Day 1 of junior competition at the 2022 US Open saw 26 young Americans take the courts at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, and Washington, D.C. native Clervie Ngounoue scored the biggest upset of the day, outdueling girls’ No. 6 seed and French Open junior girls’ quarterfinalist Nikola Daubnerova, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1.
Ngounoue—who captured the 2022 Australian Open girls’ doubles title and won a round in the women’s doubles main draw earlier this week—broke to open the third set, then fought off multiple break points in her next two service games (three in a row at one point) to ultimately claim the contest. She’ll next face fellow American Tatum Evans, who qualified for the main draw and eased past Belgium’s Amelia Waligora, 6-1, 6-4.
Another member of the American contingent in action: New Jersey native and 2022 Wimbledon boys’ singles finalist Michael Zheng, who defeated qualifier Borys Zgola of Poland, 6-4, 6-4. The No. 16 seed hit 18 winners and defended his second serve well, winning 71% of those points throughout the contest. He also maintained his composure during a tricky moment. Late in the final set he lost a break lead, but broke right back in the next game to serve out the match.
Just days after winning a match in the men’s doubles event with partner Ethan Quinn, Nicholas Godsick lost his boys’ singles opener against No. 14 seed Yaroslav Demin, 7-5, 6-4. Godsick—who is the son of two-time Grand Slam doubles champion Mary Joe Fernandez—double-faulted on set point while serving for the first at 5-3. The American also earned two break point opportunities as his opponent served for the match, but the higher-ranked player produced some great shots to pull through in the end.
Godsick is still in the boys’ doubles draw, where he’ll compete with Canadian Jaden Weekes.
Floridian and girls’ No. 16 seed Qavia Lopez is also out, losing 6-3, 6-3 to Anastasiya Lopata, of Ukraine. So, too, are both USTA National Championship victors Learner Tien (boys’) and Eleana Yu (girls’). Yu lost to Britain’s Ella McDonald, 7-5, 6-3, while Tien fell to Argentinian and boys’ No. 6 seed Lautaro Midon, 6-3, 6-2.
Tien can take some positives from the event, though. Receiving a wild card into the US Open men’s main draw as a result of his big win earlier this summer, Tien ended up taking a set off his first round opponent, the No. 32 seed Miomir Kecmanovic.
Elsewhere, the majority of seeds in action rolled. In two back-to-back Court 15 contests, two top-ranked players from Belgium faced two unseeded Peruvians for a spot in Round 2. Both Belgians emerged victorious with near-identical scorelines.
First, boys’ No. 2 seed Gilles Arnaud Bailly—who reached the boys’ singles final at the 2022 French Open in June—defeated Gianluca Ballotta 6-2, 6-1, in just over an hour. Bailly found tremendous success drawing his opponent into the net, where the Peruvian lefty ultimately managed to win just 3 of 10 points throughout the course of the match.
Bailly’s compatriot and girls’ No. 1 seed Sofia Costoulas next took the court and showed why she’s won five ITF junior singles titles this year, needing exactly an hour to wrap up a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Lucciana Perez Alarcon. Costoulas hit 19 winners and earned the decisive result despite serving at 49% throughout the match. In the second set, she converted every break point she received and saved the only two she faced, one after a grueling 28-shot rally in which both players scrambled back and forth along the baseline. She’ll next face American Valerie Glozman—the USTA National Championship runner-up—in Round 2.
Two other top players in action on Day 1—boys’ No. 1 seed Daniel Vallejo and girls’ No. 2 seed Lucie Havlickova—both shook off a rain delay in the late afternoon to advance over two Americans. Vallejo, a 2022 Australian Open boys’ singles semifinalist who hails from Paraguay, won a staggering 57% of receiving points to defeat lefty Kaylan Bigun, 6-2, 6-2. Reigning French Open girls’ singles champion Havlickova fired five aces and 31 winners to beat Alanis Hamilton, 6-3, 6-4.
Other seeds advancing included girls’ No. 5 seed and 2022 French Open girls’ singles runner-up Solana Sierra, of Argentina; girls' No. 10 seed and 2021 US Open girls’ singles quarterfinalist Alexandra Eala of the Philippines; boys’ No. 3 seed and 2022 Wimbledon boys’ singles quarterfinalist Kilian Feldbausch; and boys’ No. 10 seed and another 2022 Wimbledon boys’ singles quarterfinalist Coleman Wong.
Girls’ No. 3 seed and reigning Wimbledon girls’ singles champion Liv Hovde kicks off her US Open campaign on Monday, as does the highest American seed in the boys’ singles draw, Nishesh Basavareddy.
Check out some more of our favoirte photos from Day 1 of the US Open Junior Championships:
