Fratangelo Rolls On at US Open

Plum's Bjorn Fratangelo knows how to win matches in Grand Slams, as he demonstrated by winning the Boys singles title at the French Open this year, but he had yet to do that before at the US Open.

After going 0-5 in his previous matches at the US Open, Fratangelo finally came out on the winning end this morning, with the No. 3 seed moving into the second round of the Boys singles event with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Benjamin Ugarte of Chile.

"It feels good to finally get a win here," said Fratangelo. "I played him earlier this year in Davis Cup, so I knew what to expect going into the match today."

Fratangelo stormed out to a 5-0 lead in the opening set in less than 20 minutes, using his counterpunching game to frustrate his opponent into numerous unforced errors. The Chilean finally held his serve to get on the board, but a forehand winner from Fratangelo on his first set point gave him a one set advantage.

The pair remained on serve until 4-3 in the second set, when a pair of double faults from Ugarte gave Fratangelo a break of serve and the chance to close out the match. He easily held at love, firing off an ace to wrap up the contest.

"It's good to get a quick win and get off the court," said Halebian. "Between singles and doubles, there's a lot of matches to be played this week, so you don't want to waste too much energy early on."

Fratangelo moved to Boca Raton, FL earlier this year in order to train at the USTA High Performance Center, but his game was shaped in Plum. He practiced before then on the Plum High School courts and at Fox Chapel Golf Club, even playing on the Varsity tennis team at Plum High during his freshman year.

His results quickly skyrocketed to the point where he was forced to switch to an online academy to finish high school in order to compete in some of the world's biggest junior events. Now a senior, he is looking at playing college tennis and has received scholarship offers from several universities across the country.

"I've gotten some offers, but I'd rather not say from who," said Fratangelo. "The goal is ultimately to play professionally, but if I'm not ready physically and need some time to mature, then I'll definitely go to college."  

After winning the French Open, Fratangelo played three $10,000 events this summer on the USTA Pro Circuit, the equivalent of the minor leagues in baseball, reaching the singles final in Pittsburgh, PA and the doubles final in Buffalo, NY.

"The biggest difference between the juniors and the pros is that you'll get some cheap points against people your own age, but the pros are making their living doing this and aren't going to hit any stupid shots," said Fratangelo. "There's much more intensity with them."

Frantagelo will now play Bruno Santanna of Brazil in the second round on Tuesday. He is also competing in the Boys doubles event with fellow American Alexios Halebian.