LI’s Cannon Kingsley ousted in Wimbledon junior tournament
Northport's Cannon Kingsley returns a shot in his second-round match against Taisei Ichikawa of Japan in the boys' singles championship at Wimbledon on Tuesday. Credit: Harry Kingsley
WIMBLEDON — Cannon Kingsley’s solid run in the Wimbledon Boys’ singles championship came to a dramatic end Wednesday on Court 16 with a 7-6 (3), 7-5 third-round loss to No. 5 seed Nicolas Mejia.
Mejia is a familiar opponent for Kingsley. He lost to him in the second round of the French Open juniors, and the Northport native played him close once again. But with a taped right knee Kingsley didn’t find a different result.
“I had trouble today with my serve return,” said Kingsley. “It was into my body a lot. My forehand was a little off and he kind of exposed that, but it was close.”
Mejia also painted the outside line with a few serves. The two were well-matched, big servers with quick reflexes. Mejia was perhaps more physically controlled and Kingsley had the height advantage. They are promising juniors gaining high-level match experience.
About two hours after losing the singles, Kingsley was back on the same court facing Mejia again, in doubles. Kingsley and partner Emilio Navo lost to No. 6 Mejia and Ondrej Styler 6-1, 6-3 in the first round of that draw.
But the bigger takeaway from the week would have to be Kingsley’s potential on grass. Like the hard courts, it matches his game.
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