 Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 06 Sep 2009 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 08 Sep 2009 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 08 Sep 2009 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 08 Sep 2009 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 08 Sep 2009 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 08 Sep 2009 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 08 Sep 2009 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 08 Sep 2009 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 08 Sep 2009 |
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| 08 Sep 2009 - Flushing Meadows, New York - Sandra Harwitt | |
| Former Wimbledon Winners Advance At US Open |
Two Wimbledon junior champions – Noppawan Lertcheewakarn of Thailand, who is the reigning Wimbledon titlist, and unseeded Laura Robson of Great Britain, who won the 2008 Wimbledon title, fought through tough three-set matches to move into the US Open Junior Girls’ third round on Tuesday.
Robson trailed 1-4 in the third set before prevailing 46 61 64 over seventh seed Lauren Embree of the United States. The Briton won the final five games to win the match.
“Some would argue that I should never have got to the third set anyway given that I should’ve won the first two sets,” Robson said. “But it’s good to come back from 4-1 behind. Even when I’m behind I try to play as well as I can and try to keep winning my shots.”
The 15-year-old Robson, who brims with self-confidence, is unperturbed about not being seeded at this U.S. Open.
“I don’t mind (being unseeded),” Robson said. “I mean, being seeded first is a lot of added pressure. So I’m happy to be unseeded.
“When I won Wimbledon I was unseeded,” she added, knocking on the desk in front of her as if she was touching wood for luck.
Robson’s goal is to add another Grand Slam junior title to her resume. She reached the Australian Open junior final in January, but has not won a significant junior trophy since Wimbledon.
Embree believed they were both nervous at the outset, which helped her to win the opening set. But she felt that once Robson settled into the match in the second set, the Briton started to play more aggressively and was able to utilize her formidable forehand to win more of the points.
For the 18-year-old Embree this is her last junior tournament as she moves on to play at the University of Florida as a freshman.
As for her junior career, Embree won the 2008 Eddie Herr International Junior Tennis Championships and was a finalist the past two years at the Easter Bowl.
“I was happy with my junior career,” Embree said. “It’s college for now.”
Second seed Noppawan Lertcheewakarn survived a second round marathon match against Valeria Solovieva of Russia, winning 26 64 76(4).
Lertcheewakarn said she missed speaking with her coach, Chuck Kriese, before the match and she would’ve liked to have had his advice before taking to the court. She admitted she wasn’t that surprised when her coach told her she made 63 unforced errors in the match.
“I was playing bad today,” Lertcheewakarn said. “This match, I was supposed to win, but she played very well. But I did my best and in the tiebreak I just go for it.”
In the end, Lertcheewakarn took advantage of her third match point in the tiebreaker – fourth match point, overall – to claim the two-hour 13-minute battle.
The 17-year-old Lertcheewakarn also had a match point when serving at 5-4 in the final set, but couldn’t hold onto her serve.
“She’s a great player and she’s very experienced and she knows what to do in the big moments,” said the 16-year-old Solovieva, who has trained in Miami since she was 11. “She really stepped up at the end. I was doing my best, but I had cramps at the end and really couldn’t feel my legs.”
Lertcheewakarn has gained a lot of confidence from her victory at Wimbledon, which she believes helped her get through the tight match against Solovieva.
But taking the Wimbledon title has also made her quite the celebrity back home in Thailand, which also means that there’s added pressure on her to succeed.
“Everyone in Thailand expects me to win very much and it’s very tough because tennis is a tough sport,” Lertcheewakarn said. “It’s tough for me because I’m not used to it.”
Unseeded Evan King of the United States, this year’s Easter Bowl champion, upset fifth seeded Argentine Agustin Velotti 76 (4) 64 in a first round match.
King then partnered with fellow American Denis Kudla to upset the top-seeded doubles pairing of Yuki Bhambri (IND) and Liang-Chi Huang (TPE) 36 62 (10-6) in a Match Super Tiebreaker.
“You definitely have to concentrate on each match because everyone in this tournament is extremely good to get here,” said King, who will start his freshman year at the University of Michigan when he leaves the US Open. “There’s not a huge difference between the top, top people and everyone who gets in. Even the qualifiers are very good.”
In other junior matches around the courts, eighth seed Gianni Mina of France defeated Jozef Kovalik of Slovakia 57 62 64.
The 16th-seeded Denis Kudla of the United States beat Mikhail Biryukov of Russia 75 63.
In girls’ action, tenth seed Richel Hogenkamp of the Netherlands beat Grace Min of the United States 61 64. Twelfth seed Tamaryn Hendler of Belgium defeated Yulia Putintseva of Russia 64 64. Fifteenth seed UlrikkeEikeri of Norway scored a 63 76(3) win over American Nicole Gibbs and sixteenth seed Beatrice Capra of the United States outlasted Anna Orlik of Belarus to win 57 64 63.
Related articles:
> Top seeds have different luck in first round
> Babos taking inspiration from Babos success
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