Giron Turns Pro; Zverev Wins First Challenger; Kudla Sweeps Titles at Winnetka $50K; Aubone Claims Pittsburgh Futures; ITF Announces Youth Olympics Games Participants

NCAA champion Marcos Giron of UCLA has decided to forgo his final year of collegiate eligibility, announcing today that he will turn pro. Giron, who is expected to receive a US Open wild card as an American NCAA champion, can now collect the $35,723 that goes to a player who reaches the first round this year. The USTA announced its 2014 prize money amounts today.  For more on Giron's decision, see the UCLA website.

To recap a few highlights from last week's Futures and Challengers, 2013 World Junior Champion Alexander Zverev of Germany won his first Challenger title on Sunday. The 17-year-old wild card beat three ATP Top 100 players en route to the singles championships at the 106,500 Euro (+hospitality) Challenger in Germany.  Zverev defeated Paul-Henri Mathieu of France 1-6, 6-1, 6-4 in the final, improving his ATP ranking to 285.

Denis Kudla won both the singles and doubles championships at the $50,000 Winnetka Challenger last week. The 21-year-old from Virginia, seeded seventh, defeated unseeded Farrukh Dustov of Uzbekistan 6-2, 6-2 in the final.  UCLA sophomore Mackenzie McDonald qualified and reached the semifinals before falling to Dustov.  Kudla and Thanasi Kokkinakis of Australia won the doubles title 6-2, 7-6(4) over Evan King(Michigan) and Raymond Sarmiento(Southern Cal). Both teams were unseeded.  For more live coverage of the Winnetka Challenger, see the On The Rise Tennis blog.  For a recap of both Zverev's and Kudla's win see the article on the ATP website, which features a chart of the youngest Challenger champions.

At the $10,000 Pittsburgh Futures, former Florida State star Jean-Yves Aubone won his third career Futures title, but his first since 2008.  The unseeded Aubone, who had reached the final of the Rochester Futures, beat top seed Liam Broady of Great Britain in the semifinals and unseeded Toby Martin, also of Great Britain, in the final 1-6, 7-5, 7-6(6).   In the doubles final, top seeds Broady and Luke Bambridge defeated Vanderbilt's Gonzales Austin and Wisconsin's Quinton Vega 7-5, 6-4.

At the ITF Grade 2 in the Netherlands last week, top seed Jessica Ho of the US reached the final, but fell to No. 6 seed Sofya Zhuk of Russia 6-7(7), 6-3, 6-3 in the championship match.  At this week's Grade 1 in Germany,  all eight US juniors have been defeated, including Ho, the No. 8 seed and Dennis Uspensky, the No. 6 seed.

The ITF announced the fields for the Youth Olympic Tennis tournament, a Grade A event in Nanjing, China August 17-24, 2014. Due to its date, between the National Hard Courts and the US Open junior championships, and its location, only two Americans are participating: Sofia Kenin and Alex Rybakov.

