ITF

IF HAVING THEIR JUNIOR US OPEN CROWNS BESTOWED UPON THEM WAS NOT JOYOUS ENOUGH, THIAGO SEYBOTH WILD AND WANG Xiyu could also bask in the glow of securing their own segment of history. By defeating unseeded Lorenzo Musetti of Italy in the boys' singles final, Seyboth Wild became the first Brazilian youngster to conquer all before him on the hardcourts of Flushing Meadows. Indeed, no South American had triumphed in the boys' singles draw in New York this century, with the last winner being Argentina's David Nalbandian, who overcame Roger Federer, in 1998. As Seyboth Wild was preparing to depart the junior circuit, it proved the perfect farewell. Wang, meanwhile, reserved her own place in tennis folklore by becoming the maiden Chinese girl to win a Junior Grand Slam singles title after overpowering Australian Open finalist Clara Burel of France in the final. The moment proved poignant for Seyboth Wild, who had limited exposure to the junior circuit during 2018, instead preferring to test the waters of Futures tennis. "Winning a Grand Slam is every junior J U N I O R U S O P E N HAND OF HISTORY Conquerors of New York proved themselves to be trailblazers and secured their places in the junior record books 16 ITFWorld // WINTER 2018 player's biggest dream," said Seyboth Wild, who was seeded No. 6 at the US Open. "Reaching it in my last chance makes it even more special to me because I have always dreamed about it." A by-product of Seyboth Wild's run to the final was the cessation Tseng Chun Hsin's bid to claim three successive Grand Slam crowns and exert a similar level of dominance on the junior game as Gael Monfils managed in 2004. Despite losing 62 64 to Seyboth Wild, however, Tseng still enjoyed a hugely impressive year in which he triumphed at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, while also reaching the final of the Australian Open in January. Seyboth Wild also dispatched American Zane Khan, Jiri Lehecka of Czech Republic, Great Britain's Aidan McHugh and Taisei Ichikawa of Japan on course to the final. Only Khan, in the first round, managed to win a set against Seyboth Wild until Musetti in the final. Musetti's semifinal was against fellow unseeded right- hander Jenson Brooksby of the United States, which the former claimed in routine fashion, 63 63 to set up a showdown with Seyboth Wild, who had reached the semifinals in both singles and doubles at Roland Garros. The cause of Musetti and Brooksby was aided by a number of higher-ranked players suffering shock early exits; Roland Garros finalist Sebastian Baez, Hugo Gaston and Nicolas Mejia, who were seeded Nos. 2-4, had all exited the tournament by the end of round three. Wang Xiyu became the first Chinese girl to win a Junior Grand Slam singles title BELOW: Tseng Chun Hsin failed in his bid to win a third successive Junior Grand Slam title

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