Special from
Zoo Tennis
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Although two-time defending champion Learner Tien will not be competing for an unprecedented third Kalamazoo 18s title this year, plenty of players with stellar Kalamazoo pedigrees are setting their sights on the US Open men's wild card awarded to the champion in the 81st edition of the USTA 18s and 16s National Championships at Kalamazoo College.
Nearly 400 of the best players in the United States are gathering at Kalamazoo College's historic Stowe Stadium and Western Michigan University's Sorensen Courts for the next 10 days, all hoping to make the summer of 2024 a memorable one by adding their names to the lists of champions that include Rod Laver, Stan Smith, Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, Andre Agassi, Michael Chang and Andy Roddick.
Trevor Svajda is the No. 1 Seed in Boys 18s
© Zoo Tennis
The top seed in the 18s is 2023 finalist Trevor Svajda, whose brother Zachary won the 18s title in 2019 and 2021. The 18-year-old from San Diego, who lost to Tien 6-0, 6-4, 6-4 in last year's championship match, has the best ATP ranking in the field at 641. The only competitor to have a pro singles title on his resume, Svajda won the men's $25,000 USTA Pro Circuit tournament in Calabasas, California this spring as an unseeded wild card. Svajda began his collegiate career at SMU in January, playing No. 1 for the Mustangs.
Darwin Blanch, the 2022 Kalamazoo 16s champion, is the No. 2 seed. The 16-year-old left-hander, who trains in Spain, reached the final of a $15,000 men's tournament in Tunisia last month, boosting his ATP ranking to 913. A quarterfinalist last year in the 18s, Blanch has an 11-1 record in Kalamazoo, with his only loss to Tien.