Youth Olympic Tennis Event
Boys Acceptance List by Country

Argentina - Francisco Bahamonde, Matias Zukas
                                  
Australia - Harry Bourchier, Marc Polmans

Bahamas - Rasheed Carey, Justin Roberts
                                  
Belgium - Clement Geens

Brazil - Orlando Luz, Marcelo Zormann
                                  
Burundi - Guy Orly Iradukunda

Colombia - Luis Valero

Croatia - Nino Serdarusic

Cyprus - Petros Chrysochos

Hungary - Andre Biro

Japan - Ryotaro Matsumura, Jumpei Yamasaki
                                  
Korea, Rep. - Chung Yunseong, Lee Duck Hee 

Montenegro - Pavle Rogan

Peru - Nicolas Alvarez, Juan Jose Rosas

Poland - Kamil Majchrzak, Jan Zielinski

Russia  - Karen Khachanov, Andrey Rublev

Serbia - Petar Conkic

Slovakia - Martin Blasko, Alex Molcan                         

South Africa - Lloyd Harris

Sri Lanka - Sharmal Dissanayake

Sweden - Daniel Appelgren

USA - Alex Rybakov

Youth Olympic Tennis Event
Girls Acceptance List by Country

Algeria - Ines Ibbou

Australia - Naiktha Bains, Priscilla Hon

Belarus - Iryna Shymanovich

Belgium - Greetje Minnen

Brazil - Luisa Stefani

China, P.R. - Sun Ziyue, Xu Shilin

Colombia - Maria Fernanda Herazo Gonzalez

Czech Republic - Simona Heinova, Marketa Vondrousova
                                  
Ecuador - Domenica Gonzalez

Egypt - Sandra Samir

Hungary - Anna Bondar, Fanni Stollar
                                  
India - Ojasvinee Singh

Korea, Rep. - Dabin Kim

Latvia - Jelena Ostapenko

Lithuania - Akvile Parazinskaite

Mexico - Renata Zarazua

Namibia - Lesedi Sheya Jacobs

Paraguay - Camila Giangreco Campiz

Romania - Ioana Ducu, Ioana Loredana Rosca
          
Russia  - Darya Kasatkina, Anastasiya Komardina
                                  
Serbia  - Ivana Jorovic

Slovakia - Kristina Schmiedlova

Switzerland - Jil Belen Teichmann        

Thailand - Kamonwan Buayam

Ukraine - Anhelina Kalinina

USA - Sofia Kenin

The complete ITF release follows:

The ITF today announced the acceptance lists for the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games Tennis Event. Thirty-eight countries are represented in the boys’ and girls’ events that comprise 32 players in singles, 16 pairs in doubles, and 32 pairs in mixed doubles. The Youth Olympic Tennis Event, for players aged 18-and-under, will take place on 17-24 August at the Tennis Academy of China on hard court. All players will contest all three events.

The second Youth Olympic Games, held on 16-28 August, will welcome around 3,800 athletes from the 204 National Olympic Committees to Nanjing. Young athletes – aged between 14 and 18 years – will compete in 28 sports.

Entries are headed by the current boys’ and girls’ junior world number ones, Andrey Rublev of Russia and Ivana Jorovic of Serbia. Rublev, who won the 2014 Roland Garros junior title, is joined by fellow Russian Darya Kasatkina, the Roland Garros girls’ champion. Sun Ziyue and Xu Shilin will represent the host nation in the girls’ singles.

A maximum of two boys and two girls per country are eligible to compete. Players must also have made themselves available for selection to represent their country in any of the ITF junior team competitions between 2011 and 2014.

Singles acceptances were based firstly on a player’s junior world ranking (12 places), then on ranking by region (16 places). The remaining four positions were allocated either by the IOC or the next highest ranked player. The Youth Olympic Tennis Event is a Grade A event on the 2014 ITF Junior Circuit, offering bonus ranking points.

Mixed doubles will feature in the Youth Olympics for the first time following its successful re-introduction at the London 2012 Olympic Tennis Event.

Thailand’s Paradorn Srichaphan, who won five singles titles in an outstanding career, will represent tennis on site as an Athlete Role Model. The Athlete Role Models programme will be implemented by the Nanjing Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee (NYOCOG) as part of the Culture and Education Programme.

ITF President Francesco Ricci Bitti said: “The Youth Olympic Tennis Event provides a valuable opportunity for some of our most promising young athletes to have their first Olympic experience and represent their country on a major stage. We were delighted with the success of the inaugural event in Singapore, since when several competitors have already made progress on the professional circuit.”

The draws for the Youth Olympic Games Tennis Event will take place at 16:00 local time on Friday 15 August at the Tennis Academy of China

The acceptances for the boys’ and girls’ singles event are [above]. The doubles and mixed doubles entries will be determined on site and will comprise players already involved in singles. For doubles and mixed doubles, athletes without a partner from the same country are allowed to compete with a player from a different country.

