Huntington's Jack Kennedy to play in main draw of the U.S. Open in Flushing

Jack Kennedy’s tennis career has allowed him to circle the globe, but there’s no place like home.

The Huntington native, 18, grew up attending the U.S. Open and earned a taste of the action the previous two years, playing in singles qualifying and junior boys singles in 2024 and 2025 and winning the junior boys doubles title last year.

This time around in Queens, he will be in the U.S. Open men’s singles main draw for his Grand Slam debut. The Open begins on Aug. 30 and Kennedy will play his first-round match on one of the first three days. He received a wild card into the main draw by winning the singles title at the USTA Boys’ 18s National Championships in Kalamazoo, Michigan, last Sunday.

“To be able to play in the main draw of a Grand Slam, it’s definitely my biggest moment so far,” he told Newsday in a phone interview Thursday. “I’ve had some other great moments, playing in the Junior Davis Cup, winning the U.S. Open doubles and [playing in] the juniors, and a bunch more.

“But I think this is just going to be a great opportunity, and just going to be a dream come true to be able to play on the biggest court in one of the world’s greatest sports.”

Kennedy, an incoming freshman at the University of Virginia, was the top seed in the 192-player draw in Kalamazoo and won seven matches to secure the title. In the finals he defeated 16-year-old Jordan Lee, a good friend of his who retired in the opening set after reportedly feeling chest pain.

Kennedy had mixed emotions at first, but he’s since recognized that he deserves this opportunity to play in his hometown Slam. He’ll practice on U.S. Open grounds beginning Friday.

“Just super-proud of him,” said Bryan Kennedy, Jack’s father. “He’s had an amazing year. He’s started to play a lot more pro tournaments and has really had success there very quickly and certainly at an early age, and just has shown that he’s ready for the pros.”

This year, Kennedy played more of a pro schedule rather than focusing on junior events, which he said “helped me a ton.” He won his first pro event in April, the M15 Boca Raton, a clay court tournament in Florida on the ITF World Tennis Tour. Later in April, he was a finalist in the Savannah Challenger, a clay tournament in Georgia on the ATP Challenger Tour, and beat former world No. 4 Kei Nishikori in the round of 16.

Bryan said the biggest growth point in Jack’s game has been the mental side, which is “getting stronger and stronger.” Jack noted that he doesn’t feel the nerves as much as he did two years ago, whether it was in U.S. Open qualifying or in the finals of the USTA Boys’ 18s National Championships, when he was the “young guy in the draw.”

The Kennedys are expecting plenty of support in Queens. Bryan said: “If it’s anything like his qualifying match last year, his court’s going to be packed.”

As he enters the biggest stage of his career, what does Jack want people to know about him?

“I just want them to kind of see that I have fun on court,” he said. “I always try to have a good time, always try smiling, and try to get the fans into it as well the best I could. But also that I’m a competitor and a fighter. I’ll give it my all until the last point’s over, and we shake hands and move on.

“But I just want people to kind of realize how much I give into the match and how much I really care, and hopefully to make it fun for everybody.”

By Ben Dickson

benjamin.dickson@newsday.com@bendickson__

Ben Dickson is Newsday Sports' general assignment reporter. He joined Newsday’s high school sports staff in 2023 after graduating from Maryland, where he covered several of the Terrapins' teams.