Boys & Girls: US Open, hard (week 36)

DavidC · Tennis legend

Boys & Girls: US Open, hard (week 36)

JonH comes home · Tennis legend

Great stuff- 3 singles quarterfinalists and also Hannah is through in doubles I think? Are any others left in doubles ?

9vicman · Satellite level

Lambda wrote:
DavidC wrote:

9vicman wrote:
Coup Droit wrote:
Excellent win

I think Mika served something like 12 aces

And that's against Emerson, who's very light on her feet, very fast reactions, can normally get her racket on anything
That's a great win for Mika. Notice though that Emerson has played only one match since Wimbledon and I wonder if concentrating on schooling or slightly injured.
Taking nothing away from Mika mind.
I don't know why Emerson has played so little, but it obviously hasn't helped her preparations here - she had to battle through two tight matches in the opening rounds, and that was likely to take its toll eventually, unless she found a way to win quickly

I think Emerson will still be the new JWR 1 on Monday unless Grant or Jovic become the champion.

Jovic has to be the favourite to win the title. But it can be difficult for a player who's successful in the senior event to step down and win the event she's expected to win.

DavidC · Tennis legend

JonH comes home wrote:
Great stuff- 3 singles quarterfinalists and also Hannah is through in doubles I think? Are any others left in doubles ?

Mika/Mimi are on later this evening (see earlier in this thread for details) but you have reminded me that I haven't updated the boys doubles - Viktor should be starting shortly

Boys Doubles R1 (L32)

Frydrych/Rottgering (GBR/NED) d. Alvarez/Cozad (PUR/USA) 6-4 6-1

R2

Frydrych/Rottgering (GBR/NED) v Angelini/Beraldo (ITA)

9vicman · Satellite level

DavidC wrote:
Surprisingly Mika will be the older player on court in her quarter-final as one of the 14 year old US twins has just won through to face her

Girls QF

Mika Stojsavljevic v (WC) Annika Penickova (USA)
(8) Mimi Xu v (2) Tyra Caterina Grant (USA)

Those pesky Penickova sisters. Interestingly Annika is meant to be the weaker one, and lost 60 62 to Hannah last week. But form kinda goes out the window at this age.

SO pleased for Mimi, particularly with her recent injury, to avenge her Wimbledon defeat. And she can definitely be competitive against Grant.

DF · Tennis legend

Mimi and Mika win their R2 match 7-6(5) 7-5

and earlier Victor and his Dutch partner Mees also won 7-6(3) 4-6 [10-6]

steven · Tennis legend

Coup Droit wrote:
There wasn't a great deal to watch in that match

Two GB girls and one GB boy in the QFs

(and that's not counting the doubles )

Smiles at the LTA ....

Yes, plenty to smile about, especially the fact that it's not just girls and not just boys - we don't usually have both doing well at the same time.

As evidence, this is the first time we've had 3 Brits in the US Open junior singles QFs since 2011, and they were all boys - Kyle Edmund and George Morgan went on to make the semis and Oli Golding, of course, won the title. Another novelty this time as that they are from three different GB nations - Mika from England, Charlie from Scotland and Mimi from Wales!

Also the first time we have had a GB boy in the QFs here since Liam Broady in 2012. smile

Unless I missed something (I did only skim through very quickly), though, it's the first time in over half a century that we have had at least one player in the QFs of both the US Open boys' and girls' singles in the same year - the US Open junior drawsheet only go back as far at 1978 on the ITF site.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Many thanks, steven

I 'felt' that it was pretty exceptional (can you have 'pretty exceptional'? is that like 'rather unique'? Would Chinese kids know not to say this? Is that why their maths is better? Easier numbers? Leads to clearer thinking?

)

But great to have it confirmed

And, yes, it is great that it's both the boys and the girls

Mika has an excellent chance to win - Annika plays a similar game to her but not quite as well (at the moment) - relies on flat, powerful heavy shots rather than defence or movement skills. Unless Mika gets frustrated, you've got to think she's got this

I didn't think Mimi was playing very well last night - but Dencheva was playing really poorly - so Mimi didn't really have to do much. And I'm not a fan of Tyra - it's all rather bludgeoned, often 'ugly' tennis - but I might be a little biased because she was so poor on grass when I saw her live this summer (and I think she hated grass so was only going through the motions - in the US, at her home slam, she's probably a different player)

I don't know Flynn Thomas at all - and read David's write-up with interest - but Charlier is playing well, and a boy named Flynn Thomas should be Welsh anyway - if he wins we should just claim him, end of.

