Whitney Osuigwe d. Claire Liu 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-3 in the girl’s singles final #RG17 pic.twitter.com/HE6FBeW6sH
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 10, 2017
Whitney Osuigwe Wins Second-Ever All-American French Open Girls’ Singles Final
(June 10, 2017) Fifteen-year old Whitney Osuigwe, of Bradenton, Fla., defeated fellow American Claire Liu, 17, of Thousand Oaks, California, 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-3, in an all-American girls’ singles final at the French Open in Paris today. Osuigwe becomes the fourth American to win the French Open girls’ singles title and first since Jennifer Capriati in 1989.
Osuigwe is also the ninth-youngest girls’ singles champion at the French Open, at 15 years, 1 month and 24 days old — just over one month older than Justine Henin when she won the Roland Garros girls’ title, in 1997.
The all-American girls’ singles final at Roland Garros was only the second in the event’s history, dating back to 1953. The first was in 1980, when Kathy Horvath defeated Kelly Henry. Ann Smith (1977) and Bonnie Gadusek (1981) are the only other Americans to win the girls’ singles title at the French Open.
Osuigwe, the No. 5-ranked junior in the world, is coached by her father, Desmond, a teching pro at the IMG Academy in Bradenton.
In the boys’ doubles final, 18-year old Vasil Kirkov, of Tampa, Fla., and 17-year old Danny Thomas, of Columbus, Ohio, fell to the top-seeded pair of Nicola Kuhn (ESP) and Zsombor Piros (HUN), 6-4, 6-4.
American juniors have had a run of success at the French Open in recent years. In 2015, Tommy Paul beat Taylor Fritz in the first all-American French Open boys’ singles final, dating back to 1947. Last year, Amanda Anisimova reached the girls’ singles final as a 14-year old, and this year, four of the girls’ singles quarterfinalists were American, including Anisimova and Caty McNally.
USTA Player Development National Coaches Sylvain Guichard, Leo Azevedo, Erik Kortland and Jean Desdunes have provided support to all American players participating in the French Open junior championships this year.
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