Secord Sets Up Rematch with Kennedy in US Open Junior Championships Third Round; Preston Posts Comeback Win; Filin and Carpico Fall Just Short in Men's Doubles

©Colette Lewis and Michael Lewis 2026--
Flushing Meadows NY--

Two Jacks who know each other well will play for the second time in a month tomorrow on Louis Armstrong Stadium, where they both picked up straight-sets win in the second round of the US Open Junior Championships on yet another sunny day at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

Kalamazoo 18s champion and No. 5 seed Jack Kennedy made short work of Canadian qualifier Benjamin Azar, a freshman at Michigan, needing a little over an hour to post a 6-0, 6-4 victory.

Unseeded Jack Secord followed Kennedy on Armstrong, beating No. 9 seed and Duke freshman Yannick Alexandrescou of France 6-2, 6-4 to give himself an opportunity to avenge his 6-3, 6-1 loss to Kennedy in the Kalamazoo semifinals.

"I was super flat in that match," said Secord, who turns 18 on Friday. "I just wasn't moving well, a couple minor things bothering me. I looked back on some points and I was going super slow, like what am I doing? Tomorrow I should be a little bit more physically and mentally there."

Against Alexandrescou today, Secord wasn't happy with his serving, getting only 53% of his first serves in, but he didn't panic when he went down a break 3-2, knowing Alexandrescou's serve is not formidable.

"It's tricky, I didn't want to be down a break, obviously, and he played a really good game on my serve," said Secord, who has committed to Stanford for 2027. "He hit a forehand bomb down the line on the last point and it was just too good. But I knew I could break him, I broke him twice. It's trickier when someone has a really big serve, like my first round against Damir (Zhalgasbay of Kazakhstan), you have to be more mentally there on your serve."

Secord is the son of Linda Harvey Wild, a former WTA No. 17, who reached the semifinals of Wimbledon in 1996, but his coach from the time he was three years old has been Wild's stepfather, Steve Wild, who did most of the coaching from the Armstrong player's box today.

"He's coached my mom, so obviously he's a great coach, and I couldn't ask for a better grandpa," said Secord, from Lake Forest Illinois. "I know he would like me to listen to him a little bit more, but I know he's right most of the time, but he's great to have by me."

Secord and Kennedy are among the seven American boys in the round of 16, with unseeded Marcel Latak and No. 4 seed Keaton Hance also winning today to join No. 8 seed Jordan Lee, No. 12 seed Andy Johnson and unseeded Tanishk Konduri in the Wednesday's third round. 

Latak saved two set points in the first set of his 7-6(7), 6-4 win over University of Oklahoma freshman Tito Chavez, one with Chavez serving for the set at 6-5 and one at 5-6 in the tiebreaker. But with his confidence high from seven straight wins, including the J300 title last week in Repentigny, Latak proved too good on those big points.

Hance won a 6-0 set again today, after posting one in his first round win over Pedro Chabalgoity of Brazil yesterday, only this time it was in the second set, not the first. The Australian Open finalist won an astounding 21 of 22 net points, and hit 32 winners and just 15 unforced errors in his 7-5, 6-0 win over Oliver Majdandzic of Germany.

Hance followed No. 2 seed Jamie Mackenzie onto Grandstand court, with both junior slam doubles champions looking to add a singles title in their final shot in New York.

Mackenzie may be one of the more well-known redheads on the juniors circuit, but he knows who the most famous tennis ginger is, and he’s met him.

"I got to meet Sinner, that was very cool," Mackenzie said Tuesday, after winning his second round singles match over Kanta Watanabe of Japan 6-2, 6-4. "There’s a special bond," he laughed.

“No, I didn’t talk to him for that long, just a few minutes, but he’s a great guy, really genuine,” Mackenzie said.

Mackenzie said playing on Grandstand, even with a sparse crowd, was a big adjustment compared to the outer courts assigned to most juniors matches.

 said it’s a big adjustment going from the outer courts here to the large stadium courts.

