Billy Martin
Stefan Edberg
Zina Garrison
Pat Cash
Martina Hingis
At The Open With Marcia Frost...
Saturday, September 2nd
The U.S. Open Junior Championships will begin tomorrow. College And Junior Tennis has been around for all of these championships and I thought it would be fun to take a look back.
The first U.S. Open Junior Championships was in 1973 and there was only an event for the boys. The United States' Billy Martin was the winner that year and also the following year when Ilana Kloss of South Africa took the trophy. To this day, Martin has the distinction of being the only player to win the Championship twice.
There have been many players who used the U.S. Open as a stepping stone to the main draw, but only two have the distinction of winning in both the junior and adult category. Stefan Edberg of Sweden won the boys singles title in 1983 and then went on to win back-to-back men's singles in 1991 and 1992. On the ladies side, only Lindsay Davenport of the U.S. won the juniors (1992) and the women's (1998).
Today he is announcing for the USA Network at the Open, but in 1982, Australia's Pat Cash was the boys singles champion. He then went on to a successful professional career. Assistant coach to the United States Women's 2000 Olympic Team Zina Garrison was also a Junior Open winner (1981) before she played on the women's tour.
Many are looking to number one world junior Andy Roddick to bring home a U.S. Open Junior trophy for the United States. Just how long has it been since that happened? On the boys side, the last player from the U.S. to win was Brian Dunn in 1992. For the girls, it was Tara Snyder in 1995. As to whether or not Roddick is a definite as the No. 1 seed, the top-seeded player has only won five out of twenty-seven events for the boys. The top-seeded girls have also only won five times.
And who's the most famous U.S. Open Junior Championship runner-up? That distinction would have to go to Martina Hingis who lost to Meilen Tu in 1994. It's not just the winners that are worth keeping an eye on.
LIST OF ALL U.S. OPEN JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS WINNERS
All photos are from the College And Junior Tennis archives and may not be reproduced in any way without permission.
