U.S. OPEN TENNIS JUNIOR TOURNAMENT HEATING UP IN SECOND WEEK, AUGER ALIASSIME AND TSITSIPAS LOOKING GOOD

Written by: Staff on 7th September 2016

U.S. OPEN TENNIS JUNIOR TOURNAMENT HEATING UP IN SECOND WEEK, AUGER ALIASSIME AND TSITSIPAS LOOKING GOOD

epa05524622 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France (R) hits a return to Jack Sock of the US (L) on the seventh day of the US Open Tennis Championships at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA, 04 September 2016. The US Open runs through September 11. EPA/JUSTIN LANE |

By Ricky Dimon

As the main tours dwindle down to a select few of remaining players at the U.S. Open, the junior tournaments are just getting started. If last year is anything to go by, big things could be in store for whichever junior boy takes home the title. After all, Taylor Fritz won it all in 2015 and just 12 months later he is already up to No. 53 in the ATP rankings.

Photo by Ricky Dimon

French Open runner-up Felix Auger-Aliassime is among those who should seriously contend for the title. The Canadian kicked off his campaign in style on Sunday, when he stormed through his first-round match against Nathan Ponwith 6-2, 6-4. At one point Ponwith, who has just enrolled at the University of Georgia, was the No. 20 junior in the world and the top college recruit in the United States.

“My opponent has already been in the top juniors, among the top Americans, so I expected a tough match, but I think I dominated the play,” said Auger-Aliassime, who lost to American Tommy Paul in the second round of last summer’s U.S. Open.

“I see the tournament a bit differently this year,” 16-year-old added. “Last year it was my first Grand Slam–even if (Denis Shapovalov and I) managed to win the doubles, it was really to get more experience and see what the level (of competition) was. This year it’s totally different. I want to make another Grand Slam final; have a good result.”

The favorite, though, may be No. 1 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas. He is already through to the third round, having disposed of Oliver Crawford and Blake Ellis in easy straight sets. The 18-year-old Greek has never won a boys singles Grand Slam, but he recently captured the Wimbledon doubles title with Kenneth Raisma by beating Auger-Aliassime and Shapovalov 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 in the final.

Speaking of the Canadian duo of Auger-Aliassime and Shapovalov, the former may want to ask the latter for a scouting report on his next opponent. At the French Open this spring, Australian Alexei Popyrin–who will go up against Auger-Aliassime on Wednesday in New York–pushed Shapovalov to 13-11 in the third set before eventually bowing out. That is an especially impressive result for Popyrin given that Shapovalov has now climbed to No. 246 in the ATP rankings and has a victory over Nick Kyrgios under his belt.

On the girls at Flushing Meadows, meanwhile, four Americans have advanced to the last 16: Sofia Kenin, Amanda Anisimova, Taylor Johnson, and Ashley Lahey. In fact, of the eight remaining girls in the top half of the draw, a whopping half hail from the host nation.