Doubles Partners Secord and Alvarez Earn Victories in Rain-Disrupted Wimbledon Junior Debuts; Klugman Returns to Juniors to Hone Game; NCAA Champions Navarro and Shelton Advance to Second Week

©Colette Lewis 2025--
Wimbledon--

A rain delay less than an hour into the start of the Wimbledon Junior Championships didn't halt the momentum of 16-year-old doubles partners Yannik Alvarez and Jack Secord, who came back out two hours later to finish their debuts with straight-sets victories.

Secord led No. 10 seed Ryo Tabata of Japan 6-2, 1-2 when the rain, featuring just occasional drops earlier in the match, intensified enough to require the impressive Wimbledon tarp patrol to spring into action.

Secord said the delay didn't i have a major impact on his focus or his game plan, although he did make one change in the second set.

"I didn't do much, just refueling, having good energy,"  said the left-hander from Lake Forest Illinois. "I didn't try to make my serves too good, I started to go based on where he was, instead hitting what are my better serves. I knew I had to just keep playing my game, think about what I'm going to do, and obviously it worked out."

Secord hadn't played Tabata, a semifinalist at Roland Garros last month, but had the benefit of scouting from Americans who had.

"My peers have all played him, I knew his game a little bit," Secord said. "He's got a great forehand, especially when you leave it sitting; you have to take it to him every point. He's a really good player."

Secord lost in the first round in singles at Roehampton last week to 2024 Australian Open finalist Jan Kumstat of the Czech Republic, but he was confident his game would ultimately thrive on the surface.

"I was kind of looking forward to grass, just because I grew up in Chicago playing indoor hard, and indoor and grass are similar," Secord said. "The footing's different, obviously, no sliding, I still haven't slid on grass yet, but I'm trying. It's super fun, and definitely easier on your body I feel like as well. And also my mom did well on grass too."

Secord's mother, the former Linda Harvey Wild is a member of the Wimbledon Last Eight Club, after reaching the semifinals of women's doubles in 1996. Also a member of the US Open Final Eight Club, she having reached the singles quarterfinals in New York that same year to make the WTA Top 25.

Closing out a first Wimbledon win over a seed can be daunting, but Secord let 40-0 lead slip away in the final game. He didn't put away a short forehand, giving Tabata a chance to throw up a defensive lob that was wind-aided, and although Secord got it back in play, Tabata eventually hit a winner to save that first match point. He put together several more to win the next three points, but Secord got  back to deuce and on match point No. 4, got a piece of luck that could not have happened last year.

For the first time, let serves are now played if they land in the box, which the three other junior slams had adopted years ago, but Wimbledon resisted until this year. Secord's serve clipped the tape and landed in, barely dropping over the net.

"I honestly thought it was going out when it hit the net, thought it was going wide," said Secord, who couldn't recall having that happen to him on a match point, for or against, in all his ITF Junior Circuit matches. "What a way to win."

Alvarez led 15-year-old British wild card Eric Lorimer by the same score as Secord led by when his match was suspended, his preparation was certainly not the same.

Alvarez, who lives in Georgia but represents Puerto Rico, played a J200 in Vera Cruz Mexico, where he reached the semifinals, before making the trip to London. Alvarez was accepted into the main draw at Wimbledon due to having an ITF Top 80 regional ranking, but that entry method is not available to J300s, so he would have been in qualifying at Roehampton.

"My dad wanted me to get points to keep the ranking up so I can get into future slams," Alvaraz said of his decision to play in Mexico instead of Roehampton. "I got here like three days ago, off a flight, hit like three times that day trying to get used to it. These (Wimbledon) courts are way faster, but just in better condition, the other ones are pretty bad."

Alvarez, who played Davis Cup in June, picking up a win in singles and doubles to contribute to Puerto Rico's promotion to World Group II for 2026, looked comfortable against a much less seasoned opponent.

"He's a strong player, very tall for his age, he was serve and volleying, putting on a lot of pressure, and I didn't really know what to expect," Alvarez said. "His forehand broke down more, so I was targeting that. His backhand was super solid, volleys really good, so I really had to find that break. I got broken one time in the second, but I was serving really well."

In addition to his serve, Alvarez was able to showcase several other valuable grass court skills.

"The patterns on grass are really effective: body behind the player, because it's tough to move," said Alvarez, who will not be playing Kalamazoo this year, but will instead play the Pan American Junior Games, beginning August 9th in Paraguay. "And my slice and net game suits the grass well."

Roland Garros girls finalist Hannah Klugman of Great Britain, the No. 2 seed, received a wild card into the women's singles at Wimbledon this year, but hasn't had any success on grass the past month, so her 6-4, 6-0 win over Sol Allin Larraya Guidi of Argentina was something of a relief.

"I always knew it would be tough, going from seniors to juniors," said Klugman, a 16-year-old who grew up in Wimbledon. "You're not the underdog anymore, people have nothing to lose against you, so I'm just happy to get it done."

