Johnson Turns Tables on Latak to Advance to Kalamazoo 18s Quarterfinals; Cozad Regroups to Beat No. 5 Seed Karki; Top Four Seeds Advance to 16s Quarterfinals; Unseeded Kwon Defeats San Diego's No. 2 Seed Payne in Third Round, Reaches Round of 16

©Colette Lewis 2026--
Kalamazoo MI--

The memorable USTA National Boys 16s final in Kalamazoo last year, in which Marcel Latak came from 5-1 down in the third set to defeat Andy Johnson, saw a dramatic role reversal this evening in the fifth round of 18s singles, with Johnson coming from 6-4, 5-2 down to steal a 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 victory. 

"I thought down 6-4, 5-2, if I start making balls maybe there was a chance," said the 16-year-old from Rancho Palos Verdes California. "He was playing well, and I'm like, if he's going to play this way, it's too good. He was playing ridiculous, every forehand, every backhand a foot away from the line. But I thought if I start making balls, maybe he'll start missing a little more, maybe the pressure got to him."

And although Johnson recovered from his crushing loss in the Kalamazoo 16s final last year to reach the US Open Junior quarterfinals just three weeks later, that memory was bound to resurface.

"It started going through my head, last year," Johnson said. "It made me want it even more. If he can come back from 5-1 down in the Kzoo finals, I can do it."

After Latak failed to serve it out at 5-2 and 5-4 without getting to match point, Johnson broke to take the set, and the 10-minute break before the start of third wasn't ideal.

"I was playing well, won five games in a row, so there wasn't much to talk about," Johnson said of his conversation with his coach Vasile Beches. "Just keep playing your game, you're playing well, not sure you want to change anything, just stick to it. And I ended up playing better and better throughout the third set."

Johnson will face Reddy, who he beat 6-3, 6-1 in the 16s semifinals last year.

There was another afternoon rain delay, this one starting at 2 p.m., that pushed two of the fifth round matches to a 4 p.m. start, including the Latak-Johnson match. Two were completed and four 18s matches in progress when play was stopped.

Once the courts were dried, No. 9 seed Jack Secord, a 6-4, 6-4 winner over No. 33 seed Bryan Assi, and No. 12 seed Vihaan Reddy, a 6-2, 6-3  winner over No. 33 seed Riley Anson, were awaiting their opponents, and those waits were long ones.

Top seed Jack Kennedy, down 2-3 in the first set when played was stopped, defeated Jerrid Gaines 6-4, 6-4, and No. 2 seed Michael Antonius, up 6-3, 4-1, closed out No. 13 seed Gavin Goode 6-3, 7-5. 

But complications developed for No. 4 seed Keaton Hance, up 6-2, 4-1 against No. 18 seed Rishvanth Krishna, and No. 10 seed Ryan Cozad, up 7-5, 4-2 over No. 5 seed Ronit Karki.

Cozad had four match points with Karki serving at 3-5 in the second set, and couldn't convert any of them, one of which was especially aggravating. 

"I had a ball on top of the net, and hit it straight down, I don't know what I was doing," said the 17-year-old from Alpharetta Georgia, who couldn't manage to reach match point serving for it at 5-4, then lost the tiebreaker 7-2. "But yeah, four match points. It's just so tough to close matches out at Kzoo, especially deep in the tournament, It's a big tournament, a lot of nerves, so I'm just super happy."

Cozad credited his fitness with helping him hang around in the third set, and when he got a break with Karki serving at 2-3, his confidence grew.

"He played very well in the last few games of the second set," Cozad said. "So I went out there and played with a lot of physicality. All my work in the gym paid off. I felt super fit out there and I was able to outlast him in the third. I stayed really positive and was able to play my game."

Next up for Cozad is Kennedy, who will be Virginia teammates when Cozad joins the Cavaliers in 2027.

