WIMBLEDON/WASHINGTON, July 17, 2023 (by Michael Dickens)
The last time a British lad won the boys’ junior singles title at the Wimbledon Championships was 1962, the same year that Harold Macmillan was prime minister of England and the Beatles were gaining popularity on the pop music charts.
Fast forward six-plus decades and along comes 6-foot-4-inch Henry Searle, a 17-year-old lefty from Wolverhampton, who enjoyed the week of his life and became the first British boys’ junior champion in 61 years. On Sunday, the unseeded Searle beat No. 5 seed Yaroslav Demin of Russia, 6-4, 6-4, in the final on No. 1 Court.
The first British player to win the #wimbledon Boys’ Singles crown since Stanley Matthews in 1962!@Wolves will be proud! pic.twitter.com/rYOHiHlugo
— ITF (@ITFTennis) July 16, 2023
Earlier in the tournament, Searle eliminated top seed Juan Carlos Prado Angelo of Bolivia in straight sets, then took out three other seeded opponents without dropping a set while stringing together six victories to win the title.
As he was quoted on the Wimbledon website, “I didn’t really come into the tournament with too much of an outcome goal. I tried just to beat whoever my opponent was each match and see where that took me. It ended up being pretty special.”
The last British boy to win the junior Wimbledon singles title was Stanley Matthews in 1962.
Ngounoue wins first junior Grand Slam singles trophy
Clervie Ngounoue of the United States raced to the Wimbledon girls’ junior title without losing any sets. The Washington, D.C.-born 16-year-old, who peaked at World No. 1 in the junior rankings last month, lifted her first junior Grand Slam singles trophy after she defeated Czech Nikola Bartunkova, 6-2, 6-2, in the title match played on Court 12. She hit 27 winners.
Clervie’s moment! 🇺🇸
Junior World No. 2 @ClervieNgounoue takes the Girls’ Singles 👑#Wimbledon | @usta pic.twitter.com/EVefvc0BTE
— ITF (@ITFTennis) July 16, 2023
Ngounoue, who was seeded second, became the second straight Wimbledon girls’ junior champion from the United States. Liv Hovde won last year’s title.
The last two #Wimbledon Girls’ Singles champions:
2022 – Liv Hovde 🇺🇸
2023 – Clervie Ngounoue 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/O0gYXXzh92— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 16, 2023
“It sounds so good [to be a Wimbledon champion]. I’m really excited that this my first,” Ngounoue, who turns 17 on Wednesday, said following her 84-minute final as quoted by Wimbledon.com. “It was a battle out there, as I was expecting one. Nikola is not an easy player at all but I’m really glad that I was able to pull through.”
Czechs dominate doubles titles
The girls’ junior doubles title was won by the Czech duo of Laura Samsonova and Alena Kovackova, who defeated British pair Hannah Klugman and Isabelle Lacy, 6-4, 7-5.
The boys’ junior doubles title went to Czech Jakub Filip and Italy’s Gabriele Vulpitta, who bested No. 6 seeds Arthur Gea of France and Branko Djuric of Serbia, 6-3, 6-3.
Introducing your 2023 #Wimbledon Junior Doubles champions 🏆🏆
Congratulations to Laura Samsonova & Alena Kovackova and Gabriele Vulpitta & Jakub Filip 👏 pic.twitter.com/Xg6AsMrqtg
— ITF (@ITFTennis) July 16, 2023
