Only five of the top 10 boys in the ITF rankings are in the junior singles draw at the Australian Open. Australia is, after all, a long way to travel for little financial reward.
Just four Americans were in the Australian Open boys singles draw when the tournament began: No. 3 seed Taylor Harry Fritz, No. 5 Michael Mmoh, William Blumberg, and Samir Kumar. Only two remain: Fritz and Kumar.
Mmoh and Blumberg, the two USA representatives in the top half of the bracket, have been ousted. A first-round upset saw Mmoh go down to Sumit Nagal of India 6-2, 4-6, 6-4. Blumberg won his opener before succumbing to No. 11 seed Tim Van Rijthoven of the Netherlands 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Fritz and Kumar, in the bottom half of the draw, will contest their second-round matches on Tuesday. They cannot go head-to-head against each other until the semifinals. Fritz, America’s second-ranked junior boy behind Stefan Kozlov, kicked off his tournament with a 6-1, 6-4 thrashing of Slovakia’s Alex Molcan.
Kozlov and fellow big-namer Jared Donaldson are playing this week at a Challenger event in Maui. The American-heavy field also features Denis Kudla, Bradley Klahn, Michael Russell, Ryan Harrison, Wayne Odesnik, Chase Buchanan, and Jarmere Jenkins. Seven of the eight seeds hail from the USA.
Donaldson will open against Japan’s Yasutaka Uchiyama, while Kozlov awaits a qualifier. Kozlov, a wild-card entry, could meet Donaldson’s U.S. Open doubles partner–Russell–in the second round.
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Wish I had more confidence in the US Jrs…but I don’t!!!