Entry Lists for Kalamazoo, San Diego USTA Hard Court National Championships Released

2013 champion Collin Altamirano is in qualifying this year

Yesterday I promised an update of last week's Pro Circuit and ITF junior results, but that was before I realized the acceptances for the upcoming Nationals would be released today.  For some reason, I had thought that entries closed this Thursday, but it was last Thursday, with the selections posted today on the various TennisLink sites.

Most people familiar with the sectional endorsement process, after seeing what happened at the Clay Courts, are not surprised to find many of the best 18-and-under competitors in the 64-player qualifying tournament. 
Those in the boys 18s qualifying draw, meaning 128 boys are considered more worthy of main draw places than they are, are:

Collin Altamirano, 2013 18s champion and ATP 847
Jared Donaldson, 2013 18s finalist and ATP 343
Eduardo Nava ATP 1143
Alex Rybakov ITF 26
Logan Smith ITF 43
Deiton Baughman ATP 1043
Noah Rubin ATP 536,  2014 Wimbledon boys champion

Others still age eligible who were not accepted and therefore will need one of the eight wild cards are:

Stefan Kozlov ITF 2, ATP 861
Francis Tiafoe ITF 6, ATP 1172
Michael Mmoh ITF 11, ATP 1149
Dennis Uspensky ITF 68
Ernesto Escobedo ATP 593
Spencer Papa ATP 1673 (will rise after reaching a Futures final last week)

Other notable names missing from the entries are Alfredo Perez, Catalin Mateas, and 2012 16s finalist Alexandru Gozun; there are probably others who have slipped my mind.

Obviously a selection process that does not take into account the ITF or ATP/WTA rankings is going to produce headaches, and it is now virtually impossible to seed the tournament until the qualifying is over, since not all of these top players can be given wild cards. 

As I said over and over during the junior competition restructuring, I thought the old system, while not perfect, was good enough. It allowed the very best juniors to compete internationally and professionally to test themselves, while still recognizing their presence in the USTA national fields enhanced the competition for everyone. Now they are being marginalized, sent to a qualifying tournament where they don't belong. I'm sure they are confident of qualifying should they not receive main draw wild cards, but those who play against them are not really being given a fair chance.

Lisa Stone at the Parenting Aces blog is promising more analysis of the selection process later this week.

The complete list of competitors can be found at the TennisLink site.

The girls 18s qualifying also has some of the country's most accomplished players, including:

Brooke Austin, WTA 578 and semifinalist in San Diego last year
Louisa Chirico, WTA 250 and semifinalist at 2013 French and Wimbledon juniors
Christina Makarova, former ITF 11, WTA 594

Others who are age eligible but not among the acceptances and therefore needing wild cards if they wish to play:

Tornado Alicia Black ITF 4
Sofia Kenin ITF 30
Dasha Ivanova ITF 35
Katrine Steffensen ITF 51
Raveena Kingsley ITF 62
Johnnise Renaud ITF 80
Taylor Townsend WTA 144
Josie Kuhlman WTA 669
Ellie Halbauer WTA 701
Karina Vyrlan WTA 776
Liz Jeukeng WTA 883

Other notable names absent are: Ingrid Neel, Meredith Xepoleas, Terri Fleming, Abi Altick, Cassandra Vazquez, Brooke Broda and Madison Bourguignon.

The complete list of girls 16 and 18 competitors can be found at the TennisLink site.

Vicky Duval, the 2012 National Hard Court champion, is still eligible to play, as she doesn't turn 19 until November, but by moving into the WTA Top 100 this week, she wouldn't need a US open wild card. 

Unfortunately, Duval has recently been diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma, and will be undergoing treatment this summer.  Anyone who knows Vicky is pulling for her to make a speedy recovery and return to the game, which will miss her engaging personality.

US Open Wild Card Challenge Begins with This Week's Women's $50,000 Pro Circuit Tournament in Sacramento

I'm still in transit returning from Wimbledon, but wanted to post this release from the USTA on the US Open Wild Card Challenge, which begins  for the US women with the $50,000 Sacramento event this week.  The men's first tournament is the $50,000 Challenger in Binghamton next week.

