Johnson makes junior slam debut with upset of the third seed Alexandrescou; Woestendick and Expeded fall into three sets in men’s subbels; Vandromme continues to win streak

Fun was the word of the day before three Americans who shared on Sunday in the US Open Championships, although only one of them left the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center with a victory.

Andrew Johnson, who celebrated his 16th birthday last week, took off the medical time-outs from his opponent and the nerves of his first junior slam-out to beat no. 3 seed yannick Alexandrescou van Romania 2-6, 7-6 (0), 3-0, 3-0, retired.

Another day of perfect conditions, with partially cloudy skies, low humidity and temperatures in the 1970s, Alexandrescou did not help, which took three separate medical time outs during the competition.

“I think he felt sure of last week,” said Johnson, and noticed that Alexandrescou had won the ITF J300 in College Park eight days ago and also played in the Doubles final. “He said he was a cramp. I was 3-0 in the first set and then at 3-2 he took a medical one. As the game got closer, he might feel more, he was tight. In the second set of tiebreak he started a few (serves) underhand, 20 miles-an hour and he would not go to the next ball.”

Johnson said his perspective helped him to deal with all the distractions created by the atmosphere and by his opponent.

“I was just there to have fun,” said Johnson, who reached the Kalamazoo 16s final earlier this month. “This is my first Grand Slam and I had fun. Someone would say my name in the crowd, and I didn’t know them at all, and I would look at them and smile. That is how I remained focused, it didn’t bother me so much, just because I had fun. This was a whole new experience, everyone who was American for me.”

Johnson plays fellow-wild map Matisse Farzam in the second round Tuesday, after Matisse concluded the 48th Junior Singles match of the day after 9 p.m. and won a 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 victory over Linus Lagerbohm of Finland.

Kalamazoo 18s Doubles Champions Cooper Woestendick (TCU) and Maxwell Exsted lost to No. 6 seeds Neal Skupski (LSU) (LSU) and Joe Salisbury (Memphis) of Great Britain 6-4, 1-6, 6-3, but did not forget the Stadium with the support of the support of the support of the support of the support of the support of the support of the support of the support of the support of the support of the support of the support of the support of the support of the support of the support of most of the approximately 2000 fans.

“We have just tried to have fun,” said Exsted, who will play his first round game in the Junior Championships on Monday. “We played as if we had nothing to lose and it was just a great time beyond.”

A set, without viewing a single breaking point, the game slipped away when Woestendick was broken with love to start the second set. But they got the break back, with a few missed overhead costs that helped their business and have saved a breaking point in the service game of Exsted to take the lead.

“Max has done an incredible work,” said Woestendick, who returns to Fort Worth and lessons on TCU Monday, because he is not eligible for the Junior Tournament on his 19th birthday in November. “Every point he tried to get the crowd going. We were a set and a break and in that game he touches an incredible forehand on-the-run winner from ten feet behind the basic line,” Woestendick said. “And suddenly we had momentum, we had the crowd in it. Max did great.”

“That was a good shot,” said Exsted. “I did it and I felt some love, so we kept driving on the Golf, playing the crowd a bit, and it worked.”

Their break by Skupski in the fourth match was helped by his three consecutive double errors, and a third consecutive break and a love of Exsted made six consecutive games for the Australian Open Boys Champions 2024.

Skupski took a bathroom break and when he returned, he and Salisbury were back to their first set form, so that the teenagers did not get a breaking point options.

“We just didn’t get that chance in the third, that crazy shot or anything else did not get to get the crowd going, to get a breaking point or a big point,” Woestendick said. “We could have used one of that early in the third and just not understood. We lost a service game and that was it.”

“I had a lot of fun today, and it’s really fun to play with Cooper,” said Exsted. “We have good chemistry on and outside the field and I enjoyed it today.”

No. 14 Jeline Vandromme of Belgium was confronted with a tough test against Wild Card Alexis Nguyen, a semi-final of San Diego 18S Nationals, but the 17-year-old extended her winning series to 18 games with a 6-0, 6-3 victory.

Vandromme, who won three ITF ladies circuit titles this month, is in a Groove and Nguyen could not shake the confidence that those victories have caused.

“It brings a calm mindset and I think I was more confidence,” Vandromme said. “And it also gave me a lot of extra experience.”

This year, Vandromme lost in the first round in both Roland Garros and Wimbledon, after reaching the quarterfinals in both last year, but she is getting rid of those losses for lack of preparation, which clearly did not have before her last Junior Slam.

“I had a foot injury for Roland Garros, so my preparation wasn’t that good,” said Vandromme. “I had my last exams between Roland Garros and Wimbledon, so I’m done with high school, so that was probably not the best preparation period.”

Vandromme will be confronted with Kamonwan Yodpetch from Thailand in a second round game on Monday.

Top seeds Julieta Pareja and Ivan Ivanov from Bulgaria moved to the second round with straight winnings, with Pareja that Mika Bechnik van Israël defeated 6-3, 6-1 and Ivanov and defeated Wildcard Michael Antonius 7-5, 6-1.

No. 3 Seed Kristina Penickova escaped upset over the hands of Nellie Taraba Wallberg from Sweden, which made a match point on 5-6 in the second set of her 5-7, 7-6 (2), 6-3 victory.