Huntington's Jack Kennedy, partner Keaton Hance stunned in first round of boys' doubles at U.S. Open

This was not what anyone had in mind.

Huntington's Jack Kennedy and his partner, Keaton Hance, had planned on defending the U.S. Open boys’ doubles title they won last year. But the duo, seeded No. 2 in their final tournament as juniors, were stunned in the first round of the tournament Monday by a British pair, Mark Ceban and Rhys Lawlor, who rallied from a set down to knock out the champions in a third-set tiebreaker, 2-6, 6-1, 10-7.

“We had a great year last year in doubles, not only just one tournament,’’ Kennedy said. “Winning here was an amazing memory, and we loved the feeling. Obviously, it sucks we won't be able to kind of, feel that feeling again.’’

The result was a surprise, particularly after the way the match started, with Kennedy and Hance, from Torrance, Calif., winning the first four games to go up 4-0 and cruise to an easy, 22-minute first-set victory. But the Brits left the court after the first set, and when they came back, the match completely turned around.

With the score at deuce in the first game of the second set, Ceban hit a net front winner to give his team the opening game of the second set, and after the Americans rallied from 0-40 down on Hance’s serve to tie it at 1-1, the Brits won the next five games to take the set and force the 10-point tiebreaker. The Americans were playing from behind in the entire tiebreaker and finally tied it at 7-7 on a winner by Kennedy, but the Brits won the next three points to take the match.

“It’s always a surprise when the defending champions lose in the first round,’’ said Greg Lumpkin, Kennedy’s coach. “But… every team here is really good. I mean, these are two really good British players that are very comfortable at the net and good volleyers. We knew it was going to be a really tough draw because of that.’’

“We started off really good, played a really good first set, with a lot of energy, and I think we served really well,’’ said Kennedy. “And then I think in the second set we might have taken our foot off the gas a little bit, and they came out hot.

“To be honest, they just played too good at the end.’’

But while it was bittersweet for Kennedy and Hance, who are both 18 and have played as doubles partners since they were 13, Kennedy said they aren’t done playing together. Both of them are going to play in professional events, and Kennedy said the duo will continue to play together in the pro ranks. Kennedy, who is going to play college tennis for Virginia, will play the rest of the year in Challenger tournaments before starting at Virginia in January. Hance, who two years ago had committed to play for Texas, has decommitted and will try to make a go of it in professional tennis for a while, before deciding whether he wants to go back and play college tennis at some point. Lumpkin said the duo will play doubles together if and when they find themselves playing at the same tournaments.

And besides that, both players are still in the boys’ singles tournament at the Open. Kennedy, in fact, has a second round boys singles match at 11 a.m. Tuesday in Louis Armstrong Stadium against 17-year-old Canadian Benjamin Azar. And while he certainly didn’t want to lose, he will now be able to focus all his energy into trying to win the singles tournament. That’s what happened last year, when both players lost in the singles and then put all their efforts into winning the doubles title.

“I mean, obviously, you want to do as best as you can in both, but you know, losing in one or the other earlier definitely puts your mind and focus on the other one, and you know you can put everything out there,’’ Kennedy said. “Because, playing singles in the morning and then playing doubles in the afternoon, maybe your energy is not as good for the afternoon doubles… So you know in this case, I'm going to put everything out in the singles. And then, win or lose, I'm gonna leave with no regrets.’’

Still, Kennedy realizes that as the days tick down on this tournament, he is transitioning from one stage to the next.

You know, it’s my last junior [Grand] Slam,’’ he said. “I have a bunch of friends who played in the juniors here two years ago, and I remember them talking about how it's their last Slam, and that I'm like the young guy out there. So now to even say like I'm the old one here is pretty crazy. You know, time flies, but it's been a great run in the juniors. I’ve had a ton of fun, a lot of ups and downs. But I’m just trying to give it everything I have going into the last 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.