Lauren Davis of Gates Mills, Ohio earns 2011 US Open Main Draw Wild Card
Lauren Davis of Gates Mills, Ohio, captured the USTA Girls’ 18s title on Sunday, to earn a wild card entry into the women’s main draw of the 2011 US Open.
Davis, 17, who is coached by John Evert and trains regularly with Chris Evert at the Evert Academy in Boca Raton, Fla., beat No. 4 seed Nicole Gibbs of Santa Monica, Calif., 7-6(3),1-6, 6-4, in Sunday’s girls’ 18s final at the Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego, and will make her second appearance in a Grand Slam main draw; she won a USTA playoff in December to earn a wild card into the 2011 Australian Open, where she faced Samantha Stosur in the first round. Gibbs, a rising sophomore who helped lead the Stanford Cardinal to the NCAA women’s team final in May, was the girls’ 18s runner-up for the second consecutive year.
The nation’s top junior tennis players competed in eight USTA National Championships across the country last week. The singles and doubles champions at the USTA Boys’ and Girls’ 18s events are awarded wild card entries into the US Open main draw. The singles runners-up in the boys’ and girls’ 18s divisions are traditionally offered wild card entries into the US Open Qualifying Tournament.
Highlights from other USTA Junior National Championships
Jack Sock of Lincoln Neb., successfully defended his title at the USTA Boys’ 18s National Championships to earn a wild card entry into the men’s main draw of the 2011 US Open. Sock, 18, who entered the tournament as the No. 1 seed, did not drop a set during the during the event and beat No. 2 seed Mitchell Frank of Annandale, Va., 6-3, 6-0, in the final at Kalamazoo College in Michigan to become the first back-to-back USTA Boys’ 18s National Champion since Donald Young in 2005-06. Sock, the reigning US Open boys’ champion, also won the doubles title with fellow Nebraskan Jackson Withrow of Omaha, and becomes the first player to sweep the boys’ 18s singles and doubles titles since Young in 2006.
Ronnie Schneider, a 16-year-old from Bloomington, Ind., swept the singles and doubles titles at the USTA Boys’ 16s National Championships in Kalamazoo, Mich. The No. 2 seed, Schneider beat reigning USTA Boys’ 16s National Clay Court Champion Luca Corinteli of Alexandria, Va., 5-7, 7-6(3), 6-2, to win the singles title, and teamed with Yale Goldberg of Beachwood, Ohio, to capture the doubles title.
No. 3 seed Peggy Porter, a 15-year-old from Dallas, followed up her win at the USTA Girls’ 16s National Clay Court Championships by defeating No. 15 seed Alyssa Smith of Laguna Niguel, Calif., 7-6(8), 6-4, to win the USTA Girls’ 16s National Championships in San Diego.
No. 2 seed Cameron Klinger, a 14-year-old from San Jose, Calif., swept the singles and doubles titles at the USTA Boys’ 14s National Championships in San Antonio. Klinger beat No. 14 seed Jake Devine of Boca Raton, Fla., 7-6(8), 4-6, 6-1, to win the singles title, and partnered with 2009 USTA Boys’ 12s National Clay Court Champion Tommy Paul of Greenville, N.C., to win the doubles title.