The list of former champions at the USTA Boys’ National Championships, a.k.a “the Nats at the Zoo” for its longtime host city of Kalamazoo, Mich., is jarring. The 16s titlists alone include everyone from Jimmy Connors and Dick Stockton, to Sam Querrey and Robby Ginepri, to current American stars Tommy Paul and Brandon Nakashima.
“I looked through that list and saw a lot of names that I recognized. I knew I wanted to be up there. It was kind of a goal for me,” said Gus Grumet, a 16-year-old from Mill Valley, Calif.
Grumet accomplished that goal earlier this month when, as the event’s top seed, he defeated Arin Pallegar, 6-7(4), 6-2, 7-6(2), rallying from 4-0 down in the final set to claim the 16s title. His name will forever be etched on the base of the tournament's gleaming silver trophy, but what means even more is the main-draw wild card for the 2024 US Open Junior Championships.
His trip east will be a homecoming of sorts. Grumet was born in New York, having moved west with his family when he was 2 years old. His father, Al, grew up in Bayside, Queens, but a good lob from the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, and even worked at the US Open when he was young, selling T-shirts.
Pictured: Grumet with his mother, Sonia, and father, Al, after winning a USTA Gold Ball in Kalamazoo.
“It’s just super connected to me and my dad. The US Open is so special,” Grumet said. “So many people go and watch. I always keep track of it online. It’s a really big deal for us to be able to go there and get to watch matches and also play on the courts.”
What makes Grumet’s story especially unique is that, unlike many of his fellow competitors, he opted not to enroll in a tennis academy or go the home-school route. A junior at San Francisco University High School just across the Golden Gate Bridge from his hometown, he remains a full-time student at one of the Bay Area’s most demanding academic institutions.
“Part of it is definitely just having that social aspect,” said Grumet, who also won the USTA Boys’ 16 Clay Court National Championships in Delray Beach, Fla., and has now appeared in five national finals, including the 2024 Easter Bowl in Indian Wells, Calif. “I think that’s been super important for me. Even playing less tennis than some of the kids that play in the academies, I think I do better when I get to socialize and be around other kids and just be in the classroom directly. I think it helps me separate the school and the tennis and make it not all about tennis.”
Grumet does his best to represent the school team in addition to his individual training and travel schedule. His Red Devils won the California Interscholastic Federation's North Coast Section (NCS) title this spring, with Grumet posting an undefeated season at No. 1 singles.
“Gus carries himself with an understated swagger that energizes the entire team,” said Arthur Kapetanakis, who directs University High School’s tennis program. “His presence lifts the intensity of everything we do, and all of his teammates—and coaches—benefit from seeing the way he approaches the game.”
A left-hander approaching 5-foot-11, Grumet sees himself as a mix between an aggressive baseliner and an all-courter.
“I really love my backhand, but I’ve been working a lot on my forehand to get it to that same level of just not even thinking when I’m hitting and just going for it,” he told USOpen.org.
As far as the on-court role models are concerned, he keeps a close watch on current world No. 1 Jannik Sinner.
“His game style is something that I want to model mine off of, just based on how he’s super low all the time and just has incredible footwork,” explained Grumet, who trains at San Francisco’s California Tennis Club with coach Steve Jackson. “He’s always super aggressive and just hits through the ball, so that’s kind of what I model mine off of. Also, I think about having a mix between Djokovic and Rafa’s mentality. The mental aspect sometimes is not given as much credit as the physical aspect of the sport; I think having that aspect is the difference between a really good player and a champion.”
Grumet isn’t the only notable student-athlete to come out of University High School. Freestyle skier Eileen Gu, who won gold medals in big air and halfpipe, and a silver medal in slopestyle at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, also attended the private institution.
“She handled things really well here, and so I kind of use that as motivation that it is possible—and that even at a really difficult academic school, you can balance everything,” he said.
As his success leads to more opportunities, Grumet will surely grow accustomed to the interview requests, even if that means conducting them during school hours.
“I’m actually in one of the quiet rooms right now where you’re not supposed to have a phone,” he laughs, “so I’m trying to be super secretive.”
And so off to Flushing Meadows Grumet will go. Unlike his father, he’s never seen a match at the US Open in person. Now he’ll be playing one.
“I think it’s about just going in and being loose, and not really caring about the outcome, just enjoying the experience and being out there,” he said, noting the shift from being a top seed in Kalamazoo to a wild card in New York. “Obviously, I want to go in with confidence and a winning mindset, but I guess I just want to keep my expectations like it’s not the end of the world either way. You get to experience it, and that’s the best part about it.”
