American Junior Girls Have Solid Performance at U.S. Open – Boys Performance is Subpar

The Americans had a strong contingency of junior players with 16 boys and 15 girls in the 64 draws.

Junior Girls

First-round losers for the American girls included:

  • Usue Maitane Arconada
  • Jamie Loeb
  • Raveena Kingsley
  • Johnnie Renaud
  • C. Quellet-Pizer

Ten American girls advanced.

In the round of 32, the following six players were defeated:

  • Christina Makarova
  • Claire Liu
  • Kaitlyn McCarthy
  • Brooke Austin
  • Katerina Stewart
  • Peggy Porter

Four American girls advanced.

In the round of 16 Michaela Gordon and Catherine Bellis were ousted.

Louisa Chirico lost in the quarterfinals.

Tornado Alicia Black dropped a third set tiebreaker in the finals.

Overall, the American girls won 18 matches and lost 15.

There is mixed news in these results. Eleven of the fifteen girls lost in the first two rounds. Chirico exited earlier than expected and Black had a stronger than anticipated performance.

There are a group of American junior girls who have potential to be difference makers on the WTA Tour. At the same time, there are a number of strong foreign players who are equally as talented.

Junior Boys

The performance of the American boys was subpar.

Of the 16 American boys entered, 10 lost their first round match:

  • Taylor Harry Fritz
  • Tommy Paul
  • Alex Rybakov
  • Francis Tiafoe
  • Reilly Olpeka
  • JC Aragone
  • Luca Corinteli
  • Jared Donaldson
  • Stefan Kozlov
  • Ernesto Escobedo

Only 6 of the 16 American boys advanced.

In the round of 32, Daniel Kerznerman and Noah Rubin were defeated. Four American boys advanced.

In the round of 16 Martin Redicki, Mackenzie MacDonald, and Cage Brymer were ousted. Only one player advanced.

Collin Altamirano was defeated in the quarterfinals.

The 16 American boys won 11 matches and lost 16. Twelve of the sixteen boys lost in the first two rounds and only one player reached the quarterfinals.

While the American boys are incredibly talented, as a group they have not fared well against their foreign competitors. The USTA Player Development program appears to be ineffective, particularly in developing world-class male players, i.e. players capable of winning Grand Slams.

 

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