World No. 1 and top seed Juncheng Shang of China has taken note of all the young players excelling in the men's and women's US Open draw this year.

As a 16-year-old, Shang has reason to compare himself to Carlos Alcaraz, Emma Raducanu and Leylah Fernandez, although his progression in this summer's junior slams has been step-by-step, rather than the astonishing breakthroughs of that trio of teenagers.

Shang reached the quarter-finals of Junior Roland Garros in June and the semi-finals of the boys' event at Wimbledon in July, and after his 6-4 6-4 victory over No. 11 seed Sascha Gueymard Wayenburg of France on Friday, he has now advanced to his first junior Grand Slam final at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

"You've probably watched the US Open the first week, Carlos playing really well, the two girls who are in the final as well. So for me, it's trying to catch up to them hopefully," said Shang, who is known as Jerry to his English-speaking friends. "It's working day by day, it doesn't happen in one night."

Shang, who hit 18 winners and just 12 unforced errors in Friday's semi-final, said it was his best performance of the week.

"It went really well for me," said the left-hander, who trains at the IMG Academy in Bradenton Florida. "I played really good games, I was serving really well during the match, returning well. I think everything was kind of my side today. He got a little unlucky at the end of the first set, but on my side it was really high intensity."

Shang is making his debut at the US Open this year, and he can see a definite difference in the atmosphere in comparison to Roland Garros and Wimbledon.

"I was at the French Open and Wimbledon this year and the energy in New York, it's just different," Shang said. "Wimbledon is just more quiet. Here everyone is in a party, they're supporting players they like and I think it's really great. This would be a perfect party to go to."

Shang's opponent in Saturday's boys final is 18-year-old Daniel Rincon, who is hoping to go out a champion in his final junior major.

The Spanish left-hander played a roller coaster of a semi-final contest with No. 8 seed Jerome Kym of Switzerland on Friday, prevailing 3-6 7-6(4) 6-4 in the day's longest match.

Rincon had five set points serving for the second set at 5-3, but lost them all. He had a sixth with Kym serving at 4-5 and lost that, and dropped his seventh at 6-3 in the tiebreaker before Kym double-faulted on the eighth.

With his shoulder causing him problems, Rincon was frustrated when he was unable serve out the set.

"Under normal conditions I would just go for huge first serves and try to finish it quickly," said Rincon, saying growing up playing at high altitude and often indoors has helped him on the fast outdoors courts this week. "But I had to play the points, and he was playing great, but I did a good job of making him play every point while staying aggressive, so I'm really happy with this win."

Rincon ran out to a 4-0 lead in the third set, only to watch Kym claim the next three games, but he held steady when he had a chance to close out the victory, setting up the last match of his junior career: a Grand Slam final.

"It's the best for the last," Rincon said. "I'm really enjoying my time here and I know it's the last junior slam I'm playing, so I'm going full out, trying to give my best, as I think I always do."

Robin Montgomery had a full day on Friday, with the singles semi-finals and the doubles quarter-finals and semi-finals, but the 17-year-old American admitted that earning wins in all three of them reduced the fatigue.

"I could play another one," Montgomery said, after she and partner Ashlyn Krueger had defeated top seeds Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva of Andorra and Ane Mintegi del Olmo of Spain 6-1 7-5 in the doubles semi-finals. "No, I'm joking. I'm pretty tired. But when you win, tiredness doesn't matter."

Montgomery, seeded seventh, started the day with a come-from-behind 2-6 6-3 6-4 victory over unseeded Solana Sierra of Argentina, when the gusty winds were at their worst.

"It was really windy," said Montgomery, who trains at the Junior Tennis Champions Center in College Park Maryland. "I'll give it to Solana, she was hitting her spots well, maybe a little bit too well. None of us here could keep that level for the whole match...I just tried to believe in myself, make the points a little bit longer."

Montgomery took control by winning four straight 40-30 points on her serve in the third set, while finding enough rhythm on her groundstrokes to break Sierra twice. Yet serving out her first junior slam semi-final wasn't easy, as she could not convert three match points at 5-2, while double-faulting three times, including on the game point.

But because she had that second break, and the chance to change ends, Montgomery didn't panic.

"There was more wind on that side, moving my toss around more," said the left-hander from Washington DC. "Even though she broke me it that game, I knew it was close and I was confident enough that I could close it out in my next service game."

Montgomery's opponent in Saturday's singles final spent much less time on court Friday, with No. 6 seed Kristina Dmitruk of Belarus defeating unseeded Sebastianna Scilipoti of Switzerland 6-1 6-2 in 53 minutes.

Dmitruk, who turns 18 later this month, said she has been following the results of the women in Saturday's final, with Raducanu and Fernandez only a year older than she is.

"Tomorrow will be a very interesting match, I think," Dmitruk said of the women's final. "I want to look at it, but maybe I will play my own match," she joked.

Dmitruk and Montgomery have not played before, so Dmitruk will rely on her coach for tips on strategy.

"I don't know her game," said Dmitruk, whose deepest run in a junior slam before this week was the quarter-finals at Roland Garros in 2020 and at Wimbledon this year. "I know from my coach, because he looked today at her semi-final. He tells me she plays aggressive, good serve, go to the net. So I think tomorrow will be an interesting match."

The boys doubles final will feature the unseeded team of France's Max Westphal and Hong Kong's Coleman Wong against No. 8 seeds Viacheslav Bielinskyi of Ukraine and Petr Nesterov of Bulgaria.

No. 3 seeds Montgomery and Krueger will face No. 8 seeds Reese Brantmeier and Elvina Kalieva in an all-USA girls doubles final.