US OPEN JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS START TODAY

Written by: Staff on 4th September 2011

US OPEN JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS START TODAY

Madison Keys of the US hits a return to Jill Craybas of the US during their first round match on the first day of the 2011 US Open Tennis Championship at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA 29 August 2011. The US Open runs through 11 September 2011. EPA/JASON SZENES |

(Courtesy of the USTA)

The US Open Junior Championships start today and run through the end of the 2011 US Open. The event features 64-player singles draws and 32-team doubles championships for both boys and girls, allowing fans to catch tomorrow’s stars from around the world up close and personal. Three US Open junior champions—Andy Roddick (2000), Lindsay Davenport (1992) and Stefan Edberg (1983)—have gone on to win the US Open singles title, as did junior runners-up Roger Federer (1998), Boris Becker (1984), Svetlana Kuznetsova (2001) and Martina Hingis (1994).

Among the top American contenders at this year’s US Open Junior Championships is Bjorn Fratangelo, whowon this year’s French Open juniors to become the first American to win the boys’ singles title since John McEnroe in 1977. Fratangelo, now ranked No. 3 in the ITF World Junior Rankings, will lead a strong cast of U.S. players into the 2011 US Open Junior Championships.

Other American boys to watch include Marcos Giron, the top-ranked player in the USTA Boys’ 18s National Standings, who made history earlier this year when he became just the second boy (after Sam Querrey) to sweep the USTA International Spring Championships and the Easter Bowl in back-to-back weeks; Alexios Halebian, who upset then-world junior No. 1 Juan Sebastian Gomez en route to the semifinals at the 2010 Orange Bowl; and Texans Mitchell Krueger and Shane Vinsant, who partnered to reach the boys’ doubles final at Roland Garros and who each has the ability to make a deep run in the singles draw.

The American girls’ contingent is led by 16-year-old Madison Keys, the 2011 USTA Girls’ 18s doubles champion who won a USTA Playoff to earn the final wild card into the main draw here, then defeated Jill Craybas to become the youngest woman to win a match at the US Open since Nicole Vaidisova in 2005.

Other American contenders include 15-year-old Victoria Duval, who reached the girls’ quarterfinals at Wimbledon earlier this year; Grace Min, the reigning Wimbledon doubles champion who advanced to the finalat the 2010 Orange Bowl and reached the semifinals at both the USTA International Spring championships and the Easter Bowl; No. 14 seed Jessica Pegula, who reached her first professional final, at the $25,000 USTA Pro Circuit event in Lutz, Fla., earlier this year; and qualifier Nicole Gibbs, who is returning to junior competition after helping lead Stanford to the NCAA women’s team final in May as a freshman.

There will be no shortage of international prospects vying to win America’s Grand Slam, either. Top seed Caroline Garcia pushed Maria Sharapova to three sets at Roland Garros earlier this year, and defending girls’ champion Daria Gavrilova of Russia will try to become the first player ever to win multiple US Open girls’ singles titles. Also, Australia’s Ashleigh Barty and Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur each looks to continue their successes, coming off girls’ titles at Wimbledon and Roland Garros, respectively.

On the boys’ side, international players to watch include current world junior No. 1 and reigning Australian Open boys’ champion Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic, Wimbledon boys’ champion Luke Saville of Australia and Great Britain’s George Morgan, the 2010 Orange Bowl champion.

YOUNG AMERICANS PULL BIG UPSETS IN MIXED DOUBLES

The young American contingent may have stalled in singles, but they continue to wreak havoc on the mixed doubles draw. Yesterday 18-year-old Jack Sock, who reached the second round in this year’s men’s singles main draw, and Melanie Oudin, a quarterfinalist in 2009, knocked out the defending champions in an all- American matchup, defeating Liezel Huber and Bob Bryan, 2-6, 6-3 [10-6].

Not to be outdone, another set of American wild cards, Irina Falconi, the 2010 NCAA Player of the Year, and Steve Johnson, the 2011 NCAA champion, both 21, defeated the No. 2 seeds, Katarina Srebotnik and Daniel Nestor, 6-4, 3-6, [10-8], to join Oudin and Sock in the quarterfinals.