Kalamazoo Champion Kennedy Falls in US Open Main Draw Debut; Challenger Titles for Mayo and Volynets; Nakashima Wins M15 Champaign; Stolarczyk and Latak Oust No. 2 and No. 4 Seeds at J300 in Canada
The US Open kicked off today with 14 Americans in action, but rain this evening kept the schedule from being completed.
Kalamazoo 18s champion Jack Kennedy lost to qualifier Lloyd Harris of South Africa, and Michael Lewis was on the scene to file the article below for Zootennis.
Special to Zootennis.com
by Michael J. Lewis
But he admitted things felt different this time. For the first time in his life, the 18-year-old from nearby Huntington, N.Y. on Long Island was in the main draw of the men’s singles.
As happened the last two years, hundreds of locals were in full-throated support of Kennedy, but veteran Lloyd Harris of South Africa proved to be too tough.
After a close first set, Harris used his bigger serve and much-greater experience to pull away from Kennedy and grab a 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 win.
“The butterflies were there more than before, especially right after the warmup this morning,” Kennedy said. “Walking back into the locker room, and thinking about what was going to happen, it did feel a little different.”
The 18-year-old Kennedy, who earned the wild card by winning Kalamazoo earlier this month, broke serve early but was broken right back by Harris, and Kennedy was chasing the match the rest of the way.
Harris won 79 percent of his first-serve points, compared to only 59 percent for Kennedy, and the South African smacked 31 winners to just 15 for Kennedy.
“He did a really good job serving; he mixed them up a lot, and, you know, he was very accurate with the serves, and he was kind of putting them on lines,” Kennedy said. “I didn't get that many chances to put returns in, but, you know, he did just a great job and I think I could have done a better job kind of neutralizing some points here and there.
Harris had nothing but kind words for his young opponent after the match.
“He has a lot of positive things in his game,” Harris said. “He’s very aggressive, really goes after the ball. I felt like I could play the important points a little bit better. I had the edge on the serve, but he’s got a lot of potential, and a lot of upside.”
Kennedy reiterated he will be playing in the U.S. Open Juniors Tournament starting on Sept. 6, both in singles and doubles, as he and partner Keaton Hance look to defend their U.S. Open doubles crown won last year.
Greg Lumpkin, Kennedy’s longtime coach at Robbie Wagner Tournament Training in Glen Head, N.Y., said the match got a little bit away from Kennedy when he tried to do too much after falling behind.
“He was trying to force the issue and pressure (Harris) a little bit, which is understandable in the second and third sets,” Lumpkin said. “I think Jack learned a little bit about himself today. Now we’ll get ready for the next one."
That “next one” was expected to be at the University of Virginia, as Kennedy was previously expected to enroll at the school in Charlottesville this August.
But two weeks ago Kennedy announced that he would delay enrollment at UVA until January, so he could collect the $140,000 main draw U.S. Open first round paycheck, and continue to play pro tournaments throughout the fall.
Cavaliers head coach Andres Pedroso, who was in attendance on Court 12 for the match Sunday, said he fully supported his standout freshman’s decision to wait a few months before heading to school and joining the reigning NCAA champs.
“I think it was always in the back of his mind, he wants to be a pro tennis player and he’s earned the right to continue testing the waters on the pro tour,” Pedroso said. “We’re 100 percent behind him and we’ve got his back, and I thought it was a great decision he made.”
Pedroso was asked what he thinks Kennedy can improve on to get him ready to play at the high-major Division I level.
“It usually comes down to maturity and understanding their games, and being a little more calm and a little more clear out there,” Pedroso said. “Jack has a lot of game and has shown he can play with anyone in the world. For him it’s just understanding his game, and showing he can do it over and over again, regardless of the atmosphere or the moment. And that takes a little time.”
Kennedy spoke more about his decision to delay his enrollment after the match.
“Ultimately I just decided with the chances that I have with these wild cards from the Next-Gen accelerator program, it's a good chance to prove my level,” Kennedy said. “Who knows where I’ll end up in these next couple of months, but I just want to give myself the best chance possible, maybe with a chance to make the NextGen Finals.”
Kennedy currently sits 19th in the ATP Next Gen Finals race; the Top 8 finishers (open to players 20 and under) compete in the Finals, at a site and date still to be determined.
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Sebastian Gorzny(TCU, Texas), the USTA's Collegiate Wild Card Playoff champion, was on serve with Raphael Collignon of Belgium at 3-6, 6-3, 4-3* when rain suspended play.
