Coco Gauff wasn’t the only American teenager to win a Grand Slam title in New York on Saturday. Katherine Hui, 18, defeated No. 9 seed Tereza Valentova in the girls' singles final of the US Open Junior Championships final, 6-4, 6-4.
Hui, who will start at Stanford later this month, had six match points before she managed to convert and hoist the trophy. The Czech put up a good fight though, saving eight of 13 break points and breaking Hui three times. She was consistent with her returns, getting 81% of them in play. However, Hui had a slightly higher serving percentage and ability to win her serve, helping the 2023 USTA Girls’ 18s National Championship finalist take home the hardware at her last junior tournament.
She called Gauff an inspiration (and could hear the roars from Arthur Ashe Stadium on Court 12), but she thanked Eugenie Bouchard for pushing her during the qualifying tournament three weeks ago, saying the match taught her a lot.
“I honestly dedicate a lot of this win to her,” Hui said. “I was very discouraged from that match just because I felt like I had too much expectations and put too much expectations on results and wasn't able to execute my game. Obviously, she takes balls early and steps in and was hitting really deep. I kind of took inspiration [from] that, and I have been here since then practicing on-site.”
No. 7 seed Joao Fonseca of Brazil stopped American teenagers from a title sweep, winning the junior boys’ title over No. 11 Learner Tien, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. Fonseca was a fighter, coming back from a set down, and saved 11 of the 15 break points he faced. He also got 79% of his returns in, and fired off 41 winners and six aces.
Before arriving in Queens, Fonseca had reached three junior Grand Slam quarterfinals—falling to Tien at Roland Garros—but had never made it past that stage.
“When I went to [the] quarters this time, I just thought I don't want to lose again in quarters,” Fonseca said. “I knew it was going to be a great match, like two hours and a half, sun, it was very sunny. I think it was [one of] the most difficult matches of my life because of the sun, because of the pressure, everything else, and I think that makes me believe. After the match, I knew that I had [the] skills and [the] mental strength to win this tournament.”
The junior division of the US Open Wheelchair Championships presented by Deloitte also crowned their champions, with winners’ trophies going to four different competitors in four draws, as Dahnon Ward and Ksenia Chasteau earned both singles and doubles titles.
Ward was the 2022 boys’ wheelchair singles runner-up, and was able to claim his victory on the hard courts at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center this year, 6-4, 6-3. He hit four aces, won eight of 13 break points, and saved six of the 11 he faced against top seed Francesco Felici.
On the girls’ side, Chasteau defeated American Maylee Phelps, 6-3, 6-1. Chasteau is currently the No. 2 junior wheelchair player behind No. 1 Phelps, and has won five titles this year—four of them on hard courts.
A few hours later, Chasteau and Phelps teamed up to win the junior girls’ wheelchair doubles title together, winning 7-5, 6-0 over Czauz and Takamuro. On the boys’ side, the British team of Ward and Joshua Johns defeated the American pair of Charlie Cooper and Tomas Majetic in an even hour, 6-0, 6-3.
The junior doubles champions both lost the first set then took the second and the 10-point tiebreak that acts as a third set. No. 8 seeds Mara Gae and Anastasiia Gureva took home the girls’ doubles trophy, defeating the Japanese duo of Sara Saito and Nanaka Sato, 1-6, 7-5, [10-8], and Max Dahlin and Oliver Ojakaar won the boys’ doubles title over No. 6 seeds Federico Bondioli and Joel Schwaerzler 3-6, 6-3, [11-9].
