Tag: American Juniors

American Girls Dominate at 2017 French Open Juniors

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The nine American girls who played in the 2017 French Open Juniors won 20 matches and lost 8, with two Americans meeting in the finals.

Only three girls lost in the first round:
• Taylor Johnson
• Elie Douglas
• Sophia Sewing
Johnson’s loss was disappointing because she was seeded number10.

Elisia Bolton, 1-1, was the only loser in the second round. She was defeated handily by number 1 seed Anastasia Potopova.

Hailey Baptiste, 2-1, lost in the third round, to the number 11 seed, Elana Rybakina

Caty McNally and Amanda Anisimova both finished with 3 wins before bowing out in the quarterfinals. McNally lost to Whitney Osuigwe 6-3, 6-3 and McNally fell to Rybakina 7-6, 6-4.

Claire Lui, 5-1, lost to Osuigwe 6-4, 6-7, 6-3 in the All-American finals.

The boys had a solid performance by the boys, but they were not as dominant as the girls were. Only two boys were seeded, Trent Bryde, #8, and Oliver Campbell #11. Bryde did not hold his seed. The boys posted 12 wins and 11 losses,

Eight of the 11 players advanced to the second round. The following lost their first match:
• Olukayode Ayeni
• Patrick Kypson
• Vasil Kirkov
None of these athletes lost to seeded players.

The following boys were 1-1 and dropped their second round matches.
• Sam Riffice
• Trent Bryde
• Brian Cernoch
• Danny Thomas
• Alexandre Rotsaert
Only Thomas lost to a seeded player, #5, Yu Hsu.

In the third round, Sebastian Korda lost to fellow American Gianni Ross 2-6, 6-4, 6-0. Oliver Crawford was defeated by Clement Tabur 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.

Ross was ousted in the quarterfinals by number 3 seed Alexei Popyrin 4-6, 6-1, 7-5. Popyrin went on to win the championships.

Time will tell if the good fortunes of the juniors at the French Open is a sign of good things to come in the years ahead.

It’s Three in a Row for Serena

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The 2016 French Open was the third Grand Slam in a row where Serena Williams was upset in the finals by an unlikely competitor. This time her loss came at the hands of the rising Spanish star, Garbine Muguruza.

Even with the loss, Williams remains almost untouchable. So far this season she is 24-4 in 5 tournaments, bringing her career singles win-loss record to 761-127. This year Williams has won 1 tournament, lost in the finals of 3 tournaments and bowed out in the round of 16 in the other tournament. Impressive!

Serena Williams was one of 18 American women playing at the 2016 French Open.

First round losers for the Americans were:
• Samantha Crawford
• Sachia Vickery
• Lauren Davis
• Bethanie Mattek-Sands
• Madison Brengle
• Nicole Gibbs
• Varvara Lepchenko
• Christina McHale
• Alison Riske

The following American women were 1-1 and bowed out in the second round:
• Taylor Townsend
• Louisa Chirico
• Irina Falconi
• Coco Vandeweghe

Sloane Stephens held her #19 seed and exited in the third round with a 2-1 record.

Venus Williams, #9 seed, and Madison Keys, #15 seed, had solid tournaments finishing with 3 wins and 1 loss each. They bowed out in the round of 16.

Shelby Rogers had the best tournament of her career. She finished 4-1, while losing in the quarterfinals to Muguruza.

Overall the American women had a strong tournament with a combined total of 22 wins and 18 losses.

There is also good news with the American junior girls. Amazingly, they all won their first round matches.

In the second round, the following girls were defeated and finished with1-1 records:
• Maria Mataes
• Caty McNally
• Claire Liu
• Alexandra Sanford
• Morgan Coppoc

In the third round 4 girls lost and finished the tournament with 2-1 records:
• Usue Maltano Arconada
• Kayla Day
• Sofia Kenin
• Michaela Gordon
Kenin held her #10 seed by reaching the third round.

Amanda Anisimova held her number two seed and lost 7-5, 7-5 in the finals to the number 12 seed, Rebeka Masarova of Switzerland. Overall, the Americans girls posted a cumulative 18-10 record.

Wimbledon is right around the corner and hopefully there will be more good news for the American women and girls.

American Juniors Have Strong Showing at 2014 U.S. Open

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The combination of a home court advantage and solid play propelled the American juniors to a strong showing at the 2014 U.S. Open. It also helped that the boys had 17 entrants and the girls 19 in the 64 player draws.

For the boys, seven players advanced out of the first round. The following ten players lost their only match: Dennis Uspensky, Logan Smith, Walker Duncan, Aron Hitzik, Sameer Kumar, Deton Baughman, Tommy Paul, Michael Mmoh, Eduardo Nava, and John McNally.

Only two of the remaining seven players dropped their second round matches: Reilly Opelka, and Alex Rybakov.

In the third round, three players exited the tournament with 2-1 records: Taylor Harry-Fritz, Henrik Wiersholm, and Jared Donaldson.

Stefan Kozlov was ousted in the fourth round (quarterfinals) with a 3-1 record.  Frances Tiafoe was defeated in the semifinals with a 4-1 record.

Overall, the group won 15 matches and lost 17. Although none of the players advanced to the finals, they had one player in the semis, two in the quarters, and five in the round of sixteen.

The results for the girls were similar.

Nine players advanced out of the first round with ten players dropping their only match: Katrine Steffenson, Ingrid Neel, Sofia Kenin, Claire Lu, Brooke Austin, Jessica Ho, Madison Bourguignon, Dasha Ivanova, Kylie McKenzie, and Ena Shibahara.

Five of the remaining nine players were defeated in the second round with 1-1 records: C.C. Bellis, Michaela Gordon, Francesca Delorenzo, Kelly Chen, and Usue Maitane Arconada.

Only one of the remaining four players exited in the third round: Raveena Kingsley. She had a 2-1 record.

In the fourth round (quarterfinals), Tornado Alicia Black was defeated. She won three matches before losing.

Katerina Stewart and Carolyn Dolehide were ousted in the semifinals. Both were 4-1.

Overall, the group won 18 matches and lost 19. Despite the fact that none of the players advanced to the finals, two players were in the semifinals, three were in the quarterfinals, and four were in the round of sixteen.

Does this strong showing bode well for American tennis in the future?

These American juniors are some of the top players in the world. A majority of them will test their skills on the pro tour and some will end up in the top 100. That is the good news.

The most recent group of juniors to enter the pro ranks (Sloane Stephens, Madison Keys, Alison Riske, et. al.) are demonstrating how difficult it is to become an elite player. The current group of  juniors are likely to face even greater challenges.

If anything, the 2014 U.S. Open demonstrated how tough it is for young players to become an elite player and continue to play at that level.