American Teens Michael Antonius, Andrew Johnson Join Jordan Lee Making Noise at U.S. Open Qualifying

By Randy Walker

@TennisPublisher

American teenage boys are making a statement at U.S. Open qualifying.

A day after 16-year-old Jordan Lee of Orlando posted an impressive first-round win over No. 152-ranked Mark Lajal of Estonia in the first round of the 128-player qualifying tournament, fellow teenagers Michael Antonius of Buffalo, N.Y. and Andrew Johnson of Torrance, Calif., also posted first round wins, but in contrasting scorelines.

Antonius, 16, needed only one hour and two minutes to easily defeat former Wimbledon junior champion Henry Searle of Great Britain 6-1, 6-2 while Johnson, who just turned 17, needed two hours and four minutes to defeat former top 60 player Taro Daniel of Japan 2-6, 6-2, 6-4. Johnson came back from 1-4 down the final set to win the last five games of the match in dramatic fashion.

All three American teenagers have been in a relative spotlight with standout victories earlier this year. Johnson, when age 16 earlier in the year, won the $15,000 ITF World Tennis Tour event in Sunrise, Fla., to become the youngest man to win at that level of pro tennis since Carlos Alcaraz in 2019. Shortly thereafter, Antonius joined Johnson in the winner’s circle by winning the 25K title in Bakersfield, Calif.,  to join Johnson and Alcaraz in this unique statistic. Antonius went on to reach the junior boys’ singles final at Roland Garros and then won again on the ITF World Tennis Tour by winning the 25K title in Rochester, N.Y. in July.

Lee perhaps got the most attention for his success with many more eyeballs on him when he won the Wimbledon junior boys’ singles title as a qualifier and by beating former Wimbledon and U.S. Open champion Lleyton Hewitt’s son Cruz in the final.

To read more about Lee’s first round victory in U.S. Open qualifying, click here: https://worldtennismagazine.com/jordan-lee-age-16-reaches-another-level-in-competitive-tennis-with-first-round-u-s-open-qualifying-victory/

To reach more about the Antonius win Tuesday, click here: https://tennisatlantic.com/2026/08/25/american-antonius-shines-in-first-round-qualifying-at-us-open/

To listen to Johnson speak from earlier this summer on the USTA SoCal Pro Series, watch here: https://youtu.be/NvYMYGDjX7I?si=WvsQgjVPDitvAVvR

All three are in action in second round matches on Wednesday, including Antonius playing former U.S. Open finalist Kei Nishikori.