Willwerth and Leach Meet in Australian Open Boys Semifinals; Penickova in Singles Semis, Doubles Final; Exsted Aims for Second Boys Doubles Title; Keys Reaches Final; Combs and Ascenzo Advance to Les Petits As Quarterfinals
I don't want the results of the Australian Open Junior Championships quarterfinals to get lost, so with three Americans now in Friday's semifinals (tonight in the US), I wanted to do a separate post now, and then another later tonight after the finalists are determined.
We know an American boy will reach the final, we just don't know which one, with No. 5 seed Jagger Leach facing unseeded Benjamin Willwerth in the semifinals.
Leach defeated No. 14 seed William Rejchtman Vinciguerra of Sweden 6-1, 7-5, looking like he would stroll into his first junior slam semifinal after a 23-minute first set, particularly after he took a 4-0 lead in the second set. But Rejchtman Vinciguerra, who was struggling with his game until that point, did a 180, with the 17-year-old left-hander playing brilliantly for the next four games to tie it. Leach finally held for 5-4 and had five match points in that game, but Rejchtman Vinciguerra saved them all, with Leach unable to execute a pass when the Swede came forward.
Leach held for 6-5, then went up 15-40 with Rejchtman Vinciguerra serving, but a sixth match point went begging when Leach made an error on his return of a second serve. On his seventh match point, Leach finally converted, with Rejchtman Vinciguerra sending a backhand just long.
Willwerth also stumbled closing out his 6-4, 6-4 win over Timofei Derepasko of Russia, although not for long. After facing no break points in the second set, Willwerth served for the match at 5-3, 30-0, but four consecutive unforced errors gave Derepasko new life. He couldn't grab the opportunity that Willwerth had extended to him however, making three straight unforced errors serving at 4-5. Willwerth converted his first match point with a backhand winner to earn a semifinal berth in just his second appearance at a junior slam.
Willwerth, who has committed to Arizona State, and Leach, who has committed to TCU, will meet for the first time with a junior slam final appearance on the line.
The other boys semifinal will feature Traralgon champion Henry Bernet of Switzerland against Oskari Paldanius of Finland. The eighth-seeded Bernet defeated top seed and 2024 Australian Open boys singles finalist Jan Kumstat of the Czech Republic 7-6(4), 7-6(2), while Paldanius, the No. 7 seed, beat No. 4 seed Jack Kennedy 7-6(6), 7-5. Kennedy had a set point at 6-5 in the tiebreaker, but his backhand went long, and he couldn't find his top level in the second set, as he had in the previous round.
Kristina Penickova had two previous wins over her quarterfinal opponent, qualifier Shiho Tsujioka of Japan, and she made it three with his first straight-sets victory of the week 7-5, 6-3, Penickova had a set point with Tsujioka serving at 4-5 in the first set but didn't convert it. She went up 0-40 with Tsujioka serving at 5-6 and let two more set points slip away, but got the 30-40 point. Serving for the match at 5-3 in the second set, Penickova double faulted on her first match oint at 40-30 and made a backhand error on the next match point she earned, but on the third, it was Tsujioke who faltered, sending a second serve return out to put Penickova in her second junior slam semifinal at age 15.
Penickova will play unseeded Mia Pohankova of Slovakia, who surprised No. 3 seed and Traralgon champion Jeline Vandromme of Belgium 6-1, 6-2. Penickova defeated Pohankova en route to her semifinal appearance at Roland Garros last year, but Pohankova won their only hard court meeting last August at the J300 in Repentigny Canada.
The other girls semifinal will feature top seed Emerson Jones of Australia, who fought back to defeat unseeded Lilli Tagger of Austria 4-6, 6-2, 6-2. No. 4 seed Wakana Sonobe of Japan advanced a third career meeting with Jones by beating Australian wild card Tahlia Kokkinis 6-2, 6-4. Sonobe beat Jones on clay at the Junior Billie Jean King Cup in 2023; Jones defeated Sonobe last October on hard courts at the ITF World Junior Finals in China.
Jones and Penickova will also be competing in the girls doubles final, with Penickova and twin sister Annika avenging their recent Orange Bowl loss to fifth-seeded sisters Alena and Jana Kovackova of the Czech Republic 5-7, 6-1, 11-9. The sixth-seeded Penickovas led 5-1 in the second set when the match was relocated to Margaret Court Arena due to a persistent drizzle. The twins went up 9-6 in the match tiebreaker, but Alena held both her serves for 9-8. An unforced error on Kristina's serve wasted the third match point, but she shook it off by winning a lengthy cross court rally with Alena to earn a fourth match point. The Penickovas ended it there, when Jana made a backhand error.
No. 2 seeds Jones and Hannah Klugman of Great Britain advanced to the final with a 7-6(3), 6-3 win over the fourth-seeded Czech team of Tereza Krejcova and Vendula Valdmannova.
Defending boys doubles champion Maxwell Exsted earned a shot at a second Australian Open title when he and Kumstat defeated No. 7 seeds Andrea De Marchi of Italy and Rejchtman Vinciguerra 6-3, 6-7(2), 10-8.
The No. 2 seeds trailed 7-4 in the match tiebreaker, but won six of the last seven points, with Exsted stepping up with a huge down-the-line forehand winner at 8-all. Exsted won last year's AO title with Cooper Woestendick.
In Australian Open women's semifinal action Friday, Madison Keys reached her second final at a major with a scintillating 5-7, 6-1, 7-6(8) win over No. 2 seed Iga Swiatek of Poland. Keys held from 0-40 down at 4-all, then saved a match point with Swiatek serving for the match at 6-5, 40-30 in third set; showing a determination to keep going for her shots regardless of the pressure of the moment. She will face tops seed and two-time defending champion Aryan Sabalenka of Belarus, who beat No. 11 seed Paula Badosa of Spain 6-4, 6-2.
Friday's mixed doubles final will feature all Australian wild cards, two of whom played college tennis, with JP Smith(Tennessee) and Kimberly Birrell taking on John Peers(Middle Tennessee, Baylor) and Olivia Gadecki.
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