©Colette Lewis 2026--
Wimbledon--
For the first six games of the
Wimbledon boys final, 16-year-old Jordan Lee looked as if the seven-victory journey to the championship match had taken its toll, falling behind 5-1 in the opening set against Australian Cruz Hewitt, before rebounding to claim the title in a tense two-hour battle 4-6, 6-4, 7-5.
As the crowd, eventually in excess of 9000, continued to build on the All England Lawn Tennis Club's celebrated Court One, so too did Lee's confidence. Hewitt, the son of 2002 Wimbledon men's champion Lleyton Hewitt, did hold off Lee's charge to take the first set, but needed four set points to edge ahead.
"He started out off very well, very aggressive," said Lee, who admitted he was a bit nervous when he arrived on one of the sport's biggest stages. "Yeah, a couple of unforced errors, but I managed to get my level back. And once I got it back, once the second set started, I kind of felt like, okay, I've got him and I'm here....I was going in with full confidence in the second set."
Lee took a 2-0 lead in the second set when Hewitt couldn't hold from 40-15 up, with a double fault giving Lee a break point and a video review of a not-up call from the chair, which confirmed that Hewitt did not reach Lee's drop shot on one bounce, deciding the game in Lee's favor.
The next game was a battle of forehand winners, which Hewitt eventually won, getting the break back, but he struggled in the next game and was broken again. Lee had two set points with Hewitt serving at 2-5, but Hewitt, who received entry into the Wimbledon Juniors by virtue of his ATP ranking of 606, held to force Lee to serve out the set. Lee played one of his worst games of the match, committing several unforced errors that led to a break.
Yet despite his lack of experience, Lee didn't concede, and Hewitt couldn't close out the game, with two of his nine double faults giving Lee free points. Hewitt saved a third set point, but when Lee hit an inside out backhand winner to set up a fourth, Hewitt finally succumbed, with his backhand error giving Lee the set.
Lee played a loose game to open the third set, and with Hewitt's easy hold, the 17-year-old Australian had a lead to protect. As Lee, a year younger and with less professional experience, began to show signs of fatigue, Hewitt had a chance to put him away, with a break point as Lee served at 1-3. But after Hewitt's unforced error and two poor second serve returns, Lee had held to stay within range.
Down 4-2, Lee held and broke Hewitt to pull even, never doubting that he could erase that deficit.
"I don't think I'll ever envision losing a match," Lee answered when asked if he was contemplating a loss. "I think there's always a chance to win it no matter what the score is, I've seen it plenty of times, watching Rafa(Nadal) down 5-1, 40-love, finding a way."
That belief and composure was on display when Lee saved a break point to go up 5-4, with Hewitt again failing to get second serve return in play. In the position of having to hold serve to stay in the match, Hewitt did so easily, but after Lee made it 6-5 just as quickly, the pressure was back on Hewitt, who made two unforced errors on the backhand sandwiched around a double fault to give Lee three match points. He needed only one, ripping a backhand winner down the line, then falling to his knees, before doing a celebration shimmy made famous by Manchester United forward Matheus Cunha.
Hewitt was disappointed in the result, but recognized that reaching the Wimbledon boys final was an accomplishment he can be proud of, even if the result was not what he had hoped.
"Playing for the Wimbledon trophy in the final, there's a lot of emotions going around," said Hewitt, whose father was providing encouragement from the players box. "I could have maybe handled it a little better, but I thought I competed well, left it all out there. I could have executed a few shots better, but that's tennis. Jordan's a great competitor, a great player and I wish him all the best. He played a great match today and he deserved the win in the end."
Few players, especially a 16-year-old returning from a wrist injury that kept him out for seven months in 2025, have ever won the first junior slam they've played, yet Lee is adamant that it will not change his outlook or plans.
"Obviously, I really happy I won this title," said Lee, who is coached by Felipe Mantilla and Sylvain Guichard at the USTA's National Campus in Orlando. "It's a big title and I'm happy to be here. For me, the mentality going forward is I know I can do it. I know there's a long journey ahead of me, and I'm ready for it."
Although Lee has recently gone viral on social media with his resemblance to 19-year-old Spanish soccer star Lamine Yamal, Lee did not choose Yamal's team when answering the inevitable question from the British journalists on who he was supporting in next week's World Cup semifinals.
"France and England," said Lee, who maintains he had the Yamal hairstyle first. "I think I got the cut before he got the cut. Maybe he saw one post and copied me," Lee joked.
Lee is planning to compete at the USTA 18s National championships in Kalamazoo next month, where a men's main draw US Open wild card in on the line, but he already has secured Wimbledon traditional qualifying wild card for the previous year's junior champion.
"I had no clue," Lee said, when asked if he was aware of that tradition before the taking the court today. "It's pretty nice."
Hewitt, who turns 18 in December, will continue to concentrate on pro tennis, as he has for the past year, and will probably not play any more junior events.
Lee was actually the second American Wimbledon champion crowned on Sunday, with 13-year-old Isha Manchala taking the girls 14-and-under title with a 7-5, 2-6, 10-8 victory over Mariia Kochenzhenko of Ukraine.
Manchala, the first US girl to advance to the semifinals of the event, now in it's fifth year, struggled to find her form in the opening stages of the match on show court 12.
"I was definitely very nervous for this match because you're in the finals of Wimbledon," said Manchala, who fell behind 4-1 and missed her first seven first serves. "But you just have to accept it. I think I was thinking too much of the outcome, instead of just playing the point, and because of that I was just rushing the serve."
Manchala got the break back with Kochenzhenko serving at 4-2, and then survived a 10-deuce game after leading it 40-love to level the first set.
"That game was very important because at 4-all you never know what can happen," said Manchala, who is coached by Derek Porter at the Van Der Meer Academy in Hilton Head South Carolina. "I was really trying to push myself to get that game. I lost the next game to go down 4-5, but on that changeover I calmed my brain, told myself to have no regrets, because I've only got one 14-U Wimbledon, so I just want to put all out there."
Manchala said Kochenzhenko's depth improved in the second set, and her own footwork kept her from responding. "Her balls were hitting the lines and I don't think I was in the right headspace," Manchala said. "So the set just slipped away from me."
The match tiebreaker that would decide the title was more errors than winners from both girls, but at the end of it, Manchala was able to raise her game.
With Kocherenko up 7-6, Manchala drew even with a good deep serve and two big forehands in the next point gave her a lead. Then a bit of good fortune came her way, in the form of a net cord return winner that gave her two match points.
"I got a little lucky on the return to go up 9-7, got a let cord," Manchala said. "At 9-7 we had a long point and I framed a backhand out, and I told myself, right here, first serve. I placed the first serve, hit my plus-one cross and then went open court and she missed."
Manchala described her emotion at the match's conclusion as more relief than joy.
"All the pressure is off of this match, and I'm a Wimbledon champion."
Next for Manchala is representing the United States in the World Tennis Junior team competition for 14-and-under players next month in Czechia.
"It's a definitely a great privilege to play for the USA and for the USTA to give me opportunities to play for Team USA," Manchala said. "I'm very honored to be part of that team."
Manchala is planning a modest celebration after her win today.
"Probably ice cream," said Manchala, who may gravitate to strawberry, not her favorite flavor caramel, after today's title.
The boys 14-and-under title was also decided in a match tiebreaker with Jonas Waelti of Switzerland defeating Lyoma Hotelier of Japan 3-6, 6-1, 10-6 in the final.
The girls 14-and-under draws are
here; the boys draws are
here.