Look for a post on last week's non-Wimbledon results in junior and college tennis tomorrow.

Bradley Klahn won a US Open Men's main draw wild card last year

THE USTA PRO CIRCUIT’S US OPEN WILD CARD CHALLENGE
KICKS OFF TODAY FOR AMERICAN PLAYERS
TO EARN A USTA WILD CARD INTO THE 2014 US OPEN

Any American who did not earn direct entry into the US Open is eligible

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., July 7, 2014 – The USTA today announced the launch of the 2014 US Open Wild Card Challenge that utilizes the USTA Pro Circuit to award wild cards into the US Open.

In the US Open Wild Card Challenge, the American man and American woman who earn the most ATP World Tour and WTA Tour ranking points at two of three (for women) and two of four (for men) selected USTA Pro Circuit hard-court events earn main draw wild cards into the US Open. Only Americans who did not earn direct entry into the US Open are eligible.

All tournaments will be streamed live on www.procircuit.usta.com. The FSP Gold River Women’s Challenger in Sacramento, Calif., begins today.

The US Open Wild Card Challenge will consist of the following events:

USTA Pro Circuit Women’s Events
-- FSP Gold River Women’s Challenger, $50,000 Sacramento, Calif. (week of July 7)
-- USTA Player Development Women’s $50,000 Classic, Carson, Calif. (week of July 14)
-- Kentucky Bank Tennis Championships, $50,000 Lexington, Ky. (week of July 21)

USTA Pro Circuit Men’s Events
-- Levene Gouldin & Thompson Tennis Challenger, $50,000 Binghamton, N.Y. (week of July 14)
-- Kentucky Bank Tennis Championships, $50,000 Lexington, Ky. (week of July 21)
-- Odlum Brown VanOpen, $100,000 Vancouver, Canada (week of July 28)
-- Comerica Bank Challenger, $100,000 Aptos, Calif. (week of August 4)

The USTA first used this US Open wild card format for its 2012 wild cards, won by Steve Johnson and Mallory Burdette, who both reached the third round of the US Open, as well as the 2013 US Open, which was won by Bradley Klahn, who won his first round match, and Shelby Rogers. The USTA also utilizes this format for the French Open through the Har-Tru USTA Pro Circuit Wild Card Challenge, where this year’s women’s winner Taylor Townsend was a top story at Roland Garros by reaching the third round. Veteran Robby Ginepri won the 2014 men’s French Open wild card.

The 2014 US Open main draw will be held Monday, August 25, to Monday, September 8.

Noah Rubin Downs Kozlov to Claim Wimbledon Boys Title; Ostapenko Defeats Schmiedlova to Earn Girls Championship

Noah Rubin, 2014 Wimbledon boys champion

©Colette Lewis 2014--
Wimbledon--

Any unseeded qualifier capturing a Wimbledon title is bound to be cast in the role of underdog, but 18-year-old Noah Rubin's 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 win Sunday afternoon over fellow American Stefan Kozlov could hardly be called an upset.

Once No. 6 in the ITF junior world rankings, Rubin devoted most of 2014 to ITF Men's Circuit events, but with his ATP ranking currently 539, the New Yorker was able to get into qualifying of the French and Wimbledon junior championships in his final year of eligibility.  Although he was careful to say he knew there was a chance he'd lose in qualifying, he was not buying the Cinderella story.

"Nothing said I couldn't be here," said Rubin, who had lost in the first round in his previous two Wimbledon junior championships. "I believe in my competitiveness, my mental capability, and speed. I don't see why not."

Kozlov was the one with the experience in a junior slam final, having played on Rod Laver Arena in the boys championship match at the Australian Open in January, but even he was awed by the atmosphere on Court 1, which was approximately two-thirds full with thousands of ticket-buying fans applauding every winner.

