 Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 02 Sep 2008 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 02 Sep 2008 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 02 Sep 2008 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 02 Sep 2008 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 02 Sep 2008 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 02 Sep 2008 |
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| 02 Sep 2008 - USTA National Tennis Center, Flushing, New York, USA - Eleanor Preston |  Related Audio |
| All Hail McHale after Lykina loses |
 An Interview with Marcus Willis (MP3 format)
An Interview with Christina McHale (MP3 format)
 
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American Christina McHale has been coming to the US Open since she was a little girl so it is no surprise that the New Jersey native feels at home at Flushing Meadows. McHale showed just how comfortable she is on the courts of the Billie Jean King National Tennis Centre on Tuesday by beating eighth-seeded Russian Ksenia Lykina to move through to the third round of the US Open Junior competition.
“I came here lots of times and there are lots of memories and growing up I would come here all the time and watch,” said McHale after beating Lykina 7-5, 6-1. “I guess one which stands out was being here to see Andre Agassi’s last match a couple of years ago. That was pretty cool. I hope I can make some more memories this week. I love playing here.” Sixteen-year-old McHale now faces an all-American third round match against two-time Junior Grand Slam runner-up Madison Brengle, who beat Silvia Njiric of Croatia 7-6, 6-3.
In what is turning out to be a strong early showing for American girls at their home grand slam, Asia Muhammad is also making progress and beat Romana Tabakova 6-3, 6-4 and now takes on yet another American, second seed Melanie Oudin in the third round. Oudin beat Nastassya Burnett of Italy 6-4, 6-1. The US contingent will face strong competition for the title though from trophy contenders like Noppawan Lertcheewakarn of Thailand and Elena Bogdan of Romania, both of whom are through to the third round.
In the boys’ competition, in-form Briton Marcus Willis continued where he left off after winning last week’s Grade 1 Canadian Open in Montreal by beating Australian Dane Propoggia 6-0, 6-2. Willis will now play France’s Guillaume Rufin in what is likely to be a high quality encounter in the second round. “So far, so good,” said Willis, whose fellow Britons Daniel Cox and Daniel Smethurst also enjoyed wins on Tuesday, with Smethurst joining Willis in the second round and Cox moving ahead to the third. “The win in Canada was obviously very nice for me. I fought very hard out there, though I didn’t play my best tennis. I’m coming here on a high and anything is possible. I know I can play better but I’m being patient because it will come I think. I’m just going keep working hard. Every first match is tough. He struggled with the courts because they are very fast but things couldn’t have gone much better for me. I think Rufin is going to make a few more balls tomorrow so I’ll have to be more patient and see what happens.”
In other matches on day three of the junior competition, American Chase Buchanan scored Tuesday’s biggest upset by knocking out Juan Vazquez-Valenzuela of Argentina with a 6-1, 6-0 win over the tournament’s tenth seed. Buchanan’s compatriot Devin Britten, who knocked out Australian star Bernard Tomic in the first round, continued his impressive US Open by beating Matthew Kandath of the USA 6-1, 6-4.
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