WHAT HAPPENED: Colombia's Maria Camila Osorio Serrano saved her best for last at the 2019 US Open--in more ways than one. Osorio Serrano put forth a devastating performance to defeat American qualifier Alexandra Yepifanova, 6-1, 6-0, to claim her maiden Grand Slam title at her last junior Slam.
"It's unreal," Osorio Serrano said told reporters after the match. "It's been a really great week for me—I'm just so happy and thankful for this, I can't believe I won."
The No.4-seeded Colombian was large and in charge from the start of Sunday's final on Court 17, opening the match with an ace to serve notice that she wasn't experiencing any fatigue from yesterday's double-header in Queens. The same could not be said for Yepifanova, who struggled to find her footing after battling through two three-setters to reach the final on Saturday in New York.
Osorio Serrano would break for 2-0 in the opening set with a forehand volley winner into the open court that was met with a cacophony of cheers from a lively crowd of Colombian spectators.
Yepifanova broke in third game with crosscourt backhand winner to close to 2-1, but it would prove to be the only game she would win in the final.
Osorio Serrano rolled through the next 10 games as the Colombians' cheers from the bleachers inside Court 17 only got louder.
"There was a lot of people from Colombia cheering for me," Osorio Serrano said of the support she received all week from her fans. "I'm really thankful for this and I want to thank them because the whole week they have been supporting."
The Cucuta, Colombia, native powered through a three-deuce game to break in the opening game of the second set and saved a break point in the next game to hold, 2-0. Yepifanova had two game points to hold for 1-2 but a relentless Osorio Serrano went on a tear from there, winning four straight points to break for 3-0 and claiming 12 of the next 14 points to lead 5-0.
Yepifanova mounted one last stand in the final game, getting to deuce, but she could not stop the momentum of Osorio Serrano.
The Colombian, who is coached by former ATP pro Alejandro Falla, battled to match point and stroked an ace down the T to lock up the victory in 48 minutes. She dropped to her knees, the tears starting to fall, as the cheers grew louder.
Kamilla Bartone of Latvia and Oksana Selekhmeteva of Russia claimed the girls' doubles title with a 7-5 7-6 win over Aubane Droguet and Selena Janicijevic of France.
WHAT IT MEANS: Osorio Serrano becomes the first Colombian to win the girls' single title at the US Open. She joins a select group of US Open girls' singles champions that includes Victoria Azarenka, Marion Bartoli, Lindsay Davenport, Jennifer Capriati and Amanda Anisimova.
MATCH POINT: Osorio Serrano won 60 of 93 points in the final and broke Yepifanova in all six of her service games.
