Mosejczuk's Local Knowledge Leads to Biggest Win at US Open Junior Championships; Jovic, Grant and Forbes Extend Stay in New York; Navarro Makes Second Straight Slam Quarterfinal, Fritz and Tiafoe Reach Quarterfinals

©Colette Lewis 2024--
Flushing Meadows NY--

When he first came to the US Open as a child, Dominick Mosejczuk was more interested in getting some relief from the heat than watching tennis, finding the enticement of an indoor tennis game more appealing than pros playing tennis. Trying one of the USTA Smash Zone games, he collected prize after prize, leading to an invitation to lessons at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. 

More than a dozen years later, Mosejczuk earned an even bigger prize with his first junior slam victory, beating No. 7 seed Hayden Jones of Australia 6-3, 7-6(8) in the first round of the US Open Junior Championships.

"I came to the US Open for the first time when I was three years old, and not really liking watching matches, it's so hot, I wanted to go inside in the AC," said the 17-year-old wild card from Queens. "I saw there was a court in there (the American Express Pavilion) I was oh, I want to go play."

"So the game they had, they had prizes all around the court and if you hit the prize you get to keep it," said Mosejczuk, recalling the shirts and towels on offer. "I think it was beginner's luck, because I hit 10 prizes."

Three weeks later, Mosejczuk began lessons at the facility and trained there for more than five years, so when he stepped onto court 4 on a cloudy and humid afternoon for his junior slam debut, he was comfortable.

"I've trained on every single court here," said Mosejczuk, who returned to the National Tennis Center to work with USTA Player Development after several years at the John McEnroe Tennis Academy. "That's why when I was warming up, I felt like it was a hitting session. But then the nerves came in."

Mosejczuk said he fought nerves throughout the match, but his serve saved him as the contest got more and more physical.

"Usually it's my serve and forehand, but I was little bit shaky on the forehand today," said Mosejczuk, who trained for most of the past 12 months at the BTT Academy in Spain and also trains at the USTA National Campus in Orlando. "I felt my serve was really comfortable because my opponent can't affect me in any way. I was really confident using that in the breaker."

Mosejczuk had suffered a mentally and physically painful loss in the fourth round of Kalamazoo last month, losing to Mitchell Lee  7-5, 3-6, 7-6(5) in just under four hours.

"It was a difficult match, cramping at 5-4 in the third set breaker," said Mosejczuk. "It definitely hurt, I think it's still in the back of my head, so it's been really motivating for me. You learn most from when you lose and that one definitely hurt; it wakes me up in the morning, but as much as I hate it, I love it too."

Given that loss, avoiding a third set against Jones was the goal, and Mosejczuk had to save four break points serving at 5-all to give himself that chance.

Jones had the set on his racquet leading 5-4 and serving in the tiebreaker, but he lost both points. Jones saved the first set point with a good forehand, and the second when Mosejczuk missed a backhand volley. But a good serve at 8-all gave Mosejczuk a third match point and he converted it by somehow running down Jones' excellent backhand drop volley to extend the point.

"I don't know how I got there and dug it out," Mosejczuk said. "Definitely a really good win for me, so I'm super excited. Biggest win of my life, for sure."

That's quite a statement coming from the 2023 Orange Bowl 16s champion, but the combination of his win over an ITF Top 10 junior and his connection to the National Tennis Center certainly played a role in that.

Jones was the only Top 8 seed to lose Sunday, but many of the top boys and girls contenders were extended as they began their quest for a junior slam.

Wimbledon boys champion Nicolai Budkov Kjaer of Norway, the top seed this week, withstood a determined challenge from 16-year-old qualifier Keaton Hance and several annoyingly minor rain delays to come up with a 7-6(5), 7-5 victory.  Emerson Jones of Australia, a two-time slam finalist this year, was in a similar battle, including the rain disruptions, at the other end of the NTC against qualifier Maya Iyengar before emerging with a 7-5, 7-6(5) win.

Two of the other favorites in the girls draw, 16-year-olds Tyra Grant, seeded No. 2, and Iva Jovic,  seeded No. 3, advanced to the second round in contrasting fashion. Grant needed just 47 minutes to dispatch Mayu Crossley of Japan 6-0, 6-0, after Crossley had taken Grant to three sets at Wimbledon in July. 