"When I played on Rod Laver it was really quiet," Kozlov said of his experience in Melbourne. "I don't know why, I don't think anyone was into the match, I mean it was 3 and love. It was not even half way filled. Today was an unbelievable atmosphere, one of the best I've ever played."

Rubin agreed.

"I didn't expect it to be that packed," admitted Rubin, who said he wasn't distracted by the cheering crowds watching the men's final on the big screen on the famous hill just outside. "I actually thought nobody was going to come out to the match, but that was not the case. They were all very enthusiastic to be out there. I kind of got the crowd into it a little bit. Just the atmosphere was unbelievable."

Fans didn't side with either player, but after Rubin won the first set, breaking Kozlov for the second time in the set in the fifth game and holding the rest of the way, they were actively supporting Kozlov's push to take the second set.  Rubin went up a break 3-2 in the second set on a dazzling backhand cross court pass, but Kozlov broke right back, taking advantage of two unforced errors by Rubin.

With Rubin serving at 4-5 in the second set, he played one of his worst games of the match, with Kozlov just required to stay in the point long enough for Rubin to make an error.  After maintaining laser-like focus in his quarterfinal and semifinal matches against the big serving Tim van Rijthoven of the Netherlands and Taylor Fritz of the US, Rubin wasn't as sharp against Kozlov, who averaged 102 mph on his first serve.

But Rubin's maturity showed in the final set, especially when he failed to convert two break points with Kozlov serving at 3-3, 15-40. Rubin made two errors on those break points, but when he got a third, he yelled "let's go, right here, come on," urging the crowd to get behind him.  When Kozlov sent a forehand long on the next point, Rubin got his wish, and Kozlov sensed his opportunity was gone.

"I kind of choked at 3-all in the third," said Kozlov. "I gave away a service game which I should have won, and that was it. After that, the match was over. Down 15-40, I played two good points, and got a little bit relieved, and then I shanked a forehand, when I should have hit a winner. Then, on the next point, I played carelessly."

Two hours into the match, Rubin held for 5-3 and was bouncing up and down on the baseline as Kozlov served to stay in the match.  He missed a drop shot to start the game, won the second point with a good first serve, but Rubin snuck in for a rare forehand volley winner to make it 15-30.  A long rally on the next point ended with a forehand winner by Rubin, giving him two match points.  He missed a forehand long on the first one, but Kozlov gave him the second one, netting a routine backhand.  Rubin didn't celebrate wildly, but he did go over to hug his father Eric in the stands before the trophy presentation.

The champion's lap with the trophy is a Wimbledon tradition, but Rubin wasn't quite sure what to do.

"We were both a little confused about that," Rubin said. "I didn't know if that was a tradition or not. I didn't want to break any traditions here, so I just followed their rules."

But Rubin invited Kozlov, a friend and occasional roommate, to join him.

"They told me to go. I was like, Stefan let's go, let's do it together," Rubin said.  "I thought it was interesting, but it was good."

Kozlov then gave Rubin the American flag Kozlov's father had put in his bag before the match, and they joined in displaying it and posing for photographs with it.

"Stefan brought the flag. He said, 'I have a flag, I have a flag.'", Rubin said. "I was like, dig it out. It's been a long time since an all-American final, so might as well support."

Rubin is the first American to win the Wimbledon boys singles title since Donald Young in 2007. He believes the young US boys, seven of whom reached the round of 16 and three the semifinals, could give the country hope for a new set of stars.

"At the end when we were holding the American flag, I was like, this is pretty special," said Rubin. "Hopefully we'll keep rising together and none of us will fall off, and we'll, as a group, get to the top and show the results American wants."

Rubin said his title at Wimbledon does not change his plan to attend college for a one year, at either Wake Forest or Virginia, with that decision to be made in the next few weeks. He will play the Godfrey Illinois Futures, then Kalamazoo, with a week off before to rest and recover from his eight wins in the past ten days.

Unseeded 17-year-old Jelena Ostapenko continued her mastery of grass, defeating No. 8 seed Kristina Schmiedlova of Slovakia 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 to become Latvia's first junior slam champion.

