ITA All-American Fields Feature Top Ten Talent; Stolarczyk and Malacek Replay Kalamazoo 16s Final in J200 Montreal Semis; Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury Retire; Gorzny Beats Basavareddy at Tiburon Challenger

The first major tournament of the ITA Division I fall season is coming up, with the long-running All-American Championships set to begin with pre-qualifying this weekend. The locations remain the same as in years past, with the the women in Cary North Carolina and the men in Tulsa Oklahoma.

Preseason No. 1 Lucciana Perez of Texas A&M did not enter, suggesting she will again skip the fall season, although she will still have an opportunity to play events that would qualify her for November's NCAA championships later this fall.

The top eight players in the preseason rankings who have entered are:

Carmen Herea[2], Texas

Luciana Perry[3], Ohio State

Teah Chavez[4], Ohio State

Piper Charney[6], Michigan

Irina Balus[7], Duke

Mia Slama[10], NC State

Jana Hossam[11], Florida

Amelie Van Impe[12], SMU

The four women from the preseason Top 10 preseason who are not on the women's list are: 

Lucciana Perez[1], Texas A&M

Aysegul Mert[5], Georgia

Cadence Brace[8], LSU

Evialina Laskevich[9], Oklahoma

Main draw wild cards were given to Mimi Xu of Duke and Emma Dong of Georgia, who received the ITA wild cards, and Tori Osuigwe of NC State, who received the host wild card. Katie Rolls of Virginia apparently did not need the wild card she earned as the women's ITA National Summer champion.

Except for Xu, none of those on the preseason newcomer list received main draw entry, but most are in qualifying, or at the bottom of the main draw alternate list.

Qualifying wild cards were given to Amara Brahmbhatt of Michigan State, who received the ITA wild card; host wild cards went to Claire An of Duke and Alanis Hamilton of North Carolina.

Duke and Ohio State are tied for the most players in the main draw before qualifying with four. 

The men's list is also missing the preseason No. 1, with Virginia's Dylan Dietrich not entered.

The top eight men from the preseason rankings who have entered are:

Paul Inchauspe[2], Princeton

Devin Badenhorst[5], Baylor

Keegan Rice[6], Virginia

Aidan Kim[7], Ohio State

Theo Papamalamis[8], Texas A&M

Gabriel Debru[9], Texas

Matthew Forbes[10], Ohio State

Jakub Vrba[11], Arkansas

Dietrich, TCU's Duncan Chan[3] and Michigan's Max Dahlin[4] are the only Top 10 players not entered.

The wild cards are Baylor's Louis Bowden, who won the ITA National Summer Championships, TCU's Roger Pascual, and host wild card Alvaro Frutos of Tulsa.

As with the women, many of those on the newcomer list are in qualifying, including No. 1 Luca Preda of Virginia, although No. 4 newcomer Jamie Mackenzie of TCU is notably absent.

Ohio State has six players in the main draw, no other school has more than three.

At the J200 in Montreal, both Kalamazoo 16s champion Kamil Stolarczyk and finalist Daniel Malacek won their quarterfinal matches, with No. 5 seed Stolarczyk beating top seed Joshua Adamson of Canada 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 and No. 4 seed Malacek beating No. 7 seed Caden Colburne of Canada 6-3, 7-6(6). The Kalamazoo 16s doubles champions will meet in the semifinals, with Malacek hoping to avenge his 6-4, 6-2 loss to Stolarczyk last month in Kalamazoo.

An article on Stolarczyk's US Open Junior Championships debut by Zootennis contributor Michael Lewis can be found at the Long Island Press.

No. 3 seed Erik Schinnerer also advanced to the semifinals, beating No. 8 seed Antoine Clavel of Canada 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 in today's quarterfinals. He will play No. 2 seed Antoine Genereux of Canada, who has beaten him twice in WT junior competition.

Two US girls have advanced to the semifinals, with No. 3 Ellery Mendell set to face top seed Avery Alexander of Canada and No. 4 seed Reiley Rhodes playing No. 2 seed Clemence Mercier of Canada.

Rajeev Ram, who won the 2003 NCAA doubles title as a freshman at Illinois, announced his retirement from professional tennis after he and Joe Salisbury lost in the semifinals of the men's doubles at the US Open last week. Today, Salisbury announced his retirement, at age 34, eight years younger than Ram. I was fortunate to be able to see them play the Ohio State team of Brandon Carpico and Nikita Filin in the third round of the US Open, and also was able to watch them compete on Louis Armstrong in 2023, when they went on to win their third straight US Open men's doubles title, after winning the Australian Open title in 2020.

Both are former ATP No. 1s, with two ATP Finals titles. Salisbury, who played his college tennis at Memphis, won 17 ATP titles, Ram 32. From 2020 to 2023, they were at the very top of the sport and although they have had success with other partners, it's difficult to think of one without the other given all their success over the past decade.

The ATP article on Ram's retirement ceremony at his last match is here; their coverage of Salisbury's retirement announcement today is here.

The first four quarterfinalists at the ATP Challenger 125 in Tiburon California have been determined after play today, with two wild cards advancing with wins over seeds.

