The heat remained strong throughout the ninth day of the Nationals. 

Today’s matches featured the 16s and 18s semifinals, the feed-in semifinals for both divisions, the third place matches for 16s and 18s doubles and the finals for 16s and 18s doubles.

The 16s singles final will feature fifth seed Marcel Latak of Darien, Illinois, and second seed Andrew Johnson of Rancho Palos Verdes, California. Both players won their respective semifinal matches in straight sets. 

The 18s singles final will feature top seed Darwin Blanch of Orlando, Florida, and Jack Satterfield of Tampa, Florida. Blanch beat third seed Jack Kennedy in straight sets (7-6[5], 6-1), while Satterfield came back after losing the first set to Keaton Hance (0-6, 7-5, 6-3). 

Shaan Majeed of Cumming, Georgia, and Lucas Smith of Daniel Island, South Carolina, are this year’s 16s doubles champions. They entered Kalamazoo as the seventh seed and beat the second seed, Andrew Johnson and Mason Vaughan, in three sets (3-6, 6-0, 6-3). 

Top seed Maxwell Exsted of Savage, Minnesota, and Cooper Woestendick of Olathe, Kansas, are this year’s 18s doubles champions. They beat second seed Noah Johnston and Benjamin Willwerth to earn a wildcard into the main draw of the U.S. Open doubles tournament (6-4, 2-6, 7-6[1]). 

Unseeded Theo Hegarty of Fayetteville, Arkansas, and Noble Renfrow of Winter Park, Florida, won the third-place match against eighth-seed Bryan Assi and Justin Lin. The 16s doubles third-place match resulted in a walkover.

Source: Victoria Ryan