Although she lost to Lilli Tagger of Austria in the Roland Garros final, Klugman ticked a box in Paris, and is now trying to negoiate the transition from juniors to the women's ITF and WTA tours.

"I'm happy I did so well at French, my goal was to do well in one of the [junior] slams, so I've done that now, and am kind of ready to move on, but these are just more matches for me, just to learn and to put the stuff I'm working on onto the court," said Klugman, who is limited by the WTA rules on the number of tournaments she can play at that level.

"I think I only get what is it? 12 tournaments?, so I'm kind of juggling to get high match count," said Klugman. "But also playing some senior tournaments, because I do think it is quite different, the ball speed is one thing I've realized. The juniors aren't far off, but there's a lot of things I need to improve on for sure."

Klugman experienced the new Electronic Line Calling system introduced this year at Wimbledon in her 6-1, 6-3 loss to No. 29 seed Leylah Fernandez of Canada, and at the US Open and Australian Open Junior Championships the past two years, but she can't help but mourn the loss of the line judges.

"I like it, because when it's out, it's out, I have nothing to complain about," Klugman said. "But I miss the aura of the line judges for sure. The fans, I think they miss it, more than the players."

While Klugman was successful in her opening round match, her compatriot and 2024 US Open champion Mika Stojsavljevic, seeded No. 7, lost to Mia Pohankova of Slovakia 7-6(4), 6-1. Stojsavljevic and unseeded Mimi Xu, who plays Thea Frodin Sunday, also suffered first round losses as women's main draw wild cards.

Top seed and 2024 finalist Emerson Jones of Australia advanced to the second round with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Julie Pastikova of the Czech Republic.

Due a second rain delay in the afternoon, four of the junior singles matches originally on Saturday's schedule were canceled and one, featuring American Maya Iyengar, was suspended at the end of the second set due to darkness.

Saturday's first round Wimbledon junior results of Americans:

Maxwell Exsted d. Rhys Lawlor[WC](GBR) 7-5, 4-6, 6-0

Jack Satterfield v Ivan Ivanov[6](BUL) postponed

Dominick Mosejczuk v William Moxon[WC] postponed

Ziga Sesko(SLO) d. Maximus Dussault 6-4, 6-2

Keaton Hance d. Aran Selvaraasan[WC](GBR) 6-1, 6-2

Max Schoenhaus[13](GER) d. Ryan Cozad 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 

Jack Secord d. Ryo Tabata[10](JPN) 6-2, 6-4

Maya Iyengar v Nauhany Leme Da Silva(BRA) 7-5, 6-7(1), suspended

Kristina Penickova[4] d. Nellie Taraba Wallberg(SWE) 6-3, 6-0

Sunday's first round Wimbledon junior matches featuring Americans:

Thea Frodin v Mimi Xu(GBR)

Julieta Pareja[6] v Maia Burcescu[Q]

Leena Friedman[Q] v Ruby Cooling[WC](GBR)

Maya Iyengar v Nauhany Leme Da Silva(BRA) 7-5, 6-7(1) to finish

Aspen Schuman v Yoana Konstantinova(BUL)

Jack Kennedy[8] v Oliver Bonding(GBR)

Matisse Farzam[Q] v Mark Ceban[WC](GBR)

Jack Satterfield v Ivan Ivanov[6](BUL) 

Dominick Mosejczuk v William Moxon[WC]

Gavin Goode[Q] v Ludvig Hede(SWE)

Noah Johnston v Zangar Nurlanuly(KAZ)

Jagger Leach[4] v Linus Lagerbohm([Q]FIN)

Ronit Karki[Q] v Flynn Thomas(SUI)

Benjamin Willwerth[7] v Gabriele Crivellaro(ITA)

NCAA champions Ben Shelton(Florida, 2022) and Emma Navarro(Virginia 2021) are through to the Wimbledon fourth round after victories today. The 10th-seeded Shelton defeated lucky loser Marton Fucsovics of Hungary 6-3, 7-6(4), 6-2 and No. 10 seed Navarro beat defending champion Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic, the No. 17 seed, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Michael Lewis spoke to former University of San Diego All-American August Holmgren of Denmark about his inspiring run to the third round of Wimbledon as a qualifier in this article for the Times of San Diego. 

Saturday's third round results of Americans:

Iga Swiatek[8](POL) d. Danielle Collins 6-2, 6-3

Mirra Andreeva[7](RUS) d. Hailey Baptiste 6-1, 6-3

Emma Navarro[10] d. Barbora Krejcikova[17](CZE) 2-6, 6-3, 6-4

Ben Shelton[10] d. Marton Fucsovics[LL](HUN) 6-3, 7-6(4), 6-2

Lorenzo Sonego(ITA) d. Brandon Nakashima[29] 6-7(5), 7-6(8), 7-6(2), 6-3, 7-6(3)

Sunday's fourth round matches featuring Americans:

Taylor Fritz[4] v Jordan Thompson(AUS)

Amanda Anisimova[13] v Linda Noskova[30](CZE)