Jamrichova and Jones Meet Again for a Junior Slam Title at Wimbledon; Budkov Kjaer and Rottgering Reach Boys Final; Razeghi, Grant and Jovic Advance to Doubles Finals; Lee Plays for 14U Title Sunday

©Colette Lewis 2024--
Wimbledon--

Rematches in junior slam finals are rare, but Renata Jamrichova of Slovakia and Emerson Jones of Australia will meet again for the Wimbledon girls title after facing off in Australia in January. The last time the same two girls contested two slam finals in the same year was 2000, when Maria Emilina Salerni of Argentina and Tatiana Perebiynis of Ukraine met in the Wimbledon and US Open girls finals.

Jamrichova will be hoping to emulate Salerni, who won both titles that year, and in today's semifinal, the 17-year-old looked every bit the junior slam champion she is, defeating unseeded Vendula Valdmannova of the Czech Republic 6-0, 6-2. 

Valdmannova had defeated three seeds to advance to her first slam semifinal, but Jamrichova was nearly perfect in the first set, committing just two unforced errors. After she broke Valdmannova to open the second set, the crowd around Court 4 was actively supporting the underdog in her quest for a game, but Jamrichova stubbornly refused to concede her service game at 1-0, saving eight break points, mostly with big serves, to take a 2-0 lead. Valdmannova did win the next game, to loud applause, but Jamrichova was too consistent to give the 16-year-old Czech a path back into the match.

Jamrichova credits her serve with doing most of the damage this week in her five straight-sets victories, but still sees that shot as a work in progress.

"Right now, yeah, in the moment, I'm comfortable, but some tournaments my serve is really bad," said the 5-foot-11-inch left-hander. "My serve's working this week, that's a big thing for me, the lefty-serve and the aggressive game."

Jamrichova lost in the semifinals to champion Clervie Ngounoue last year at Wimbledon, so reaching the final here, in her last junior tournament, was important to her.

"I'm just excited an a bit relieved that I'm in the final," said Jamrichova, who won the girls doubles title with Tereza Valentova at Roland Garros. "Last year I lost semis Wimby and also US Open, but then got into the final in Australia and here. I just want to leave the court with a big smile on my face, and it doesn't matter if I win or lose."

Jamrichova, who defeated Jones 6-4, 6-1 in the Australian girls final, is not surprised to see Jones as her opponent in Sunday's 3 p.m. final.

"We had a amazing match from my side in Australia, so I hope it's going to be another great match," said Jamrichova, who would be the first Slovakian to claim a Wimbledon girls title. "She's playing super good on the grass, because she's pretty small, so the ball's coming to her racquet so good, she's low, good serve. The movement is a bit tougher for me on grass because I'm tall, but it's not that much different from hard."

The third-seeded Jones has also advanced to the final without dropping a set, ending the streak of US girls Wimbledon champions at two with her 7-5, 6-1 win over No. 6 seed Iva Jovic. 

Jones got off to a 4-1 lead, but Jovic fought back, breaking at love at 2-4 and holding to pull even. Jovic saved two set points to hold for 5-all, but after an easy hold by Jones, Jovic was broken, with Jones rifling a backhand return winner at 15-40.

As important as the last three games of the first set were, the first game of the second proved to be the turning point. Jones saved six break points in the eight-deuce game, with her lethal backhand doing most of the damage, and she seized control in the second.  

"That was such a long game, and I was thinking I probably need to get this game because it's been so long," said Jones, who turned 16 on Sunday. "Whoever wins this game is going to be better mentally. I felt a bit more relaxed when I got that game."

Jovic said that she and Jones have similar games, so execution is paramount.

"It's tough to get that rhythm that you usually get, when it's ok, this is what's working," said the 16-year-old Californian, who lost to Jones by the exact same score in the Traralgon J300 final in January. "So it's just who is going to do what they do better. She just played really well today. I think we've both improved since (Traralgon), but I think she played better in my eyes today than in that match. It was just a tough one for me today, but hopefully I'll get some revenge later in the year."

The girls final features the two Australian finalists, while the boys championship match has two first-time slam finalists, with both unseeded Mees Rottgering of the Netherlands and No. 2 seed Nicolai Budkov Kjaer of Norway having fallen in the semifinals in Melbourne before getting over that hump today at the All England Lawn Tennis Club.

Budkov Kjaer needed just over an hour to get past unseeded Naoya Honda of Japan 6-3, 6-2, while Rottgering saved three set points to close out No. 16 seed Theo Papamalamis of France 6-4, 7-5 in two sets.

Although Budkov Kjaer had one of his easier matches today, he wasn't entirely pleased with his performance.

"I played good, but I think my serve was a bit off, especially in the second set," said the 17-year-old, who "I was not serving the way I usually do or wanted to. But overall, I'm very happy with my performance and maybe I saved my serve for the final."                                                                      

With the grass season so short for juniors, Budkov Kjaer is happy to have experience from last year and last week to draw on, reaching the third round at 2023 Wimbledon and the quarterfinals at Roehampton. 