“It definitely makes a difference, because you have huge TV’s in the background, maybe playing other matches, or your score is scrolling, or you have people moving around," said the German by way of New Zealand (he moved to Dusseldorf when he was 12). "If you throw the ball up on a smaller court (to serve), there’s no stands there, but today there was. It’s a lot more difficult."

Mackenzie has just started college life at Texas Christian University, which has been a springboard for many current pros. Mackenzie cited his longtime relationship with former Horned Frog Cameron Norrie as a big reason why he chose the school.

“I’ve known him since I was 10, because my Dad coached him when he was a young boy," Mackenzie said of the 2022 Wimbledon semifinalist. “He’s been a great mentor for me. The things he’s managed to do are unbelievable.”

Mackenzie will next play fellow redhead Connor Doig of South Africa, who defeated qualifier Peter Ogunsakin of Nigeria 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.

"He's a tricky opponent because, you know, you don't quite know what to expect with him,” said Doig, a freshman at Baylor. “His level goes up and down a lot. In the third set, I just did better with my footwork, and I got more intense, and I was able to play better.”

Americans Melije Clarke and No. 6 seed Janae Preston joined the Penickova sisters, who won yesterday, in the third round, with Clarke defeating No. 13 seed Charo Esquiva Banuls of Spain 6-4, 7-6(3), and Preston coming back to defeat Avery Alexander of Canada 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.

Clarke served for the match twice, at 5-4 and 6-5 and played poor games each time, failing to earn a match point. But it was Esquiva who couldn't keep the errors at bay in the tiebreaker, after taking a 3-1 lead, as Clarke took the final six points of the match.

Preston is convinced that her recent losses, to Thea Frodin in the  18s Nationals final, and to Nao Hibino of Japan in the women's qualifying helped her find her way through today on Court 17.

"Yeah it hurt alot," said the 16-year-old from Henderson Nevada of her 6-1, 6-0 loss to Frodin in San Diego last month. "It's always the what ifs, but learn from it, move on, know it can happen. The thing I was most scared to happen, happened and now I can move on."

Preston said she's learned from her 30 wins and three losses this year on the World Tennis junior circuit that she doesn't have to play a perfect match to advance.

"It's all a different mindset now," Preston said. "I know I really want this and getting more experience in when I don't play well, like today, finding little mental shifts, findings ways to win, and that's been a really big change for me in a positive way."

Jana Kovackova hasn't lost a girls junior slam doubles match since the semifinals of 2024 Wimbledon, and her streak continued today, with she and partner Katerina Zajikova of Czechia, seeded No. 5, beating Jordyn Hazelitt of the United States and Marija Lauva of Latvia 7-5, 6-4.

Jana Kovackova has won four consecutive Grand Slam girls doubles titles, which is unprecedented, and is going for a calendar year Grand Slam here at the U.S. Open, partnering with fellow Czech Katerina Zajikova, with whom Kovackova has won both Roland Garros and Wimbledon this year.

But when asked about the possible achievement, Kovackova shrugged.

“It’s not like winning in singles, that would be better,” she said.

Kovackova, who said this US Open would be her last junior tournament, was asked about the possibility of winning her first singles Slam this week, as she’s the No. 2 seed. 

“Sorry, it’s not going to happen.”

Kovackova plays qualifier and Oklahoma State freshman Arina Malygina of Russia in the third round on Wednesday. Malygina defeated No. 15 seed Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi of India 6-3, 5-7, 7-5.

No. 3 seed and Australian Open girls champion Ksenia Efremova of France has struggled in slams since her title in January, winning just two matches in the final three junior slams of the year. Today she lost to Ruien Zhang of China 7-6(6), 6-2.