This afternoon, JJ Wolf(Ohio State) continued his comeback with a 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-4 win over No. 8 seed Braden Shick(NC State); tonight Sebastian Gorzny(TCU, Texas) continued his summer of impressive results, beating No. 2 seed Nishesh Basavareddy(Stanford) 6-2, 6-4, by claiming the last four games of the match.

Gorzny and Wolf will play Friday in the quarterfinals.

The 2025 NCAA singles final will be played again Thursday, less than a year later, with top seed Michael Zheng(Columbia) facing Trevor Svajda(SMU). Zheng, who won his second NCAA singles title with a 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 win over Svajda at Baylor last November, advanced to the second round with a 6-1, 4-6, 7-5 win over qualifier Evan Zhu(UCLA) yesterday. Svajda defeated Blaise Bicknell(Florida, Tennessee) 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 to earn a rematch with Zheng. 

WT J500 Osaka Acceptances; Update on September Titles for American Juniors on World Tennis Junior Circuit

As always seems to be the case, the World Tennis J500 junior event in Osaka Japan, the only WT J500 on hard courts, is coming up next week, and I haven't been paying attention, what with the College Park J300, the Repentigny J300 and the US Open Junior Championships.

The acceptance lists, posted earlier this month, feature three US boys and seven US girls, including three girls who are also on the acceptance list for the Pan American Closed J300 in Spring Texas the week after Osaka: Carrie-Anne Hoo, Isabelle DeLuccia and Camille Allegre. It's possible they could play both, if they lose early in Osaka, but that's a tough turnaround.

The other four US girls in the main draw in Osaka are Jordyn Hazelitt, Lani Chang, who withdrew from the US Open Junior Championships at the last minute, Maggie Sohns, who withdrew from the Pan Am yesterday, and Scarlett Fagan. 

Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi of India and Hazelitt will likely be the top seeds.

The US boys competing are Navneet Raghuram, Izyan Ahmad, who is still entered at the Pan Am, and Tyler Lee. 

Kai Thompson of Hong Kong and Dan Brand of Israel are likely to be the top boys seeds.

The main draw cutoff for boys was 248 and for girls 232. The cutoffs for the J500 in Milan this spring after the withdrawal date were both in the 40s, so obviously the fields are not strong compared to other J500s.

After two weeks following only the J300 tournaments and US Open, it's time to review the titles for the American juniors who did not make the cuts for those events.

In the first week of September, 15-year-old Tristan Ascenzo won his first title on the WT Junior Circuit at the J30 in McKinney Texas, beating James Ross 6-4, 2-6, 7-5 in the final. The boys doubles title in McKinney went to unseeded Joseph Kim and Aryan Ponugoti, who beat Ross and Marko Mikic, also unseeded, 6-2, 6-3 in the final. Fifteen-year-old Reena Alavalapati won the girls singles title, beating Saanchi Dalal 6-4, 3-0, retired, in the final. Alavalapat, with partner Emily Golovanov, completed the McKinney sweep with a 6-3, 7-6(5) win over top seeds Mliena Jandera of Australia and Lais Mika Shibata of Brazil in the girls doubles final.

Fourteen-year-old Evija Thoresen swept the girls titles at the J60 in Dallas, with the unseeded blue chip beating qualifier Nicole Alexandrovich 6-2, 6-3 in the championship match. Thoresen and Anna Scott Laney, the top seeds, defeated unseeded Sofia Bartolata and Camilla Kostik 6-0, 6-1 in the doubles final. 

Ascenzo lost in the boys singles final to Canadian Collum Mackinnon 6-2, 5-7, 7-6(1).

Unseeded Marko Mikic and Sebastian Zavala won the doubles title in Dallas, beating No. 2 seeds Peter Nistad and Canada's Thomas O'Neill 6-3, 4-6, 10-6 in the final. 

At the J30 in Minneapolis, 14-year-old Ishaan Marla won his first WT Junior Circuit singles title, beating Dylan Warn 6-1, 6-4 in the final. Top seeds Simon Hayal and John Murphy won the boys doubles title, beating Joshua Latour and Warn 6-1, 3-6, 10-8 in the final. 

Fifteen-year-old Daniela Del Mastro, who lives in the Minneapolis area, won her first WT Junior Circuit title, beating Avita Beitler 7-5, 6-2 in the final. Sydney Barnhart and Kasia Chen defeated Del Mastro and Beitler in the girls doubles final 7-6(5), 0-6, 12-10.

At the J60 in Eau Claire Wisconsin, the 16-year-old Beitler got her revenge, defeating Del Mastro 7-5, 6-1 in the girls singles final for her first title on the WT Junior Circuit.

Top seeds Sophia Budacsek and Colombia's Alicia Londono won the girls doubles title, beating No. 3 seeds Beitler and Del mastro 3-6, 7-5, 10-4.

Sixteen-year-old Alex Totoian won the boys title in Eau Claire, his second on the WT Junior Circuit, beating wild card Ethan Turunen 4-6, 7-6(7), 6-4. 

