Brengle, Young Charge into Wimbledon Junior Finals
©Colette Lewis 2007--
London--
Donald Young and Madison Brengle hope to join Venus Williams as 2007 American Wimbledon champions when they play for the boys and girls singles titles on Sunday at the All England Lawn and Tennis Club. It is the first time since 1981 that the U.S. has had a boy finalist and a girl finalist, and the precedent is a good one. Matt Anger and Zina Garrison returned across the Atlantic with the winners' trophies.
On the first truly summery day of the rain-drenched week, Brengle, the No. 7 seed, defeated unseeded Katarzyna Piter 7-5, 7-6 (3). The 17-year-old from Dover, Delaware nudged ahead several times but the leads were hard to hold. At 5-5 in the first set, Brengle reeled off five straight games and took the momentum but at the changeover, the 16-year-old from Poland called for a trainer.
"It kind of messed up my momentum a little bit," Brengle admitted. "Then I went down 4-3 5-4, 6-5, serving to stay in it, but I won those games pretty easily, most of them at love."
Brengle, who had excelled in the championship tiebreakers that decided her second round and quarterfinal matches, conceded some nerves in the conventional one she faced Saturday.
"I think both of us were really tight in it," Brengle said. "I played well, she made a couple of errors and that was the difference."
Brengle wasn't so sure that she was happy with the return of traditional scoring, especially after playing five singles matches in four days, plus two doubles contests.
"I like the third set breaker right now," Brengle said. "Everybody's kind of tired, so not having to play that third set is okay, knowing I'm going to be off the court soon."
Having lost her second round doubles match, Brengle left the interview room with a specific destination in mind. To celebrate? No, although she did admit she was "stoked" to be one of two Americans in the final. "Now, I'm off to the trainer," she announced.
Young played three matches on Saturday and won them all--taking down sixth-seeded Greg Jones of Australia in the singles semifinals 6-4, 7-5, and following that with two doubles wins.
Against Jones, a finalist in the French Open juniors last month, Young returned well, but Jones executed some very tough half volleys as he approached to keep the first set on serve. Serving at 4-5, Jones had his first hiccup; after saving one set point with a first serve that Young couldn't handle, he double faulted the set away.
"He's one of those players that goes for more on his second serve, so he has a higher risk for a double fault," Young explained. "His just happened to come at bad times."
In the second set, Jones twice went up a break, the second one putting him up 5-4 and serving for the set. In a very tense game, Jones twice saved break points, but on the third, Young displayed the variety and creativity that sets his game apart. Jones hit a strong first serve and charged the net, ready for the return at his feet. But instead Young floated a perfect topspin forehand return out of the reach of the strapping Australian.
Jones began to show signs of frustration at being unable to take advantage of the opportunities Young was giving him, and they came to a head in the next game. Jones berated himself after nearly every point,and after a particularly ugly shank of a routine Young serve, he broke his racquet and received a warning from the chair umpire.
Serving to reach a tiebreaker, Jones double faulted twice when serving to the ad court, and although he collected himself long enough to stave off one match point, on the second, Young executed a surgical forehand pass to reach his first Wimbledon final in four tries.
"I'm really happy to be in the finals," the third-seeded Young said. "Venus won, so hopefully me and Madison can win as well. It would be awesome. And Johnny (Hamui) and I are still in doubles, so I hope to keep that going. It's just an honor to be in the Wimbledon final."
Because he had played three matches on Saturday, Young had the option to play another doubles match or to ask that the semifinals be delayed until Sunday, and he chose the latter option, as did Brengle's finals opponent Urszula Radwanska of Poland, who also is still in the doubles on the girls side.
The sixth-seed Radwanska ended unseeded British favorite Anna Fitzpatrick's impressive run with a 7-6 (3), 6-3 victory, and should she duplicate her sister Agnieszka's Wimbledon girls championship in 2005, they would become the first sisters to win Wimbledon junior singles titles.
Vlad Ignatic, the No. 1 seed and French Open boys champion, engaged in the only three-setter of the day, but he managed to retain his chance at back-to-back junior slams with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-1 win over unseeded Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania. Ignatic, who turns 17 next Saturday, is from Belarus, but trains at John Roddick's Total Tennis Academy in San Antonio when not traveling the junior circuit. He and Young have not played.
Both the boys and girls have one half of the doubles finals decided. The unseeded team of Roman Jebavy of the Czech Republic and Martin Klizan of Slovakia are through to the finals, as are the unseeded Japanese pair of Misaki Doi and Kurumi Nara in the girls division.
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