"When you play on grass before, you know what to expect, what the surface requires, how the court feels," said Budkov Kjaer, who is the first Norwegian boy to reach a junior slam final, something his neighbor and three-time major finalist Casper Ruud never accomplished. "The experience on it plays a big role. I love it, I love everything here. The grass is very special to play on, only two weeks a year, so it's a privilege to play on it. Only the best players in the world play on the grass, because it's so short."

Rottgering feels privileged to play on the grass for another reason, after an ab injury suffered at Roland Garros kept him out of competition, including Roehampton's J300 last week, until Wimbledon. 

But after beating top seed Kaylan Bigun in the quarterfinals and  No. 16 seed Theo Papamalamis of France 6-4, 7-5 in today's semifinals, Rottgering is confident he can take another step forward Sunday.

"I started really bad this week, didn't find my level," said Rottgering, who had to decline the main draw wild card at the Amersfoort Challenger next week due to his success here at Wimbledon. "But from the last three matches, I've gotten a lot of confidence and I'm really happy with my performance."

Serving at 4-5 in the second set after letting an early break slip away, Rottgering saved three set points, with Papamalamis missing a second serve return on the first, Rottgering forcing an error on the second and hitting a winner on the third. He then got a series of backhand errors from Papamalamis in the next game and closed out the match on his first match point with a good first serve.

"I was just thinking 'don't lose, don't lose, don't lose, don't lose," the 17-year-old left-hander said. "He was playing unreal, he made few mistakes, was playing really quick and he knew my weaknesses, so he played really well."

When asked what those weaknesses are, Rottgering said, "I'm not going to say those. I can say it after Wimbledon."

Rottgering had the opportunity to play on Margaret Court in his quarterfinal match at the Australian Open Junior Championships this year, so he is not intimidated by the thought of playing on Court One Sunday.

"I've played on big courts in my life and so has Nico, so I think I'll manage," Rottgering said. "I think it's going to be a normal match."

If their previous match is any indication, the fans can expect a close one. In last year's semifinals of the J300 in Belgium, on clay, Rottgering claimed a 5-7, 7-6(7), 6-4 victory.

Three Americans will play for a Wimbledon doubles title Sunday: Jovic, Tyra Grant and Alex Razeghi. 

Jovic and Grant, the No. 2 seeds, have reached their third consecutive junior slam doubles final, with the Australian Open champions and Roland Garros finalists defeating No. 6 seed Jones and Vittoria Paganetti of Italy 7-5, 7-6(5) in the semifinals. They will play No. 7 seeds Mika Stojsavljevic and Mingge Xu of Great Britain, who defeated unseeded Julie Pastikova of the Czech Republic and Julia Stusek of Germany 6-4, 6-1.

Two unseeded teams will contest the boys doubles final, with Razeghi and German partner Max Schoenhaus facing Jan Klimas and Jan Kumstat of the Czech Republic. Both took down seeded American teams, with Razeghi and Schoenhaus defeating No. 3 seeds and Roehampton champions Kaylan Bigun and Jagger Leach 7-6(2), 6-3 and Klimas amd Kumstat taking out No. 7 seeds Max Exsted and Cooper Woestendick 6-4, 7-5.

The 14U tournament also concludes on Sunday, with American Jordan Lee facing Takahiro Kawaguchi of Japan for the boys title and Jana Kovackova of the Czech Republic playing Keisija Berzina of Latvia.  Kovackova downed Megan Knight of Great Britain 2-6, 6-3, 10-8 and Berzina defeated Xinran Sun of China 6-2, 6-4. 

Kawaguchi defeated Stan Put of the Netherlands 7-6(8), 6-4 and Lee played inspired tennis in his 6-3, 6-1 win over Dongjae Kim of Korea.

"I like the grass a lot and I think it suits my game," said Lee, a 14-year-old from Orlando. "I'm an aggressive player, like to play through the court and come to the net a lot, obviously when I can. At first it was tough adjusting to my movement, especially in the corners. I've been playing pretty well this week, but I think this was probably my best match, but overall this week has been great, and in the finals tomorrow, I'm going to try to sustain this level."

Saturday 14U results of Americans:

Semifinals:

Jordan Lee d. Dongjae Kim(KOR) 6-3, 6-1

Consolation:

Raya Kotseva d. Welles Newman 7-5, 6-3

Sijia Zhang(CHN) d. Maggie Sohns 6-4, 6-0

Michael Antonius d. Eric Lorimer(GBR) 6-3, 3-6, 10-7

All five of the sets played in the men's and women's doubles finals were decided in tiebreakers. 

Unseeded Harri Heliovaara of Finland and former UNC-Asheville star Henry Patten of Great Britain won their first men's slam title, saving three match points in a 6-7(7), 7-6(8), 7-6(9) win over No. 15 seeds Jordan Thompson and Max Purcell of Australia. For more on the unexpected men's champions, see this article from wimbledon.com.

Taylor Townsend won the women's doubles championship, her first major, with Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic. Townsend and Siniakova, the No. 4 seeds defeated No. 2 seeds Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand 7-6(5), 7-6(1) in tonight's championship match. For more on the women's final, see this article from wimbledon.com.