From Unseeded to Unforgettable: Marcel Latak’s US Open Title Run

The unseeded American defeated five of the top 10 seeds to win the US Open boys’ singles title. His last obstacle, junior world No. 1 Guto Miguel, pushed him to a deciding tiebreak neither player seemed willing to lose.

Marcel Latak arrived at the US Open junior championships without a seed beside his name. By the end of the week, he had beaten the No. 6, No. 10, No. 4, No. 2 and No. 1 seeds. The Stanford commit had taken out five of the top 10 players in the draw, losing just one set along the way.

That lone set came in the final. It was almost enough to end his run.

Facing Guto Miguel, the junior world No. 1 and reigning Roland Garros boys’ champion, Latak fell behind before forcing a deciding tiebreak. He raced ahead 7–2, then held three consecutive championship points at 9–6. Miguel erased all three. Soon, the Brazilian had championship points of his own.

For nearly three hours, Latak had found ways to answer Miguel’s imposing forehand. Now he had to answer the possibility that his best chance had slipped away.

The matchup offered a striking contrast: Miguel looked to dictate with his forehand, while Latak’s backhand was a weapon throughout. Latak also took chances when he got a look at his own forehand. With Brazilian supporters growing louder as the tiebreak tightened, his willingness to keep going for his shots stood out as much as the shots themselves.

Miguel had opportunities, too. On one championship point, he got the ball after his serve that he wanted, but sent an inside-out forehand long and wide. Latak survived that point and two other chances for Miguel to end the match. At 14–13, after 2 hours and 46 minutes, the American finally closed it with a deep crosscourt backhand winner, falling to the court as he secured a 3–6, 7–5, 7–6(13) victory.

He opened the tournament by beating sixth seed Ziga Sesko, then eliminated No. 10 Dimitar Kisimov in the third round. In the quarterfinals, he beat fellow American and fourth seed Keaton Hance 6–4, 6–4. A day later, he defeated second seed Jamie Mackenzie 6–3, 7–6(2), striking 17 winners against just eight unforced errors in the semifinal.

Latak had not dropped a set through those four wins. And his place in the draw had hardly been assured: the 2025 USTA Boys’ 16s national champion earned his US Open spot by winning a warm-up tournament in Canada. By Saturday, he was playing for a major title against a player who had already won one that year.

Miguel made Latak solve problems he had not faced for long during the rest of the tournament. After losing the first set, Latak said he spent the second figuring out what Miguel liked and where he could gain an edge. “But mostly it was mental, to be honest,” he told the ATP Tour.

The deciding tiebreak showed why. Latak built a lead, lost it, watched three championship points disappear and then saved three himself. His response was to keep swinging. “I just told myself to go for it,” he said afterward.

Latak is the first American to win the US Open boys’ singles title since Taylor Fritz in 2015. That is a milestone worth remembering and so is the way he reached it. Through a draw full of seeds, a final full of reversals and one last backhand when the title was on the line.