Most of our US Open bound contingent play in Canada the week beforehand, but Oliver Bonding and Charlie Robertson have opted to start their preparations here
Boys R1 (L48)
(14) Charlie Robertson bye
(12) Oliver Bonding bye
Girls R1 (L48)
Allegra Korpanec Davies v Trinetra Vijayakumar (USA)
An interview with Charlie after the match, from Colette Lewis:
"Robertson managed to stay positive when he was down early in the third set, and he won five games in a row to put all the pressure back on Sakamoto.
"All the games were really tight, I had a couple of chances, break points, so I knew I was close," said the 17-year-old from Scotland, who is No. 30 in the ITF junior rankings. "I stuck in and kept going and the games started going my way and I turned the match around."
Although Sakamoto is much more physically imposing than Robertson, Robertson was the one more interested in prolonging points.
"I felt like at the start there were a few points where I made some cheap mistakes, but I started to become more solid," Robertson said. "I got more physical on court and he didn't like that as much and he started to miss, so that's what changed the match a little big."
Robertson also changed his strategy when it came to handling Sakamoto's potent serve.
"At the start, I was more up on the court and I was struggling with that," said Robertson, who hadn't played Sakamoto before today. "And then I began to go further back and I made a lot more returns, got me in points and that's where I was doing the damage."
After Sakamoto held to force the tiebreaker, the first three points went to the returner before Robertson held his two serves for a 4-1 lead. Sakamoto got as close as 4-3, but Robertson stayed in front with a deep second serve that Sakamoto couldn't get back in play. Robertson's unexpected backhand stop volley winner, perfectly executed, gave him three match points and he converted the first, with Sakamoto's backhand going wide.
"I thought I played some brave points and also some very solid points, which I'm pretty happy with," Robertson said of his level in the tiebreaker. "To get it pretty comfy in the tiebreak, I was really happy."
Robertson will next play 2023 College Park finalist and No. 10 seed Alex Razeghi, who played a level of tennis in his 6-4, 6-3 win over Marko Maksimovic that had the eighth-seeded Serbian often gesturing in frustration. The two played in the second round of Roland Garros this year, with Robertson winning 6-2, 7-6(4)."
A similar scoreline today for Charlie as in the Roland Garros encounter Colette mentions. He advances to play Thomas Faurel who he beat in the Orange Bowl last year.
Boys QF
(14) Charlie Robertson d. (10) Alexander Razeghi (USA) 7-5 6-2
I see Charlie was in the QF of this event last year and those will be the points he replaces. Will he have done enough to surpass Oli as number one or does it need him to win the final?
I see Charlie was in the QF of this event last year and those will be the points he replaces. Will he have done enough to surpass Oli as number one or does it need him to win the final?
Yes final points take him past Oli. In the final he meets Rafael Jodar (ATP 885), who beat him in the Roehampton final. Charlie is currently on court with Oli for the doubles semi. Yesterday they toppled the top seeds Hayden Jones/Jagger Leach
SF
(14) Charlie Robertson d. (11) Thomas Faurel (FRA) 6-1 2-6 6-0
F
(14) Charlie Robertson v (5) Rafael Jodar (ESP)
Doubles SF
(5) Bonding/Robertson v Arseneault/Arseneault (CAN)