©Colette Lewis and Michael Lewis 2026--
Flushing Meadows NY--
The second day of the
US Open Junior Championships were full of surprises, with Americans on both sides of the ledger: those who pulled off the unexpected, and those who were upset victims.
Unseeded Marcel Latak has had an eventful ten days: winning his first J300 title in Canada on Friday, hitting with Tommy Paul on Arthur Ashe Stadium on Sunday and beating the reigning Australian Open boys champion and No. 6 seed Ziga Sesko of Slovenia 7-5, 6-3 today in his first round matchl
Latak said his run in Canada caught him by surprise, after a couple of tough losses: in Kalamazoo, where he was up 6-4, 5-2 on Andy Johnson in the round of 16, and at the College Park J300, where he served for the match at 5-3 in third against Tanishk Konduri.
"Honestly, what happened in Kalamazoo and in College Park too, it was a lesson," said the 17-year-old from Chicago. "I maybe got too ahead of myself when I was up 5-2 against Andy and 5-3 against Tankishk, started to cruise a little bit, but that's the time you really have to step on it and go for it."
After all his success in his six wins in Canada, which included dropping the first set in the final 6-0, Latak had a clear game plan against Sesko.
"I knew from the start I have to impose my game before he does," said Latak, who trains with Christian Groh in San Diego. " "Getting that first ball, being aggressive, not giving him too much time. I started out really strong, up 5-4 in the first set serving, had two sets points, didn't close it out, but because of last week, I kept my composure, broke back immediately and closed out the set. I had no expectations here, but I knew if I played someone like Ziga today, I could do it, I could take that match."
As for the opportunity to warm up Tommy Paul before his match with Carlos Alcarez, Latak called it "the best experience of my life, honestly. I'll remember that day forever. I don't think I've smiled longer in my life than after that hit. He's a super nice guy."
Latak will face Tito Chavez of Spain, the University of Oklahoma freshman, who fought off a valiant comeback attempt from Gavin Goode for a 4-6, 7-6(1), 7-6(8) win. Goode had trailed 5-1 in the third set.
Latak's doubles partner, Tanishk Konduri, also ousted a seed today, beating No. 14 seed Mathys Domenc of France 6-3, 6-4 in their second round match today.
Konduri knew he had to find a way to counteract Domenc's serve, after playing him several times in doubles.
"He's a very strong server and believes in his serve a lot, but I did feel he's more used to playing clay than on these fast hard courts," said the 17-year-old from Cupertino California, who had six aces of his own to just two for Domenc. "I think I'm a great mover, so I was just trying to get to neutral as early on as possible in rallies, extend points as long as possible. I was very strong in the longer rallies, and I don't think lost many of them."
While Latak and Konduri, who also won their first round doubles match this evening, were advancing over seeds, No. 3 seed Michael Antonius was stunned 6-3, 6-3 by Raffaele Massellani of Italy.
Some tennis players are hesitant to call any win the “biggest of their life.”
Recency bias tends to cloud the mind.
But Massellani wasted no time when he sat down for an interview following his win over Antonius in the second round.
“It’s the best win of my life, best guy I ever beat in my life,” the 18-year-old Massellani said five minutes after his triumph. “It was a great match. I stayed calm for the full match and I play very, very good. I’m very happy.”
Massellani, ranked No. 41 in the World Tennis junior rankings, came into the U.S. Open with some hardcourt momentum, having reached the quarterfinals of J300 Repentigny last week.
And he did have some recent experience against Antonius, a 16-year-old from Buffalo: In July Antonius beat Massellani in three sets at Roehampton on grass.
“I know him from before, but today I stayed very solid. I played aggressive, but with more calm,” Massellani said.
The Italian from outside Turin said he was aware Antonius had some success in the men’s qualifying draw two weeks ago.
“I saw him win the first round of pro, and before this match I was little bit scared,” Massellani said. “I thought, ‘oh my God, this guy is crazy.’”
