 Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 01 Sep 2008 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 01 Sep 2008 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 01 Sep 2008 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 01 Sep 2008 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 01 Sep 2008 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 01 Sep 2008 |
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| 01 Sep 2008 - USTA National Tennis Center, Flushing, New York, USA - Eleanor Preston |  Related Audio |
| Britton tames Tomic |
 An interview with Guido Pella (MP3 format)
An interview with Madison Brengle (MP3 format)
 
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American Devin Britton sent shockwaves through the Junior US Open on Monday by knocking out second-seeded Australian Bernard Tomic. Britten had to come from a set down to beat the reigning Boys Australian Open champion 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 and move through to the second round at Flushing Meadows.
“It’s a great match up for me because my game style is tough for him,” said Britton. “He likes to stay back on the baseline and I like to come forward. I put him under a lot of pressure and he really doesn’t like that,” said Britton. “If anything, he probably has more experience than me because he’s been playing juniors longer than me, even though he’s pretty young. When I saw the draw I was pretty pleased because before I’ve had qualifiers in the first round which has been harder in a way because I was expected to win and I got super nervous. This was different.”
With Tomic out, Boys’ Wimbledon champion Gregor Dimitrov of Bulgaria is now favourite to win the title in New York, along with top seed Tsung-Hua Yang of Tapei. Dimitrov began his campaign with a 6-2, 6-2 first round win over Julien Obry of France and says his Wimbledon victory means that he now comes to Junior Grand Slams with higher expectations than before. “It definitely gives me confidence that I won Wimbledon,” he said. “I want to win here and I think I can play well.” Dimitrov has already attracted the attention of some of tennis’s biggest names. He is friendly with David Ferrer and recently hit with World No.1 Rafael Nadal. It was an exciting, though sobering, experience for him. “It’s not just that he hits is hard, it’s that he puts so much spin on the ball as well. It’s incredible and it’s not like hitting with other players,” said 17-year-old Dimitrov. “Your arm feels like it’s going to drop off afterwards.”
The first round defeat of the top seed Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands has turned the spotlight in the girls’ draw onto second seed Melanie Oudin of the USA. Oudin is not phased, though, and is delighted to be the centre of attention at her home grand slam. “It’s not a distraction at all because ever since I played the French Open and Wimbledon I’ve wanted to come here and play at my home grand slam, where the crowd is for me and everyone is watching. It’s awesome to be here,” said Oudin, who played in the main draw of the US Open last week. “In the women’s event because I was a wildcard and as an underdog I had nothing to lose but in juniors I’m seeded and I’m expected to win, so that was tough for my mind to adjust to. But I try not to take any notice of the seedings or rankings or anything like that because I have been seeded high before and lost. This time I’m just trying to look at every match and my game.”
Quirine Lemoine of the Netherlands scored Monday’s biggest upset in the girls’ draw when she knocked out sixth seed Ana Bogdan of Romania, while Russian Marta Sirotkina beat ninth seed Jessy Rompies of Indonesia with a 7-6, 6-2 win. Title contenders Katarzyna Piter of Poland, Kristina Mladenovic of France, Ksenia Lykina of Russia and Isabella Holland of Australia all moved safely through to the second round.
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