Joshua Dolinsky and Piotr Gradzki won the boys doubles title, beating Sebastian Cheaney and Antanas Daugis 7-6(4), 6-4 in the final. 

Sixteen-year-old Nirbhay Agarwal won his first title at the J30 in India last week, with the No. 2 seed beating unseeded Chukka Lakshya Vardhan of India 6-0, 7-5 in the final. Sixteen-year-old Aditi Paturi won her first WT Junior Circuit title in doubles, with partner Prachi Malik of India. The unseeded pair defeated top seeds Disha Kumar and Riddhi Shinde of India 6-0, 6-1 in the final.

At the J30 in Colombia last week, 16-year-old Luciana Chica won her first WT Junior Circuit singles title, and her third doubles title. She defeated Odritza Anyelina Sequera Freitez of Venezuela 6-3, 6-3 in the singles final and partnered with Colombian Sara Sofia Lopez Gutierrez for the doubles title. The No. 4 seeds beat No. 2 seeds Sequera and Maria Camila Velez Aristizabal of Colombia 7-6(4) 6-4 in the final. 

Riley Anson reached the final of the J200 in China last week, with the unseeded Southern Californian falling to No. 5 seed Alexey Shibaev of Russia 2-6, 7-6(5), 7-6(3).

This week's World Tennis Junior tournament in the United States is a J100 in San Antonio, and with a Friday finish, the quarterfinals already set, with neither draw's top two seeds are still in contention.

Daniil Berezin beat top seed Felipe Mamede of Brazil 7-5, 6-2 and wild card Smyan Thuta defeated No. 2 seed Anay Kulkarni 6-4, 6-2 in the second round to advance to the quarterfinals, along with six other Americans.

Anna Scott Laney defeated top seed Sophia Budacsek 6-4, 6-3 in the first round, and Autumn Xu beat No. 2 seed Sydney Wright 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, also in the first round. Thirteen-year-old Nikol Davletshina, who lives in the US but represent Russia, is the only non-American in the girls quarterfinals.

There's a J200 in Montreal this week that has also drawn many Americans, with Kalamazoo 16s finalists and US Open doubles quarterfinalists Daniel Malacek[4] and Kamil Stolarczyk[5] through to the quarterfinals, as is No. 3 seed Erik Schinnerer. 

Five US girls are through to the quarterfinals: Sylvana Jalbert[6], Ellery Mendell[3], Kalista Papadopoulos[8], Reiley Rhodes[4] and Aarini Bhattacharya[7]. Avery Alexander and Clemence Mercier of Canada, the top two seeds, are also through, playing Jalbert and Bhattacharya respectively.

J300 Pan Am Closed Acceptances; Tiburon Challenger 125 Qualifying Complete, First Round Underway; Tien and Damm Added to US Davis Cup Team's Tie With Czechia Friday

The World Tennis J300 Pan American Closed in Spring Texas is a week early this year, but there is a two-week span between the US Open and it. While that's a quick turnaround for American juniors, it's downright luxurious compared to the European Championships, a closed J300 in Austria, which began today.

The fields for the European Championships, which used to be among the prestigious event on the World Tennis junior calendar when it was in Switzerland in July are not good, with only one Top 10 boy, US Open semifinalist Thilo Behrmann, who I doubt would be playing if it were not in Austria. There are no WT top 25 girls in the field, with No. 30 Emily Eigelsbach of Germany the top seed.

In Spring Texas, the girls field does not contain any of the top US girls, although US Open semifinalist Melije Clarke, who lives nearby, said last week that she has not decided whether defend her title. She will need a wild card to do so, as she has not entered. 

ITF J300 San Diego finalist Avery Alexander of Canada, at 62, has the highest ranking as of now. The top 100 Americans girls in the field are Hannah Ayrault, Maggie Sohns, Sarah Ye, Kennedy Drenser-Hagmann, Nancy Lee, Ireland O'Brien, Adla Lopez, Carrie-Anne Hoo, Emery Combs and Armira Kockinis.

The boys field has five Top 50 players, all Americans: Andrew Johnson, Tanishk Konduri, Vihaan Reddy, Marcel Latak and Safir Azam, although I don't think Latak will be there after his titles the past two weeks; from what he said in his interviews after winning the US Open boys title, he will primarily be playing the USTA Pro Circuit this fall. Johnson reached the Pan Am final last year, losing to Michael Antonius.

The only USTA Pro Circuit tournament is the ATP Challenger 125 in Tiburon California, with the qualifying completed today and five first round matches played.

Three Americans have qualified: Ryan Seggerman(Princeton, UNC), wild card Bryce Nakashima(Ohio State) and Evan Zhu(UCLA). The other three qualifiers are current or recent collegians: LSU sophomore Erik Arutiunian of Belarus, Timo Legout(Texas) of France and Luca Staeheli(NC State) of Switzerland.

Michael Zheng(Columbia), now up to 88 in the ATP rankings after reaching the third round of the US Open, will defend his title as the top seed, with Nishesh Basavareddy(Stanford), the 2024 Tiburon champion, is the No. 2 seed.