Ostapenko had defeated Schmiedlova in the final of the ITF Grade 1 in Roehampton last Friday 6-2, 6-3, but it took her a bit longer to find her form Sunday afternoon.

"I think my opponent, she maybe knew how to play against me, or she did some research," said Ostapenko, whose previous best result in a junior slam was two quarterfinal appearances at the Australian Open. "She played just much better today than last week, and I'm really happy that I could win."

Schmiedlova said Ostapenko's errors in the opening set gave her hope for a different outcome, but her fatigue, and Ostapenko's winners--40 in total for the match--sealed her fate.

"In the first set I think I played very good and my serve was good, and she did a lot of unforced errors," said Schmiedlova, who turns 17 in August. "In the second set, I was really tired today, my second final in two weeks, and my arm hurts, but it was a great tournament for me, so I'm happy."

Schmiedlova said she tried to change strategy, but once Ostapenko found the range on her groundstrokes nothing worked.

"She's a very aggressive player and it's hard to play against her," said Schmiedlova, younger sister of WTA pro Anna Schmiedlova, who is 19.

Ostapenko admitted to some nervousness at the start, but she also credited the play of Schmiedlova.

"My opponent started the match really well and she was playing really good," said Ostapenko, who has won three $10,000 ITF women's circuit events this year. "I was doing some unforced errors. Then I just tried to come back in the second set and focus on every point, to get my game back. It helped me, and I won."

In the third set, Ostapenko broke Schmiedlova to start the set, then saved two break points in the second game to take a 2-0 lead. After that, Ostapenko went for the lines, and usually hit them, with her backhand especially effective.  As winner after winner came off Ostapenko's racquet, Schmiedlova stayed composed, but had no energy to counteract Ostapenko's power.

Both finalists plan to play the European Championships later this month in Switzerland, and to play both the Youth Olympic Games in China and the US Open Junior Championships.

"I will play some WTA events, like ITF Pro Circuits," said Ostapenko. I think the US Open will be my last junior event."

Reminded that women's finalist Eugenie Bouchard was sitting where she was just two years ago, Ostapenko has a role model only three years older.

"I think she improved really a lot and she's one of the best players on the tour now," said Ostapenko. "I think I have to maybe follow her and try to do the same as she did."

Brazilians Marcelo Zormann and Orlando Luz win boys doubles title

The junior tournament closed with the boys doubles final.  No. 3 seeds Orlando Luz and Marcelo Zormann of Brazil defeated top seeds Kozlov and Andrey Rublev of Russia 6-4, 3-6, 8-6 to claim their first junior slam titles.  Kozlov saved three match points serving at 5-6 in the third set, but when Rublev served at 6-7, he too went down 0-40 and this time the hole was too deep.

Qiu Yu Ye and Tami Grende with ITF President Francesco Ricci Bitti

Earlier in the day, the girls doubles title went to Tami Grende of Indonesia and Qiu Yu Ye of China.  They defeated Maria Bouzkova of the Czech Republic and Dalma Galfi of Hungary 6-2, 7-6(5). Both teams in the finals were unseeded.

For complete draws, see the Wimbledon website.

Americans Kozlov and Rubin Meet for Boys Wimbledon Title; Schmiedlova and Ostapenko to Decide Girls Championship Sunday

Stefan Kozlov and Noah Rubin of US will meet in Wimbledon boys final

©Colette Lewis 2014--
Wimbledon--

Back in 1977, two boys from the United States met for the Wimbledon junior title, with Van Winitsky beating Eliot Teltscher. On Sunday, for the first time since then, two Americans will decide the boys championship, with Stefan Kozlov and Noah Rubin earning their place in the final.

Kozlov, the No. 6 seed, defeated No. 8 seed Johan Sebastien Tatlot of France 6-3, 7-6(7), winning a second set tiebreaker to clinch the victory for the third consecutive match.

