Five men 21 years old or younger played singles on Thursday at the US Open. All five won their matches by defeating an older player. Combined, Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Jenson Brooksby, Lorenzo Musetti, and Brandon Nakashima won 15 of 16 sets. The five kids advanced to Round 3 matches to be played on Saturday.
The Quicker Ones
The youngest of the five youngsters is also the highest ranked. #3 seed Carlos Alcaraz dropped only eight games in his three set win over Federico Coria. Alcaraz will face fellow youngster Jenson Brooksby on Saturday.
Brooksby, the “oldest” of today’s young winners at 21 years old, dispatched #25 seed Borna Coric in three sets. Brooksby survived a second set tiebreaker in which he staved off seven set points. After toughing out the tiebreaker, Brooksby cruised to a 6-1 final set.
Like Brooksby, 21-year-old Jannik Sinner survived a second set tiebreaker before cruising to a 6-2 third set win against the improving 26-year-old Chris Eubanks. The #11 seeded Sinner will play the even younger Brandon Nakashima in Round 3.
Tougher Matches
Brandon Nakashima advanced to his match with Sinner by knocking off #17 seed Grigor Dimitrov in three tight sets. The 20-year-old eliminated the three time Grand Slam semi-finalist 7-6,7-5, 6-3.
Of this group of newbies, only #26 seed Lorenzo Musetti lost a set today. The 20-year-old Italian lost the first set tiebreaker to Gijs Brouwer before losing only nine games while winning the next three sets.
A New Generation?
For well over a decade, Federer, Nadal and Djokovic held off lost generations of new stars. This group may be part of a group that finally takes control of the men’s game and brings it to the future. First, they have to get through Round 3 on Saturday. It might be their time.
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