Ngounoue’s ‘eventful’ week ends with W50 Birmingham title
Clervie Ngounoue made the most of her first week spent in the UK outside of Wimbledon, winning the joint-biggest title of her fledgling career to date on the ITF World Tennis Tour at W50 Birmingham.
The 18-year-old American defeated former world No. 43 Viktoria Hruncakova 4-6 6-2 6-3 in the title match on Sunday to claim her fourth ITF singles title.
“This week was very eventful,” said Ngounoue. “It’s always nice to come out with the title at the end. It’s my third final this year so I was a little more eager to try to get this win. I’m glad I pushed myself and tried to take it point by point, day by day – I’m really glad where it got me.”
Ngounoue defeated three Top 250 players during the week – including Hruncakova, who is capable of a level far beyond her current WTA ranking of No. 212.
“Viktoria is an amazing player, I know she represents Slovakia (in the Billie Jean King Cup) and I’ve watched her play on tour a little bit so I knew it wasn’t going to be an easy match,” she said. “I was really up for the opportunity.
"I’m glad I just never gave up and tried to stay with it. She played really well and I’m sure she’s going to be in more finals after this.”
Ngounoue, who was born in Washington D.C. to Cameroonian parents, has been on the radar as a rising young talent for some time, having led USA to victory at the 2022 Billie Jean King Cup Juniors and gone on to rank as the junior world No. 1 in June 2023.
In winning at Wimbledon in July 2023, she became the third American in a row to win a junior Wimbledon title (following on from Samir Banerjee in 2021 and Liv Hovde in 2022).
She also followed in the footsteps of fellow Americans Coco Gauff, Amanda Anisimova, Sebastian Korda, Taylor Fritz, Reilly Opelka and Tommy Paul, who have all won Junior Grand Slam titles in recent years.
Her visit to Birmingham this week was, she says, her first visit to the UK outside of the hallowed turf of the All England Club.
“I didn’t have too much time to go around but we walked to dinner every night," she said of her Midlands experience. "We were staying in the Chinese Quarter in the first couple days then we moved to the tournament hotel. Every night was something good, I hope I find time to actually go around next time.
“This was my first time in the UK outside of just Wimbledon, so I’m really glad I got to play this tournament – hopefully I get to play more, maybe the WTA event coming up this year.”