Often on this website I have highlighted that the U.S. Open junior (and even more this applies to the Australian Open) awards more points than Bonfiglio, but it is often a much weaker tournament in terms of attendance than the Milan Grade A. Most probably this has occurred due to the expenses to be borne by European players to play in New York, which may induce a lot of them to avoid participating multiple times to this slam.
This year is completely different, as both the boys’ and girls’ tournaments show a top notch attendance, close to that of Wimbledon or the French Open. The boys’ main draw cuts at 59; 5 within the top 10 and 13 within the top 20 players will attend. The girls’ draw is even better: it cuts at 61 and 8 top 10 and 16 top 20 players will attend. More, former n.1 Alexandra Eala will also play; the Filipino girl has been admitted to the main draw due to its pro ranking (around 250 WTA); though Alexandra is not seeded and this may for sure cause unbalances in the whole girls’ draw.
It will be interesting to verify in the following years if this encouraging tendency will be confirmed, allowing the junior US Open to regain competitiveness compared to Wimbledon and Roland Garros.
I have seen part of the match between our “old Ova friend” Lucie Havlickova, who impressed me a lot against Liv Hovde in Milan and who won immediately after won the French Open (junior, of course), and the 15 year old American Alanis Hamilton, a girl without a credible junior ranking, who benefitted of a wild card for the quali draw and managed to qualify.
Havlickova confirmed the great impression she made to me in Milan: she is a great striker, owning huge serve, forehand and backhand and she is able to hit tons of winners from the baseline. By contrast, Havlickova, also due to the big frame she owns, is not always fast enough on the run; plus, she piles up lots of unforced errors. I am sure that Lucie will become more consistent with time, conveniently reducing unforced errors; what concerns a bit more me is her limited ability to dispose well of “dirty balls” such as short slices, or anyway to produce shots which require also some crafting ability. Nevertheleess, I confirm that Lucie can become a top player in the medium term and that she is one of the most convincing girls I have seen during the last couple of years.
The true surprise to me was, nonetheless, the American girl: as it still sometimes happens with junior girls’ tennis, Hamilton manages to play an original attacking tennis; she shows a lot of serve and volley and charges the net constantly. I have seen other attacking style players as her, but to Hamilton’s advantage compared to those others there is that she is tall and solidly built and, even more, that she is not only able to produce a good crafty shots, but she is also sufficiently solid from the baseline, both with her forehand and backhand. Maybe she still misses the big winner (but she still has time to develop those, as I think the girl hits the ball well); nonetheless, she has been indeed able to handle Havickova’s big tennis and to give the Czech some hard time.
Havlickova was too solid for her opponent and the 2 year gap were evident; nevertheless, Hamilton was not crushed by her older opponent and she showed very interesting solutions. In particular I have admired her willingness to always attack, even at the cost of losing a few more points; which was a correct tactic for her to follow, as from the baseline she would have had anyway no chance. Hamilton seems a very interesting player and I hope to see her next year in Milan.
