Wimbledon Junior Qualifying Begins Friday with Six Americans Competing; Hovde, Michelsen and Gorzny Reach Roehamption J1 Semifinals; Isner Among Five US Players to Reach Wimbledon Third Round; Geoff Young Named Head Coach at Purdue

Qualifying begins Friday at Roehampton for the Wimbledon Junior Championships, with four US boys and two US girls hoping to win the two matches required to reach the main draw. The Americans boys are Aidan Kim[4], who did not get to play this week's J1 in Roehampton, but did play Nottingham last week; Leanid Boika[6], Jonah Braswell[9] and Yannik Rahman[13]. The American girls are Kaitlin Quevedo[8] and Theodora Rabman[12].

The boys draw is here; the girls draw is here. The order of play for Friday is here.

While most of the Roehampton courts will be given over to the Wimbledon qualifying, four are reserved for the semifinals in singles and doubles at the J1 that always precedes Wimbledon. 

All three Americans who advanced to the quarterfinals won their matches today: top seed Liv Hovde, unseeded Alex Michelsen and unseeded Sebastian Gorzny. 

Hovde defeated No. 7 Annabelle Xu of Canada, a rising freshman at Virginia, 6-2, 6-3 and will play No. 12 seed Lucija Ciric Bargaric of Croatia in the semifinal. The other girls semifinal will feature No. 9 seed Johanne Svendsen of Denmark and unseeded Sayaka Ishii of Japan. 

After Michelsen defeated top seed Jakub Mensik of the Czech Republic yesterday, Gorzny took out No. 2 seed Mili Poljicak of Croatia 7-5, 7-6(2). The rising TCU freshman, who has now beaten three seeds, will get another in the semifinals: No. 13 Martin Landaluce of Spain, the Nottingham J1 champion. Michelsen, who defeated unseeded William Jansen of Great Britain 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 in the quarterfinals today, will face No. 15 seed Coleman Wong of Hong Kong. Michelsen beat Wong at the Eddie Herr late last year.

Michelsen and Gorzny are also through to the semifinals in doubles, as are Cooper Williams and Learner Tien. Hovde and Qavia Lopez, the No. 1 seeds, have advanced to the girls doubles semifinals.

Four US men advanced to the Wimbledon third round today with John Isner getting one of his most significant victories at the All England Club when he defeated Andy Murray 6-4, 7-6(4), 6-7(3), 6-4 on Centre Court. Isner did reach the semifinals in 2018, but taking on Murray, who had beaten him all eight previous times they had played, on his home court was certainly a highlight. It goes without saying that the former Georgia All-American served well, but he also came forward, finished well at the net and was never rattled by the obviously pro-Murray crowd.

"That was an amazing moment for me out there at 37," Isner said in his press conference. "I think that's, to my knowledge, only the third match I played on Centre Court, one of which was at the Olympics in 2012. So I haven't had many opportunities on that court.

"To be able to get a win on Centre against Andy Murray is something I'll certainly I think remember forever. This is why I still play, it's why I still work hard. So I'm still eager to get up in the morning and work out and get my body feeling right, is to have moments like that.

"At 37, it was much easier 10 years ago for sure, but I work my ass off to try to give myself opportunities like that. It kind of makes it all worth it, for sure."

Joining Isner in round three of men's singles are Tommy Paul, Frances Tiafoe and Steve Johnson(USC).

Wednesday's results for Americans:

First round:
Jessica Pegula[8] d. Donna Vekic(CRO) 6-3, 7-6(2)

Second round:

John Isner[20] d. Andy Murray(GBR) 6-4, 7-6(4), 6-7(3), 6-4

Tommy Paul[30] d. Adrian Mannarino(FRA) 6-2, 6-4, 6-1

Tim Van Rijthoven d. Reilly Opelka[15] 6-4, 6-7(8), 7-6(7), 7-6(4)

Frances Tiafoe[23] d. Maximilian Marterer(GER) 6-2, 6-2, 7-6(3)

Oscar Otte[32](GER) d. Christian Harrison[Q] 3-1, ret.

Alison Riske[28] d. Maja Chwalinska[Q](POL) 3-6, 6-1, 6-0

Marie Bouzkova(CZE) d. Ann Li 6-0, 6-3

Thursday's second round matches featuring Americans:

Coco Gauff[11] v Mihaela Buzarnescu(ROU)

Jessica Pegula[8] v Harriet Dart(GBR)

Lauren Davis v Amanda Anisimova[20]

Claire Liu v Alize Cornet(FRA)

Catherine Harrison[Q] v Ajla Tomljanovic(AUS)

Taylor Fritz[11] v Alastair Gray[WC](GBR)

Brandon Nakashima v Denis Shapovalov[13](CAN)

Maxime Cressy v Jack Sock[Q]

Marcos Giron v Alex Molcan(SVK)

Mackenzie McDonald v Richard Gasquet(FRA)

Jenson Brooksby[29] v Benjamin Bonzi(FRA)

The final Power Five conference head coaching position still vacant was filled today, with former Minnesota men's head coach Geoff Young hired at Purdue. Young, who the associate head coach at UCF this past season, was available when Minnesota dropped men's tennis in 2021.

For a detailed look at Young's background and accomplishments, see this release on his hiring from the Purdue website.