The 16-year-old from Pembroke Pines, Florida was serving at 5-3 30-30 in the first set when the rain began, but Court 3 was covered for only 30 minutes before the players returned to a much smaller crowd.

With the women's singles final an hour away, the first eight games of the match were well-attended by early arriving fans, but after the rain, most had moved under the roof of Centre Court.

If the delay bothered Kozlov he didn't show it, drawing an error to reach set point, then hitting a good first serve that Tatlot couldn't handle to secure the set.

The second set saw no breaks of serve, and the tiebreaker was finely balanced.  Kozlov earned two match points when Tatlot missed a forehand wide to go down 6-4, but Kozlov netted a second serve return, then hit a backhand to give Tatlot new life.  The 18-year-old right-hander hit a forehand wide to give Kozlov a third match point, but a nervous backhand way long made it 7-7.  Kozlov earned his fourth match point in the tiebreaker with a good first serve, and finally converted it when Tatlot's forehand went long.

"I think I played a pretty good match," Kozlov said. "I started well, went after my game plan pretty well. Second set, after the rain delay, I didn't play so well, but I put together a couple of games where I really played well but didn't break.  But it was a good tiebreaker."

Asked if he had a special talent for ending a match in a second set tiebreaker after doing that three days in a row, Kozlov was doubtful.

"I like to think I'm going to win a tiebreaker, but it's probably just a coin flip," Kozlov said.

After falling to the ground after his victory over No. 2 seed Hyeon Chung on Friday, Kozlov was much more subdued in his celebration after beating Tatlot, even though it meant reaching his second junior slam final, and he was determined to focus on preparing for a different outcome after losing to Alexander Zverev of Germany in the Australian Open final.

"Last time in Australia was my first time, and everything was great and I enjoyed it so much," Kozlov said. "This tournament I'm enjoying a lot also, but I'm really focused about tomorrow. All the experience has paid off, and last year I think I should have won (at Wimbledon), and I'm feeling really comfortable and happy to be here."

Rubin will be playing in his first junior slam final after defeating 16-year-old Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-2 in the second match on Court 3, which also experienced a rain delay.

Rubin broke the big serving Californian in the seventh game, and didn't face a break point himself in the first set. Taking the ball early and untroubled by Fritz's pace, the 18-year-old New Yorker never gave Fritz an opportunity to control any part of the match.

When Fritz was broken in the third game of the second set, Rubin didn't lose focus or concentration, but continued to attack, taking advantage of Fritz's errors and returning well.

"I thought I was really focused the entire match, the most focused I've been in a while," said Rubin, who turned 18 in February. "I played very solid tennis. I was proud of myself for playing this way, because Taylor's one of those guys if he's on, he's on, and you've got to be ready. He came out with tremendous serves in the beginning and I knew I had to watch out for that one break, that's what I needed, and it got me the first set."

Fritz, who hit 132 on the radar gun in his first service game and 133 later in the first set, couldn't find his first serve often enough to pressure Rubin.

"On my serve, I didn't make him work hard enough to break me," said Fritz. "I feel like I kind of gave it away too much. One game, I just didn't make first serves, one game I made errors. When he got into the point, I just made mistakes. I would rather have had him just beat me rather than I make too many unforced errors. I was just way to erratic on my service games."

Leading 5-1 in the second set, the rain began again, and this time the delay was longer, over an hour and a half.   Because of a problem with the net, which is always removed when the tarps are put over the courts, the match was resumed on court 8, with no radar gun or hawkeye available.

Fritz held to make it 5-2, and earned his first break points of the match, but Rubin saved all three, and ten minutes after the resumption of play, the match was over.

"He's out there and just going for it," said Rubin. "Probably if we'd have continued the match without the rain--I'm not saying he wouldn't come back, but it would have been very tough. But when he has a second opportunity, he's just going to go for it, and that's what he did. He played a very good first game to hold. Anything could have happened, he could have broke me, held for 5-4 and that's even more pressure. So it was nice that I played well."