Wild cards were given to Aidan Mayo, JJ Wolf(Ohio State) and Sebastian Gorzny(TCU, Texas).

In today's first round action, Wolf defeated Argentina's Luciano Ambrogi, a recent addition to the Oklahoma roster, 6-2, 6-0; Patrick Maloney(Michigan) beat Alastair Gray(TCU) 6-3, 5-7, 7-6(3); No. 4 seed Michael Mmoh defeated Karue Sell(UCLA) 6-3, 6-2 and Abdullah Shelbayh(Florida) got past Tyler Zink(Georgia, Oklahoma State) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. Fifth seed Tristan Boyer(Stanford) and Edward Winter(Pepperdine) of Australia are playing tonight. 

The USTA announced today that Tommy Paul and Taylor Fritz have withdrawn from this weekend's Davis Cup second round qualifying against Czechia in Prague. Learner Tien(USC) and Martin Damm have been named to replace them and will be making their Davis Cup debuts. Ben Shelton(Florida), Christian Harrison and Austin Krajicek(Texas A&M) round out the roster.

Play begins Friday on the O2 Arena's indoor hard courts with two singles matches; a doubles match and two more singles matches follow on Saturday if necessary. Captain Tomas Berdych's team consists of Jakub Mensik, Jiri Lehecka, Tomas Machac and Vit Kopriva. The winner advances to the Davis Cup Final 8 later this fall.

Shelton Falls in US Open Men's Final; More on Marcel Latak's Stunning US Open Boys Title

Ben Shelton was unable to end the major drought for American men in the US Open singles final this afternoon on Arthur Ashe, with the 2022 NCAA champion falling to Roland Garros champion Alexander Zverev of Germany 6-3, 7-6(2), 5-7, 6-2. So the streak of no American man winning a slam singles title, last done by Andy Roddick at the 2003 US Open, continues.

But one such streak is over. Marcel Latak relieved Taylor Fritz of all the "since" questions by winning the US Open boys title, last done by an American boy in 2015, when Fritz defeated Tommy Paul.

I can't believe it was barely a month ago that I sat down next to Latak as he waited to be called for his back draw match after losing a 6-4, 5-2 lead to Andy Johnson in the round of 16. He was disappointed, and has made reference to that loss several times in interviews this week, but he obviously learned from it and got right back on the horse. After another tough loss, serving for the match at 5-3 in the third, against doubles partner Tanishk Konduri in the second round at College Park, Latak went to Canada. There he won his first J300 title and eight days after that he is a junior slam champion.

Chris Oddo has written about several US juniors for the USTA's Inside American Tennis Substack newsletter, and he was one of three reporters who got an extra 10 minutes with Latak in Interview Room 2 after his formal Interview Room 1 press conference.

His article on Latak is here.

The other reporter in Interview Room 2 , aside from Oddo and me was Michael Lewis, who contributed substantially to the Zootennis coverage at the US Open this year and also was providing articles about Latak to the Times of San Diego, where the Illinois native trains. 

Lewis's semifinal article is here; his article on the riveting final is here.

Latak Saves Three Match Points in Third-Set Tiebreaker to Win US Open Boys Title; Sun Reverses Wimbledon Final Result for First Junior Slam Title; Penickovas Claim Another Girls Doubles Title; Harrison and Skupski Win Men's Doubles

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

Although the women's final between the world's No. 1 and No. 2 players was on the horizon, most of the buzz on the grounds of the USTA Billie Jean King Tennis Center an hour before that championship match was about the boys final.

For nearly three hours, unseeded American Marcel Latak and top seed Guto Miguel of Brazil battled to a draw, as the crowd around Court 12 swelled and the tension mounted. The Brazilians, famous for their chants and their passion, did all they could to get their player over the finish line, but Latak never wavered, closing out his 3-6, 7-5, 7-6(13) victory with three consecutive winners.

Latak had built a 7-2 lead in the 10-point tiebreaker, but lost four straight points to give Miguel's hundreds of fans, who had little to cheer about at that stage, some hope. Latak hit a good first serve to make it 8-6, following that with another first serve and a forehand winner to give himself three match points. 

Miguel then brought out his best serving of the match to swat away the first two, and when Latak double faulted at 9-8, the Brazilian fans celebrated loudly, sensing Miguel had turned the tide for good.

But Latak showed no sign of frustration or disappointment after sending that second serve long.

"I wasn't too upset," said the 17-year-old from Darien Illinois, who was No. 76 in the World Tennis junior rankings before he won the J300 in Canada last week. "I went for the second serve. I'd missed so many second serves not going for it, so if I'm going to miss it, at least I went for it."

Latak demonstrated that philosophy again in the next rally, with Miguel the first one to blink after Latak hit forehand after forehand to each corner to coax an error and earn a fourth match point.

Miguel saved that one with an ace, and hit another good first serve to earn his first match point, but Latak countered with a brave forehand into the corner that forced an error. Latak hit a backhand long to give Miguel a second match point, and he again made his first serve, got a weak return and missed the short forehand well wide.

"I could have had more courage," said Miguel, who dropped to his knees briefly after that unforced error. "Especially the forehand that I missed. I won't sleep for two days thinking about that."

