American Teen Kozlov Finishes Runner-Up for Aussie Open Junior Boys Title

January 27, 2014 | By New York Tennis Magazine Staff
Kozlov

Top-seeded and number one-ranked Alexander Zverev of Germany overcame 15-year-old American Stefan Kozlov of Pembroke Pines, Fla., 6-3, 6-0, to win the 2014 Australian Open Boys Singles Title in Melbourne. The second seeded Kozlov advanced to his first Grand Slam junior singles final and became the first American boy to reach the singles final at a junior Grand Slam since Bjorn Fratangelo won the French Open Boys Title in 2011. Donald Young (2005) and Andy Roddick (2000) are the only Americans to win the Australian Open boys’ singles championship. Taylor Townsend won the girls’ singles title in 2012.

Kozlov, who trains with both his father, Andrei, and USTA National Coach Nicolas Todero out of the USTA Training Center  in Boca Raton, Fla., projects to ascend to number two  in the world junior rankings for all players ages 18 and under. Three American boys, who were born within a month of one another in 1998, are currently ranked in the top 10–Kozlov, 2013 Metropolia Orange Bowl champion Francis Tiafoe (number seven) and Michael Mmoh (number eight), who teamed with Kozlov to reach the doubles quarterfinals and advanced to the second round in singles in Melbourne.

“This is an exciting and well-deserved achievement for Stefan,” said Patrick McEnroe, general manager of USTA Player Development. “We are incredibly proud and are happy for him, his family and the team in Boca.”

Kozlov, who turns 16 on Feb. 1, had beaten the 16-year old Zverev, the reigning ITF World Junior Champion, in their previous three meetings, each in the last six months. In December, Kozlov defeated the 6-foot-5 German in the semifinals of the Orange Bowl, setting up the historic final between 15-year old Americans, won by Tiafoe, of College Park, Md.

In the Australian Open girls’ singles draw, 16-year old Olivia Hauger, of Tulsa, Okla., reached the quarterfinals, upending the top-seeded Varvara Flink of Russia in the second round.


New York Tennis Magazine Staff
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