> Other Reports: Men's - Women's - Junior Boys

On the first Sunday of the US Open, sixty-four junior girls, came to Flushing Meadow to play. In a final summer outing before heading back to educational institutions all over the world, girls took to the courts that have been host to virtually every tennis star since 1978. All of the girls were excited, nervous and anxious. Each was a part of the upper echelon of youthful tennis in their homeland. They all had a common goal. They wanted to be the champion.

Last year’s Junior Girls’ runner-up was Tamira Paszek from Austria. She is now ranked 43 on the Women’s Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. The champ was Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, a Russian, who was back again this year, but lost early. Today, she is ranked number two in the Junior Girls. Past winners have included Jennifer Capriati in ‘89; Lindsay Davenport in ‘92; Meilen Tu in ‘94; Cara Black in ’97; Jelena Dokic in ’98; Marion Bartoli in ’01; Michaella Krajicek in ’04; and Victoria Azarenka in ’05. All of them have been extremely successful on the professional tour.

This year, the winner of the Junior Girls’ Singles was Kristina Kucova of Slovakia. She was victorious over Urszula Radwanska, of Poland, who is number one in the rankings, (6-3, 1-6, 7-6), and the sister of Agnieszka, who made it to the fourth round of the Women’s draw. After winning the match Kristina seemed dazed. She said, “Yeh, I still can’t believe it. It’s a wonderful feeling. It’s amazing. I can say nothing.” It seemed she had said it all with her victory in Flushing Meadow.

Kucova was born in Slovakia, May 23, 1990. She’s been playing tennis since she was six. Her father, Jozef, is her coach, but she had no family with her at the Open. She plays right handed, but is a member of a growing number of players who use both hands to play their game.

The girls were surprisingly relaxed in the spotlight at the grand slam. CoCo Vandeweghe, who lives in Rancho Santa Fe, California, has an amazing lineage, in that her uncle KiKi Vandeweghe and her grandfather, Ernie played professional basketball, and added to that, her grandmother, Colleen Hutchins, was Miss America 1952. CoCo’s steady play enabled her to reach the third round, where she lost to 17 year-old Australian, Jessica Moore, ranked 23rd by the ITF. The bright, pretty, extremely relaxed young lady will turn sixteen in December.

A name to keep an eye on is Oksana Kalashnikova, ranked 12th with the ITF, from Georgia, (former SSR). Just the sound of her name should put fear into the hearts of her opponents, and this time, she made it to the semifinals where she lost to the eventual tournament winner.

It was a virtual impossibility to watch all the young women play. Junior matches were scheduled to be completed rapidly, in order to “make-room-for-the-next”. Every match seemed to have its brilliance, along with a few oopsies. Watching Asia Muhammed who had just turned 16 and was over six feet tall was a treat. The graceful youngster from Henderson, Nevada lost early in the play, but something along the lines of a very big serve, in the six footer’s game says she will be back.

The list of previous winners, should reiterate the fact that this venue is a logical steppingstone to the next level. All the girls seem to know that playing at a grand slam is like a casting call. If a player does well, it isn’t such a big step to make it at the next level.

Remember the name Kristina Kucova. Her stellar play on her pathway to the US Open Junior Girls Final should open doors for her. Although Slovakia is a small, landlocked country located in Eastern Europe, and its population is merely 5,500,000, (less than New York City), that won’t deter Kucova from playing with the best. She has game and no doubt will be back again next year, and maybe she will be able to share her feelings on winning matches.