The North American junior season starts today with Kyle Edmund as second seed and a group of Brits seeking points to improve their chances of making the Australian Open. Evan Hoyt is the only one of them to draw a seed, and his opponent's recent modest record gives cause to hope for an upset.
Our only girl here is Georgina Sellyn, and she has a tough task
Boys R1 (L64)
Jordan Angus (GBR) v (Q) Karim Arem (USA)
(12) Luke Bambridge (GBR) v James Junior Storme (BEL)
(11) Josh Ward-Hibbert (GBR) v (Q) Josh Hagar Hagar (USA)
Evan Hoyt (GBR) v (9) Daniel Santos (PER)
(14) Sam Hutt (GBR) v (Q) Roy Lederman (USA)
Edgar Lopez (MEX) v (2) Kyle Edmund (GBR)
Girls R1 (L64)
(7) Christina Makarova (USA) v Georgina Sellyn (GBR)
none of the brit boys are playing doubles for some reason, all won apart from sam, time for edmund to take a stranglehold on the junior game me thinks!
none of the brit boys are playing doubles for some reason, all won apart from sam, time for edmund to take a stranglehold on the junior game me thinks!
Jordan & Sam are the 4th seeds. I'm surprised that Evan, Josh and Luke are not playing doubles though. A good performance in doubles here, easier than in the 2 US tourneys, might clinch Aus Open places for Luke and Josh, while Evan has scope to gain a lot of points because he hasn't repeated his under 16 team doubles performances consistently in ITF events.
A good if anticipated win for Evan - Sam had a tough match-up against a strong qualifier.
Boys R1 (L64)
Jordan Angus (GBR) d. (Q) Karim Arem (USA) 6-3 6-3
(12) Luke Bambridge (GBR) d. James Junior Storme (BEL) 5-7 6-2 6-2
A disappointing second round as the two who would have gained points by winning (Evan and Luke) both lost to lower ranked opponents. Imperious form from Kyle though against an opponent who took a set off him in the Junior Davis Cup. Jordan and Josh will be hard pushed to get the win they need for big points, playing against the familiar top seed and a strong 1996 boy who has already won a Grade 2 and is second to Quinzi for his year in the ITF rankings.
R2
Jordan Angus (GBR) d. Brayden Schnur (CAN) 6-3 6-3 (Q) JC Aragone (USA) d. (12) Luke Bambridge (GBR) 6-3 6-7(6) 6-3 (11) Josh Ward-Hibbert (GBR) d. Fedor Andrienko (RUS) 6-4 6-2 Mateo Nicolas Martinez (ARG) d. Evan Hoyt (GBR) 6-4 6-4 (2) Kyle Edmund (GBR) d. Hugo Di Feo (CAN) 6-0 6-1
R3
(1) Dominic Thiem (AUT) v Jordan Angus (GBR) (11) Josh Ward-Hibbert (GBR) v (7) Borna Coric (CRO) (15) Laslo Djere (SRB) v (2) Kyle Edmund (GBR)
Excellent win for Josh. Both he and Kyle play American qualifiers today. Josh plays a former Orange Bowl under 14 finalist, but I know little about Kyle's opponent.
R3
(1) Dominic Thiem (AUT) d. Jordan Angus (GBR) 6-4 6-0 (11) Joshua Ward-Hibbert (GBR) d. (7) Borna Coric (CRO) 6-1 6-3 (2) Kyle Edmund (GBR) d. (15) Laslo Djere (SRB) 7-5 6-3
QF
(Q) Mackenzie McDonald v (11) Joshua Ward-Hibbert (GBR) (Q) Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (USA) v (2) Kyle Edmund (GBR)
We had two quarter-finalists last year too - Kyle (again) and George Morgan, who lost to eventual winner (and this year's top seed) Dominic Thiem.
The last British boy to reach the 18U semis here was Miles Kasiri in 2003 - the other losing semi-finalist that year (and the only one who really made it in seniors) being Juan Martín del Potro.
The last British girl to reach the 18U semis was the now unranked (in WTA terms) Jessica Ren in 2009, while Heather Watson actually won the event in 2008.
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GB on a shirt, Davis Cup still gleaming, 79 years of hurt, never stopped us dreaming ... 29/11/2015 that dream came true!
(2) Kyle Edmund (GBR) d. Mateo Nicolas Martinez (ARG) 6-1 4-6 6-1
FINAL
(2) Kyle Edmund (GBR) v (1) Dominic Thiem (AUT) - n/b 03.00 GMT
Kyle is only the second British boy ever to reach the Final of this event - the other was Martin Lee 15 years ago when it was a Grade 2. Thiem, JWR 9, ATP 635 and the reigning champion here, will no doubt be the big favourite to win this, but back in 1996, Martin was also the no. 2 seed playing the no. 1 seed (Seba Grosjean) in the Final ... and Martin won.
Btw, while checking for past GB finalists, I came across the 1998 draw http://www.copayucatan.com.mx/draws/1998/18/BOYSSMD.pdf ... with Andy Roddik (who won it), Marty Fish and Dieter Kindlmannm (all spellings are theirs ) ... also notable for one of the top seeds, a certain Fernando Gonzalez, being upset in R1 by the then junior world no. 857, a certain Mario Ancic!
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GB on a shirt, Davis Cup still gleaming, 79 years of hurt, never stopped us dreaming ... 29/11/2015 that dream came true!
The pair played in the first round of the French with Thiem winning in straight sets. Although he is the defending champion here, as mentioned by Steven (and also at the Eddie Herr), I'm surprised that he's come back so late in his junior career after making rapid steps in the Pro game during the last few weeks. After ending Thomas Muster's illustrious career in Vienna he backed it up by reaching a Futures final in Turkey.
Is it that suprising that Thiem is here? He loses 150 points (in the singles alone) for each of these tournaments if he doesn't defend his title. That would (I think) put him well out of the top 10 for the year end, losing him the benefits that accrue to top 10 players.
Is it that suprising that Thiem is here? He loses 150 points (in the singles alone) for each of these tournaments if he doesn't defend his title. That would (I think) put him well out of the top 10 for the year end, losing him the benefits that accrue to top 10 players.
Your logic about his ranking is impeccable - the question is what value is a top ten finish to him. It gains him 3 exempts to $10K Futures events, but his ATP ranking of 635 will get him into most 10Ks and with no points to defend in the next few months, he should soon be ranked high enough to automatically get into all main draws. Exempts into $15Ks are available to top 5 finishers, but he would probably need to win all 3 North American events to achieve that.