Finishing off Monday’s match wasn’t easy for Massellani; on his first match point, he said he felt cramps while running for a passing shot.
After Antonius saved three match points, Massellani said he kept telling himself to make his first serve on the fourth one.
He did, and Massellani sent a forehand passing shot that Antonius volleyed wide, setting off a celebration from Massellani and his coaches.
Massellani will face Konduri in the third round, with the Italian posting a 7-6(5), 7-5 victory over Konduri in round of 16 last week at the J300 in Canada.
No. 4 seed Keaton Hance avoided the upset bug that bit Antonius, defeating Pedro Chabalgoity of Brazil 6-0, 7-6(4) in the first round to start the day's action on Court 5.
"I think I played great in the first set," said the 18-year-old from Torrance California, who reached the final of the Australian Open in January. "I was talking to my coach after the match just now and we were both really happy with the way I played in the first set, all around. I was serving well, hitting my forehand really well, moving forward a lot. I wouldn't say he played bad, maybe he had a little bit of a slow start, but I feel like I really capitalized on that."
Chabalgoity found his form in the second set, while Hance couldn't sustain his from the first, but when it mattered in the second set tiebreaker, Hance was able to play without dwelling on the possibility of a third set.
"Going into the breaker, I wanted to give myself the mindset of I'm not worried," Hance. "I have a lot of confidence in myself in third sets, so I made sure I consciously thought that thought, so I could play looser. Because when you have that thought, you're not playing to not lose. I was down a couple of times in that tiebreaker, but I stayed calm and was able to execute well, especially at the end. I was down 3-4, and played great points for the rest of the match."
Hance will face Oliver Majdandzic of Germany in a second round match Tuesday.
Upsets were few in the girls draw today, with No. 16 Jordyn Hazelitt the only seed to lose, falling to 14-year-old Russian Ekaterina Dotsenko 7-5, 1-6, 6-4 in a second round match.
Dotsenko isn't the youngest player in the draw however. That status belongs to Isha Manchala, who won't be 15 until 2027, and has already had her accomplishments this summer recognized in her home town of Hilton Head South Carolina.
After winning the Wimbledon 14-and-under title in July, Manchala had a party thrown for her in the neighborhood where she lives, and the mayor of Hilton Head, Alan Perry, bestowed an official commendation honoring her in August.
“It was great because it showed me that when you do big things, people will celebrate you,” Manchala said Monday. “So I just want to keep doing well in these big tournaments so I can keep being celebrated.”
Manchala took a big step in her career on Monday, winning her first match at the U.S. Open, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 over Alexandra Malova, a Russian with a World Tennis junior ranking of 26.
She credited her daily journal for helping her stay calm once Malova took the second set.
“I journaled before match about my game plan and I took it out (after the second set) read my game plan back, and I was like ‘OK, I need to regroup here, play my game, and not let her dictate the points.”
On her goals for New York, Manchala said “I want to go shopping, in Soho,” and also expressed a desire to eat New York City pizza.
She’ll next face No. 9 seed Polina Skliar of Ukraine.
No. 6 seed Janae Preston, who played in the women qualifying as the San Diego 18s finalist, losing in the first round to Nao Hibino of Japan 7-6(4), 6-1, faced Fleur De Bresser of the Netherlands in her first round match on Court 17 today and came away with a quick 6-1, 6-0 win.
After winning the J300 in Roehampton, making the semifinals at Wimbledon and reaching the final in San Diego, Preston's confidence level is high.
“I felt good today, wasn’t too nervous and was able to play how I wanted to play,” said Preston, a 16-year-old from Henderson Nevada. “With Wimbledon, I feel like I showed I can play at that level, progressing far into tournaments, and it has helped me a lot.”
Thea Frodin, who beat Preston 6-1, 6-0 in the San Diego final and played in the women’s main draw as a wild card after winning the USTA National 18s title, suffered a tough loss Monday to Czechia’s Katerina Zajickova, 3-6, 7-6(3), 6-4.
