Two Cavaliers Advance to US Open Qualifying Finals

FLUSHING, N.Y. – Three former members of the Virginia men’s tennis team were competing in the US Open Qualifying Tournament. J.C. Aragone, Thai-Son Kwiatkowski and Collin Altamirano all won their opening matches at the anchor event of US Open Fan Week, which runs August 21-24 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Aragone and Altamirano have advanced to Friday qualifying finals.

Aragone opened the tournament with a 6-4, 6-7(3), 7-6(5) victory over Thiemo de Bakker. On Thursday, he defeated No. 7 seed and World No. 110 Thomas Fabbiano 7-5, 6-1 in the second round. Aragone will face Lloyd Harris on Friday in the final round of qualifying.

Altamirano had a dominant victory in his first-round match, dispatching Tomislav Brkic in just 48 minutes, winning 6-2, 6-0. On Thursday, he topped No. 22 seed Ivo Karlovic 7-5, 6-4 in the second round. He will face the No. 10 seed, World No. 117 Lorenzo Sonego on Friday.

Kwiatkowski downed former world No. 31 Sergiy Stakhovsky  6-4, 3-6, 6-1 in his opening match, before being edged 3-6, 7-6(7), 7-5 by fellow American Mitchell Krueger in the second round.

All three players, who were granted wild cards into the qualifying tournament, were teammates on the Cavaliers 2015-17 NCAA Championship squads. All three are also looking to earn their second trip into the main singles draw of the US Open. Altamirano was the youngest player competing in men’s singles at the 2013 US Open, earning a wild card into the main draw as the USTA Boys’ 18s National Champion. Kwiatkowski and Aragone both played in the 2017 US Open with Kwiatkowski receiving a spot in the main draw as the 2017 NCAA Singles Champion while Aragone advanced through qualifying.

Aragone is currently ranked No. 258 in the ATP rankings while Altamirano is No. 347 and Kwiatkowski is No. 376.