Johnson Makes Junior Slam Debut with Upset of Third Seed Alexandrescou; Woestendick and Exsted Fall in Three Sets in Men's Doubles; Vandromme Continues Winning Streak

©Colette Lewis 2025--
Flushing Meadows, NY--

Fun was the word of the day for three Americans competing at the US Open Championships Sunday, although only one of them left the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center with a victory.

Andrew Johnson, who celebrated his 16th birthday last week, shrugged off his opponent's medical timeouts and the nerves of his first junior slam appearance to beat No. 3 seed Yannick Alexandrescou of Romania  2-6, 7-6(0), 3-0, retired.

Another day of perfect conditions, with partly cloudy skies, low humidity and temperatures in the 70s, did not help Alexandrescou, who took three separate medical timeouts during the match.

"I think he was definitely feeling it from last week," said Johnson, noting that Alexandrescou had won the ITF J300 in College Park eight days ago and also played in the doubles final. "He did say he was cramping. I was down 3-0 in the first set and then at 3-2 he took a medical. As the match was getting closer and closer, maybe he started feeling it more, being tight. In the second set tiebreak, he started hitting a few (serves) underhand, 20 mile-an-hour serves and he wouldn't move to the next ball."

Johnson said his perspective helped him cope with all the distractions created by the atmosphere and by his opponent.

"I was just out there to have fun," said Johnson, who reached the Kalamazoo 16s final earlier this month. "This is my first grand slam and I was having fun. Someone would say my name in the crowd, and I didn't know them at all, and I'd look at them and smile. That's how I stayed focused, it didn't really bother me that much, just because I was having fun. This was a whole new experience, everyone cheering for me because I'm American."

Johnson will play fellow wild card Matisse Farzam in the second round Tuesday, after Matisse closed out the 48th junior singles match of the day after 9 p.m., earning a 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 victory over Linus Lagerbohm of Finland.

Kalamazoo 18s doubles champions Cooper Woestendick(TCU) and Maxwell Exsted lost to No. 6 seeds Neal Skupski(LSU) and Joe Salisbury(Memphis) of Great Britain 6-4, 1-6, 6-3, but playing with the support of most of the approximately 2000 fans on Stadium 17 provided a memory the two 18-year-olds won't forget.

"We just tried to have fun," said Exsted, who will play his first round match in the Junior Championships Monday. "We played like we had nothing to lose and it was just really a fun time out there."

Down a set, without a look at a single break point, the match was slipping away when Woestendick was broken at love to start the second set. But they got the break back, with a couple of missed overheads helping their cause and saved a break point in Exsted's service game to take the lead.

"Max did an unbelievable job," said Woestendick, who is returning to Fort Worth and classes at TCU Monday, as he is not eligible for the junior tournament with his 19th birthday in November. "Every single point he was trying to get the crowd going. We were down a set and a break and in that game he hits an unbelievable forehand on-the-run winner from ten feet behind the baseline," Woestendick said. "And suddenly, we had momentum, we had the crowd into it. Max did a great job."

"That was a good shot," said Exsted. "I did it and I felt some love, so we kept on riding the wave, kind of playing the crowd, and it worked."

Their break of Skupski in the fourth game was aided by his three consecutive double faults, and a third straight break and a love hold by Exsted made six straight games for the 2024 Australian Open boys champions.

Skupski took a bathroom break, and when he returned, he and Salisbury were back to their first set form, giving the teenagers no break point opportunities.

"We just didn't get that chance in the third, didn't hit that crazy shot or anything to get the crowd going, get a break point or a big point," Woestendick said. "We could have used one of those early in the third and just didn't get it. We lost one service game and that was it."

"I had a lot of fun today, and it's really fun playing with Cooper," Exsted said. "We have good chemistry on and off the court and I enjoyed it today."

No. 14 Jeline Vandromme of Belgium was facing a tough test against wild card Alexis Nguyen, a San Diego 18s Nationals semifinalist, but the 17-year-old extended her winning streak to 18 matches with a 6-0, 6-3 win. 

Vandromme, who won three ITF women's circuit titles in succession this month, is in a groove, and Nguyen could not shake the confidence those wins have created.

"It brings a calm mindset, and I think I was more confident," Vandromme said. "And it gave me a lot of extra experience too."

Vandromme lost in the first round at both Roland Garros and Wimbledon this year, after reaching the quarterfinals in both last year, but she chalks those losses up to lack of preparation, which she obviously did not have before her final junior slam.

"I had a foot injury before Roland Garros, so my preparation wasn't that good," Vandromme said. "In between Roland Garros and Wimbledon I had my last exams, so I'm done with high school, so that was probably not the best preparation period either."

Vandromme will face Kamonwan Yodpetch of Thailand in a second round match Monday.

Top seeds Julieta Pareja and Ivan Ivanov of Bulgaria moved into the second round with straight-sets wins, with Pareja beating Mika Buchnik of Israel 6-3, 6-1 and Ivanov defeating wild card Michael Antonius 7-5, 6-1. 