9vicman · Satellite level

steven wrote:
Coup Droit wrote:
There wasn't a great deal to watch in that match

Two GB girls and one GB boy in the QFs

(and that's not counting the doubles )

Smiles at the LTA ....
Yes, plenty to smile about, especially the fact that it's not just girls and not just boys - we don't usually have both doing well at the same time.
As evidence, this is the first time we've had 3 Brits in the US Open junior singles QFs since 2011, and they were all boys - Kyle Edmund and George Morgan went on to make the semis and Oli Golding, of course, won the title. Another novelty this time as that they are from three different GB nations - Mika from England, Charlie from Scotland and Mimi from Wales!
Also the first time we have had a GB boy in the QFs here since Liam Broady in 2012.
Unless I missed something (I did only skim through very quickly), though, it's the first time in over half a century that we have had at least one player in the QFs of both the US Open boys' and girls' singles in the same year - the US Open junior drawsheet only go back as far at 1978 on the ITF site.

Thanks Steven - very interesting.

The year we had 3 boys in the QFs in 2011 we had no girls in the draw at all! And the year Heather Watson won the girls singles (2009) we had no boys in the draw. So having players doing well in both is a recent phenomenon. Whether it should have been is a different story.

The US Open boys singles started in 1973, girls singles in 1974, but can't find drawsheets anywhere.

And the names Golding and Morgan are a reminder that having had a junior career doesn't guarantee a good senior career.

9vicman · Satellite level

And yes the Swiss have high hopes about Flynn Thomas, and he has even been compared to Federer. Hyperbole possibly. Looks quite slight at the moment.

Would love to know his parentage. I read online that he learned English in 2 weeks. Perhaps that's hyperbole too.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

www.msn.com/en-gb/entertainment/tv/scottish-wonderkid-keeping-the-andy-murray-flame-alive-with-thrilling-run-at-us-open-juniors/ar-AA1q0m7i

A hilariously frank interview and piece about Charlie

(with some big questions re the LTA, and reinforcing my mantra that you have to support the 'industry' of tennis - if the LTA could help more Kirsty-s be pretty decent players, then you've got more natural, family, unpaid coaches for the 'true' stars)

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

tenniskalamazoo.blogspot.com/

Interview with Mika:

'Stojsavljevic beat Jones at last year's Wimbledon Junior Championships, en route to her only other junior slam quarterfinal, and while her results on the ITF junior circuit had not been especially noteworthy this year, she won a ITF women's World Tennis Tour tournament in Nottingham this spring to bolster her confidence.

"It definitely showed me that my level is there," said Stojsavljevic, who is six feet tall. "I've got quite a big game, so we're still working on getting that consistency, but I definitely felt it gave me a big confidence boost."

Against Jones, Stojsavljevic had 13 aces among her 39 winners, while Jones, who admitted she was not in her best form in her first two victories, had only 7 winners while making 20 unforced errors.

"With my game, I think I can be dangerous on any court," said Stojsavljevic, who is coached by David Brewer at the Loughborough National Academy. "It's just a matter of dealing with myself, but I love these courts. I know when I play my tennis, I can be a tough player to beat. But I'm still growing into my body, I haven't peaked yet at all."'

JonH comes home · Tennis legend

All the British juniors in action today, so 6 matches to follow - Mimi is on Louis Armstrong court. So a big experience for her to face and one she should look forward to!

Var · Pro player

Its a tough schedule for M and M, particularly Mika, scheduled for 29.30 for singles then 21.30 for doubles?

Lambda · Challenger level

9vicman wrote:
And yes the Swiss have high hopes about Flynn Thomas, and he has even been compared to Federer. Hyperbole possibly. Looks quite slight at the moment.

Would love to know his parentage. I read online that he learned English in 2 weeks. Perhaps that's hyperbole too.

He has Autism Spectrum Disorder (the family still refer to it as Asperger's) so it's possible he learnt language quicker than most of us. Thomas is his mother's name: he used to play as Flynn Richter.