Maria Camila Osorio Serrano Becomes First Colombian to Win US Open Girls’ Singles Title

Maria Camila Osorio Serrano has saved the best for last…

Competing in her last Grand Slam as a junior at Flushing Meadows, the Colombian tennis player put forth a near-perfect performance to defeat American qualifier Alexandra Yepifanova, 6-1, 6-0, to claim her maiden Grand Slam title, while becoming the first Colombian to win the girls’ singles title at the US Open.

Maria Camila Osorio Serrano

“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-seed 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 Saturday’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 the third game with a 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 grew louder.

Osorio Serrano won 60 of 93 points in the final and broke Yepifanova in all six of her service games.

“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.”

Osorio Serrano, who’s coached by formerATPpro Alejandro Falla,  joins a select group of US Open girls’ singles champions that includes Victoria AzarenkaMarion Bartoli, Lindsay DavenportJennifer Capriatiand Amanda Anisimova.