Max Warner has become the first player to win both the British Junior Under 16’s and Under 18’s on three separate occasions, following three days of competition at the Queen’s Club culminating on Sunday. Meanwhile, the brothers Daniel and Jack Morgan have each taken home a title in the younger age categories.
Jack Morgan returned to the Under 12’s final for the second straight year, lining up against the home-court star Matthew Jacobs. The left-handed Jacobs took the first game with the aid of his side-wall serving, but once Morgan got to the service end he quickly got to business. He slotted ball after ball down under the grille, methodically building a lead on the scoreboard.
Jacobs heroically saved match point in the 7/1 game chasing down a wild pique serve, but by then the deficit was too much to overcome. Morgan took the title, upgrading his loss from the previous edition.
The Under 14’s final was an all-Seacourt affair between Dan Morgan, the previous edition’s Under 12’s champion who had aged up a bracket, and Ryan Wallace. Wallace took the early lead, pinning Morgan down on the serve. Morgan had to fight his way out of trouble, often leaning into big, expansive shots to break through. The score drew level at 3-all. Wallace looked as though he would extend a lead again, finding success with some straight forces down the middle of the court. Morgan kept his chances in the set alive with a full stretch volley that scraped back over the net. Wallace returned the favour a few games later. The set went to a deciding game, won by Morgan following a tight series of serves that allowed him to control the rest of the reste.
The second set was tight, with neither player giving an inch. Both were on the attack, with the momentum see-sawing through each point as they sought to capitalise on each other’s errors. Neither held more than a game’s advantage throughout the set, again culminating in a deciding game. This time it was Morgan’s return of serve that bought him the advantage, laying two short chases and bringing up three match points. Wallace struck one chase off, and pulled the next two back with straight forces garnering errors from Morgan. But Morgan held firm, joining his brother in the winner’s column.
Onto the Under 16’s final, with three-time defending champion Max Warner taking on the American Kurt Mueller, who was stepping up into the next bracket having twice won the Under 14’s. Mueller was unafraid to take the game to his better handicapped opponent, maintaining a high court position and picking off whatever volley he could. At times, he seemed to have the upper hand over Warner, who was playing with a little in reserve. Late in the set, Warner looked to put an end to Mueller’s antics, winding up a series of forces to close out the set. By the second set, the impetus had come out of Mueller’s game, with Warner easing his way to a fourth victory.
The Under 18’s Girls final followed, with Rosie Kay playing Isabella Wylie. Wylie was keen to make her home court knowledge felt, putting ball after ball on target to the dedans and testing out Kay’s volley. From the service end, Wylie found plenty of success hitting forehands cross-court. She led the match from start to finish, scoring an upset victory. For her efforts, Wylie was awarded the Nat Duncan award for the best and fairest competitor in the competition.
Max Warner returned to the court for the final match: the Under 18’s final, where he faced off against another American Jonah Serotta. Serotta went searching for a way through Warner’s play, but kept finding the back wall, setting Warner up for the rest of the rally. Warner had a vice-grip on the service end; the angles generated from his left-handed play prevented Serotta from finding the galleries to relieve pressure. Serotta’s stock ball down the gallery side kept finding Warner’s forehand, which he was able to caress across to the grille. Serotta fought back well, evening the point count by the end of the set despite losing 6/3.
Serotta figured out the angles for the second set, using the deep side walls to get the ball behind Warner and getting him to spoon the ball back in response. He extended out a three game lead, boosted by spending time at the service end and making Warner work both sides of the stroke area until he made a mistake. Warner had to battle to bring the score back to equality, helped by a long stint on serve. Serotta’s stand could no longer hold, with Warner finding grille after grille. With his win, Warner became the first player to have won the Under 18’s championship on three separate occasions
The junior circuit now turns to Seacourt for the World Junior Championships and World Junior Girl’s Championships, running from Tuesday through to Sunday.
Match results:
12:30 PM: Under 12’s: Jack Morgan def Matthew Jacobs 8/2
12:30 PM: Under 14’s: Dan Morgan def Ryan Wallace 6/5 6/5
1:30 PM: Under 16’s: Max Warner def Kurt Mueller 6/1 6/0
2:30 PM: Under 18’s Girls: Rosie Kay lost to Isabella Wylie 2/8
3:15 PM: Under 18’s: Max Warner def Jonah Serotta 6/3 6/4