No.7 seed Robin Montgomery triumphed over No.6 seed Kristina Dmitruk 6-2, 6-4 in one hour and six minutes in the US Open girls' singles final to claim her first junior Grand Slam title.
Montgomery is the sixth American girls' champion in Flushing Meadows this century, following in the footsteps of CoCo Vandeweghe (2008), Grace Min (2011), Samantha Crawford (2012), Kayla Day (2016) and Amanda Anisimova (2017). In a battle of 17-year-olds, she came from a break down in the second set against Dmitruk, who was the first Belarusian in the US Open girls' final since Victoria Azarenka took the 2005 title.
Montgomery added to her trophy haul by also winning the junior doubles title. In an all-American final, she partnered Ashlyn Krueger to edge Reese Brantmaier and Elvina Kalieva 5-7, 6-3, [10-4]. Montgomery is the first player to win both junior singles and doubles titles at a Grand Slam since Liang En-Shuo at the 2018 Australian Open, and the first to do so at the US Open since Michaella Krajicek in 2004.
The left-hander's power - and her ability to rein it in when she needed - was key against Dmitruk. Montgomery slammed 28 winners to her opponent's 13, and repeatedly scored free points with a formidable serve. That weapon also helped her save four out of five break points, including a key hold for 3-2 in the first set.
To that point, the contest had been fairly even. After Montgomery denied Dmitruk, though, she found a new level to accelerate through the rest of the set even as her opponent faded, sealing it with one of several backhand return winners.
The Washington, DC native had a letdown at the start of the second set and fell behind an immediate break. Again, though, the end of the set saw Montgomery find a new gear and Dmitruk fail to match her. The home favourite reeled off four straight games from 2-4 down, and fired some of her boldest groundstrokes to save break point and hold for 5-4.
Dmitruk, the Wimbledon girls' doubles champion alongside Diana Shnaider, impressed at net, but could not get there often enough to make a real impact.
The title caps an impressive week for Montgomery, who had fallen in the quarterfinals of both the Australian Open and Roland Garros junior events. She dropped two sets, beating No.9 seed Natalia Szabanin 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 in the third round and Solana Sierra 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the semifinals, but her standout victory came in the quarterfinals. There, she took revenge on Andorran No.1 seed Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva 6-3, 6-2, who has defeated her at the same stage in Melbourne.
Both Montgomery and Dmitruk have had promising results in their few pro outings to date. Montgomery made her senior Grand Slam main draw debut as a wildcard into last year's US Open, where she lost to Yulia Putintseva in the third round. She has one ITF W25 title under her belt, Las Vegas last March, owns four Top 200 wins to date - including over Olga Danilovic and Maria Camila Osorio Serrano - and sits at World No.365 on the WTA rankings.
Dmitruk has less pro experience, but in her most recent tournament in May reached her first ITF final in Shymkent. She is currently ranked World No.1018.