No. 3 seed Kristina Penickova escaped an upset at the hands of Nellie Taraba Wallberg of Sweden, saving a match point serving at 5-6 in the second set of her 5-7, 7-6(2), 6-3 victory.

Sunday's first round junior results of Americans:

Kristina Penickova[3] d. Nellie Taraba Wallberg(SWE) 5-7, 7-6(2), 6-3

Deniz Dilek(TUR) d. Kori Montoya[SE] 6-2, 6-3

Julieta Pareja[1] d. Mika Buchnik(ISR) 6-3, 6-1

Ruby Cooling[Q](GBR) d. Leena Friedman 3-6, 7-5, 6-3

Anita Tu[SE] d. Elizara Yaneva[13](BUL) 6-4, 6-2

Thea Frodin[16] d. Eugenia Zozaya Menendez(ESP) 6-4, 6-0

Kanon Sawashiro(JPN) d. Maya Iyengar 7-5, 6-1

Riyo Yoshida[Q](JPN d. Hannah Ayrault[WC] 7-6(4), 6-3

Bella Payne[WC] d. Daphnee Mpetshi Perricard[Q](FRA) 7-5, 6-4

Yushan Shao(CHN) d. Lani Chang[WC] 6-3, 6-2

Jeline Vandromme[14](BEL) d. Alexis Nguyen[WC] 6-0, 6-3

Hannah Klugman[2](GBR) d. Aspen Schuman[Q] 6-0, 6-2

Benjamin Willwerth[4] d. Cruz Hewitt(AUS) 6-3, 6-0

Tito Chavez[Q](ESP) d. Izyan Ahmad[Q] 6-3, 6-4

Ivan Ivanov[1](BUL) d. Michael Antonius[WC] 7-5, 6-1

Naoto Tomizawa[Q](JPN) d. Keaton Hance 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-2

Oliver Bonding[14](GBR) d. Jack Secord 4-6, 6-2, 7-6(0)

Jack Kennedy[9] d. Nikita Bilozertsev(UKR) 3-6, 6-4, 6-3

Matisse Farzam[WC] d. Linus Lagerbohm(FIN) 4-6, 7-5, 6-2

Alexander Vasilev[5](BUL) d. Tanishk Konduri[WC] 6-3, 7-6(6)

Maximus Dussault d. Hitesh Chauhan[Q](IND) 6-2, 6-3

Yannik Alvarez(PUR) d. Carel Ngounoue[WC] 7-6(5), 7-5

Michele Mecarelli(ITA) d. Marcel Latak[WC] 6-2, 6-3 

Noah Johnston d. Alejandro Arcila(COL) 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-0

Dominick Mosejczuk d. Pedro Chabalgoity[Q](BRA) 6-0, 6-3

Max Schoenhaus[8](GER) d. Vihaan Reddy[WC] 6-3, 6-2 

Jamie Mackenzie(GER) d. Jack Satterfield 6-3, 6-4

Andrew Johnson[WC] d. Yannick Alexandrescou[3](ROU) 2-6, 7-6(0), 3-0, ret.

Monday's first round junior singles matches featuring Americans:

Ronit Karki[15] v Ziga Sesko(SLO)

Gavin Goode[SE] v Kuan-Shou Chen(TPE)

Ryan Cozad v Alan Wazny[12](POL)

Roshan Santhosh[WC] v Zangar Nurlanuly(KAZ)

Simon Caldwell[Q] v Savva Rybkin(RUS)

Max Exsted v Karim Bennani(MAR)

Welles Newman[WC] v Kali Supova(SVK)

Tianmei Wang[WC] v Julia Stusek[5](GER)

Nancy Lee[WC] v Sonja Zhenikhova(GER)

Janae Preston[WC] v Nauhany Leme Da Silva(BRA)

Monday's second round junior singles matches featuring Americans:

Julieta Pareja[1] v Nadia Lagaev(CAN)

Anita Tu[SE] v Lea Nilsson(SWE)

Kristina Penickova[3] v Maia Burcescu(ROU)

Bella Payne[WC] v Mia Pohankova[4](SVK)

Maximus Dussault v Dante Pagani(ARG)

Benjamin Willwerth[4] v Hidde Schoenmakers(NED)

Noah Johnston v Max Schoenhaus[8](GER)

In addition to the 16 remaining first round matches, and 16 second round singles matches, first round doubles matches are also on Monday's schedule.  Alexandrescou and Ryo Tabata of Japan are the top seeds in the boys doubles; Hannah Klugman of Great Britain and Mia Pohankova of Slovakia are No. 1 seeds in the girls doubles.

Sunday's US Open fourth round singles results of Americans:

Jessica Pegula[4] d. Ann Li 6-1, 6-2

Barbora Krejcikova(CZE) d. Taylor Townsend 1-6, 7-6(13), 6-3

Taylor Fritz[4] d Tomas Machac[21](CZE) 6-4, 6-3, 6-3

Monday's US Open fourth round matches featuring Americans:

Coco Gauff[3] v Naomi Osaka[23](JPN)

Amanda Anisimova[8] v Beatriz Haddad Maia[18](BRA)