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| 04 Sep 2001 | |
| Abougzir makes strong start |
By Eleanor PrestonDay two of the US Open junior competition and the boys singles event is already hotting up. Twelfth seed Todd Reid of Australia was the first casualty on Monday after he felt the full force of Canada’s Frank Dancevic. The 17-year-old from Niagara Falls, who enjoyed a strong showing at Wimbledon earlier this summer, looked sharp and full of confidence, beating Reid 6-4, 6-4. Eleventh seed Jordan Kanev and fourteen seed Lionel Noviski are also out of the tournament. Kanev fell 6-7, 6-3, 6-3 to Germany’s Philipp Petzschner while Noviski was beaten 6-3, 6-2 by Komlavi Loglo.
One of the day’s big winners was 18-year-old Ytai Abougzir. The American, seeded six in the singles, demolished Austria’s Stefan Wiespeiner 6-2, 6-2 and then teamed up with Luciano Vitullo to win his first round doubles match as well. "I’m pleased to start off on a good note," said Abougzir. "I’ve been practising and working pretty hard to prepare for this event and to win my first singles and doubles matches was a really positive way to start".
Abougzir was born in Israel but his family came to the US on a holiday when he was just 7 and a half years old and ended up moving here for good. He is now based in Delray Beach in Florida and says he loves playing in front of an American crowd at Flushing Meadows.
"I like this place," said Abougzir, who reached the semi-finals at the US Open this time last year. "It feels like home and the crowd is always really good. They root for you and you can really take energy from that and feed off it. I always have a lot of friends and family who come too and these are just great surroundings. The fact that it’s in a great city makes it really special."
Abougzir says it wasn’t hard to choose to play under the US flag. "They’ve really helped me out here with wildcards and training and things. We all really love Israel and have family there but it wasn’t really a difficult decision."
In the girls’ event junior Wimbledon champion Angelique Widjaja continued her good form with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Bethanie Mattek. Widjaja plays American wild card Amber Liu in the second round after Liu beat Melanie Marois 6-4, 6-3. Maria Sharapova set up a second round meeting with top seed Kaia Kanepi after she eased past Kristen Schlukebir 6-3, 6-1.
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