Tournament Summary
US Open Qualifiers Include College and Junior Players
by Marcia Frost, 30 August 2015
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The US Open Qualifying event has not received the recognition it should over the years. That changed this year - as nearly 47,000 attended the free event over a four-day period. Those who did come to the USTA Billie Jean King Tennis Center were treated to top notch tennis from both veterans and rising stars.
French Open junior champion
Tommy Paul qualified for the US Open singles draw
© Marcia Frost
When it all came down to the Qualifying finals,
Tommy Paul was the only American teen to earn a spot in one of the singles draws through qualifying - even though he was among a group that made up the most teenagers attempting to qualify for the Open in over twenty years. Paul joins only three other Americans in qualifying: Shelby Rogers, Anna Tatishvili, and Jessica Pegula, all three of whom are 21 or over.
Eighteen-year-old Tommy Paul, who had committed to the University of Georgia earlier this year before turning professional in June, fought his way to a 6-3,4-6,6-4 win over Blaz Rola, who was an NCAA singles and doubles champion while playing at Ohio State University, in his first qualifying match.
In the second round, French Open Junior champion Paul prevailed against J. Hernandez-Fernandez of the Dominican Republic, 6-3,7-5. His final match looked like a runaway when he was up 6-1,4-1, but a few errors had the third set going to 6-4 before he took it. Paul, the only American to come through the Men's Qualifying, had come into the event as a wildcard.
Also qualifying for the main draw is John Patrick Smith, a University of Tennessee graduate. After playing college tennis for the Volunteers and garnering All-American status all four years, Smith joined the professional circuit.
It's taken him a bit more time than he would have liked to teeter close to the top 100.
