American junior Tommy Paul, the reigning French Open champion, booked a spot in the third round of the U.S. Open boys tournament by overcoming highly-touted Canadian Felix Auger Aliassime 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 on Tuesday afternoon.
Paul, 18, originally signed to play college tennis for the University of Georgia but decided to turn pro after triumphing at Roland Garros. Auger Aliassime is a borderline child prodigy, having just turned 15 years old. He already registers at 760th in the world rankings.
While Auger Aliassime must now turn his attention to junior doubles, Paul–the No. 5 seed–is set for a third-round singles test against 10th-seeded Frenchman Corentin Denolly.
The Boca Raton, Fla. resident is joined in the third round by fellow Americans Taylor Harry Fritz, Michael Mmoh, and Reilly Opelka. Fritz and Mmoh are the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, respectively, while Opelka won Wimbledon this summer.
Beyond the juniors, it was an day spiced with an American flavor in New York. The headliner, of course, was the women’s singles quarterfinal showdown between Serena Williams and Venus Williams. Serena got a bit of a scare from her older sister, but the world No. 1 managed to keep her calendar-year Grand Slam hopes alive by prevailing 6-2, 1-6, 6-3.
As for the men, Sam Querrey endured an early exit in singles last week but he has been flawless in doubles. Querrey is through to the mixed semifinals after winning his match with Bethanie Mattek-Sands on Tuesday. The Americans beat Juan-Sebastian Cabal and Yaroslava Shvedova 3-6, 6-4, 10-6.
Querrey will contest his men’s doubles quarterfinal contest on Wednesday with Steve Johnson. They upset Bob and Mike Bryan in the first round.
Also on Wednesday, the host nation will hope to put a woman into the doubles semis. CoCo Vandeweghe and German partner Anna-Lena Groenefeld are still alive and will face the third-seeded team of Katarina Srebotnik and Caroline Garcia.
Topics: 2015 U.S. Open, BETHANIE Mattek-Sands, Bryan Brothers, Coco Vandeweghe, Felix Auger Aliassime, Flushing Meadows, Junior Tennis, mens tennis update, Ricky Dimon, Sam Querrey, Steve Johnson, Taylor Harry Fritz, Tennis, Tommy Paul, US Open tennis
TOMMY PAUL LEADS THE CHARGE AT THE 2015 #USOpen #JuniorTennis CHAMPIONSHIPS @ #FlushingMeadows BY @Dimonator- http://t.co/4DIfB7dkPi
Excellent update on the grounds at The US Open Tennis Championships http://t.co/qUJYaeVnXg
RT @10sBalls_com: TOMMY PAUL LEADS THE CHARGE AT THE 2015 #USOpen #JuniorTennis CHAMPIONSHIPS @ #FlushingMeadows BY @Dimonator- http://t.co…