Tiafoe and Kenin Capture USTA Boys and Girls 18s National Championships
Top American juniors Frances Tiafoe (17, College Park, Md.) and Sofia Kenin (16, Pembroke Pines, Fla.) won the USTA Boys and Girls 18s National Championships this past weekend, each earning wild cards into the main draw of the U.S. Open and headlining the annual USTA National Championships that took place last week.
The nation’s top junior tennis players competed in eight USTA National Championships across America. In addition to the U.S. Open main draw wild cards awarded to the 18s Singles and Doubles Champions, the singles runners-up in the Boys and Girls 18s Divisions are traditionally offered wild card entries into the U.S. Open Qualifying Tournament, while the Boys and Girls 16s Champions earn wild card entries in to the U.S. Open Junior Championships.
Tiafoe, once the world’s number two-ranked junior and now the second-youngest player in the Top 300 of the pro rankings (272), beat 2014 Wimbledon and Australian Open boys finalist Stefan Kozlov (17, Pembroke Pines, Fla.), 6-2, 6-4, 4-6, 4-6, 6-4, in a dramatic Boys 18s Final in Kalamazoo, Mich. Tiafoe, who grew up training at the Junior Tennis Champions Center in College Park, Md., and whose coaching is now being overseen by USTA Director of Coaching Jose Higueras, made his Grand Slam main draw debut at the French Open in May via wild card entry after winning the Har-Tru USTA Pro Circuit Wild Card Challenge. Meanwhile, current world number one junior Taylor Fritz (17, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.) and 2015 Wimbledon Boys Champion Reilly Opelka (17, Palm Coast, Fla.) won the Boys 18s Doubles Title to earn a U.S. Open doubles main draw wild card.
Kenin, who is coached by her father, Alex, and is ranked number nine in the world among players ages 18 and under, overcame 2013 U.S. Open Girls finalist Tornado Alicia Black (17, Boca Raton, Fla.), 6-2, 5-7, 7-5, in Sunday’s Girls 18s Final in San Diego. Kenin will make her Grand Slam main draw debut at the 2015 U.S. Open, and will look to follow her predecessors Sachia Vickery (2013) and CiCi Bellis (2014) in advancing to the women’s second round in Flushing Meadows.
Bellis, last year’s USTA Girls 18s National Champion, became the U.S. Open’s breakout star after defeating number 12 Dominika Cibulkova in the first round. Black, who finished as the Girls 18s Singles runner-up for the second straight year, will receive a wild card into the U.S. Open Women’s Doubles Main Draw after winning the Girls 18s doubles title, with Ingrid Neel (17, Rochester, Minn.).
Patrick Kypson (15, Greenville, N.C.) and Abigail Desiatnikov (14, Sandy Springs, Ga.) won the USTA Boys and Girls 16s National Championships singles titles, and will receive wild cards into the U.S. Open Junior Championships. Notably, Katy Volynets (Walnut Creek, Calif.) won her second straight USTA National Championship Singles Title, capturing this year’s Girls 14s crown after winning the Girls 12s National Title last year.
Complete results of the USTA National Championships can be found below.
USTA Boys 18s National Championships
Kalamazoo College ♦ Kalamazoo, Mich. ♦ August 1-9
â–ºSingles: (1) Frances Tiafoe, College Park, Md. defeated (3) Stefan Kozlov, Pembroke Pines, Fla., 6-2, 6-4, 4-6, 4-6, 6-4.
â–ºDoubles: (2) Taylor Fritz, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. & Reilly Opelka, Palm Coast, Fla., defeated (6) Joshua Sheehy, Arlington, Texas, & Parker Wynn, North Richland Hills, Texas, 6-3, 6-4.
USTA Girls 18s National Championships
Barnes Tennis Center ♦ San Diego ♦ August 1-9
â–ºSingles: (3) Sofia Kenin, Pembroke Pines, Fla. defeated (1) Tornado Alicia Black, Boca Raton, Fla., 6-2, 5-7, 7-5.
â–ºDoubles: (1) Tornado Alicia Black & Ingrid Neel, Rochester, Minn. defeated (2) Jessie Aney, Rochester, Minn. & Ena Shibahara, Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., 6-3, 6-3.
USTA Boys 16s National Championships
Kalamazoo College ♦ Kalamazoo, Mich. ♦ August 1-9
â–ºSingles: (3) Patrick Kypson, Greenville, N.C. defeated (4) Alexandre Rotsaert, Boca Raton, Fla., 6-3, 6-3.
â–ºDoubles: (8) Bryce Pereira, San Gabriel, Calif. & Ivan Thamma, San Diego defeated (7) William Howells, Boca Raton, Fla., & Danny Thomas, Pickerington, Ohio, 2-6, 6-1, 6-1.
USTA Girls 16s National Championships
Barnes Tennis Center ♦ San Diego ♦ August 1-9
â–ºSingles: Abigail Desiatnikov, Sandy Springs, Ga. defeated (15) Whitney Osuigwe, Bradenton, Fla., 6-1, 7-6(2).
â–ºDoubles: (1) Ann Li, Devon, Pa. & Natasha Subhash, Fairfax, Va., defeated (5) Anna Brylin, Short Hills, N.J., & Clarissa Hand, Moorestown, N.J., 6-0, 6-2.
USTA Boys 14s National Championships
San Antonio Tennis Association ♦ San Antonio ♦ August 2-8
â–ºSingles: (4) Nathan Han, Tulsa, Okla. defeated (5) Ronan Jachuck, Boca Raton, Fla., 6-3, 4-6, 7-5.
â–ºDoubles: (5) Nicholas Garcia, Hollywood, Fla., & Ronan Jachuck defeated (11) Jacob Bullard, Calabasas, Calif., & Alan Yim, Sammamish, Wash., 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.
USTA Girls 14s National Championships
Metro Tennis Associates ♦ Peachtree City, Ga. ♦ August 1-8
â–ºSingles: (2) Katie Volynets, Walnut Creek, Calif. defeated (11) Naomi Cheong, Las Vegas, 6-3, 6-1.
â–ºDoubles: (5) Kacie Harvey, Braintree, Mass., & Lea Ma, Dix Hills, N.Y. defeated (4) Christina Hand, Moorestown, N.J., & Chidimma Okpara, Vienna, Va., 6-2, 1-6, 6-3.
USTA Boys 12s National Championships
Arkansas Tennis Patrons Foundation ♦ Little Rock, Ark. ♦ August 2-8
â–ºSingles: (3) Saud Alhogbani, Alexandria, Va., defeated (5) Benjamin Kittay, Potomac, Md., 6-3, 6-0.
â–ºDoubles: (1) Benjamin Kittay & Karl Lee, Los Altos, Calif., defeated Saud Alhogbani & Samuel Landau, Los Angeles, 6-4, 6-4.
USTA Girls 12s National Championships
Windward Lake Club ♦ Alpharetta, Ga. ♦ August 2-8
â–ºSingles: (17) Nikki Yanez, Sarasota, Fla., defeated Rachel Arbitman, Hewlett, N.Y., 7-5, 7-6.
â–ºDoubles: (1) Rachel Arbitman & Kenadee Semenik, Las Vegas, defeated Ellie Coleman, Midland, Mich., & Ellie Pittman, Indianapolis, Ind., 6-4, 6-4.
