Huntington's Jack Kennedy wins second-round match in US Open boys' singles tournament

Jack Kennedy had no reason to be intimidated by playing his second-round U.S. Open boys’ singles match in Louis Armstrong Stadium Tuesday. He’d played in the stadium twice last year, after all, and way back when the rebuilt stadium opened in August 2018, he was one of the Net Generation kids who got to take part in the opening ceremony, an event he said he remembers “vaguely.’’
So, Kennedy, the 18-year-old from Huntington, looked quite at home inside Armstrong as he defeated 17-year-old Canadian qualifier Benjamin Azar, 6-0, 6-4, to advance to the third round of the tournament. Still, Kennedy insisted getting to play inside the 14,000-seat, retractable-roof stadium was always a big deal.
“I mean, it’s still great to be out there on one of the biggest courts in our sport,’’ said Kennedy, the No. 5 seed. “But yeah, definitely, I felt a little bit more used to it. I got the experience the last year, got to hit on it this morning, so I guess it wasn’t as nerve-wracking as it might have been. But you know, obviously, it’s still great to play in front of a big stadium like that.’’ 
Kennedy completed his match in 65 minutes against Azar, a lefthander who is the No. 1 junior in Canada, to advance to the round-of-16 against American Jack Secord, who beat France’s Yannick Theodor Alexandrescou, 6-2, 6-4, in their second-round match. Kennedy and Secord have known each other for years and were part of the USA team that won the Junior Davis Cup in 2024.
The two faced each other last month at the USTA Boys National Championships in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Kennedy beat Secord in the semifinals on the way to winning the tournament.
“I’m sure he’s gonna want some revenge, and we always play great matches,’’ Kennedy said. “So I’m just gonna be really looking forward to it, and you know, expecting a good one for tomorrow.’’
In winning Tuesday, Kennedy bounced back nicely a day after he and partner Keaton Hance were eliminated from the boys’ doubles tournament, losing their first-round match in a third-set tiebreaker to a team from Great Britain. Kennedy’s dad, Bryan, said Jack didn’t let himself be bothered by that loss.
“He’s like a pro already,’’ Bryan Kennedy said of his son. “I mean, you know, he is a pro, because he’s doing pro tournaments, but when I say that, it’s the way he acts. The way he’s very mature for his age . . . He doesn’t get too high with the ups, with the wins and too low with the downs. I mean, we went home. We were joking around, with the family, having a good time. He’s not like going to his room all depressed and everything. He takes it in stride and accepts it and moves on.’’
“Obviously, it’s tough the way we ended at our doubles yesterday, but you know, you can’t really think about the past for too long,’’ Jack Kennedy said. “You’ve got to move on from it, and we just kind of regrouped and . . . put our focus onto singles.’’
Against Azar, who Kennedy said he had faced once before, four years ago, Kennedy had a service fault on his first serve of the match (he would struggle to get his first serve in all day) and lost the game’s first point. He faulted on his first serve on the second point, but spun his second serve in, won the point, and rolled after that to win the game, and then the set, 6-0.
Azar showed some fight in the second set, winning the first game and making it more competitive the rest of the way. Kennedy broke his serve to go up 4-2, then held serve to go up 5-2 before Azar held, then broke Kennedy at love to get within 5-4. Azar then got up 30-0, before Kennedy won the next four points to take the second set and the match.
And so, Kennedy was on to the third round, which was the round he lost in a year ago. The goal this year is to go further, he said.
“That’s the goal,’’ he said. “But you know it’s not going to be easy tomorrow. You know, great, great opponent with Jack, and, you know, it’s just going to be another fun one.’’

By Colin Stephenson

colin.stephenson@newsday.comColinSNewsday

Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.