Rubin and Kozlov haven't played since the quarterfinals of the 16s at the International Spring Championships in Carson in 2011, when Rubin was 15 and Kozlov 13. Rubin won that match 6-4, 6-4 and went on to take the title, but with so many years since that match, both players are discounting the result.

Rubin admits Kozlov's previous experience in a junior slam final provides a edge.

"I definitely think he has an advantage. He's been out there," said Rubin. "But I think I've played a few more matches than he has. So we'll see what my maturity can do."

Kristina Schmiedlova of Slovakia and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia meet in girls final Sunday

Neither of the girls finalists have been to a junior slam final, with unseeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia meeting No. 8 seed Kristina Schmiedlova of Slovakia in the girls championship match, which is a rematch of last week's Grade 1 final in Roehampton.

Schmiedlova defeated unseeded Elena Ruse of Romania 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in Saturday's semifinals, while Ostapenko continued to cruise through seeded opponents, defeating No. 12 seed Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic 6-1, 6-2.

At Roehampton, Ostapenko defeated Schmiedlova 6-2, 6-3 but the 17-year-old, who won the Eddie Herr Grade 1 last December, said the match was a difficult one.

“I think she’s a really good player,” said Ostapenko. “I played against her last week, also in the finals, at Roehampton. I think if I play my best game then I have chances to win. I won the Roehampton match, but it was not really an easy match. I had to focus for every point because she’s quite a good player.”

Schmiedlova is determined to alter her strategy on Sunday after the Roehampton defeat.

"She played very aggressive, so I will have to change something," said the 16-year-old, whose is the younger sister of WTA No. 58 Anna Schmiedlova. "I will ask my coach and he will say."

Schmiedlova admits she is growing fond of the surface.

"Last year I didn't like grass, because I lost in the first round here," said the two-time French Open girls quarterfinalist. "I used to prefer clay. But now, after these two tournaments, I'm going to say that I like grass, yeah. It's maybe my favorite surface now."

Ostapenko believes the surface rewards her aggressive baseline game.

“I can serve really well and I play aggressive, it’s my style," said Ostapenko, who has lost only one set this week. "So maybe it’s easier for me to win here than for the others. Every match was tough but I try my best to focus on every point. On the grass sometimes you have to go to the net and finish the point.”

Schmiedlova, who cites her serve as her biggest strength on grass, said she is tired after two weeks on the grass, citing pain in her arm and both legs. But she is looking forward to the final on Sunday.

"It's amazing, I never expected this before Wimbledon," Schmiedlova said. "It's the final. We both will be nervous, our first finals match. I believe in myself, so I hope I will win tomorrow."

The doubles finals, usually played on Saturday, will be contested on Sunday this year due to the rain early in the week.  Kozlov and Andrey Rublev, the top seeds, will play No. 3 seed Orlando Luz and Marcelo Zormann of Brazil after the boys singles final is finished.  Kozlov and Rublev were down 3-0 and two service breaks to No. 7 seeds Petros Chrysochos of Cyprus and Nino Serdarusic of Croatia in the second set, but fought back to win in straight sets 6-2, 7-5.  Luz and Zormann defeated unseeded Naoki Nakagawa of Japan and Tim van Rijthoven of the Netherlands 6-3, 5-7, 6-2.

The girls doubles final will be between two unseeded teams.  Tami Grende of Indonesia and Qiu Yu Ye of China will meet Maria Bouzkova of the Czech Republic and Dalma Galfi of Hungary in the girls championship match. Grende and Ye defeated unseeded Usue Arconada of the US and Fanny Stollar of Hungary 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, while Bouzkova and Galfi outlasted No. 2 seeds Priscilla Hon of Australia and Jil Belen Teichmann of Switzerland 6-1, 4-6, 9-7.

The boys final will open play on Court 1 at 1 p.m. Sunday, followed by the girls final. The doubles finals are scheduled as court 18's second and third matches of the day.

For complete draws, see the Wimbledon website.