'Something to cherish in my heart': Ngounoue tops Wimbledon podium
Clervie Ngounoue of the United States revelled in her newfound status of Grand Slam champion after defeating Czechia’s Nikola Bartunkova to top the Wimbledon girls’ podium.
In a battle of past Billie Jean King Cup Juniors winners – Bartunkova triumphed with Czechia in 2021 while Ngounoue spearheaded USA’s victory last year – the American prevailed 6-2 6-2 to seal her maiden Junior Grand Slam title.
Ngounoue, who was born in Washington D.C. to Cameroonian parents, arrived at SW19 as a two-time Junior Grand Slam doubles champion, although her previous best singles showing was a pair of quarter-final finishes.
The 16-year-old, however, was in imperious form this week and conquered all before her, swatting away an array of talented opponents, on the grass-courts of Wimbledon without dropping a single set.
Ngounoue’s triumph means that for the third year in succession the United States can celebrate a singles winner at Wimbledon following Samir Banerjee’s victory in 2021 and Liv Hovde’s title-winning heroics 12 months ago.
The teenager is also in supreme company with fellow Americans Coco Gauff, Amanda Anisimova, Sebastian Korda, Taylor Fritz, Reilly Opelka and Tommy Paul all winning Junior Grand Slams in recent years. The scale of her achievement is not lost on Ngounoue.
"It's definitely a big, big step" @ClervieNgounoue 🇺🇸#Wimbledon | @usta pic.twitter.com/ey6GoTo72u
— ITF (@ITFTennis) July 16, 2023
“Wimbledon champion Clervie Ngounoue sounds amazing, and I am taking in every moment,” Ngounoue, who is set to remain as the junior world No. 2 when the rankings are updated tomorrow, tells itftennis.com.
“My name is forever going to be on the Wimbledon wall. It is special and now that I have won a Junior Grand Slam title, nobody can ever take that away from me and it is definitely something I am going to cherish in my heart.
“It is nice to feel that I am building my career slowly but surely. I am just trying to progress as a tennis player and these prestigious tournaments are such good opportunities for us juniors to not only gain recognition but to progress as tennis players.
“This is not the end of the journey by any means, but it is a big step. Hopefully I can come back here next year as a professional. For the next year, I am going to try and build my pro ranking as much as I can.
“For now, however, I am going to enjoy this. I am so glad that my first Junior Grand Slam title is Wimbledon. It feels original.”
Ngounoue’s bid to build her professional ranking – she is currently ranked No. 326 in the WTA standings – begins tomorrow at W25 Roehampton, which does not leave a huge amount of time to mark her Wimbledon success.
There is another opportunity for a celebration, however, as Ngounoue turns 17 on Wednesday. By then she may will be surging towards a maiden professional title at Roehampton, although she still has a birthday wish list.
“I lost my AirPods here the other day, but I don’t really care about them right now,” she said. “I really want to go and watch the new Little Mermaid movie or Mission Impossible. I just want to go to the movie theatre.”
Click here for a full list of singles and doubles results from the Junior Championships, Wimbledon