Second-Seeded Americans Fall on Armstrong in US Open Junior Quarterfinals; Jovic Advances to Second Straight Junior Slam Semifinal; Pegula Battles Back to Reach Women's Final

©Colette Lewis 2024--
Flushing Meadows, New York--

The thrill of playing on one of the iconic courts in tennis was doubly exciting for the underdogs Thursday against the home country's entries at the US Open Junior Championships, with Rafael Jodar of Spain defeating Kaylan Bigun 6-4, 6-7(7), 7-5 and Mimi Xu of Great Britain taking out Tyra Grant 7-5, 5-7, 6-4. 

Jodar started another sunny and 70 degree afternoon at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center by taking the first set 6-4 over No. 2 seed Kaylan Bigun, the reigning Roland Garros boys champion. Jodar was up 3-1 in the second set, but Bigun fought back, saving four break points serving at 1-3 to start his run of four consecutive games. Bigun had a set point at 5-3, but didn't convert it, which looked as if it would be fatal when he went down 6-4 in the second tiebreaker. 

But Jodar wobbled a bit, double faulting on the first match point, then slipped on the second, to leave him no chance to track down a forehand winner by Bigun. Bigun earned a second set point with a backhand that forced an error, which Jodar saved with a good first serve, but Bigun got an unforced error and a net cord assist on his third set point to force the decider.

Bigun then found his best form of the match, breaking Jodar to open the third set by serving well and making no unforced errors. Down 3-1, Jodar had reason to be discouraged about his prospects of reaching his first junior slam semifinal, but in addition to his world class backhand, his mental strength provides him with another weapon on the court.

"It was tough getting broken in the first game of the third set, having two match points, so starting again the match in the third set, it was going to be difficult," said Jodar, who is now on a nine-match winning streak after winning the ITF J300 in College park late last month. "But my mental part is strong, so I think that's why I won this match."

After getting back to 3-all, Jodar was broken again, and Bigun held for 5-3, saving two break points to regain the momentum. A love hold by Jodar made it 5-4, but Bigun didn't get to a match point serving for it, making two unforced errors at 30-all. Jodar held after one deuce for 6-5, and Bigun was unable to force a tiebreaker, going down 0-40 and eventually going out on Jodar's fourth match point opportunity.

"I always believe, until the last point," said Jodar, who is planning to attend the University of Virginia in January. "When I give my hand to my opponent, that's when I lost, that's when the match is over. I keep pushing, I keep believing in myself, that's my mentality."

Jodar, who admitted just how small the margins were in the match, saying both he and Bigun deserved to win, appreciated the opportunity to play on Armstrong.

"When I saw the schedule yesterday, I was so excited to play on that court," Jodar said. "It's been a pleasure for me."

After beating one junior slam champion today, Jodar gets another in Friday's semifinal against Australian Open champion Rei Sakamoto of Japan. Sakamoto defeated longtime friend and fellow IMG Academy student Atakan Karahan of Turkey 6-3, 6-3.

"He was my first roommate when I got to IMG," said Sakamoto. "When I got to my room the first time, he was sleeping on the bed. He's one of my best friends."

After countless practices matches, Sakamoto said there were no secrets revealed today.

"He knows everything about my tennis, I knew him well, today I won, but of course he's beat me in practice," Sakamoto said.

The other boys semifinal will feature the third junior slam champion in the draw, Wimbledon winner Nicolai Budkov Kjaer of Norway, who will take on unseeded Charlie Robertson of Great Britain after they earned wins in contrasting fashion. Robertson blitzed past qualifier Flynn Thomas of Switzerland 6-1, 6-2 in under an hour, while Budkov Kjaer battled No. 5 seed Luca Preda of Romania for nearly two hours and 30 minutes before coming away with a 6-3, 1-6, 7-5 win.

Budkov Kjaer acknowledged that his performance in the last two games, where he held serve for 6-5 and broke Preda to end the match, was a combination of experience and luck.

"It's tough to say, but I think I handled the pressure a bit better, since I held my serve, and held my cool after I lost my first match point on an ace by him," said Budkov Kjaer, who has played two three-setters this week and is also through to the doubles semifinals after this afternoon's 4-6, 6-3, 16-14 win with Henry Bernet of Switzerland over Naoya Honda of Japan and Nathan Trouve of France. "Sometimes you're a bit lucky--he double faulted two times(from 15-0 up serving at 5-6)--he was a bit more nervous than me maybe, but I was lucky enough to win it."

Budkov Kjaer and Robertson have played twice, with Budkov winning both, the most recent coming via a retirement in the first round at last December's Orange Bowl.

Like Jodar, Xu was thrilled to be playing on Armstrong, and as the late afternoon crowds continued to stream in prior to the women's singles semifinals on Ashe and in anticipation of the men's doubles semifinals following the junior matches, she appreciated the support she got despite playing the second-seeded American.

"I got a good amount of support," said Xu, who will be 17 next month. "I was actually quite pleasantly surprised. And I really wanted to do well for myself and my team. By the end of the match, by the time the crowd got really big, I was so zoned in on every ball that I didn't actually even notice it."

Xu had fought back from 4-0 down in the second set, saved two set points serving at 4-5, but lost the 5-6 game serving from 30-0 up to give Grant her opportunity. Grant took a 3-1 lead in the third set, but with the number of service breaks in the match, that lead was hardly safe, and Xu broke back and held to make it 4-all. 

Playing very clean tennis, which hadn't been the case in the early stages of the set, Xu continued to keep pressure on Grant, who saved two break points serving at 4-all, but sent a backhand well out on the third to give Xu a chance to serve it out. While Bigun was unable to close his match in the same situation, Xu succeeded, get some net cord luck on a first serve to earn her first match point, and converting it when Grant sent her second serve return long.

