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Friday, August 29, 2008

Still Time to Pick Your US Open Junior Winners; Day One of Junior Qualifying Complete; Stephens & Kendrick Take Down No. 1 Mixed Doubles Team

Saturday's post will be from the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, and if the travel gods are kind, I may be able to catch some of the final qualifying matches that take place on the practice courts outside the East gates of the US Open. (If you are in the area, come out--it's free).

There are five of the eight U.S. boys and five of the 14 U.S. girls are still in the running for a spot in the main draw. Bo Seal, Devin Britton and wild cards Nathan Pasha and Matt Kandath advanced in straight sets, while Harry Fowler came from a set down to defeat Matthew Short of Great Britain.

I was surprised to see that Lauren Embree had lost, but it did take No. 9 seed Karina Pimkina of Russia two tiebreakers to overcome the 18s Clay Court champion. Brooke Bolender, Lauren McHale, Alexa Guarachi and wild cards Allie Will and Beatrice Capra were the U.S. winners, all in straight sets . Will and McHale face each other Saturday afternoon and that will be high on my list must-see matches.

For complete draws and Saturday's order of play, click here. For on site coverage of junior qualifying, see collegeandjuniortennis.com.

In Canada's Grade 1, unseeded Nicole Gibbs of the U.S. has reached the final, and will play No. 3 seed Kurumi Nara of Japan. Marcus Willis of Great Britain and Mirza Basic of Bosnia will decide the boys' championship.

A huge surprise in mixed doubles competition today in New York, as 15-year-old Sloane Stephens and her partner Robert Kendrick upset the top-seeded team of Chia-Jung Chuang of Chinese Taipei and Daniel Nestor of Canada 6-1, 6-4 in first round action.

And don't forget to pick who you think will win the US Open Junior Championships by adding your comment to this post. Entries close at 9 a.m. Sunday morning, so make your guess now!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sean Berman loses 6-1, 6-1. Again, the USTA putting these youngster in way too young to get mauled is not a good development tool, IMO. Egger hasn't played well since he was mauled last year at the USO.

Anonymous said...

Amazing win for Sloane Stephens and Kendrick to take out the number one seeds first round in mixed doubles!

Anonymous said...

yeah, good win for Kendrick/Stephens, too bad they couldnt follow it up today. Bob played well against Djokovic though.

Anonymous said...

I'm gonna go with a dark horse: Alex Domijan. His game should suit these courts well, and I think he has a favorable draw. If he's getting his first serve in, watch out. He showed at the Eddie Herr that he can play with these guys.

His opponent in the final: Ryan Harrison. He says he's playing his best, and I expect him to play with a lot of fire after his disappointing performances in Europe this summer.

There's no bias in these picks at all. :-)