Top Seed Jamrichova Claims Australian Open Girls Title, Sakamoto Captures Boys Singles Championship; All-US Boys Final at ITF J300 Coffee Bowl

Renata Jamrichova of Slovakia was the No. 1 seed at the last junior slam, but the 16-year-old lefthander came up short in New York, falling in three sets to No. 9 seed Tereza Valentova of the Czech Republic. Once again the top seed this week Australia, Jamrichova lived up to role as favorite, defeating No. 6 seed Emerson Jones of Australia 6-4, 6-1 for the Australian Open girls singles title.

Jones started the match well, getting an early break and holding three times for a 4-1 lead. But Jamrichova adjusted to the occasion and the atmosphere of the Rod Laver Arena, saved a break point serving at 1-4 and went on to win 14 of the next 15 points to serve for the set at 5-4. Jamrichova had to save a break point at 30-40 in that game, but her serve was there when she needed it and she closed out the set.

When Jones was broken for the third straight time to open the second set, an air of inevitability seemed to set in, and Jamrichova quickly won three more games, for a total of nine straight, before Jones held for 4-1.

Jamrichova had to save two break points to go up 5-1, but Jones's unforced errors began to pile up and she was broken in the final game.

Jamrichova is the second Slovakian to claim the Australian Open girls championship, with Tereza Mihalikova winning the title in 2015.

The girls final lasted just over an hour, while the boys final that followed was two hours and 13 minutes of twists and turns before No. 4 seed Rei Sakamoto of Japan closed out a 3-6, 7-6(2), 7-5 win over unseeded Jan Kumstat of the Czech Republic. 

Kumstat, playing in his first junior slam, showed no sign of nerves, getting one break, in the fourth game and making it stand up. His serve, often measured at more than 200 kph, was the key to his success, with 25 aces overall, but Sakamoto didn't appear discouraged by all those balls flying by him. He kept himself in front throughout the second set, with neither playing facing a break point, then dominated in the tiebreaker, with Kumstat making several errors and losing both his service points from 2-3.

Unbothered by that poor game, Kumstat held to start the third, but Sakamoto finally got a break in the third game, only to give it back immediately. Kumstat's serve was still formidable, but his ground strokes were not as reliable as previously and he found himself down break points in his next two service games. He saved all four, and was two points from the title with Sakamoto serving at 4-5 deuce, missing a makeable forehand that would have given him a match point.  

Sakamoto held, and another tiebreaker loomed when Kumstat went up 40-0 serving at 6-5. But Kumstat lost that game after five aces, saving three break points but not the fourth, double faulting, for just the third time in the match, to lose the game.

Sakamoto closed out the championship in style, hitting big serves and forehands to emphatically end the drama that had built throughout the final six games of the match.

The 17-year-old has now begun his last year of junior tennis on a 12 match winning streak, having won the title at the Traralgon J300 last week, and joins Shintaro Mochizuki, the 2019 Wimbledon champion, as the only Japanese boys to earn junior slam singles titles.

The boys final at the ITF J300 in Costa Rica will be an all-US contest, with Matisse Farzam facing qualifier Ian Mayew for the title. Farzam defeated No. 2 seed Miguel Tobon of Colombia 6-4, 6-1, while Mayew beat Max Dussault 6-3, 6-1. Farzam and Mayew played last year at the J300 in San Diego, with Farzam winning 7-5, 6-2.

The girls singles final, also between two Americans, features No. 7 seed Shannon Lam and unseeded Kristina Penickova.

The doubles finals will also feature American teams, with Noah Johnston and Benjamin Willwerth facing Canadians Mikael and Nicolas Arseneault. No. 3 seeds Lam and Thea Frodin will face No 4 seeds Ema Mravcova and Mia Pohankova of Slovakia in the girls final.