"I think I have a really clear idea of my game, and when it's not going the way I want it to, I know the areas I want to change, what areas need to be better for me to turn the match around," Xu said. "I kept telling myself to trust myself and put everything out there."

Xu, who retired in her semifinal match at the J300 last week in Canada, admitted she is making full use of the training staff and the taping they provide.

"It's an ongoing issue, so I'm just managing it," Xu said. "But the physios are doing a really good job of keeping me together. I've got a picture on my phone after my second round of singles and I've got both my knees taped, both my feet taped, so they're doing a really good job behind the scenes, keeping me together."

Xu will face No. 7 seed Wakana Sonobe of Japan, who defeated No. 4 seed Teodora Kostovic of Serbia 6-3, 6-4. Sonobe, who hasn't lost a set this week, has now beaten Kostovic in straight sets in their three meetings since last year's Eddie Herr ITF J300 final. 

A second British girl will play in her first junior slam semifinal, with Mika Stojsavljevic ending the run of wild card Annika Penickova with a 6-2, 7-6(3) victory.

Stojsavljevic will play the lone American left in the US Open Junior Championships this year, No. 3 seed Iva Jovic, who repeated her win last month in the USTA National 18s final over Valerie Glozman 6-4, 6-4.

Jovic, who has yet to drop a set this week, detected a change in strategy from Glozman after her loss in San Diego.

"I think in San Diego we were both physically a little tired in that final, because it was such a long week," Jovic said. "So it was really who was going to have more legs, so I was just kind of trying to close out points, because she was just running everything down. Here, she tried to be more aggressive, so we were hitting more, which I think favored me a bit, but I think I did a good job of sticking with the strategy even when she played good, aggressive points."

Unlike many of Glozman's opponents, Jovic looked prepared for the angles her two-handed forehand produces, the change of pace, the lobs, the slices she regularly employs to disrupt and surprise. And the focus Jovic has displayed throughout last  week, in women's singles and doubles and in mixed doubles, is still with her this week in the juniors.

"I think I just played the big points well and was solid throughout the whole match," said the 16-year-old from Torrance California. "I guess I just executed the strategy well enough."

Although this is Jovic's second consecutive junior slam semifinal, she is not taking it for granted, despite her success in the women's singles last week. 

"I'm very excited to be here and to finish this tournament," Jovic said. "I've been in New York for a while, so it's a little motivating that it's only two more days."

Jovic and Stojsavljevic played last year on the Har-Tru at the Eddie Herr J300, with Jovic winning that third round match 6-3, 6-1.

The doubles semifinals Friday will not featuring any Americans, with the five who advanced to the quarterfinals all bowing out today.

Unseeded Capucine Jauffret and Christasha McNeil lost to No. 7 seeds Hannah Klugman of Great Britain and Joy De Zeeuw of the Netherlands 6-2, 6-3. Klugman and De Zeeuw, the only seeded team in the girls semifinals, will play Julie Pastikova of the Czech Republic and Julia Stusek of Germany Friday. Columbia freshman Malak El Allami of Morocco and Michigan freshman Emily Sartz-Lunde of Norway defeated No. 5 seeds Xu and Stojsavljevic 7-5, 2-6, 10-8 in the last junior match Thursday evening. They will play the Czech team of Tereza Krejcova and Eliska Tichackova, who received a walkover from No. 1 seeds Iva Ivanova of Bulgaria and Jeline Vandromme of Belgium, due to Ivanova's illness.

The boys doubles final will feature three seeded teams, but top seeds Maxim Mrva of the Czech Republic and Sakamoto had to save a match point at 9-8 in the tiebreaker to prevail over the wild card team of Matisse Farzam and Ohio State freshman Nikita Filin 5-7, 6-4, 13-11. The will play No. 3 seeds Budkov Kjaer and Henry Bernet of Switzerland, who saved three match points in their 4-6, 6-3, 16-14 win over Honda and Trouve.

No. 4 seeds Thomas Faurel of France and Preda ended the winning streak of Wimbledon and College Park J300 champions Max Schoenhaus of Germany and USA's Alex Razeghi, the No. 7 seeds, 1-6, 7-5, 10-5.  Faurel and Preda will face the only unseeded boys team in the semifinals, Denis Petak of the Czech Republic and Thomas, who beat Viktor Frydrych of Great Britain and Mees Rottgering of the Netherlands 6-4, 6-4.

Elsewhere at the USTA BJKNTC today, Taylor Townsend and Donald Young fell in the mixed doubles final, to No. 3 seeds Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori of 7-6(0), 7-5.

No. 10 seeds Tim Puetz(Auburn) and Kevin Krawiecz of Germany will play for the men's doubles title Saturday, after defeating No. 4 seeds Marcelo Arevalo(Tulsa) of El Salvador and Mate Pavic of Croatia 6-3, 6-7(9), 6-4.  No. 13 seeds Jackson Withrow(Texas A&M) and Nathaniel Lammons(SMU) lost to No. 7 seeds Jordan Thompson and Max Purcell of Australia 6-4, 7-6(4).

Emma Navarro's historic run to the semifinals ended tonight, with the former University of Virginia All-American losing to No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus 6-3, 7-6(2). Navarro was the first NCAA singles champion to reach the US Open women's singles semifinals.

Jessica Pegula recovered from a disappointing first set against Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic, with the two women putting on a show in the last two sets. Serving to keep her break at 4-2 in the third, Pegula saw a 40-0 lead disappear, saved a break point in the four-deuce game but hit a great second serve to hold, then broke Muchova in the final game for a 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory and a trip to her first slam final Saturday.