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US Open boys’ champions – Where Are They Now?


2006 Dusan Lojda (CZE)
Lojda succeeded some pretty illustrious names in 2006, but unlike the likes Murray, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Richard Gasquet, failed to make any impression on the Tour, reaching a career high of 161 in July 2010. That summer he qualified for the US Open but the opening round defeat was his only Grand Slam appearance and now ranked at No.753 it’s fair to assume his 2006 success will rank as his best achievement on the tennis court.

2007 Ricardas Berankis (LTU)
The Lithuanian – whose name means ‘Armless’ in his native language – cracked the top 50 earlier this year, arguably the high point of a solid Tour career that has seen one third round Australian Open berth and two last 64 appearances at the US Open. His only Tour level final though ended ignominiously, winning just two games in a thrashing against Sam Querrey in LA in 2012.
He was unable to play the pantomime villain in the fairytale of Marcus Willis at Wimbledon this year, bowing out to the Brit in the first round.

2008 Grigor Dimitrov (BUL)
Touted from very early on as the man who could break the mould of the top four, ‘Baby Fed’ seemed to be brink of fulfilling expectations when he defeated Murray at Wimbledon in 2014. But it would be two years before he defeated a seeded player at a major championship again and a dramatic loss in form saw the Bulgarian’s ranking tumble after climbing as high as No.8  in August 2014. Still very much a work in progress second time around, expect him to add to his haul of four career titles.

2009 Bernard Tomic (AUS)
Another ATP stalwart who collected multiple junior titles at the Slams, Tomic’s other major win came in his native Australia in 2008. For years talked about as the great Aussie hope to perhaps emulate the likes of Lleyton Hewitt and Pat Rafter, Tomic has not quite the hit the heights, and his run to the last eight at Wimbledon in 2011 remains his best result at any of the majors. He reached a career high of 17 in the rankings in January of 2016 and currently has three Tour titles to his name.

2010 Jack Sock (USA)
Sock continued his country coincidental record by winning in 2010, five years after Ryan Sweeting and ten after Andy Roddick (and five before Fritz in 2015). After turning pro a year later he had to wait four years before collecting his first title, defeating Querrey at the US Clay Court Championships. Despite losing his next three finals on Tour, Sock’s consistency took him to No.22 in the world at the start of the year. His major successes have all come in doubles, and the American currently boasts a Wimbledon men’s doubles title in 2014 and an Olympic Gold medal in the mixed event in Rio.

2011 Oliver Golding (GBR)
At a time when British tennis was crying out for a potential successor to Murray, Golding provided the nation with a potential answer to their question when he triumphed in the US Open in 2011. Unfortunately that’s where the comparisons with Murray come to an abrupt end. Golding only ever reached a high of No.327 in April 2014 and is no longer ranked on the Tour. Unsurprisingly, the one Grand Slam match he played ended in defeat at Wimbledon in 2012.

2012 Felipe Peliwo (CAN)
The Canadian made the final of all the Junior Slams in 2012, and after breaking through at Wimbledon also triumphed in New York, defeating Britain’s Liam Broady in the final to cap off a spectacular season on the junior circuit. But two wins on tour from eight attempts and no Grand Slam main draw appearances means the Canadian, now ranked No.465, is unlikely to be joining Milos Raonic and Vasek Pospisil in the top 100 anytime soon.

2013 Borna Coric (CRO)
Still one of the brightest prospects on the ATP Tour, Coric lifted the crown in New York aged just 16 and came to the attention of fans worldwide by defeating Rafael Nadal in the quarter-finals of the Swiss Indoors a year later. His best result at a main draw Grand Slam came at the French Open in 2015 and 2016 when he reached the third round. Yet to win an ATP title, Coric’s highest rank is 33 and he currently sits at No.40 three years after his sole junior Slam.

2014 Omar Jasika (AUS)
Jasika added to the growing list of up-and-coming stars from Down Under by defeating Quentin Halys to take the title in New York, and became the first man in 28 years to win the boys’ singles and doubles events in the same year at the Billie Jean King Tennis Center. Last summer the young Aussie ranked No.256 in the world rankings but had slipped out of the top 400 by the start of this season. He recorded a terrific four sets win over Illya Marchenko in Melbourne to reach Round Two, only to be brushed aside by Jo-Wilifred Tsonga next time out.

2015 Taylor Fritz (USA)
After a generation of American tennis players failed to follow in the footsteps of Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi and co., Fritz has once again got his country’s hopes up. His success last year came against compatriot Tommy Paul, which exacted revenge for a reverse result in the French Open boys’ final only a few months previously. Fritz experienced the first round of every Grand Slam in 2016, but is yet to record a match win over a best-of-five set contest. Nevertheless, one for the future.


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Tim Farthing, Tennishead Editorial Director & Owner, has been a huge tennis fan his whole life. He's a tennis journalist and entrepreneur as well as playing tennis to a national standard. He also helps manage his local club and volunteers for his local tennis organisation. He's a specialist in content about the administration of professional tennis and tennis coaching for all levels.