Robertson reaches prestigious final ahead of US Open as young Scots compete at Junior Nationals

Charlie Robertson prepared for the US Open in style by reaching the final of the prestigious ITF J300 College Park with statement wins over some of the world’s best junior players. 

Robertson entered the lead-up event in Washington, D.C. as the 14th seed and received a first-round bye.  

In his first match he dispatched Maximus Dussault 6-4 6-2 to move through the last 16, where he faced top seed Rei Sakamoto. 

Sakamoto has been enjoying an impressive year so far, winning the Australian Open Boys’ Singles title and climbing to ITF world number one.  

Sakamoto took the first set, but Robertson was able to bounce back and force a third, which went the distance and was decided by a tie-break. Robertson held his nerve and closed out the match for one of the biggest wins of his junior career 3-6 6-4 7-6(3). 

In the quarter-finals, Charlie was up against the 2023 College Park runner-up Alexander Razeghi of the USA. Robertson kept up his fine form as he bested Razeghi 7-5 6-2 for a spot in the final four. 

Up next was France’s Thomas Faurel, who was also on form having knocked out the third seed in the previous round. Robertson struck first, winning the first set 6-1 before suffering a 2-6 setback in the second.  

However, the teenage Scot bounced back to hammer out a 6-0 third set win and secure his place in the final. 

The title decider was a rematch of July’s J300 Roehampton final which saw Charlie lose out to Spain’s Rafael Jodar. 

Seeded fifth, Jodar was on another winning streak and hadn’t lost a set on his route to the final, which included wins over the second and fourth seeds. 

For the second time the title went the way of the Spaniard, with Jodar beating Robertson 6-3 6-1 in the deciding match. 

Charlie also had a strong week on the doubles court, teaming up with fellow Brit Oliver Bonding to make a run to the final. 

The pair posted a 6-3 7-5 win over Daniil Sarksian and Tianhui Zhang to reach the quarter-finals. 

Two tie-breaks saw Robertson and Bonding upset top seeds Hayden Jones and Jagger Leach 7-6(5) 7-6(6). 

The pair kept their momentum going as they were able to edge out Mikael and Nicolas Aseneault of Canada 6-7(6) 6-2 10-7 to progress to the final. 

It wasn’t to be for the Brits in the championship match as Alexander Razeghi and Max Schoenhaus bested Robertson and Bonding 7-6(3) 6-3 to be crowned champions. 

Charlie moves on to New York City where he will compete in his final junior Grand Slam at the 2024 US Open. 

Junior Scots on show at Nationals 

The Lexus Junior National Championships 2024, hosted at Nottingham Tennis Centre, ran from 16-25 August. Every day of the event saw at least one Scot compete among Britain’s finest juniors.  

The 11U, 12U and 14U age groups are the official National Championships, with the 9U and 10U age groups being categorised as the Lexus Junior National Tour. 

Scotland had four representatives in the 9U age group: Harrison Fox, James Crowther, Ava Steel and Connie Kerr. All players competed in the group stages with James going on to finish seventh overall. 

In the 10U category William Forbes and Kian Kochfar competed in the group stages with Kian joining Frank Atkins, Louis Taylor and Callum Steven in the main draw. Louis and Frank faced each other in an all-Scottish semi-final which saw Louis winning and going on to finish runner-up overall. 

In the 11U Lexus Junior National Championships, Jack Fair, Flynn McGowan, Eilidh Mathieson, James Mills, Lewis Ndogaj, Fraser Newcombe and Cameron Rae all competed in a group-stage format.  

Fraser and Cameron both topped their groups, with James and Jack finishing second for all four to progress to the main draw. James, Fraser and Cameron progressed to the quarter-finals, where Fraser and Cameron played one another for a place in the semi-finals whilst James lost out to eventual winner Max Hodkinson. 

The all-Scottish quarter-final saw Cameron overcome Fraser on his way to the final where he lost out to Hodkinson 3-6 2-6.  

Meanwhile in the 11U doubles, more Scots clashed throughout the draw with Cameron Rae and partner Max Hodkinson beating Lewis Ndogaj and Flynn McGowan. Cameron and Max then bested Fraser Newcombe and partner Louis Garner in the semi-final. Rae and Hodkinson went on to win the title, beating Tomas Gabor and Matyas Oprchal in the final. 

Scotland was represented in the 12U by Natalia Augustynska, Arthur McKinlay, Kate Murray, Xander Platchias and Kana Saito, who were all involved in closely-fought matches. 

Kana and Kate both advanced through their group stages where they lost out in the round of 16.  

Becky MacLeod and Calean McKechnie featured in the 14U draws with Calean joining the squad following his title win at Play Your Way to Wimbledon. Both players lost out in tough opening round matches but responded in the consolation draws with Calean winning two matches and Becky losing out in final set after over three hours on court. 

Reflecting on a lively 10 days, Tennis Scotland SPDC Performance Coach Joe Gill said: “In my opinion, moments in 14U tennis are where you learn the most. How the player reacts the next time they walk on the match or practice court is where it matters. There were 22 competitors from Scotland and whether they had loads of experience at this level, or it was their first national event, they showed what being a Scottish tennis player is all about.” 

Scots prepare for Paralympics and US Open 

Gordon Reid makes his fifth appearance for Great Britain this week at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.  

Reid has a strong record at the Paralympics, having won the singles Gold and Bronze medals in Rio and Tokyo respectively.  

Gordon will once again partner Alfie Hewett in the doubles. The pair have their sights set on Gold having finished with a Silver medal at the past two Paralympics. They enter off the back of a very strong year so far having won all three Grand Slams. 

Meanwhile in New York, Maia Lumsden and Jamie Murray will both compete in the US Open doubles draws.  

Murray has been on form on the ATP Tour recently, posting back-to-back semi-final runs in the last two weeks in Cincinnati and Winston-Salem. 

He returns to Flushing Meadows having enjoyed success there throughout this career. Murray won the men’s doubles title in 2016, as well as finishing runner-up in 2015 and 2021, and this year will partner John Peers. He has also won the mixed doubles event three times.  

Lumsden will compete in her first US Open as she teams up with Anna Siskova of the Czech Republic. The pair will take on Hanyu Guo and Monica Niculescu in the opening round.