Sunday, 14 July 2024 18:43 PM BST
Teenage dreams come true on No.1 Court

Teenage stars Nicolai Budkov Kjaer and Renata Jamrichova made history for their respective countries as both were crowned Junior Wimbledon champions on No.1 Court on Sunday.

Seventeen-year-old Budkov Kjaer was the first to celebrate on the All England Club’s famous turf when he outplayed the Netherlands’ Mees Rottgering 6-3, 6-3 in 68 minutes.

That was followed by victory for another 17-year-old, the lefty Jamrichova, who won her second junior Grand Slam singles title of the year by beating Australia’s Emerson Jones 6-3, 6-4 in just over an hour.

Budkov Kjaer becomes the first Norwegian player to win a Grand Slam singles title in juniors or at professional level. Jamrichova is the first Slovak to win a Wimbledon junior singles trophy.

Budkov Kjaer, who has already won a couple of professional men’s titles on the lower tier of the tour this season, was just a little more solid when it mattered against the left-hander Rottgering, who had beaten No.1 seed and recent Roland-Garros boys’ champion Kaylan Bigun in the last eight.

The Norwegian blasted 19 winners, struck eight aces and broke five times on his way to his second junior Grand Slam success having won the boys’ doubles in Paris last month.

The world No.4 jumped into a 3-0 first set lead and that early break was ultimately enough to wrap up a 34-minute first set.

Budkov Kjaer recovered from 1-3 in the second set to win five of the last six games, breaking to love to finish the job.

“It’s a big achievement to be the first one [from Norway],” Budkov Kjaer said. “But this is juniors - I’m trying to do bigger things than only in the juniors but of course it’s a big milestone for me and everyone around me so of course I’m very proud.

“It was very nerve wracking to play the final on the big stage. I felt I served quite good [on my] first serve. My second serve was a bit shaky, but I served okay. I'm happy with the performance.”

In a repeat of this January’s Australian Open girls’ final, world No.2 Jamrichova took on the world No.3 Jones.

Jamrichova produced an incredibly clean 6-3 first set, a period of 25 minutes that saw her strike 13 winners and just one unforced error. She also made 91 per cent of her first serves.

Jones is a fighter, though. She dug in early in the second and was in fact the first to break, converting with a beauty of a cross-court backhand pass to go ahead 3-1.

Jamrichova’s response was immediate however and she quickly broke back before finding another gear from 4-4.

The top seed struck a sweetly timed return to break for 5-4 and served out the match to 15 when a Jones forehand return dropped long.

“I’m just so happy and grateful right now that I can have this memory of playing my last junior tournament here in such a beautiful atmosphere in this amazing court and against Emerson,” Jamrichova told the crowd.

“It was one of the greatest junior matches I’ve ever played. I think I’m getting better as a person off court and on court every day and that’s what’s important I think.”

The boys’ doubles title went to American Alexander Razeghi and Germany’s Max Schoenhaus who beat Czech pair Jan Klimas and Jan Kumstat 7-6(1), 6-4.

Americans Tyra Caterina Grant and Iva Jovic edged a thriller of a girls’ doubles final against Brits Mingge Xu and Mika Stojsavljevic 7-5, 4-6, 10-8.

Japan’s Takahiro Kawaguchi won the boys’ 14 and under singles trophy while it was Jana Kovackova left celebrating her win in the girls’ 14 and under event.