Second Round at U.S. Open Juniors Filled with Drama and Controversy

©Colette Lewis 2008--
Flushing Meadows, NY--

The drama intensified Wednesday at the U.S. Open Junior Championships, with on-court illness and a game penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct proving no match for the juniors that overcame those obstacles. When the dust had settled--on yet another day with no rain--five U.S. boys and six U.S. girls had reached Wednesday's third round.

Ninth seed Ryan Harrison won the first set easily against qualifier Hiroyasu Ehara of Japan, taking it 6-1, but he was broken at love to open the second set and lost it 6-3. And that was not all that he lost, as a too-heavy breakfast too close to match time resulted in two separate incidents of vomiting, but he played through it to take the final set 6-2 to advance to a third round meeting with Rhyne Williams. Williams has eliminated Cesar Ramirez of Mexico at the U.S. Open Juniors two years in a row, last year in the first round, and this year in the second, with Ramirez the No. 5 seed now.


When I arrived at Court 11, Williams had just won the first set 7-5, and as the second set got underway, there was a lot of good serving, and not much in the way of return game from either player. Williams was broken at love serving a 2-3, but Ramirez let him back in the set by hitting two ill-advised drop shots that didn't clear the net at critical points, and he failed to serve out the set at 5-4.

"I would like to say thank you to him," Williams said in a small press conference after his 7-5, 7-6(2) victory. "I had a little meltdown one game, but he gave it back to me, and I felt I got it going right after that."

In the tiebreaker, Ramirez gave Williams several gifts, double faulting twice down 2-1, making a shaky net approach that resulted in Williams punishing a backhand pass, and hitting a forehand into the net on match point.

"I executed the game plan to a T," Williams said. "I felt really good, served really well, and moved great."

Williams has never beaten Harrison, although it has been over two years since they've played. "He's owned me," said Williams. "We've played like four or five times. But I feel my game matches up good with his, maybe I can move him around, instead of me being moved. I feel like I'm a little bit stronger off the ground than him. I feel good going into the match."

Lucky loser Alex Llompart of Puerto Rico continued to take advantage of his second chance in the main draw, defeating Jordan Cox 7-5, 6-2, but that match, played on Court 7, was overshadowed by the girls match played a few feet away on Court 6 between unseeded 15-year-old Sloane Stephens and 17-year-old Katarzyna Piter of Poland. Piter had taken the first set 6-3, but Stephens fought back to take the second 6-4. It was at this stage that I turned my focus to the match, and I was told that Piter had already received a warning and a point penalty for unsportsmanlike taunting.

Piter continued to clench her fist and shout "yes" after nearly every point, whether she had hit a winner or Stephens had missed. With Stephens serving to open the third set, a lengthy game, filled with WTA-level ground strokes, ended in Piter's favor. The chair umpire phoned the referee after that game ended, as there had been several close calls go against Stephens and Piter continued to demonstrate loudly after each. The referee arrived after Piter had held for a 2-0 lead, and she was up 0-30 on Stephens serve when a shot Piter hit appeared to land behind the baseline, but was called good. Piter again pumped her fist and screamed, and the referee, standing on the opposite side of the court from the chair umpire, called to her to assess a game penalty against Piter. Stephens was awarded the game, and Piter went to her chair and began sobbing, while looking across to her supporters. She lost the next game to make it 2-2, but recovered her composure, did not indulge in any more celebrations, and broke Stephens in the next game. Serving to stay in the match at 3-5, Stephens misjudged a ball that landed in and made three unforced errors to give Piter the victory, which she marked by dropping to her knees and screaming, while the Polish fans in the crowd applouded vigorously.


"It was kind of strange, I've never played anyone who did that," Stephens said several hours later. "I never experienced a game penalty, and I kind of didn't know what was going on. Sometimes she was doing it towards me, but other times it was really just for herself, because she would turn her back. But after every point...it was kind of like, okay, you can stop now. I guess it was for intimidation, I don't know."

The all-American second round match between Kristie Ahn and Coco Vandeweghe was very well-attended, given that both had reached the women's main draw and had battled seeds there, and the crowd was not disappointed, as both girls played good tennis, with Vandeweghe prevailing 6-3, 6-4. Ahn got behind early in the first set and was unable to break Vandeweghe, who didn't serve a high percentage of first serves, but when she got one in, the point was going to be hers. In the second set, there were no breaks until 4-4, when Vandeweghe smoked a forehand winner on break point, then played a confident service game, moving forward and finishing at the net to grab the victory and set up a meeting with Piter in the third round.

National 18s champion Gail Brodsky took out Yana Buchina of Russia 6-4, 6-0 in the other second round match involving an American.


In doubles action, the sole U.S. boys team remaining is an unlikely one, wild cards Matt Kandath and Ryan Lipman, who took out the No. 1 seeded Brazilian team of Henrique Cunha and Jose Pereira 6-3, 6-3. Lipman, who was in New York as a hitting partner for fellow Tennessean Tennys Sandgren, was hoping for a doubles wild card spot, and when Kandath qualified in singles, they were given one. With one practice match under their belts, they took the courts at Flushing Meadows not knowing how they would mesh.

"Someone said we're like fire and ice," Lipman said. "He's got the power, I've got the finesse, and it works well. Hopefully we can keep going."

The girls doubles draw still contains two U.S. teams, both in the top half. Stephens and her partner Mallory Burdette downed Julia Boserup and Christina McHale 6-1, 7-5, while Asia Muhammad and Melanie Oudin overcame Madison Brengle and her partner Isabelle Holland of Australia 2-6, 6-3, 10-8. Oudin took control of the contest, played under the lights due to the length of Holland's singles match, with outstanding volleying and net-rushing during the match tiebreaker.

For complete results, see usopen.org

For additional coverage of the US Open junior tournament, see Marcia Frost's collegeandjuniortennis.com.

Tags: junior tennis, Rhyne Williams, Ryan Lipman, Matt Kandath, Sloane Stephens, US Open Junior Championships, Colette Lewis