News & Features

Share:

FLUSHING MEADOWS, N.Y. - No. 12 seed Rafael Jodar of Spain arrived in New York as the champion of the ITF J300 event in College Park, while unseeded Mika Stojsavljevic of Great Britain tackled the US Open Junior Championships after a loss in her second match at the ITF J300 tournament in Canada the previous week. Yet both emerged with their first junior slam titles after inspiring runs at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, with Jodar defeating top seed Nicolai Budkov Kjaer 2-6, 6-2, 7-6(1) and Stojsavljevic downing No. 7 seed Wakana Sonobe of Japan 6-4, 6-4 in the finals.

Although Jodar had earned contender status with his title two weeks earlier, he faced the most formidable challenge imaginable: victories over the three previous 2024 boys slam champions.

Boys Singles Champion Rafael Jodar
© Zoo Tennis

In the quarterfinals, the 17-year-old defeated No. 2 seed and Roland Garros champion Kaylan Bigun of the United States 6-4, 6-7(7), 7-5 after trailing 5-3 in the final set. A straightforward 6-3, 6-1 win over No. 3 seed and Australian Open champion Rei Sakamoto of Japan in the semifinals left him with one more summit to conquer: Wimbledon champion Budkov Kjaer.

Budkov Kjaer had his own hurdles in reaching the final, with a 6-3, 1-6, 7-5 quarterfinal win over No. 5 seed Luca Preda of Romania the most demanding. His 6-3, 6-3 semifinal victory over an in-form Charlie Robertson of Great Britain put him on the brink of a second boys slam title in the same year, last accomplished by Chun-Hsin Tseng of Taiwan in 2018.

After a 45-minute delay in the start of play due to rain, Jodar came out nervous and error-prone, but soon found his form to take control of the second set, facing no break points, while breaking Budkov for the first time in the match in the Norwegian's final two service games of the second set.