Another good first serve gave Miguel his third match point at 13-12, but that's when Latak found another level. He pummeled a forehand winner off a short ball, with the chants of USA from the crowd growing louder and more confident. A first serve and two more big forehands, the second a clean winner, gave him his fifth match point as he gestured 'right now' to his player's box which held his mother Klaudia, traveling coach Maciej Rajski and Stanford head coach Paul Goldstein, where Latak is heading in 2027.

Latak said he guessed that Miguel would go up the T on match point No. 5, allowing him to handle yet another first serve by Miguel, then sent another forehand deep in the corner.

"I was just praying that he'd hit that forehand down the line, and he did," said Latak, the 2025 Kalamazoo 16s champion. "The second I saw that he hit it to my backhand, I knew I was going to win the point."

Latak had the whole court open and he didn't hesitate, crushing the backhand for a winner, dropping his racquet and collapsing on the baseline. As the cheers and applause of the enthralled fans  continued, Latak made his way over to his player's box to share with them the improbable conclusion to a stunning tournament.

Latak, who beat the Australian Open boys champion in the first round and the Roland Garros champion in the final, as well as the No. 10, No. 4 and No. 2 seeds in between, hadn't quite grasped what he'd accomplished, even after being introduced on Ashe as the US Open boys champion during the women's final.

"It hasn't really set in yet, like, hey, you really did this," said Latak, who is the first American boy to win the US Open since Taylor Fritz defeated Tommy Paul in 2015. "Maybe tomorrow morning when I wake up, I'll definitely feel it."

Latak said this run of 12 wins in two weeks taught him just how  much his mindset effects his game.

"Me, a year ago, wouldn't have been able to deal with all the bumps I've had every single match," Latak said. "I've really realized how, I guess, gritty, I can be on the court."

Latak, who will move into the junior Top 10 and is now in the running for the Junior Finals in Chengdu China next month, knows this changes how the rest of the junior circuit views him.

"Today was the last day I'll be an underdog," said Latak, who is expecting to play more on the USTA Pro Circuit this fall. "People are coming for me now."

Miguel had already announced that this would be his last junior tournament, and after reaching the semifinals of an ATP Challenger 75 in Jamaica last month, he is already at 660 in the ATP rankings.

"Now the real journey starts," Miguel said. "We didn't finish the way we wanted, but it still was positive. It escaped from my hands and I'm really sad about this part. I was so close to my second grand slam, but we're confident we're on the right way."

The celebration Latak is planning is a simple one: pizza.

"Any New York slice," Latak said. 

The expression “third time’s the charm” isn’t one that 16-year-old Chinese player Xinran Sun seemed to be familiar with.

But it applied in a big way to her in Saturday’s US Open girls singles final. After losing in the final at Roland Garros and Wimbledon this year, Sun was in her third straight championship match, here at Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

And this time, Sun finished the job. After losing a one-set lead, she dominated the final set and captured her first slam singles title, beating No. 5 seed Anna Pushkareva of Russia, 6-4, 4-6, 6-0 on Court 7.

“It was really big pressure, because you know I have been in the final for the third time, and I lost the first two times, so it's really such a big experience,” Sun said. “This time, I want to focus more on my tactic and don’t think about the result.”

Pushkareva had beaten Sun in the Wimbledon final in July, in the longest girls final in that tournament’s history.

Saturday’s match didn’t come close to approaching that drama, but was still competitive and compelling.

Sun came out strong at the start, breaking serve in the fourth game to snag a 3-1 lead. An ace on game point boosted her to a 4-1 edge, and after a slight wobble got Pushkareva back within 5-4, the 18-year-old Russian couldn’t get back on serve, double-faulting on set point.

But Pushkareva came back strongly in the second set, breaking Sun at 1-all and maintaining the lead throughout the set.

“I always say I try not to think too much, so after the second set I didn’t want to think about the third,” said Pushkareva, a 17-year-old from Moscow.

“I congratulate her; it’s already her third (slam) final and I’m so happy for her. She really, really deserves this,” Pushkareva graciously added.

Sun came out on fire in third set, holding serve, then breaking, then holding serve again to go up 3-0 trying to win her first Grand Slam title.

“I was thinking in that moment (after the second set), because in the second set I think I played so soft, and I think in the third set I need change something,” Sun said. “So I tried to play more aggressive.”

Sun said she even took some fan’s advice during the match.

“They were saying my name and saying, Come on, come on, you can do it,” Sun said of the crowd. “And I heard some guy said some tactic for me. Yeah, it really works. I tried it.”

When Pushkareva’s final slice backhand fell harmlessly into the net, Sun immediately dropped her racket and started crying, as she brought her hands up to her face. These tears, however, were of a different variety than those she shed after losing the Wimbledon final from a set up.

Sun shook the chair umpire’s hand and continued sobbing while going to embrace her team.

Sun, who has been training in Serbia for the past five years, said she will play the year-end World Tennis Junior Finals in China in October, but isn’t sure she’ll play any further junior tournaments.

