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| 28 Aug 2003 | |
| Who will reign in New York ? |
The world’s leading junior players will be in action on
Sunday as the 2003 US Open Junior
Championships get underway. With 500 ranking points available to the winner,
the players will be aware that victory at Flushing Meadows will go a long way
towards securing the title of 2003 Junior World Champion and all will be
striving to perform at their best.
Nine of the top ten in the current boys’ ranking will
contest the boys’ singles in what promises to be a thrilling tournament. Last year’s
losing finalist. Marcos Baghdatis, of Cyprus, will be hoping to go one step
further and add to the Australian Open title that he captured in January
However, he will face tough opposition from the likes of Wimbledon champion,
Florin Mergea, of Romania, who has proven form in New York, having reached the
quarterfinals last year; France’s Jo-Wilfred Tsonga, who has reached the
semifinals of all three Grand Slams this year and Australian Chris Guccione who
was Wimbledon runner-upl in June.
Two other players who should not be discounted are Dudi
Sela, of Israel, who has been competing successfully in the senior ranks for
the majority of this year and got to the quarterfinals last year and Spaniard
Daniel Gimeno-Traver, who has won six tournaments on the ITF junior circuit so
far this year.
In the girls’ singles, 14-year-old Dutch sensation Michaella Krajicek, will be looking for a first Grand Slam success to cap a
fantastic 2003 which has already seen her win two Grade A titles. Victory on
her first visit to Flushing Meadow would also give the Dutch player a
commanding lead in the race to be Junior World Champion. Kirsten Flipkens, of
Belgium, will be keen for another taste of the big time after her victory at
Wimbledon and was a quarterfinalist last year.
Two other players with proven form in New York are last
year’s losing semifinalists, Slovakia’s Jarmila Gadjosova and Tatiana Golovin,
of France. Golovin recently collected the European Junior title so will start
the competition in good heart while Gajdosova was so close to reaching the
Wimbledon final but lost an epic semifinal to Flipkens. Finland’s Emma Laine
has already reached semifinals at Wimbledon and the Australian Open this year
so obviously possesses the ability to perform on the big stage and is another
player with a chance as is Katerina Bohmova, of the Czech Republic, who has
been steadily climbing the rankings in 2003.
The United States will have high hopes of success in both
events. French Open runner-up, Brian Baker will shoulder the bulk of American
hopes in the boys’ singles but home advantage could spur fellow Americans Chris
Kwon or Scott Oudsema, to a good showing in New York.
Bethanie Mattek returns to junior competition for the first
time in almost two years, having secured a top 150 WTA ranking this year, to
lead a two-pronged American attack on the girls’ singles with Ally Baker, who
has also been playing extensively on the professional tour but reached the quarterfinals last year and at
Wimbledon this year
Visit this site daily to watch the action unfold.
Full scores, daily
reports and photos will be available throughout the tournament.
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