The 73rd annual USTA Boys’ 18 & 16 National Championships crowned its first two champions on day nine as the 18s and 16s doubles tournaments ended on Saturday in Kalamazoo. In the 18s doubles finals, No. 2 Reilly Opelka (Palm Coast, Fla.) and Taylor Fritz (Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.) took home the crown and the tournament’s wild card bid to the 2015 U.S. Open with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over No. 6 Joshua Sheehy (Arlington, Texas) and Parker Wynn (North Richland Hills, Texas). No. 7 Brandon Holt (Rolling Hills, Calif.) and Riley Smith (Long Beach, Calif.) took home third place honors as the pair from California knocked off No. 11 Oliver Crawford (Spartanburg, S.C.) and Johnathan Small (Zionsville, Ind.) 4-6, 6-0, 6-0. In addition, Holt was named the 2015 recipient of the Dr. Allen B. Stowe Sportsmanship Award. In the 16s doubles draw, No. 8 Bryce Pereria (San Gabriel, Calif.) and Ivan Thamma (San Diego, Calif.) hoisted the trophy after a 2-6, 6-1, 6-1 triumph over No. 7 William Howells (Boca Raton, Fla.) and Danny Thomas (Pickerington, Ohio). Unseeded Cody Lin (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) and Andrew Ton (Milpitas, Calif.) took home the third place crown with a 7-6 (1), 2-6, 6-2 win over No. 14 Jackson Allen (Shakopee, Minn.) and Connor Haskins (Ballwin, Mo.). In 18s singles, No. 1 Frances Tiafoe (College Park, Md.) dispatched No. 4 Tommy Paul (Coconut Creek, Fla) 6-3, 6-2 in one semifinal. No. 3 Stefan Kozlov (Pembroke Pines, Fla) knocked out Fritz 7-6 (3), 6-3 to set up a meeting with Tiafoe in Sunday’s championship. In 16s singles, No. 3 Patrick Kypson (Greenville, N.C.) upset No. 1 Jeffrey Wolf 6-3, 6-4 while No. 4 Alexandre Rotsaert (Boca Raton, Fla.) defeated No. 8 Kyrylo Tsygura (North Potomac, Md.) by the same score, 6-3, 6-4 in the other semifinal. Sunday’s play begins with the feed ins semifinals at 8 a.m. which is followed by the feed ins finals (both divisions) and the 16s third place match at 10 a.m. The 16s singles championship is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. with the 18 finals taking the court after the 16s final concludes.

Source: Mitch Blankespoor