Marcel Latak beat No. 2 seed Jamie Mackenzie 6-3, 7-6 on Friday to reach the U.S. Open boys singles final in Flushing Meadows, New York. The 17-year-old recovered from a 1-3 deficit in the second set and closed out a match that sent him into his first Grand Slam junior title round.
Latak entered the tournament ranked No. 41 in the World Tennis junior rankings, then won five matches and knocked off four Top 10 seeds along the way. He has been training in San Diego for the past 18 months with Christian Groh, and the run adds to a season that already included a win at the J300 Tournament in San Diego in March and another J300 title in Canada right before the U.S. Open.
For Latak, the result is the latest step in a change that did not look inevitable when he was 11. He said he was “one of the laziest kids out there” and hated fitness and drills, preferring only to play points, sets and games. Groh now describes him as a player with “extreme grit,” and that quality showed again when he steadied himself after falling behind in the second set against Mackenzie.
The contrast is what makes this run stand out. Latak was once the kid who resisted the work, but he is now a player who can absorb pressure, flip a match and finish against a higher seed in the sport’s biggest junior setting. His victory also fits the pattern of recent weeks: a hard-court title in Canada, a strong March in San Diego and now a final at the U.S. Open, all built on the same stubborn edge.
Latak said after the semifinal that he could not quite believe it, and the feeling is understandable. He has already done the hardest part by reaching the final, but the tournament still leaves one question open: who he will play for the title. What is clear is that the Chicago native who once hated drills has turned that old reluctance into a weapon, and he now has one match left to prove it again.
