Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia won the Metropolia Orange Bowl Boys’ 18s singles title for the second consecutive year on Sunday, beating China’s Yibing Wu, 6-3, 6-1, on green clay at the Frank Veltri Tennis Center in Plantation, Fla.
Kecmanovic, who will finish the year as the world’s No. 1-ranked junior, is the third player in the Orange Bowl’s 70-year history to win consecutive Boys’ 18s singles titles, joining Billy Martin (1973-74) and Harold Solomon (1969-70). Kecmanovic also joins Dominic Thiem (2011) and Andy Roddick (1999) as the only players to win the Boys’ 18s singles titles at both the Eddie Herr in Bradenton, Fla., and Orange Bowl in the same year, dating back to 1993 (the tournaments are played in consecutive weeks).
Each of those are achievements Novak Djokovic of Serbia, never mind most other tennis players, never accomplished as a junior. Even so, Kecmanovic – who stays in touch and occasionally practices with Djokovic – knows he has plenty of work ahead of him as he transitions to a full-time pro career.
“It’s a great accomplishment. I’m very happy about it. I really didn’t put too much pressure into it, because I knew I would finish No. 1 no matter what I did here. I just went and I just played for myself and enjoyed every match,” said Kecmanovic, who moved to Bradenton in 2013 to train at the IMG Academy, where he is now coached by Marko Jovanovic. “Obviously, this is very good to do here now, but it’s a lot more important to do after (in the pros),” he said. “I think next year the transition is going to be key for me, so we’ll see how it goes.”
Kecmanovic won the doubles title at the 2016 Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships in Vero Beach, partnering with Germany’s Jonas Luetjen. Kecmanovic also was a singles finalist at the US Open junior championships.
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