For the second consecutive year, 128 of the nation’s best junior competitors in the boys’ 12s division will make their way to the USTA National Campus for the USTA National Clay Court Championships. Action is set to get underway Monday, July 16 with the opening round of both singles and doubles. USTA Gold, Silver and Bronze balls will be on the line at this National Level 1 event.

Additionally, the singles final will be broadcast live on Sunday, July 22 at 9:00 a.m. on the USTA’s YouTube page.

Top seed Rudy Quan (Sacramento, Calif.) will be the one to beat for the rest of the field. In his last three national events (2017 USTA National Winter Championships, 2018 USTA February National Level 2 and 2018 Easter Bowl), Quan has captured the singles title without the loss of a set. Furthermore, he won 12 sets by the score of 6-0 while only being pushed to 6-4 three times at those championships. Quan has not lost a singles match in the 12s division since a 2-6, 6-3, 10-7 defeat at a USTA May National Level 2 tournament in 2017.

No. 2 seed Andrew Salu (Sarasota, Fla.) looks to be one player up to the challenge of toppling Quan. A doubles Bronze ball winner in last year’s Championships, Salu has posted impressive results over the past 12 months. He closed out 2017 with a third-place finish in singles and runner-up showing in doubles at the USTA National Winter Championships. He also claimed the doubles crown this spring at the Easter Bowl. Salu will hope to build off of his last appearance at the National Campus in June, where he reached the semifinals of the USTA Florida “Bobby Curtis” Singles Sectional Championships.

Third seed Alexander Frusina (Conroe, Texas) leads a strong Lone Star State contingent. He has one USTA National Level 2 singles title to his credit on the year along with a solid showing at the Easter Bowl, where he collected a pair of third-place finishes. Frusina fell in the first round of last year’s event to Salu. Meanwhile, No. 4 seed Alexander Razeghi (Humble, Texas) should bring a high-level of confidence to the court thanks to his two USTA National Level 2 tournament victories for the year. He also turned in a runner-up performance, playing in the 14s age division, at a USTA National Level 3 event held at Deer Park in his home state just last week. Razeghi was defeated in the second round at the 2017 USTA Boys’ 12 National Clay Court Championships.

Ninth-seeded Thomas Faurel (Alpharetta, Ga.) is the only returning player from the 2017 Boys’ 12s National Clay Court Championships who managed to reach the fourth round of the singles draw. He was also a doubles semifinalist a year ago. However, Faurel has played sparingly so far in 2018, taking part in only five tournaments. He has posted a pair of semifinal appearances at USTA National Level 2 tournaments along with winning last month’s Southern Closed Championship as the No. 4 seed.

Unseeded players to watch out for are Nathan Blokhin (Plantation, Fla.), who ran through a competitive field in the 12s division to hoist the trophy at the USTA Florida “Bobby Curtis” Singles Sectional Championships a short month ago at the National Campus; Orlando native Tristan Stringer, who lost to Blokhin but collected a win over Salu at the “Bobby Curtis” Championships; and Jagger Leach (Laguna Beach, Calif.), the son of American women’s tennis legend Lindsay Davenport.

The list of seeds along with the full 64-team draw for the doubles competition will be released Sunday evening.

Among the previous singles champions are current pros Donald Young (2001), Jack Sock (2005), and Tommy Paul (2009). Former doubles champions include collegiate head coaches at BYU (Brad Pearce – 1978), Ohio State (Ty Tucker – 1982), and UCF (Bryan Koniecko – 1999) along with MaliVai Washington (1981), Denis Kudla (2004), Jack Sock (2004 and 2005), and Tommy Paul (2009).

For more information on the 2018 USTA Boys’ 12s National Clay Court Championships, click here.