{"id":52229,"date":"2026-08-17T11:59:15","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T11:59:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/52229\/"},"modified":"2026-08-17T11:59:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T11:59:15","slug":"jack-kennedy-earns-us-open-main-draw-spot-with-kalamazoo-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/52229\/","title":{"rendered":"Jack Kennedy earns US Open main draw spot with Kalamazoo win"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Randy Walker<\/p>\n

@TennisPublisher<\/p>\n

Jack Kennedy, the regally-named 18-year-old from Huntington on Long Island, won the USTA Boys\u2019 18 National Championship at Kalamazoo College Sunday in a disappointing three-game final as his opponent, Wimbledon junior champion Jordan Lee, was forced to retire down 2-1 with a chest problem.<\/p>\n

The boys\u2019 18s championship at Kalamazoo is a title that comes with something no junior tournament offers: an automatic wild card into the men\u2019s singles main draw at the U.S. Open. It was an anticlimactic ending to a tournament that had, until that point, been anything but easy for either player and featured some of the most promising group of American teenage talent seen in years. Colette Lewis ZooTennis has the complete and detailed coverage from on-site here: https:\/\/tenniskalamazoo.blogspot.com\/2026\/08\/kennedy-wins-kalamazoo-18s-title-and-us.html<\/a><\/p>\n

For Kennedy, the win closes a loop that has been open since he first walked onto Kalamazoo\u2019s George Acker Center Court two years ago. In 2024, he lost a five-set marathon final to Matthew Forbes and last year he fell in the semis to eventual champion Darwin Blanch. This was his third consecutive trip to the final four in Kalamazoo \u2014 and, with college enrollment at the University of Virginia arriving this fall, it was his last shot at the title.<\/p>\n

Getting to that final was its own test of endurance. In the quarterfinals, Kennedy needed three hours and 20 minutes to escape a battle with future Virginia teammate Ryan Cozad 7-6(6), 5-7, 7-5. In the semifinals, he beat No. 9 seed and Stanford-bound Jack Secord, the son of former WTA Tour pro Linda Harvey-Wild.<\/p>\n

Kennedy\u2019s title is now the highlight of his r\u00e9sum\u00e9 that already reads like that of a player on the doorstep of the professional game. Kennedy climbed as high as No. 5 in the ITF Junior World Rankings and he won the 2025 U.S. Open boys\u2019 doubles title alongside Keaton Hance. He has twice played US Open men\u2019s singles qualifying, losing to Thiago Tirante of Argentina, who just beat 24-time major winner Novak Djokovic in Cincinnati this week, by a 6-4, 6-4 scoreline in 2025. In 2024, he lost 6-3, 6-4 in the first round of U.S. Open qualifying to then world No. 100 Maximilian Marterer of Germany. This spring he beat former world No. 4 Kei Nishikori in the second round of the Savannah Challenger, before falling in the final to Nishesh Basavareddy. He won the $15,000-level event in Boca Raton, Florida also in the Spring. His first official pro final was in doubles with Hance at the 2025 Mardy Fish Children\u2019s Foundation Tennis Championships in Vero Beach, Florida (WATCH HERE: https:\/\/youtu.be\/E-hpBRdVa5g?si=GuixnVHgAraqVbYK<\/a> His pro results in Futures and Challengers have earned him a No. 392 ATP Tour singles ranking.<\/p>\n

While named for the former President of the United States, Kennedy has no relation to the family. His middle name is Spencer, not Fitzgerald like the President, as he discusses here https:\/\/youtu.be\/HVYuZCrP6Ow?si=HbAByDSDHWFrcyEQ<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"Jack Kennedy at the 2025 US Open junior championships (photo by Randy Walker)Discover more from World Tennis Magazine<\/p>\n

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