Tuesday's second round results of American juniors:
Melije Clarke d. Charo Esquiva Banuls[13](ESP) 6-4, 7-6(3)
Janae Preston[6] d. Avery Alexander(CAN) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
Polina Skliar[9](UKR) d. Isha Manchala[WC] 6-3, 6-2
Jana Kovackova[2](CZE) d. Hannah Ayrault[WC] 6-3, 6-3

Marcel Latak[SE] d. Tito Chavez(ESP) 7-6(7), 6-4
Keaton Hance[4] v Oliver Majdandzic(GER) 7-5, 6-0
Jack Kennedy[5] d. Benjamin Azar[Q](CAN) 6-0, 6-4
Jack Secord d. Yannick Alexandescou[9](ROU) 6-2, 6-4

Wednesday's third round matches featuring American juniors:

Marcel Latak[SE] v Dimitar Kisimov[10](BUL)
Tanishk Konduri v Simone Massellani(ITA)
Jack Kennedy[5] v Jack Secord
Andy Johnson[12] v Thilo Behrmann[7](AUT)
Keaton Hance[4] v Kirill Filaretov(RUS)
Jordan Lee[8] v Daniel Jade(FRA)

Kristina Penickova[WC][14] v Xinran Sun[1](CHN)
Annika Penickova[WC] v Ekaterina Dotsenko(RUS)
Janae Preston[6] v Polina Skliar[9](UKR)
Melija Clarke v Ruien Zhang(CHN)

While most of tennis fans at the US Open were focused on the Ashe quarterfinal between Alex Michelsen and No. 11 seed Frances Tiafoe on Ashe, several hundred surrounded Court 5 to see two generations clash in men's doubles. Each team won 140 points, but it was three-time US Open champions Rajeev Ram of the United States and Joe Salisbury of Great Britain defeating Ohio State's NCAA wild cards Nikita Filin and Brandon Carpico 7-6(6), 4-6, 6-4 to advance to the quarterfinals.

Filin served for the first set at 5-3, but two double faults gave the momentum back to Ram and Salisbury. The veterans, 42 and 34 respectively, took a 6-2 lead in the first set tiebreaker, only to see the Buckeyes pull even, then lose the final two points.

The collegians didn't make the same mistake in the second set, closing it out with confidence, but they let a 0-40 opportunity on the Ram serve slip away, and despite some Filin heroics in a six-deuce game to hold for 4-all, they couldn't put any pressure on Ram, who held at love, to immediately put Carpico in the spotlight serving at 4-5. This time they couldn't wriggle out of the 15-40 deficit, with Ram and Salisbury converting their first match point.

Filin and Carpico, the only NCAA wild card team to reach the third round in US Open history (wild card records go back only to the 1990s), were disappointed with the loss, but were able to see the positives of their run in New York.

"I think we've had a lot of respect from the other guys in college, but this will definitely add to it," said Carpico, a 21-year-old senior from Ohio. "And it will definitely put our names on the list of the pro teams to look out for us. We're known in the college world, but we definitely made a splash here, so everyone on the Pro Circuit now knows us I think. That's a good thing."

"Everything happens for a reason," said Filin, a 20-year-old from Illinois. "We're super grateful for the USTA and the US Open for giving us a chance, for our family and friends coming out and supporting us. We're only 20 and 21 and have a whole season ahead of us, and now with this points, maybe we can start playing Challengers, maybe some ATP tournaments and see where we are a year from now. Just keep going."

Tuesday's quarterfinal results of Americans:
Jessica Pegula[3] d. Emma Navarro[26] 3-6, 6-4, 6-3
Frances Tiafoe[11] d. Alex Michelsen 5-7, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 7-6(6)
Ben Shelton[8] v Carlos Alcarez[2](ESP)

Men's doubles round 3:
Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury(GBR) d. Brandon Carpico and Nikita Filin[WC] 7-6(6), 4-6, 6-4

 
Wednesday's quarterfinal match featuring an American:

Coco Gauff[4] v Mirra Andreeva[5](RUS)