 | KASIRI PROFILE Born: 29/01/1986 Lives: London Highest junior ranking: 21 Junior titles: 3 |
Tim Henman is well used to carrying Britain's title hopes in Grand Slam tournaments, but at the US Open he could be sharing the burden with Britain's best junior Miles Kasiri.
In July, the 18-year-old became the first British player to reach the Wimbledon boys' singles final since 1972 where he lost to world junior number one Gael Monfils.
And he now arrives in New York for his last ever junior tournament hoping to end his career at that level with a flourish.
"I feel confident," the teenager told BBC Sport.
"It isn't just because of what happened at Wimbledon, I always feel pretty confident anyway.
"But I'm beating people now that I wasn't before so I'm definitely improving and that gives me a huge amount of belief."
Monfils, of France, is the dominant force on the junior scene, and could complete a historic junior Grand Slam at Flushing Meadows after triumphing at the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon.
After his SW19 triumph, he hinted that he might miss the US Open in order to focus on getting his professional career off the ground - although he has since changed his mind.
Kasiri insists he is not bothered either way.
"I don't really care whether I play him or not," he said. "I just want to give myself a chance of winning it."
|  I want to get to where I want to be as quickly as possible |
Kasiri's unabashed confidence came as a pleasant surprise when he hit the headlines at Wimbledon, but given his background it should not have come as too much of a shock. Recognising their 13-year-old son had huge potential, his parents sent him to the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Florida where he remained until 12 months ago.
"It was a bit scary at first - I was in a foreign country by myself with all these athletes, most of whom were much older than me," he admits.
"But it was also really good for me and I enjoyed it. "They have the attitude that if you want something you have to work for it so even when you're tired, they're not going to let you stop, they're going to make you work harder and do a little bit more to improve things every day."
That mental toughness could be vital at Flushing Meadows - which could not be more different to the hushed environs of Wimbledon.
"The atmosphere is different because people are very loud and they shout out a lot so it's tough to concentrate," he explains.
"But it doesn't matter - once you're on the court and you're into the match, you don't really notice the crowd, you just concentrate on the match."
Whatever happens in New York, Kasiri will return to Britain to focus on building himself a professional career, under the tutelage of coach Andrew Richardson, who took on the teenager in July.
Kasiri has already played several lower level tournaments in the UK, but his progress has been hampered by a back injury he picked up just after Wimbledon.
Although he says he has not found the step-up in level a problem, he is acutely aware that he needs to work on his strength and fitness .
 Kasiri's won the junior title at Queen's before reaching the Wimbledon final |
"To make the big step, the main thing is to get physically strong enough and make your endurance good," he said. "When you're on the pro tour, you have longer matches and a tougher schedule and you're travelling all year if you're doing really well."
Kasiri, though, will not admit to setting himself any goals, simply because he does not want to set any limits on what he could achieve over the coming years.
"I just want to do as well as I possibly can and try and win a few of these senior tournaments," he said.
"I want to get to where I want to be as quickly as possible - I don't want to set a time limit on it."
Win or lose, Kasiri's Wimbledon exploits have ensured that whatever he does will get noticed, but he shrugs off concerns that the added pressure might affect his focus.
"Not many things for me have changed - I'm still training the same and working hard every day and normal stuff like that," he said.
"Off court, things have changed a bit. I've had more interest from sponsors and people see me around tournaments and they know who I am now.
"Wimbledon was a good week for me and a great experience - but I want to be a top professional and I've still got such a long way to go."
MMIX
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