\

While Latak and Sun were collecting their first junior slam titles,  Annika and Kristina Penickova were adding to their collection, with the 17-year-old twins defeating the unseeded Russian team of Polina Berezina and Alisa Terentyeva 7-6(11), 6-3.

The Penickovas, who won the Australian Open girls doubles title in 2025, began to figure out how to counteract the aggressive game of their opponents.

"We definitely got them scared a little bit," said Annika, the left-hander. "When they were serving they were looking to poach a little more, so having a good return when they hit a weak serve kind of takes that option away from them. At the end we had good returns, were serving well and got them to back off, back up a little."

"It's absolutely amazing to win another slam with Annika," said Kristina, who won Wimbledon last year with Vendula Valdmannova of Czechia when Annika was out with an injury. "Especially at the US Open, the home slam, it always adds an extra cherry on top."

The Penickovas played women's qualifying and women's doubles so they have been in New York for over three weeks, and are eager to get back to Orlando.

"It was a challenge to keep our minds focused and stay engaged the whole way through," Kristina said. "But we did a really good job of that, relaxing when we weren't here, having a good dinner in the city, we went to Brooklyn Bridge, so we had that time, but we stayed locked in when we had to and kept that momentum going."

There are very few doubles teams as longstanding as the Penickova sisters, and boys doubles champions Valentin Gonzalez-Galino of Spain and Aaron Gabet of France are on the other end of the spectrum.

This week, Gonzalez-Galino and Gabet were playing in their second tournament as a pair, having reached the semifinals of the J300 in Canada last week before withdrawing so that Gabet could play qualifying for the US Open Juniors. 

Against Latak and Tanishk Konduri in the final, which followed the boys singles final after about an hour of rest for Latak, the two left-handers squeezed by the Americans 7-6(5), 2-6, 11-9.

"We were friends, best friends, but we didn't get to play with each other," said Gonzalez-Galino, 17. "One was in qualifying, one in main draw. But this week we went for it and we won the tournament."

Up 7-2 in the match tiebreaker, Gonzalez-Galino and Gabet saw that lead evaporate, but Gonzalez-Galino did not attribute it to their nerves.

"They played really good from 7-2," said Bonzalez-Galino, "made some good decisions, and we missed some returns, but I returned insane at 9-all, backhand cross, and match point was a relief."

Konduri netted a forehand on that match point, and said his play was subpar given the fatigue Latak was no doubt feeling, mentally, more than physically, after his final.

"I missed returns, I didn't make first serves, I was just really disappointed with the way I played," said the 17-year-old from Northern California. "Me and Marcel have been super good in breakers for a while. But his (singles) match was brutal and I didn't feel I executed at all, in anything today."

Gabet, 18, who has won five J200 doubles titles this year alone and 17 overall, including today's title, has one explanation for their unexpected win.

"We are best friends and have that connection on the court," Gabet said. "We fit together and that's why we play very good together."

In the men's doubles final this afternoon, 2026 Australian Open champions Christian Harrison and Neal Skupski added another major title on hard courts to their resumes, with the No. 5 seeds defeating No. 6 seeds Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz(Auburn) of Germany 6-4, 7-6(6). For more on today's championship match, see this article from usopen.org.

Unseeded Latak Reaches Both US Open Boys Finals; Sun and Pushkareva Rerun Wimbledon Girls Final; Townsend Completes Career Slam with Women's Doubles Title; Shelton to Face Zverev for US Open Men's Title

©Colette Lewis and Michael Lewis 2026--

Flushing Meadows NY--

Marcel Latak's surprise at reaching the boys final at the US Open Junior Championships is exceeded only by his surprise at how he's done it. After defeating No. 2 seed Jamie Mackenzie of Germany 6-3, 7-6(2) Saturday afternoon, Latak was still struggling to comprehend that he hasn't dropped a set this week at the USTA Billie Jean King National Center, beating the No. 6, No. 10, No. 4 and No. 2 seeds.

"It's not getting to the finals that I'm shocked about, it's the way I did it." said the 17-year-old from Darien Illinois, who played his first and only main draw slam match last year at the US Open as the Kalamazoo 16s champion wild card. "Honestly that's the part for me that I can't believe. If I'd split every match and got to the finals, yeah, but to think how I've won these matches, haven't really had to dig them out."

Latak helped his case against the powerful Mackenzie by getting 71 percent of his first serves in and hitting six aces, complementing that with his strategy of first-strike tennis that has been so effective all week.

Mackenzie got his only break of the Latak serve to go up 3-1 in the second set, but Latak immediately got it back.

"Whenever I break, I have a hard time holding," Latak said. "So I knew that was the same for him. That was my best chance to get it back."

With no more breaks, the set went to the tiebreaker and Latak was determined to pounce early.

"The only thing in my head was 'good start', I needed to win first point or two," said Latak, who has now won 11 consecutive matches after taking the J300 title in Canada last Friday. "When he gets his momentum after winning one or two points, he starts playing really well. So if I could get the first break of the tiebreak, or something like that, it would be smooth sailing."

Latak again exceeded his expectations, winning the first four points, then extended his lead to 6-1 with a service winner and an ace. On his second match point, Latak was on defense, but hit a good defensive lob that resulted in a netted overhead by Mackenzie.