Frodin, who faced No. 2 seed Elena Rybakina in the women’s main draw, struggled with her groundstrokes against the steadier Zajickova.
Girls No. 1 seed Xinran Sun, looking to reach her third consecutive junior slam final, defeated American wild card Thara Gowda 6-0, 7-5 to advance to the third round, while boys top seed Guto Miguel of Brazil also advanced to the round of 16 with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Mark Ceban of Great Britain.
Ceban, alongside Rhys Lawlor, did pull off an upset in doubles however, with the British pair defeating No. 2 seeds and defending champions Hance and Jack Kennedy 2-6, 6-1, 10-7.
The second round of singles will be completed Tuesday along with the first round of doubles.
Monday's first round results of Americans:
Keaton Hance[4] d. Pedro Chabalgoity(BRA) 6-0, 7-6(4)
Tito Chavez(ESP) d Gavin Goode 4-6, 7-6(1), 7-6(8)
Marcel Latak d. Ziga Sesko[6](SLO) 7-5, 6-3
Dimitar Kisimov[10](BUL) d. Safir Azam[WC] 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-2
Kirill Filaretov(RUS) d. Kamil Stolarczyk[WC] 6-4, 6-4
Janae Preston[6] d. Fleur De Bresser(NED) 6-1, 6-0
Katerina Zajickova(CZE) d. Thea Frodin 3-6, 7-6(3), 6-4
Nauhany Leme Da Silva[8] d. Olivia Traynor 7-6(5), 6-3
Isha Manchala[WC] d. Alexandra Malova(RUS) 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
Monday's second round results of American juniors:
Jordan Lee[8] d. Valentin Gonzalez-Galino(ESP) 6-1, 6-3
Simone Massellani(ITA) d. Michael Antonius[3] 6-3, 6-3
Andy Johnson[12] d. Dan Brand(ISR) 6-2, 3-6, 6-0
Daniel Jade(FRA) d. Vihaan Reddy 7-6(2), 7-6(1)
Tanishk Konduri d. Mathys Domenc[14](FRA) 6-3, 6-4
Ekaterina Dotsenko(RUS) d. Jordyn Hazelitt[16] 7-5, 1-6, 6-4
Xinran Sun[1](CHN) d. Thara Gowda[WC] 6-0, 7-5
Paola Pinera Celorio[10(ESP) d. Yael Safar[Q] 6-2, 6-3
Kristina Penickova[WC][14] d. Antonina Sushkova(UKR) 4-6, 6-4, 6-2
Annika Penickova[WC] d. Yu Jun Lin(CHN) 6-3, 6-1
Tuesday's second round matches featuring American juniors:
Melije Clarke v Charo Esquiva Banuls[13](ESP)
Janae Preston[6] v Avery Alexander(CAN)
Isha Manchala[WC] v Polina Skliar[9](UKR)
Hannah Ayrault[WC] v Jana Kovackova[2](CZE)
Marcel Latak[SE] v Tito Chavez(ESP)
Keaton Hance[4] v Oliver Majdandzic(GER)
Jack Kennedy[5] v Benjamin Azar[Q](CAN)
Jack Secord v Yannick Alexandrescou([9]ROU)
The possibility of an all-USA men's singles final at the
US Open ended tonight with Learner Tien's five-set loss to Karen Khachenov of Russia, leaving no American men in the top half. The three remaining Americans play Tuesday.
Mondays fourth round results of Americans:
Coco Gauff[4] d. Iva Jovic[14] 6-1, 6-4
Karen Khachanov(RUS) d. Learner Tien[14] 7-5, 4-6, 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-4
Tuesday's fourth round matches featuring Americans:
Emma Navarro[26] v Jessica Pegula[3]
Alex Michelsen v Frances Tiafoe[11]
Ben Shelton[8] v Carlos Alcarez[2](ESP)
Men's doubles round 3:
Brandon Carpico and Nikita Filin[WC] v Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury(GBR)
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