ITF

A merican Claire Liu learned an important lesson at Wimbledon this year: sometimes one must wait one's turn for a good thing to happen. The third-seeded Liu's patience in earning a junior Grand Slam singles trophy paid off when she became the first American girl in 25 years to win the Wimbledon junior title. The 17-year-old pulled off the remarkable achievement with a hard-fought 62 57 62 win on a fourth match point over unseeded fellow American Ann Li in the final. "It feels amazing," said Liu, who also won the grass-court title at Roehampton the week before Wimbledon. "I'm literally so speechless. I just keep smiling all the time. I can't even believe it. I mean it's like a dream come true." It was only five weeks prior to the Wimbledon victory that Liu left Roland Garros bitterly disappointed. As the sixth seed, she journeyed to her first Grand Slam singles final only to lose to seventh-seeded fellow American Whitney Osuigwe 64 67(5) 63. The Wimbledon trophy neatly packed to go home to Thousand Oaks, California, Liu could now present a healthier viewpoint regarding not winning Roland Garros. "Being able to play both the French Open and Wimbledon finals is definitely, like, an accomplishment I think already, win or lose," said the new No. 1 -ranked junior girl. "I think being able to get this match is really, really sweet." Although Liu had the Wimbledon Ball to attend for a second time on a Sunday night — she won the Wimbledon girls doubles title with fellow American Usue Maitane Arconada in 2016 — she had celebration plans for Saturday night. "Probably just hang out with friends," she said. "I haven't had Indian food yet. I love the Indian food here. I'm definitely going to go to Indian tonight." Chanda Rubin was the last American girl to win the coveted Wimbledon girls title, in 1992. And the last time Wimbledon featured an all-American girls final was in 1979, when Mary Lou Piatek defeated Alycia Moulton. ITFWORLD SUMMER 2017 25 FROM RUNNER-UP TO CHAMPION

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