"I knew what I had to do," said Grant, who lost in the first round of women's qualifying, but has been in New York ever since, practicing with pros. "I came with a pretty straightforward idea, just be aggressive, and it worked."

Grant, who played in the main draw of women's doubles with Jovic and has advanced to Saturday's quarterfinals of mixed doubles with Aleks Kovacevic, has been keeping busy on the practice court when not playing matches.

"Practicing with the pros, I'm lucky to know a lot of the pros," Grant said. "I hit with (Luidmila) Samsonova, hit with (Alycia) Parks, a bunch of them. Just being used to hitting with them, feeling that kind of ball, that's helped me so much."

Jovic had a straightforward first set, but trailed qualifier Gaia Maduzzi of Italy 5-2 in the second set before coming back for a 6-2, 7-6(2) victory.

Even after beating WTA No. 42 Magda Linette in straight sets last week in the first round, the 2024 San Diego 18s National champion is expecting similar challenges this week in the junior portion of the tournament.

"All of these girls, pretty much the top 10 seeds in the juniors, are all so good," Jovic said. "I think that any one of us, on any given day, can beat Top 50 pros. Just looking back at some of the matches, when Emerson(Jones) beat me at Wimbledon(in the semifinals), the level was just so high, so I'm expecting big battles here in the juniors."

Kalamazoo 18s National champion Matthew Forbes had a similar battle with a qualifier, beating Mika Petkovic of Germany 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, less than a week after holding his own against ATP No. 57 Roman Safiullin with his men's main draw wild card.

"It's more physical in the pros," said Forbes, who has started classes at Michigan State, but is currently taking just one class that isn't online. "I played the other day and I thought my body was going to die. I played three sets today, and I feel great, honestly. There is a little bit more expectation--I won Kalamazoo, I had a set point (against Safiullin)--but I have to get used to playing under pressure at some point."

For all the competitive matches, only four seeds lost, and just one in the girls draw, with wild card Annika Penickova defeating No. 12 seed Antonia Vergara Rivera of Chile 6-2, 6-3.

In addition to Jones, two other boys seeds lost in the opening round, with Nathan Trouve of France defeating No. 15 seed Miguel Tobon of Colombia 7-6(5), 7-5 and Noah Johnston closing out the night with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over No. 16 seed Marko Maksimovic of Serbia.

A combination of first and second round singles will be played Monday, as well as doubles.

The girls doubles draw does not feature Jovic and Grant, who are not playing this junior slam, due to their busy week leading up to the junior championships and Grant's mixed doubles success. The top seeds in the girls draw are Iva Ivanova of Bulgaria and Jeline Vandromme of Belgium.  The top seeds in the boys doubles draw are Maxim Mrva of the Czech Republic and Rei Sakamoto of Japan.

Sunday's first round results of American juniors:

Emerson Jones[1](AUS) d. Maya Iyengar[Q] 7-5, 7-6(5) 

Annika Penickova[WC] s. Antonia Vergara Rivera[12](CHI) 6-2, 6-3

Rositsa Dencheva[10](BUL) d. Monika Ekstrand[Q] 1-6, 7-6(4), 7-6(6) 

Wakana Sonobe[7](JPN) d. Kate Fakih[Q] 6-2, 6-2

Christasha McNeil[Q] v Luna Maria Cinalli(ARG) 7-5, 7-6(8)

Kanon Sawashirov[Q](JPN) d. Thea Frodin 6-3, 6-2 

Ishika Ashar[WC] d. Yelyzaveta Kotliar(UKR) 6-4, 6-3

Kaitlyn Rolls[13] d. Olivia Carneiro(BRA) 7-6(1), 2-6, 6-3

Kristina Penickova[9] d. Elizara Yaneva(BUL) 4-6, 6-2, 6-3

Teodora Kostovic[4](SRB) d. Julieta Pareja[WC] 6-4, 4-6, 6-0

Tyra Grant[2] d. Mayu Crossley(JPN) 6-0, 6-0     47 min

Iva Jovic[3] d. Gaia Maduzzi[Q](ITA) 6-2, 7-6(2)

