Day 1 of the junior tournament at the US Open got off to a scorching start—and we’re not just talking about temperatures around the grounds soaring into the low 90s. Cooper Williams—the top American seed in the boys’ singles draw—needed just 45 minutes to get past Italy’s Gabriele Vulpitta, 6-1, 6-0. The No. 3 seed and 2023 Wimbledon boys’ singles semifinalist—who grew up playing tennis just a borough away from Flushing Meadows in Manhattan—cranked his serve up to 127 mph, hit 15 winners and proved extremely tough on the big points, converting five of his seven break-point opportunities.
Williams’s compatriot and No. 11 seed Learner Tien—who received a wild card into the men’s singles draw and played Frances Tiafoe in the first round earlier in the week—also rolled, taking out Abel Forger of the Netherlands, 6-2, 6-4. Tien, a runner-up in the boys’ singles event and champion in the boys’ doubles event (with Williams) at the Australian Open this past January, served seven aces and faced just one break point on his service game the entire match.
Elsewhere, No. 1 seed and 2023 Wimbledon boys’ singles finalist Yaroslav Demin was made to work in his nearly two-hour contest against the United Kingdom’s Oliver Bonding, but ultimately got through in straight sets, 7-5, 6-4. The pair played several extended games with multiple deuces in the first set, and Bonding led by a break early in the second.
Demin’s counterpart on the girls’ side, Renata Jamrichova of Slovakia, endured much less hardship, dropping just two games to defeat Australia’s Maya Joint, 6-1, 6-1. Jamrichova—whose last hard-court loss at a junior Grand Slam, interestingly, came to Mirra Andreeva in the Australian Open quarterfinals—saved all seven of the break points she faced.
Top American and No. 7 seed Kaitlin Quevedo of Florida, also sailed into Round 2, needing just 55 minutes to dismiss Romania’s Cara Maria Mester, 6-3, 6-1. She also played the big points well, converting five of her six break-point opportunities.
Californian and No. 8 seed Iva Jovic wasn’t so lucky. Jovic—who caused a stir in the tournament last year when she came back from a 0-5 deficit in the third set to defeat the No. 6 seed Solana Sierra—fell to Aya El Aouni of Morocco, 7-6, 3-6, 6-4. El Aouni initially served for the upset at 5-3 and got broken; the pair played a wild final game in which Jovic saved three match points and earned three chances to level the score to 5-5 before El Aouni claimed the contest on her fourth opportunity.
Fifteen-year-old American qualifier Shannon Lam of New Jersey almost pulled off an upset of her own against No. 10 seed Laura Samsonova of the Czech Republic. Lam led the higher-ranked player by a double break in the third and served twice for the win, but Samsonova fought back and captured five games in a row to survive and advance, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5.
Other players advancing on Day 1 included No. 4 seed Henry Searle, who in July became the first British player in 61 years to win the boys’ singles title at Wimbledon; American wild cards Matthew Forbes, Adhithya Ganesan, Valerie Glozman, Katherine Hui, Trevor Svajda and Akasha Urhobo; and 2023 Wimbledon girls’ singles semifinalist Nikola Bartunkova, who upset the No. 15 seed Rebecca Munk Mortensen to reach the second round.
