Ogunsakin loses to South Africa's Doig at US Open Juniors

Nigeria’s young tennis star Oluwaseun Ogunsakin has been knocked out of the 2026 US Open Junior Championships. He lost to Connor Doig from South Africa in the round of 32 on Tuesday.

Ogunsakin, who trains at Aurum Tennis Academy, battled through three sets. He finally lost 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 to the South African.

This defeat ends a strong run for the 17-year-old. He made it to the main draw after a great qualifying performance. He also had the biggest win of his Grand Slam career in the first round.

Ogunsakin beat Kuan-Shou Chen from Chinese Taipei, who is the No. 15 seed and ranked No. 16 in the world for juniors. He won that match 5-7, 6-3, 7-5. This was his first main-draw victory at a Grand Slam tournament.

In the match against Doig, Ogunsakin had a tough time early on. The South African took the first set 6-2.

Ogunsakin fought back in the second set. He played better and won 6-4, pushing the match to the final set.

But Doig regained his focus in the third set. He won it 6-3, moving on to the next round.

Even though he lost, Ogunsakin’s performance in New York shows he is making progress in his tennis career.

The US Open is his third Grand Slam junior tournament in a row. He started at the Roland Garros Junior Championships. He then played at Wimbledon, where he reached the boys’ singles main draw and made it to the doubles semi-finals.

Ogunsakin also competed in the boys’ doubles at Flushing Meadows with Botswana’s Ntungamili Raguin but could not move forward.

Although it is disappointing to exit early in singles, Ogunsakin’s progress across these three Grand Slam tournaments highlights his potential. He is one of Nigeria’s rising young tennis talents.