Hours after winning her debut main-draw match at the US Open, Maria Camila Osorio Serrano couldn't stop smiling—a grin that's been plastered on her face for much of the past two years since she captured the junior title in Flushing Meadows.
The Colombian teenager has had much to smile about in 2021: in April, she won her first career WTA singles title on home soil in Bogota, becoming the third Colombian to win the event in its 23-year history. In May, another semifinal followed on clay in Belgrade, Serbia, as did her Top 100 debut. In July, she reached the third round of Wimbledon as a qualifier in her tournament debut, and she comes into the US Open at a career-high world No. 80 in the WTA rankings.
"It's been a great year for me. It's not been too much about the results, or winning, and after the Bogota tournament, I just felt like my tennis was moving up, or higher," Osorio Serrano said after a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Serbia's Ivana Jorovic. "That's why I'm happy and proud of myself, but I know that I just need to keep working and improving a lot. I'm really proud and happy so far with this year."
Monday's opening round match saw a clash of two former junior world No. 1s as Osorio Serrano took on Jorovic, who occupied that spot in 2014. Buoyed by the support of passionate Colombian fans on Court 6, the 19-year-old, who ascended to the top spot in juniors when she raised the trophy in New York two years ago, broke serve five times in a tidy, 68-minute victory.
"I'm not going to lie, I was a little bit anxious to get back on the court. At the beginning, in the first game, she played unreal, so I was like, 'This is going to be tough,' and it was. It was a really tough match," Osorio Serrano said.
"I think I played really good tennis. I was trying to be calm the whole match, because when you're anxious, you miss one or two balls and then the confidence [goes], so I was trying to just play point-by-point.
"When I got here, I just wanted to think that it's just another tournament. I played here in the juniors already, and then when I got to court and I saw all the Colombian fans, I thought, 'I'm here, these people are here with me, and this is mine.' I just had this opportunity, so I needed to take it.
"For me, it's so fun. I usually enjoy when I'm playing tennis because I just love to play. When I'm there and doing what I love, and the people are supporting me, what else can I ask for?"
Always a crowd-pleaser, Osorio Serrano will next face another player who knows how to thrill a tennis fan or two: No. 20 seed Ons Jabeur, who's been blazing her own trails for Tunisia this year. The two have never played, but if there's anything that Osorio Serrano knows already, it's that previously uncharted territory has done little to slow her down this year.
"I'm really grateful and I'm privileged to be here, to be playing in the best tournaments in tennis with the best players in the world. I'm really happy and proud. It's a dream for me," Osorio Serrano said.
"When I was playing the last round of qualifying in Australia, I was saying, 'I'm there, I'm about to play my first Grand Slam' and then I lost, so it was tough, but the whole year has all been blessings. I've played the next three Slams in the main draw. I'm really happy for everything and thankful for this opportunity."
