Tiafoe and Black Among Field of U.S. Open Junior Wild Card Recipients

August 21, 2015 | By New York Tennis Magazine Staff
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The USTA has announced that 2015 USTA Boys 18s National Champion Frances Tiafoe and 2013 U.S. Open Girls Singles Finalist Tornado Alicia Black have been awarded wild card entries into the U.S. Open Junior Championships, which will be played Sept. 6-13 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, N.Y.

Tiafoe, who received a wild card entry into the U.S. Open Men’s Singles draw by virtue of winning the USTA Boys 18s National Title, projects to join a U.S. Open Boys Singles field that currently includes world number one junior Taylor Fritz, 2015 Wimbledon Boys Champion Reilly Opelka, 2015 French Open Boys Champion Tommy Paul and world number three junior Michael Mmoh.

Black, who reached the U.S. Open Girls Singles Final in 2013, falling to now world number 80 Ana Konjuh in a third-set tie-break, joins other top American teens CiCi Bellis, Katerina Stewartand USTA Girls 18s National Champion Sofia Kenin as expected participants in the girls field.

The full list of U.S. Open Junior Championships wild card recipients:

Main Draw–Boys
►Vasil Kirkov (16, Tampa, Fla.; Coaches :Stoyan Kirkov, Sylvain Guichard)
*Patrick Kypson (15, Greenville, N.C.; Coach: Chris Cloer)
►Eduardo Nava (18, Woodland Hills, Calif.; Coach: Favero Academy)
►Sam Riffice (16, Roseville, Calif.; Coaches: Lori Riffice, Sylvain Guichard)
►Alex Rybakov (18, Coral Springs, Fla.; Coach: Nick Rybakov)
►Frances Tiafoe (17, College Park, Md.; Coach: Jose Higueras)

Main Draw–Girls
►Tornado Alicia Black (17, Boca Raton, Fla.; Coaches: Gayal and Sly Black)
►Hurricane Tyra Black (14, Boca Raton, Fla.; Coaches: Gayal and Sly Black)
►Kelly Chen (16, Cerritos, Calif.; Coach: Debbie Shaffer)
*Abigail Desiatnikov (14, Sandy Springs, Ga.; Coach: Eugeny Desiatnikov)
►Alexa Graham (17, Garden City, N.Y.; Coach: Anna Beilen Zavska)
►Kylie McKenzie (16, Anthem, Ariz.; Coaches: Leo Azevedo, Lou Belken)
►Caty McNally (13, Cincinnati; Coach: Lynn Nabors-McNally)
►Alexandra Sanford (16, Westerville, Ohio; Coach: Doug DiRosario)

*Earned wild cards by virtue of winning USTA Boys and Girls 16s National Titles.

Qualifying–Boys
►Zeke Clark (17, Tulsa, Okla.; Coach: Trent Tucker)
►John McNally (16, Cincinnati; Coach: Lynn Nabors-McNally)
►Alex Rotsaert (15, Boca Raton, Fla.; Coach: Hafeez Hameed)
►Gianni Ross (16, La Grange, Ill.; Coach: Jack Sharpe)
►JJ Wolf (16, Cincinnati; Coach: David Kass and Jeff Wolf)
►Yuki Mochizuki (Japanese high school champion)

Qualifying–Girls
►Amanda Anisimova (13, Hallandale Beach, Fla.; Coaches: Konstantin Anisimov, Richard Ashby)
►Carson Branstine (14, Orange, Calif.; Coach: Kathy Rinaldi)
►Whitney Osuigwe (13, Bradenton, Fla.; Coach: Desmond Osuigwe)
►Natasha Subhash (13, Fairfax, Va.; Coach: Bear Schofield)
►Eri Shimizu (17, Japanese high school champion)

Three additional wild cards will be awarded at a later date: Two in the boys main draw (one of which will be awarded by the French Tennis Federation through a reciprocal agreement) and one for girls qualifying.


New York Tennis Magazine Staff
Centercourt
USTA NTC

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