Kooyong Foundation Fitzgerald Scholarship star Omar Jasika has completed a brilliant comeback win to complete a rare US Open double in New York.
Jasika came back from the dead to upset French fifth seed Quentin Halys 2-6 7-5 6-1 to become the first player in 28 years to win both the boys’ singles and doubles crowns at Flushing Meadows.
The 17-year-old joined countrymen Pat Cash (1982) and Bernard Tomic (2009) along with US Open men’s champions Stefan Edberg (1983), Andy Roddick (2000) and Andy Murray (2004) on the junior singles honour roll.
“It hasn’t really kicked in yet, but it feels unbelievable, like very honoured to be on one of the lists,” Jasika said.
Jasika looked in trouble after two big double-faults led him to fall behind 5-4 in the second set before scaling the mountain in an incredible fightback on Show Court 17.
Halys, the reigning European champion and fifth seed, missed his chance to serve out the match as Jasika reeled off six straight games. During one unbelievable spell, the left-hander won 17 out of 18 points from 4-5 down to go 3-0 up in the deciding set.
“This week has been unreal for me. Just sticking in and hanging in got me through a few matches, so I kept it in my head and I hung in and kept fighting.”
The victory completes a remarkable unbeaten 11-match campaign in New York for Jasika, who paired up with Japan’s Naoki Nakagawa to secure the boys’ doubles title on Saturday.
The teenager had to play both singles and doubles several times throughout the tournament and he refused to give up his dream of winning both titles.
Jasika said he started thinking about completing the double after defeating highly-rated American Jared Donaldson – who was awarded a wildcard into the main draw and won 10 games off Gael Monfils – in the second round.
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Kooyong’s Omar Jasika Wins Junior US Open Titles