership, but a tennis player who wants to maintain his college ability can’t keep all of the prize money he might win at the U.S. Open or any other professional tournament.
Brantmeier’s lawsuit won’t go to trial until late 2026, but in August, Chief U.S. District Judge Catherine Eagles ruled in favor of Brantmeier and Maya Joint, another college player who is now a mainstay on the WTA Tour, and certified two groups of potential plaintiffs for a class action.
The first includes any player who has competed in Division I tennis since March 19, 2020 or who was unable to compete due to NCAA prize money restrictions. The court order said this could include up to 12,000 players. Then there are players who gave up their winnings during this period.
That’s good news for Brantmeier, Joint and someone like Oliver Tarvet, the Briton who attends the University of San Diego and earned more than $129,000 (£99,000) for reaching the second round at Wimbledon this year. He too could only claim $10,000 (£7,300) before expenses.
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On the men’s side, Michael Zheng of Columbia University retained his title. Zheng, who has since played more on the ATP Challenger Tour than the college circuit, considered turning professional after last year’s victory, but wanted to finish his studies in psychology.
Such has been his success on tour that he hasn’t faced enough college-level players to be seeded at this year’s event, but he played like a favorite this week, beating Trevor Svajda of Southern Methodist University, 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 in the final.
“It’s still an incredible feeling,” he said of his second title.
Zheng plans to compete in some Challenger Tour events over the next month as he prepares for the Australian Open qualifying tournament.
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Then it’s back to school for the spring semester. He and Brantmeier plan to represent their schools in team competitions through the end of the year.
This article was originally published in Athletics.
Sports business, tennis, college sports, women’s tennis
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