"Playing Jack will be super fun," said Cozad, mentioning the all-UVA semifinal in the ATP 1000 in Montreal this evening.. "We're going to be teammates one day unless he goes pro. We're super good friends, get along really well, so I'm excited."

Hance also dropped his second set in a tiebreaker, and was broken at love serving for the match at 5-3 in the third, but broke Krishna to claim the win. He will face Secord in the quarterfinals. 

Wimbledon boys champion Jordan Lee, the No. 6 seed, hasn't gotten a lot of show court time despite that accomplishment, and tonight he was on Court 9, after playing at Western Michigan University on Tuesday night. But Lee had the quickest match of the evening, beating No. 33 seed William Freshwater 6-4, 6-1. Lee will face Michael Antonius in the quarterfinals.

The 16s had three fifth round matches that had not been started when it rained and they were sent indoors. Three of the top four seeds had already advanced prior to the rain shower, with top seed Kamil Stolarczyk beating No. 24 seed Tabb Tuck, 6-4, 6-3, No. 3 seed Daniel Malacek defeating No. 33 seed Brandon Jeon 6-3, 6-1 and No. 2 seed Sulaiman Syed ending the run of unseeded George Ho 7-6(2), 6-3. Syed and Ho played a 90-minute first set before Syed finally took control in the second.

No. 4 seed Tristan Stratton defeated Karthik Thumu 6-2, 6-1 indoors and will play wild card Carter Jauffret, a No. 33 seed, who beat Antanas Daugis 6-4, 7-6(4), also indoors.

Stolarczyk faces No. 26 seed Tristan Ascenzo, who came back to beat No. 27 seed Arjun Krishnan 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 and Malacek plays No. 20 seed Joshua Dolinsky, who defeated No. 9 seed Daniil Berezin 3-6, 6-4, 6-2. Syed's quarterfinal opponent is No. 22 seed Lennart Hammargren, who beat No. 33 seed Sebastian Zavala 6-2, 6-2.

The 16s singles and doubles quarterfinals will be played Thursday, as will the 18s doubles quarterfinals, with the 18s singles quarterfinals scheduled for Friday, along with both doubles semifinals.

The 18s third round of doubles were played outside after the singles at Stowe Wednesday night, finishing after 9:30 p.m. 

Three unseeded teams have advanced to the quarterfinals, with Andre Alcantara and Riley Anson beating No. 5 seeds Marcel Latak and Tanishk Konduri; Mason Taube and Jacob Lee beating unseeded Harrison Kemp and Juan Parrilla 7-5, 6-4 and Tyler Lee and Nikolas Stoot defeating Wimbledon doubles finalists and No. 4 seeds Andy Johnson and Michael Antonius 2-6, 6-3, 10-4.

Top seeds Keaton Hance and Jack Kennedy and No. 2 seeds Yannik Alvarez and Noah Johnston advanced to the quarterfinals with straight-sets victories. 

The top three seeds in the 16s have reached the quarterfinals: No. 1 seeds Mikaeel Alibaig and Ivan Rybak, No. 2 seeds Daniel Malacek and Kamil Stolarczyk and No. 3 seeds Rafael Pawar and Zesen Wang.

Live streaming of all matches at Stowe Stadium can be found here. Live scoring is available at iOnCourt.

The USTA 18s and 16s Girls Nationals in San Diego are at the quarterfinal stage in the 16s, and the round of 16 in the 18s.

In the third round Tuesday night, unseeded Brooke Kwon defeated No. 2 seed Bella Payne 2-6, 6-1, 7-6(7) and advanced to the round of 16 when Isabelle DeLuccia retired trailing 6-1, 4-2.

The other unseeded player in the 18s round of 16 is Aya Manning, who beat No. 15 seed Armira Kockinis 6-4, 6-1. Top seed Julieta Pareja, No. 3 seed Thea Frodin and No. 4 seed Janae Preston have all advanced to the fifth round, as has No. 33 seed Annika Penickova.

See the USTA SoCal website for recaps of the daily action.