Northport's Cannon Kingsley scores impressive win in junior boys competition at U.S. Open

With dozens of family and friends cheering him on, Cannon Kingsley of Northport scored an impressive victory on Sunday in the first round of the U.S. Open junior boys competition.

He knocked off Gilbert Soares Klier Junior, the  9th seed, riding a strong service game for the 6-2, 6-3 win. Junior is ranked 10th by the International Tennis Federation and it was Kingsley’s first victory over a top-10 player. Kingsley won 75 percent of his second serve points, an immense number.

“Everything went right today,” Kingsley said. “It was kind of a blur. I just felt the ball from the beginning of the match. Never let up. I served really well. I held my serve every time. My whole family and friends were there and they gave me a lot of energy, that helped me so much.”

This has been a stellar season for Kingsley, who played in the French Open and Wimbledon juniors and won a big junior clay court event in Italy. But in the U.S. boys at Kalamazoo in August, he didn’t come away happy after a third-round loss.

“I had a terrible tournament to be honest and I came home, and it was like ‘wow I really got to be better,” he said. “I trained harder than I ever have in my life. I’ve improved like crazy in last three weeks.

It culminated in an impressive performance on Court 12.

“It’s my first ITF top-10 win so it was pretty big for me,” Kingsley said  

Lea Ma of Dix Hills, the  16th seed in the girls tournament, won her opening match over Francesca Curmi, 6-4, 6-4.

“I was serving well, returning well, attacking her serve well,” Ma said. “I don’t think she played her best today, which helped me.”

Ma began the year ranked around 100th in the world by the ITF and now has moved up to 22nd. “I won my first ITF [tournament] in Germany, I beat a top-10 player at Wimbledon [lost in the third round] and was playing my best tennis,” Ma said.   

Elysia Bolton of  Cold Spring Harbor won the first set against 8th seed Leylah Annie Fernandez, but couldn’t sustain the momentum and lost, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

“After the first set I knew I had to come out strong, she was serving really well. I couldn't really capitalize  on it,” Bolton said.  “I felt like most of the match I was dictating and making errors. She capitalized better on bigger points than I did.”