Akasha Urhobo[16] d. Laima Vladson(LTU) 6-1, 6-1  (52 min)

Alanis Hamilton[WC] d. Lucia Urbanova(CZE) 7-6(4), 6-3

Valerie Glozman[WC] d. Yuliya Perapekhina(BLR) 6-3, 6-0

Julie Pastikova(CZE) d. Aspen Schuman 4-6, 6-1, 6-0

Malak El Allami(MAR) d. Capucine Jauffret[Q] 3-6, 6-3, 6-3

Dominick Mosejczeuk[WC] d. Hayden Jones[7](AUS) 6-3, 7-6(8)

Rafael Jodar[12](ESP) d. Ian Mayew 6-2, 7-6(3) 

Alessandro Battiston[SE] d. Gus Grumet[WC] 6-3, 6-4 

Cooper Woestendick[13] d. William Rejchtman Vinciguerra(SWE) 6-0, 6-2

Kase Schinnerer[WC] d. Reda Bennani(MAR) 6-3, 3-0 ret.

Matthew Forbes[WC] d. Mika Petkovic[Q](GER) 6-4, 4-6, 6-3

Rudy Quan[WC] d. Viktor Frydrych(GBR) 7-5, 6-1

Lorenzo Angelini[SE](ITA) d. Matisse Farzam[WC] 6-3, 6-2

Kaylan Bigun[2] d. Andreas Timini(CYP) 6-4, 6-2

Atakan Karahan(TUR) d. Maxwell Exsted 6-2, 2-6, 7-6(6)

Nicolai Budkov Kjaer[1](NOR) d. Keaton Hance[Q] 7-6(5), 7-5

Henry Bernet(SUI) d. Nikita Filin[WC] 7-6(3), 6-4

Noah Johnston d. Marko Maksimovic[16](SRB) 3-6, 6-3, 6-2

Max Schoenhaus[14](GER) d. Stiles Brockett[LL] 6-3, 6-2

Monday's first round matches featuring Americans:

Alexander Razeghi v Maxim Mrva[6](CZE)

Jack Kennedy v Mees Rottgering[4](NED)

Benjamin Willwerth[WC] v Theo Papamalamis[8](FRA)

Jagger Leach[9] v Denis Petak[Q](CZE)

Jack Secord[Q] v Oskari Paldanius(FIN)

Anita Tu[WC] v Noemi Basiletti(ITA)

Shannon Lam[WC] v Tereza Krejcova(CZE)

Tuesday's second round matches featuring Americans:

Dominick Mosejczuk[WC] v Petr Brunclik(CZE)

Kaylan Bigun[2] v Karim Bennani[LL](MAR)

Cooper Woestendick[13] v Timofei Derepasko(RUS)

Matthew Forbes[WC] v Nathan Trouve(FRA)

Rudy Quan[WC] v Rafael Jodar[12](ESP)

Ishika Ashar[WC] v Rositsa Dencheva[10](BUL)

Akasha Urhobo[16] v Eliska Tichackova(CZE)

Kristina Penickova[9] v Joy De Zeeuw(NED)

Annika Penickova[WC] v Kanon Sawashiro(JPN)

Kaitlyn Rolls[13] v Mika Stojasavljevic(GBR)

2021 NCAA singles champion Emma Navarro(Virginia) reached her second straight slam quarterfinal today, beating defending champion Coco Gauff 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. According to John Parsons of No-ad No-Problem, it is the first time an NCAA women's singles champion has reached the quarterfinals of the US Open.

Sunday's fourth round matches featuring Americans:

Emma Navarro[13] d. Coco Gauff[3] 6-3, 4-6, 6-3

Frances Tiafoe[20] d. Alexei Popyrin[28](AUS) 6-4, 7-6(3), 2-6, 6-3

Alexander Zverev[4](GER) d. Brandon Nakashima 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2

Taylor Fritz[12] d. Casper Ruud[8](NOR) 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2

Monday's fourth round matches featuring Americans:

Jessica Pegula[6] v Diana Shnaider[18](RUS)

Tommy Paul[14] v Jannik Sinner[1](ITA)