Girls’ singles and doubles finals
Remember the name. In just one day, 17-year-old American Robin Montgomery became a two-time US Open champion. First, the No. 7 seed claimed the girls’ singles title, defeating No. 6 seed and Belarusian Kristina Dmitruk, 6-2, 6-4. Then, just hours later, she and Ashlyn Krueger teamed up to take the girls’ doubles title over fellow Americans Reese Brantmeier and Elvina Kalieva, 5-7, 6-4, [10-4]. In doing so, Montgomery became the first person to hold both of those titles at the US Open in the same year since Dutch player Michaella Krajicek did the same double in 2004, and the first American to do it since Lindsay Davenport in 1992.
“To be honest, when I came [to the tournament] I was just trying to make it past the second round,” she told reporters with a laugh after a long day of tennis. “I wasn’t picturing getting both, but here I am. Hopefully I can take it to the next level.”
In the singles match, Montgomery—who, through her club in College Park, Md., is a part of the USTA Foundation Excellence Team, an initiative by the USTA Foundation to support young athletes in both their on-court and educational off-court endeavors—enjoyed a mostly routine win. Ultimately, the D.C. native seemed to have the bigger weapons on court. She made more errors, but when she connected, she controlled the match. As she’s done throughout the tournament, Montgomery served extremely well: The lefty won 74% of points behind her first serve. And during this particular contest, her return was lethal at stages. She feasted on Dmitruk’s second serve—six of the American’s 28 winners were off the return. Montgomery broke in the sixth game of the first set, then never lost another game going forward to take the opener 6-2.
Dmitruk made things more complicated in the second. She took advantage of a shaky first service game and broke immediately. Montgomery struggled to summon her best tennis on the return, but she stayed close and held her own serve. Then, in the eighth game, she problem-solved. Dmitruk made three straight forehand errors, and Montgomery broke back—then never lost another game. It’s the first time an American has won the girls’ singles title since Amanda Anisimova lifted the trophy in 2017.
Watch: Montgomery vs. Dmitruk, girls' singles final highlights
About three hours after her victory, Montgomery stepped back on the court with partner Ashlyn Krueger to contest the girls’ doubles final. The pair—who took out No. 13 team Asia Muhammad and Jessica Pegula in the first round of the US Open women’s doubles tournament— recovered from a set down and played a dominant match tiebreak to claim the title.
Watch: Krueger-Montgomery vs. Brantmeier-Kalieva, girls' doubles final highlights
Boys’ singles and doubles finals
Rafael Nadal may not have made the trip to New York, but a Spanish lefty still won in Flushing Meadows, as No. 3 seed Daniel Rincon emerged victorious in the boys’ singles final, defeating top seed Juncheng Shang, 6-2, 7-6.
“It feels great, I still don’t know what to say,” Rincon said after the match. “I still don’t believe what I did. I’m really happy, I just want to keep playing these kinds of tournaments. [It’s] such a great atmosphere here, so I’m really happy to win in New York.”
The first set was one-way traffic, as Rincon posted exceptional serving stats. The Spaniard hit five aces, made 75% of his first serves, and won an astounding 100% of his second serve points—not an easy feat when playing an aggressive player like Shang. With Shang managing to claim just four points on his opponent’s service games, Rincon took the opener in 27 minutes.
Shang settled in the second. The pair stayed even through 3-3, until Shang played a strong return game to force errors off his opponent and break. Flustered by the shift in momentum, Rincon struggled to win points and had to fight back from a 0-30 deficit on his next service game. Shang then had four set points as he served for it a 5-4 but couldn’t convert. After six deuce points, the Chinese player was broken on an ill-timed double fault. How close were the margins? Rincon saved one with a ball that hit the net and barely trickled over to the other side.
Shang then raced out to a 5-2 lead in the second set tiebreak. Looking like the match might head to a third set after all, Rincon reeled off the next four points—two off unreturnable serves. Shang saved one match point, but Rincon won the title on his second opportunity in dramatic fashion, hitting a smash at the net that looked at first like it might sail wide. It didn’t, and he collapsed to the ground as the umpire called the score.
Rincon—who was a finalist in the boys’ doubles tournament at Wimbledon in July, with partner Abedallah Shelbayh—trains at the Rafa Nadal Academy and has had the opportunity to hit with the 20-time Grand Slam champion.
“When we practice, the main thing he tells us is to have full intensity every time,” Rincon said. “When he talks to us, it’s not so much about strategy, it’s about effort and moving and giving everything, and I think that’s the main thing in tennis.”
Watch: Rincon vs. Shang, boys' singles final highlights
In the boys’ doubles final, France’s Max Westphal and Hong Kong’s Coleman Wong upset No. 7 seeds Viacheslav Bielinskyi (of Ukraine) and Petr Nesterov (of Bulgaria) by playing an exceptional match tiebreak, 6-3, 5-7 [10-1]. The unseeded team lost the second point of the decider—and only the second point, winning the next nine in a row.
Watch: Westphal-Wong vs. Bielinskyi-Nesterov, boys' doubles final highlights