"Everyone loves an underdog story," Latak said. "In a way I have an advantage--no one thinks I'm going to do well, no one thinks I'm going to play well, so I can just take that pressure off myself and just go for it, every single match."

Latak is the fourth different American boy to reach a junior slam singles final this year, joining Keaton Hance(Australian Open), Michael Antonius(Roland Garros) and Jordan Lee(Wimbledon). 

Latak will of course be the underdog again in the final, against top seed and World Tennis junior No. 1 Guto Miguel of Brazil. Although Miguel posted a routine 6-4, 6-4 win over No. 7 seed Thilo Behrmann of Austria today, he has saved match points in two of his wins over Americans: one in the first round against wild card Daniel Malacek, and in three in yesterday's quarterfinal against Jordan Lee, in a match that lasted nearly three hours and ended in a 13-11 third-set tiebreaker.

Miguel cramped toward the end of that thriller, and then withdrew from his doubles match later that day and left the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center grounds.

Friday, he battled through "feeling really tired," to play some of his best tennis of the week, with Brazilian soccer legend Ronaldo making a surprise visit to his watch the semifinal on Court 7.

“I had no idea; I was shocked when I saw him at the court,” said Miguel, who had never met Ronaldo prior to today. “I know he’s a big tennis fan. When I saw him, I told him what a pleasure it was to have him there, and thank you for coming.”

The match with Lee yesterday, Miguel admitted, was emotionally and physically draining. If he had lost, after reaching the semifinals here last year, Miguel would have surrendered his No. 1 world ranking. Adding to the pressure was Lee's status as the Wimbledon boys champion, and a younger rival to boot.

"It was a bit tense and there was a lot of things around, so nobody wanted to lose,” Miguel said. "In the end I was just thinking how to find a way to win the match.”

Against Behrmann, Miguel broke early in the first set to snare a 3-1 lead and didn’t face a break point on his way to grabbing the lead.

In the second set Berhmann double-faulted to hand Miguel a break in the opening game, but the Austrian broke back for 2-all. Still, Miguel immediately broke again and held serve the rest of the way.

“I was really tired before the match, but when you step onto the field, you feel the fire, you know?” Miguel said.

Miguel and Latak have played once before, three years ago at the Wimbledon 14 and Under event, a match played on indoor hard courts due to rain, which Miguel won.

“I know he’s doing amazing this week, he hasn’t lost a set, right?” Miguel said. “I’ll have to be very careful.”

Latak compared Miguel's game to that of Mackenzie. 

"They play somewhat similarly," Latak said, after mentioning Miguel's explosiveness and his ups and downs. "Guto is definitely a way more physical player, but in a sense I feel it's somewhat similar. But if I go for it, at all times, 24/7, I feel I'll give myself a pretty good chance."

While the boys finalists haven't played since the Wimbledon 14s in 2023, Xiran Sun and Anna Pushkareva's meeting came at the All England Lawn Tennis Club just two months ago.

Pushkareva, who came back to beat Sun 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 in front of thousands of fans on Court One, eliminated No. 2 seed Jana Kovackova of Czechia 6-1, 7-5 in today's semifinal on Court 10. 

Pushkareva, seeded fifth, dominated the first set, and went up a break to start the second, but Kovackova steadied herself, with a fourth straight break making it 2-all. Kovackova countered Pushkareva's more powerful game with more point construction and fewer errors in the second set, but Pushkareva kept playing aggressively, and found herself serving for match at 5-4. 

Pushkareva fell behind 0-30, got it to 30-all but Kovackova forced an error and converted the break point when Pushkareva sent a backhand long. Only momentarily frustrated, Pushkareva got her fourth break of the set, with Kovackova double faulting on the second break point, with a second chance, Pushkareva made the most of it, serving well and hitting her ground strokes confidently to close it out.

Pushkareva is at peace with the errors that she know are part of the game style she's chosen.

"A bit of mistakes, it's ok," said the ebullient 17-year-old from Moscow. "You can't play the whole match the best match of your life. You can't play without mistakes in my tennis, my game. So I can't not do the mistakes, but of course, I was really stressed. I won today, because my dominant game was not bad."

Pushkareva, is looking forward to meeting Sun again as she tries to become the first girl to win Wimbledon and US Open titles in the same year since Kirsten Flipkens in 2003.

"If I lose to her, I know it will be a great battle," Pushkareva said. "When I play against her, I need to think a lot, every time she knows what to do to win. To play against her is really interesting, it's really curious, and that's why I love tennis, actually."

Pushkareva's run to the final has been one straight-sets win after another; Sun's 7-5, 0-6, 6-1 win over American Melije Clarke was impressive for her resilience, a quality she displayed regularly throughout the week.

The 16-year-old from China has had an absolutely spectacular year, reaching two junior slam singles finals: at Roland Garros and at Wimbledon, falling in the finals both times.

But Sun did what she nearly always does: rebound and win. She broke Clarke in the fourth game of the third set and pulled away for a 7-5, 0-6, 6-1 win.

