US Open 2011: Briton Oliver Golding into US boys' final
- Published
Oliver Golding came through a semi-final line-up that included three Britons to reach the final of the US Open boys' singles.
The 18-year-old Londoner beat Bolton's George Morgan 6-0 7-6 (7-2) to reach his first junior Grand Slam final.
Yorkshire 16-year-old Kyle Edmund, playing in his first US Open, could not follow Golding into the final.
Czech top seed Jiri Vesely triumphed 6-4 6-2 to set up a final against his sometime doubles partner Golding.
Golding, who reached the semi-finals in the junior event at Wimbledon last year, is hoping to follow in the footsteps of Andy Murray, who won the boys' singles title at the US Open in 2004, external.
He admitted he was surprised by the manner in which he won the first set and felt his hectic schedule - this was his sixth match in two days - may actually have helped.
"Every match we've played in the past has always been fairly tight," said Golding. "We've played a lot in practice and he'd win one, I'd win one but I just felt like I couldn't miss a ball in the beginning.
"I've been playing a lot of tennis and I was seeing the ball pretty big. There were a few nerves in the second set getting across the finish line but it was good in the end.
"I've been in a couple of [Grand Slam] doubles finals before and one singles semi so it's great to get to my first final."
Vesely is Golding's regular doubles partner. They reached the Wimbledon in July, but somewhat surprisingly they have never played a competitive singles match.
"I know him very well," said Golding. "We've played a lot together, this is the first time we haven't played [doubles] together in juniors for a long time.
"It's quite strange that I'm finally going to play him. We know each other's games pretty well and I think I've got a good chance."
Golding made a blistering start against practice partner and good friend Morgan, winning the first nine games.
Morgan, a year older, led their head-to-head 5-3 going into the match but he was being comprehensively outplayed.
However, Morgan has battled back from shaky starts on a number of occasions this week and he set about reducing the deficit, squaring the match at 4-4.
The 18-year-old then saved a match point on his own serve at 5-4 but his resistance was ended in the tie-break as Golding stormed to victory, celebrating on his knees before hugging his opponent at the net.
Edmund failed to make it an all-British final, though, as his superb tournament was ended by Australian Open junior champion Vesely.
The Briton fought back impressively from 5-1 to 5-4 in the first set before a poor service game cost him and Vesely, who partnered Golding to Youth Olympic gold, external in 2010, proved far too strong in the second.
Morgan also lost in the semi-finals of the boys' doubles event, with Austrian partner Dominic Thiem. Seeded third, the pair lost to Maxim Dubarenco of Moldova and Vladyslav Manafov of Ukraine 7-6 6-4.