Wild Cards Announced for US Open Junior Championships

Thank you all for the many comments, emails, messages and texts I've received expressing sympathy for my father's recent death. I've known for some time that the tennis community contains vast numbers of generous and compassionate people, and this is just another example of how that spirit manifests.

I'll be slowly working my way back into the tennis world in the next few days, with posts here and on twitter, as the US Open qualifying, one of the most compelling four days of the year for me, continues.  As of now, I am planning to cover, for the 10th consecutive year, the US Open junior championships, beginning with the final day of qualifying on August 31.

The USTA has announced the recipients of the US Open junior wild cards.

Boys main draw:
1. Collin Altamirano
2. JC Aragone
3. Gage Brymer
4. Jared Donaldson
5. Dan Kerznerman
6. Mackenzie McDonald
7. Tommy Paul
8. TBD

Girls main draw:
1. Brooke Austin
2. CiCi Bellis
3. Tornado Alicia Black
4. Michaela Gordon
5. Kaitlyn McCarthy
6. Chloe Ouellet-Pizer
7. Peggy Porter
8. Katerina Stewart

Boys qualifying draw:
1. Jake DeVine
2. Taylor Fritz
3. Sameer Kumar
4. Reilly Opelka
5. Henrik Wiersholm
6. Kenta Miyoshi

Girls qualifying draw:
1. Emma Higuchi
2. Hanna King
3. Raveena Kingsley
4. Claire Liu
5. Yumeka Maeda
6. TBD


The full USTA release is below:

USTA BOYS’ 18s NATIONAL CHAMPION COLLIN ALTAMIRANO, 14-YEAR OLD CICI BELLIS AMONG US OPEN JUNIOR WILD CARD RECIPIENTS Brooklyn Teen Danny Kerznerman among Boys’ Wild Card Recipients FLUSHING, N.Y., August 21, 2013 – The USTA today announced that 2013 USTA Boys’ 18s national champion Collin Altamirano (17, Yuba City, Calif.) and 14-year old CiCi Bellis (Atherton, Calif.) are among the boys and girls, respectively, receiving singles main draw wild cards into the US Open Junior Championships, September 1-8 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y. As this year’s USTA Boys’ 18s national champion, Altamirano earned a wild card to play in the US Open men’s main draw, which begins next week. Altamirano became the first unseeded player to win the Boys’ 18s singles title in the 71 years the event has been at its current home in Kalamazoo, Mich. Joining him as wild card entrants into the boys’ junior singles draw are Brooklyn 17-year old and USTA Boys’ 18s national clay court champion Danny Kerznerman, who trains at the home of the US Open at the USTA Training Center – East; Mackenzie McDonald (18, Piedmont, Calif.), who played in qualifying for the US Open men’s draw this week after becoming the first unranked teen to qualify for an ATP Masters 1000 event at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati; Gage Brymer (18, Irvine, Calif.), the No. 1-ranked Boys’ 18s singles player in the USTA national standings; 2013 USTA Boys’ 18s National Championship runner-up Jared Donaldson (16, Cumberland, R.I); 2013 USTA Boys’ 16s national champion and national clay court champion Tommy Paul (16, Coconut Creek, Fla.); and JC Aragone (18, Yorba Linda, Calif.) One additional boys’ singles main draw wild card will be awarded to a player to be determined. On the girls’ side, Bellis and Michaela Gordon (14, Los Altos Hills, Calif.) received singles main draw wild cards. Together, the two led the U.S. to the World Junior Tennis title earlier this month in the premier 14-and-under world team competition, held in the Czech Republic. Bellis, additionally, has won several prestigious singles titles in 2013, including the Girls’ 16s Easter Bowl championship. Girls’ main draw wild card recipients also include Brooke Austin (17, Indianapolis, Ind.), a USTA Girls 18s National Championship semifinalist who played in qualifying for this year’s US Open women’s draw; 2013 USTA Girls’ 16s national champion Katerina Stewart (16, Miami); 2013 Easter Bowl Girls’ 18s finalist Alicia Black (15, Boca Raton, Fla.); 2013 USTA Girls’ 18s national clay court champion Chloe Ouellet-Pizer (15, Chapel Hill, N.C.), and Kaitlyn McCarthy (15, Cary, N.C.) and Peggy Porter (17, Dallas), ranked No. 3 and No. 5 in the USTA Girls’ 18s national standings, respectively. Additionally, boys receiving singles qualifying wild cards are Jake DeVine (16, Boca Raton, Fla.), Taylor Fritz (15, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.), Sameer Kumar (16, Carmel, Ind.), Reilly Opelka (15, Palm Coast, Fla.), Henrik Wiersholm (16, Kirkland, Wash.) and Japanese high school champion Kenta Miyoshi. Girls receiving singles qualifying wild cards are Emma Higuchi (15, Los Angeles), Hannah King (17, Dunwoody, Ga.), Raveena Kingsley (15, Parkton, Md.), Claire Liu (13, Thousand Oaks, Calif.) and Japanese high school champion Yumeka Maeda. One additional girls’ qualifying wild card will be awarded to a player to be determined.