“I just told myself, whatever, lose or win, you just focus on the point and focus on your tactics,” Sun said.

Sun and Clarke had a ferocious battle in the first set, staying even with each other until Clarke broke serve to go up 5-4.

But she was unable to close out the set, with three forehand errors in succession when she reached set point.  Sun, the more experienced player, then held serve and broke again to claim the lead.

Clarke admitted that she was thinking about that missed opportunity in the first set, but it freed her to just swing away.

"I think I just started playing like 'I don't care,'" said the 17-year-old from Houston, who was playing in her first junior slam semifinal. "I have nothing to lose at that point, and I just started thinking about small things I wanted to improve from the first set, and not thinking too much about the outcome."

In the third set, Sun said she also tried to stay focused and not think about what was at stake, and now that it’s here, she believes she’ll feel less pressure.

"Last time (at Wimbledon), I really didn’t rest good and I had so much pressure on me, because I wanted it a lot," Sun said. "This time, I will sleep well, and there’s less pressure on me."

While Sun lost her doubles semifinal with partner Mariia Makarova of Russia today, with the top seeds falling to the unseeded Russian team of Polina Berezina and Alisa Terentyeva 6-2, 6-1, Latak will be competing for a second title after his singles final.

Latak and Tanishk Konduri will face unseeded Aaron Gabet of France and Valentin Gonzalez-Galino of Spain for the boys doubles title, who defeated the unseeded British team of Mark Ceban and Rhys Lawlor 6-4, 6-4.

Latak and Konduri, who have been playing together since the J300 in Bradenton last December, squandered three match points in the second set tiebreaker, but came back to defeat unseeded Safir Azam of the United States and Damir Zhalgasbay of Kazakhstan 6-3, 6-7(6), 10-5.

"I knew Marcel, of course he's riding so much momentum, but after playing so many matches in so many days, I knew he'd be a little bit tired," said Konduri, a 17-year-old from Northern California. "I just took it upon myself to bring up the energy, get his adrenaline running; I was just loud, yelling, and I feel I did a pretty good job of that, and Marcel fell for my plan."

The girls doubles final tomorrow will not feature the ever-present Jana Kovackova for the first time in a junior slam since Wimbledon 2025, but it will feature junior slam champions: Kristina and Annika Penickova.

On their 17th birthday Friday the duo rolled to another junior slam doubles final with a 7-6(3), 6-2 semifinal win over Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi of India and Antonina Sushkova of Ukraine.

The win advances the Penickova twins to their second Slam doubles final after their championship at the 2025 Australian Open.

"It’s so special to make it to the finals here, doing it together here at the U.S. Open,” Annika Penickova said. “It makes it so much more exciting that it’s here."

Kristina Penickova said the sisters’ singles losses in three-setters earlier in the week provided extra motivation as they look toward another slam doubles title.

"Definitely not how we wanted it to go, but lots to learn from it and lots to take away from it," said Kristina, who won the 2025 Wimbledon girls doubles title with Czechia's Vendula Valdmannova, with Annika out due to injury. "[It] motivated us to do even better in doubles."

The boys and girls singles finals are unfortunately scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday and at the same time, with the boys playing on Court 12 and the girls on Court 7, which are not near each other. The girls doubles final is also at 11 a.m., on Court 14. The boys doubles final will be on Court 12 after Latak's singles match.

Latak is attempting to be the first American to sweep the singles and doubles at a slam since Robin Montgomery won the girls titles at the US Open in 2021, and Montgomery came close to another title today in the women's doubles final with partner Ashlyn Krueger.

The 22-year-olds, who received a wild card from the USTA,
threw a huge scare into world No. 1 team Katerina Siniakova of Czechia and American Taylor Townsend.

The USTA 18s and US Open girls doubles champions in 2021 grabbed the first set 7-5 before Siniakova and Townsend rallied for a 5-7, 6-0, 6-2 win.

Montgomery and Krueger were looking to replicate the feat of Siniakova and Barbora Krejickova, who won the girls doubles crown in 2013 and the women’s title in 2022.

"I think what we've just done has been amazing,” Montgomery said. “I think we did forget that we were offered a wild card, so I'm just glad we made good use of it, and I'm glad we were able to come back together and continue playing here, especially with our success in juniors."

"I'm really proud of us," Krueger said. "I think the last two weeks have been amazing for both of us, and really happy that I got to do it with Robin."

Townsend and Siniakova have now completed a career slam in women's doubles, with the US Open the last of the four they need for that feat. Siniakova has now made history by doing it twice with a different partner; she won all four majors the first time with fellow Czech Barbora Krejcikova.

For more on the women's doubles final, see this article from usopen.org.

Ben Shelton is through to the US Open men's final Sunday, winning tonight's all-American semifinal over Frances Tiafoe 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-5. Shelton, the No. 8 seed, will play top seed Alexander Zverev of Germany in an attempt to end the 23-year-old major singles title drought for an American man. Roland Garros champion Zverev reached his second major final of the year with a 6-3, 7-6(7), 7-6(6) win over unseeded Karen Khachanov of Russia.