August Aces; Twelve Americans Advance to Final Round of US Open Junior Qualifying; Gauff Beats Keys to Reach USO Round of 16; Saito Makes Second Straight J1 Final in Canada

Before the US Open takes up all the attention for the next 10 days, it's time to look back at the top performances of August in my monthly column for the Tennis Recruiting Network. Lots of highlights for juniors on the professional circuit, and for current and former collegians, with 15-year-old Brenda Fruhvirtova of the Czech Republic leading this month's article for good reason.

Seven US boys and five US girls advanced to Saturday's final round of qualifying for the US Open Junior Championships, which are played at the Cary Leeds Tennis Center in the Bronx. At least three Americans will reach the main draw, with all-American matches upcoming.

Sean Daryabeigi, who beat No. 2 seed Max Batyutenko of Kazakhstan 6-1, 6-2, will face Kalamazoo 16s finalist Calvin Baierl, a wild card who defeated Illinois freshman Kento Miyoshi of Japan 2-6, 6-2. 10-5. Preston Stearns, who defeated No. 7 seed Lennon Jones of Japan 6-4, 3-6, 10-8, will face wild card Hudson Rivera, who beat No. 16 seed Tiago Pereira of Portugal 6-2, 6-1. Kurt Miller defeated No. 11 seed Ivan Sodan of Croatia 6-2, 6-3; No. 3 seed Yannik Rahman and No. 15 seed Meecah Bigun also advanced.

No. 10 seed Ahmani Guichard will face wild card Katherine Hui for a place in the main draw, with Hui defeating No. 5 seed Malak El Allami of Morocco 6-1, 7-6(5). Tatum Evans defeated No. 14 seed Ela Miljic of Slovenia 6-3, 6-4 and 13-year-old wild card Julieta Pareja took out No. 16 seed Ada Piestrzynska of Poland 6-4, 7-6(4). Wild card Alanis Hamilton defeated No. 2 seed Yu-Yun Li of Taiwan, currently 61 in the ITF Junior rankings, 6-1, 3-6, 10-5.

The boys qualifying draw is here; the girls qualifying draw is here.

Most of the Americans in action today in men's and women's singles are still on court, or yet to play, but 18-year-old Coco Gauff has advanced to the round of 16, beating Madison Keys 6-2, 6-3 this afternoon on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

San Diego 18s doubles champions Reese Brantmeier(UNC) and Clervie Ngounoue put a scare into No. 10 seeds Ellen Perez(Georgia) of Australia and Nicole Melichar-Martinez, winning the first set, but lost the second round match 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-2.

Kalamazoo 18s doubles champions Nico Godsick and Ethan Quinn face No. 6 seeds Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic of Croatia Saturday, second match on Court 11.

Friday third round results of Americans:
Coco Gauff[12] d. Madison Keys[20] 6-2, 6-3
Ajla Tomljanovic(AUS) d. Serena Williams 7-5, 6-7(4), 6-1
Ons Jabeur[5](TUN) d. Shelby Rogers[31] 4-6, 6-4, 6-3
Alison Riske-Amritraj[29] d. Xiyu Wang(CHN)  6-4, 3-6, 6-4

Casper Ruud[5](NOR) d. Tommy Paul[29] 7-6(3), 6-7(5, 7-6(2), 5-7, 6-0

Nick Kyrgios[23](AUS) d. JJ Wolf[WC] 6-4, 6-2, 6-3

Saturday's third round matches featuring Americans:

Jessica Pegula[8] v Yue Yuan(CHN)[Q]

Danielle Collins[19] v Alize Cornet(FRA)

Lauren Davis v Iga Swiatek[1](POL)

Jenson Brooksby v Carlos Alcaraz[3](ESP)

Brandon Nakashima v Jannik Sinner[11](ITA)

Francis Tiafoe[22] v Diego Schwartzman[14](ARG)

The singles finals are set at the ITF J1 in Repentigny Canada with  No. 8 seed Elle Seidel of Germany, facing last week's J1 champion in College Park, Sara Saito,  Seidel defeated No. 7 seed Mia Kupres of Canada 6-4, 6-2. and No. 5 seed Saito, a 15-year-old from Japan, defeated No. 15 seed Federica Urgesi of Italy 6-3, 6-4. Saito is on a 10-match winning streak at the J1 level now, after dropping a first round match at Wimbledon in her last junior competition. 

The boys final Saturday will feature No. 6 seed Alexander Blockx of Belgium and No. 7 seed Alex Coman of Romania. Blockx defeated No. 9 seed Jeremy Jin of Australia 6-3, 6-0 and Coman beat No. 12 seed Jack Loutit of New Zealand 6-4, 6-2. Top seed Kilian Feldbausch of Switzerland won his second round match this week, but gave a walkover to his third round opponent. He is still on the acceptance list for the US Open Juniors.

Sebastian Gorzny, who has begun his freshman year at TCU, was a late withdrawal from the US Open Juniors today.