Tiafoe, Kenin earn U.S. Open wild cards via junior titles

Frances Tiafoe of College Park, Maryland, and Sofia Kenin of Pembroke Pines, Florida, earned wild-card berths at the U.S. Open by winning 18-and-under national titles Sunday.

At Kalamazoo, Michigan, the 17-year-old Tiafoe held on to edge Stefan Kozlov 6-2, 6-4, 4-6, 4-6, 6-4. Tiafoe earned his second main-draw wild card into a Grand Slam tournament, after also getting into this year's French Open.

At San Diego, the 16-year-old Kenin beat Tornado Alicia Black 6-2, 5-7, 7-5. Kenin will aim to follow in the footsteps of her two predecessors as under-18 U.S. champions, Sachia Vickery in 2013 and Cici Bellis in 2014, who each wound up advancing to the second round of the U.S. Open.

The year's last Grand Slam tournament starts Aug. 31 in New York.