American juniors produced a pair of Grand Slam finalists on double-duty day in Queens. Thanks to a washout, due to rain on Day 12 in New York, all boys' singles and girls' singles quarterfinals and semifinals were played on Saturday, with the last semifinals of Day 13 ending several hours after Bianca Andreescu raised the women's singles trophy in Arthur Ashe Stadium.
That made for a special atmosphere as fans filtered into the smaller courts to watch the world's best juniors battle for a spot in the last major of the season.
American Emilio Nava, the No. 8 seed, was first to go through, and he did so in decisive fashion, dropping just eight games across two matches to reach his second Grand Slam final of 2019. The 2019 Australian Open runner-up knocked off Jiri Lehecka of the Czech Republic, 6-3, 6-1, and then sailed past Long Island native Cannon Kingsley, 6-4, 6-0.
Nava, of Woodland Hills, California, is playing the final junior Slam of his career. He told USOpen.org that he never played two rounds in a junior Slam before.
"I was having fun," he said. "Just out there, ripping my shots, running down every ball, and that was the most important thing."
Nava is coached by his mother, Xóchitl Escobedo, who represented Mexico in the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea. What does he like most about her as a coach?
"Her yelling," Nava said with a smile. "She gets me fired up."
Nava will face No. 4 seed Jonas Forejtek of the Czech Rebublic in Sunday's final on Louis Armstrong Stadium. Forejtek, 18, defeated German qualifier Milan Welte, 3-6, 7-5, 7-5, before knocking off American Brandon Nakashima, 7-6, 6-3.
"The second match I was a little bit tired but I was also more confident, so I was playing better," Forejtek, sporting a New York Yankees cap, told reporters on Saturday.
The Czech says he entered the tournament without very much confidence but an improved serve and more experience on hard courts has helped him achieve his best result at a junior Slam.
In girls' singles Colombia's Maria Camila Osorio Serrano is hoping to end her junior career on a high note. After defeating Latvia's Kamilla Bartone, 6-3 6-4, Osorio Serrano rallied from 3-0 down in the third set to stop Russia's Oksana Selekhmeteva, 6-3, 6-7, 6-4. The Colombian broke down in tears after the victory on Court 7, then hugged her coach and team before sending away some happy young fans with tennis balls.
The Colombian will face American qualifier Alexandra Yepifanova, who won a pair of three-setters on Saturday. First, she won 11 of the final 12 games, to defeat American Reese Brantmeier, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1. And in the final match of the evening on Court 17, Yepifanova upset No. 5 seed Qinwen Zheng of China, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5.
"I gained a lot of confidence in qualies," Yepifanova said. "And then playing matches after that, I knew that I could beat these girls and was confident in my abilities. Even though my recent results didn't match up to playing the final at US Open, I feel like I was capable of being here, and I am."
In the boys' doubles final, the American duo of Eliot Spizzirri and Tyler Zink defeated Andrew Paulson and Alexander Zgirovsky, 7-6, 6-4, to claim the title.
