Alexander Dartnell became the first American BU19 finalist at the prestigious British Junior Open, while Vivaan Mehta became the first American BU15 finalist since 2010 as both players upset two seeds in the semifinals Sunday, January 5, at the University of Birmingham.
Team USA has already made history at the 2025 British Junior Open with a record eighteen quarterfinalists and six semifinalists, and Dartnell and Mehta made history of their own in a trilling slate of semifinals.
Dartnell, one of just two 9/16-seeded finalists in the tournament, closed out the day’s matches on the glass court against Egypt’s two seed Youssef Salem. Spurred on by his U.S. teammates, Dartnell defeated Salem 11-1, 2-11, 11-8, 11-8 in sixty-one minutes.
Dartnell becomes just the third American to reach a U19 BJO final, following Amanda Sobhy and Caroline Fouts who reached the GU19 final in 2011 and 2024, respectively. Dartnell will face 5/8 seed Eaid Daoud in the final after the Egyptian defeated U.S. teammate Christian Capella in the first BU19 semifinal. Daoud ended Capella’s outstanding run in one of the matches of the day winning 7-11, 11-5, 11-9, 12-14, 11-5 in seventy-one minutes. The BU19 final will take place Monday, January 6, at 11am ET.
In the BU15 final, Mehta dispatched Egypt’s two seed Yassin Bayoumi in straight games 11-5, 13-11, 11-9 in thirty-three minutes. Mehta will face England’s top seed Ali Khalil at 7:20am ET in what will be a rematch of the U.S. Junior Open semifinals, which Mehta won in five games.
With his win, Mehta became the second American BU15 finalist and first since Dylan Murray in 2010.
For more tournament coverage and streaming information visit britishjunioropen.com.