Who to Watch at US Open 2019 Part 2 You all know the top players, and I’m sure many of you base your US Open viewing schedule on when they play. However, there are many up-and-coming junior and former college players in the draws this year, so I want to shine a light on them in hopes of sparking your interest in following their budding careers.
On today’s Schedule of Play, here are a few I’ll be watching:
- Zachary Svajda: This young man just won Kalamazoo and, as such, earned a wildcard into the US Open this year. Zachary was supposed to play former Illinois Illini and 16 seed Kevin Anderson in Round 1. However, Kevin withdrew due to injury, so Zachary will now face Lucky Loser Paolo Lorenzi (ranked 135 ATP). They are 3rd on the Grandstand today.
- Christopher Eubanks: Chris played 3 years of college tennis at Georgia Tech and was the 2018 Oracle-ITA $100,000 grant recipient. As another wildcard, he will face Chilean and 31 seeded Christian Garin in Round 1. They are first on Court 7 starting at 11am today.
- Caty McNally: Caty still qualifies to play in the juniors, but she has recently turned pro. You may have also heard of her older brother, John, who plays for Ohio State. She is one of the US Open Wildcard recipients for this year’s event. Caty’s first round match is against Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland. They are 3rd on Court 7.
- Bradley Klahn: Since he’s been on the tour a while, people may forget that Bradley had a stellar college career playing at Stanford. He faces Thiago Monteiro of Brazil today at 11am on Court 11.
- Jannik Sinner: This young Italian player is making some noise on the pro tour. He just turned 18 a couple of weeks ago and fought his way through the US Open Qualies to earn a chance to play Grand Slam Champion Stan Wawrinka tonight in Louis Armstrong Stadium. Their match will open the Night Session at 7pm.
- Marcos Giron: This former UCLA standout and NCAA Singles Champion has played at the Open before, but is really hoping to make some headway in his quest to climb back up the rankings. He was awarded a wildcard this year and faces Yoshihito Nishioka from Japan, and they are 4th on Court 4.
- Dominik Koepfer: This Tulane standout fought his way through a tough qualifying draw, beating Nicolas Mahut along the way, to earn the chance to play Spain’s Jaume Munar today at the US Open. They are 3rd on Court 8.
- Cameron Norrie: Cam played his college tennis at TCU, coming all the way from the UK to do so. He had a great career in Texas and has parlayed it into a great professional career these past few years. Today, he will face French player Gregoire Barrere on Court 10. They are the 3rd match on that court starting at 11am.
- Jennifer Brady: Jen had an outstanding career at UCLA, leaving after her Sophomore year to pursue tennis professionally. Jen faces Belarussian Aliaksandra Sasnovich on Court 12. They are second on that court.
- Jenson Brooksby: This young man is the sole American male to make it through this year’s qualifying tournament. Jenson won Kalamazoo in 2018, earning a spot in the US Open Main Draw as a result, so this is his 2nd year competing in this event. He faces Former Top 5 player Tomas Berdych today. They are first on Court 13 starting at 11am.
- Whitney Osuigwe: I first had the pleasure of seeing Whitney compete at the Easter Bowl several years back. The 17-year-old has worked hard to work her way up the professional rankings and earned one of the wildcards into this event. It is her first time playing in a Grand Slam Main Draw. She faces 5 seed Elina Svitolina today. They are 3rd on Court 17. As an aside, I had the opportunity to meet Whitney’s mom and watch her younger sister compete in the Girls 12s National Hardcourts earlier this month.