Sunday's US Open First Round Results of Americans:
Jessica Pegula[3] d. Elena-Gabriela Ruse(ROU) 6-3, 6-2
Venus Williams[WC] v Sofia Kenin[WC]
Katie Boulter(GBR) d. Carol Lee[WC] 6-4, 3-6, 6-0
Emma Navarro[26] v Lois Boisson(FRA) 7-6(6), 4-2 (postponed until Monday)
Ekaterina Alexandrova[18](RUS) d. McCartney Kessler 6-2, 6-2
Lanlana Tararudee(THA) d. Elvina Kalieva[Q] 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-2
Taylah Preston[WC](AUS) d. Alycia Parks 6-3, 6-3
JJ Wolf[WC] v Alexander Bublik[15](KAZ)
Sebastian Gorzny[WC] v Raphael Collignon(BEL) 3-6, 6-3, 3-4 (postponed until Monday)
Alex Michelsen v Federico Cina[Q](ITA) 6-4, 1-1 (postponed until Monday)
Tommy Paul[20] d. Coleman Wong[Q] 6-7(3), 6-1, 6-3, 6-3
Lloyd Harris[Q](RSA) d. Jack Kennedy[WC] 6-4, 6-2, 6-2
Jaime Faria(POR) d. Jenson Brooksby 6-3, 7-6(4), 4-6, 1-6, 6-2
Monday's US Open first round matches featuring Americans;
Ben Shelton[8] v Tallon Griekspoor(NED)
Martin Damm v Frances Tiafoe[11]
Aleks Kovacevic v Valentin Vacherot[22](MON)
Brandon Nakashima[16] v Sebastian Baez(ARG)
Learner Tien[14] v Nuno Borges(POR)
Ashlyn Krueger v Amanda Anismova[10]
Taylor Townsend v Maja Chawalinska[20](POL)
Caty McNally v Anouk Koevermans[Q](NED)
Katie Volynets v Linda Noskova[6](CZE)
Peyton Stearns v Harriet Dart[Q](GBR)
Ann Li[29] v Antonia Ruzic(CRO)
Sloane Stephens[WC] v Clara Tauson(DEN)
Volynets prepared for the US Open at the new WTA 125 tournament in Philadephia, taking the title, her second at that level in five appearances in the final. The 2019 National 18s champion, seeded sixth, defeated No. 3 seed Tereza Valentova of Czechia 6-3, 7-5 in the final.
Aidan Mayo won his second career Challenger title yesterday in Jamaica after getting into the main draw of the 75 level Kingston Open 2 as a lucky loser. The 23-year-old defeated No. 2 seed Andy Andrade(Florida) of Ecuador 6-3, 7-6(7) in the final.
In the only USTA Pro Circuit tournament this week, Bryce Nakashiima, No. 16 US Open seed Brandon's younger brother, won his second M15 title of his career this summer in Champaign Illinois. The Ohio State senior, seeded No. 5, defeated qualifier Jakub Vrba(Arkansas) of Czechia 6-2, 7-6(6) in the final. Nakashima, who didn't drop a set all week, beat teammates Jack Anthrop[3] and Preston Stearns[Q] in the quarterfinals and semifinals.
Three former collegiate standouts from the United States won W15 titles today on the World Tennis women's circuit.
No. 7 seed Sofia Rojas(Oklahoma State, Georgia) defeated top seed Alexandra Vagramov(UCLA) of Canada 6-1, 6-1 in the semifinals and unseeded Riko Kikawada of Japan 6-3, 6-1 for her third W15 title, all coming in Monastir Tunisia.
At the W15 in Torello Spain, recent UCLA graduate Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer won her first pro title, with the 22-year-old Southern Californian, seeded seventh, beating top seed Katarina Kuzmova of Slovakia 1-6, 6-3, 7-6(6) in the semifinals and No. 6 seed Celia Cervino Ruiz of Spain 4-6, 6-0, 6-4.
And former Pepperdine All-American Ashley Lahey, seeded No. 8, defeated No. 5 seed Ilinca Amariei(Texas A&M) of Romania 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 in the final to capture her third World Tennis women's singles title in the W15 in Romania.
The seeds at the J300 were in action for the first time today at the J300 in Repentigny Canada, and the last two Kalamazoo 16s champions ousted two of them today. 2025 Kalamazoo 16s champion Marcel Latak defeated No. 4 seed Hyu Kawanishi of Japan 6-4, 7-6(2), and 2026 Kalamazoo 16s champion Kamil Stolarczyk beat No. 2 seed Raffaele Ciurnelli of Italy 6-2, 6-1.
College Park J300 champion Felix Roussel won his first round match today over lucky loser Sulaiman Syed 6-0, 6-3, but he is still a match behind the rest of the draw.
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