Altamirano, Vickery earn US Open wild cards
August 11, 2013
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — Collin Altamirano (17, Yuba City, Calif.) and Sachia Vickery (18, Hollywood, Fla.) captured the USTA Boys’ and Girls’ 18s National Championships single titles Sunday, each earning wild cards into the main draw of the US Open, which begins August 26 in Flushing, N.Y.
Altamirano, currently No. 50 in the USTA Boys’ 18s National Standings, became the first unseeded player ever to win the USTA Boys’ 18s singles title in the tournament’s 71 years, defeating No. 14 seed Jared Donaldson (16, Cumberland, R.I.), 6-1, 6-2, 6-4, in Kalamazoo, Mich. In the semifinals, Altamirano took down No. 1 seed Gage Brymer, 6-0, 6-1.
Vickery, the Girls’ 18s No. 1 seed, beat No. 2 seed Allie Kiick (18, Plantation, Fla.), 4-6, 6-2, 6-0, to win the Girls’ title in San Diego, Calif. Vickery, No. 230 in the latest WTA rankings, has been as high as No. 6 in the ITF World Junior Rankings and trains at the USTA Training Center – Headquarters in Boca Raton, Fla. Kiick, the daughter of former Miami Dolphins running back Jim Kiick, was appearing in her second straight USTA Girls’ 18s National Championships singles final.
Last year, Dennis Novikov won the USTA Boys’ 18s National Championship and defeated 2013 Wimbledon semifinalist Jerzy Janowicz in the first round, while Victoria Duval, the USTA Girls’ 18s champion, played Kim Clijsters in the first round.