Huntington's Jack Kennedy advances to quarterfinals of US Open boys' singles tournament

Jack Kennedy knows what lies ahead: a fall of playing professional events before beginning his collegiate career at the University of Virginia in the spring.

But the 18-year-old from Huntington is not ready to see his junior tennis career end just yet.

Kennedy was in complete command Wednesday afternoon as he defeated fellow American Jack Secord, 6-0, 6-4, in the U.S. Open boys’ singles round of 16 at Louis Armstrong Stadium. The tournament will be the final junior event for Kennedy, the No. 5 seed in the draw.

“I'm just super happy with how everything has gone with the juniors,” he said. “Obviously, I'm not going to say no to [winning] this thing. But just to be here in New York, in my backyard, a local kid, it's really special. And for this to be my last junior tournament is really cool, and to do it in front of family and friends is really special.”

Kennedy will face No. 2 seed Jamie Mackenzie of Germany in the quarterfinals on Thursday. The quarterfinal appearance matches Kennedy’s best finish in a junior Grand Slam event — he also reached that stage in this year’s French Open and the 2025 Australian Open — and it is the deepest he’s gone in the U.S. Open boys’ singles event.

“I had to break the round of 16 curse,” he joked.

Kennedy’s victory over Secord, who turns 18 on Friday and is from Forest Hills, Illinois, took 69 minutes. He was especially proud of how he served, as he was not broken once and won 81% of his first-serve points.

It was the second time they faced off in the last month, as Kennedy defeated Secord, 6-3, 6-1, in the semifinals of the USTA Boys’ 18s National Championships in Kalamazoo, Michigan, on Aug. 15. Kennedy won that tournament the following day, clinching a wild card berth into this year’s U.S. Open men’s singles draw; Lloyd Harris defeated him, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2, in the first round on Aug. 30.

Kennedy said that he and Secord, a Stanford commit and the son of 1996 U.S. Open women’s singles quarterfinalist Linda Wild, have played each other at least five times.

He defeated his quarterfinal opponent Mackenzie in two boys’ singles quarterfinals in 2025, at December’s Orange Bowl International Championships in Florida and May’s J300 Santa Croce Sull’arno in Italy.

And he could potentially face No. 4 seed Keaton Hance — who teamed up with Kennedy to win last year’s U.S. Open boys’ doubles title, though they were upset in this year’s first round Monday in Friday’s semifinals.

He’s built friendships with many of his peers on the junior circuit. While that chapter is ending, it doesn’t mean the end of their relationships and competition.

“It's great, but at the same time, I know this is not going to be the end of me seeing these faces,” Kennedy said. “I know a bunch of these guys are going to try to go pro, and a lot of them are going to be successful. So it's just going to be really cool to see how we've came all the way from the juniors together, all the way to the pros.”

Bryan Kennedy, Jack’s father, said it’s been an “amazing junior career” for his son.

“To put a bow on it would be great,” Bryan said. “But to me, it's a complete junior career as is.”

He added that Jack’s junior tennis experience has provided learning lessons and practice for the pros, and whatever happens in the boys’ singles tournament will be “good by me.”

“It's [a] bittersweet ending, for this to be the last tournament,” he said. “But at the same time, there's so much to look forward to. It's like, OK, this is just a milestone. It's not the end of anything. It's just a new beginning.”

After Wednesday’s victory, Jack did an on-court interview and signed a few tennis balls that he tossed up into the crowd. It was a full-circle moment, as he once was a kid in the U.S. Open stands trying to catch an autographed ball from his favorite players.

“This is something I've visualized in my living room as a 4-year-old kid trying to do that,” he said. “Walking down Main Street, getting Little Vincent’s Pizza. But yeah, to be able to have that experience, to be able to do that on a big stage in front of a crowd, is just really, really special and a dream come true.”

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.