| Sunday, 8 July 2007 Written by Beci Wood Poland’s Urszula Radwanska, the sixth seed, overcame Madison Brengle of the USA in three sets to claim the girls' singles title. The fiery Pole staged a remarkable comeback from a set and a break down to beat her 17-year-old opponent 2-6, 6-3, 6-1 in 109 minutes on Court 2. Sixteen-year-old Radwanksa, who hit an impressive 46 winners in the match, also made history as she and her sister Agnieszka, the 2005 Champion, became the first sisters to have won the Wimbledon Girls’ Singles title. For the first set and a half, a record-breaking victory never looked on the cards. Brengle, seventh seed and runner-up at the Australian Open Junior tournament earlier this year, looked by far the more confident and solid player. She opened up the court with her strong serve and was bossing the rallies with her big forehand, watching errors repeatedly flying off the Radwanska racquet. After the first five games went with serve, it was Brengle who made the first breakthrough. With play at 3-2, two sizzling backhands into the corners of the court bought up two break-point opportunities. Pumped-up Brengle sealed the game after Radwanksa netted another forehand. Radwanska had an opportunity to gain an immediate break back, however Brengle immediately snubbed out the opportunity with a fierce and accurate serve down the line. Growing in frustration, Radwanksa handed Brengle another break and the set 6-2 with a series of poor drop shots. It was the first set Radwanksa had lost in the tournament and caused her to smash her racquet into the ground. An early break in the second set saw Brengle race to a 3-0 lead and seemingly on her way to lift the Junior trophy. However, sensing the title was slipping away from her, Radwanksa then staged a remarkable comeback. She levelled the score to 3-3 after steadying the flow of errors on her ground strokes. Sensing a bit of weariness in her opponent, she started to send Brengle from side to side with her booming forehand and came into the net to pick off numerous easy volleys. The drop shot that let her down in the first set was now working well, frequently catching baseline-hogging Brengle off-balance. With play at 3-3, Radwanksa took the lead for the first time in the set after a lengthy service game ended when Brengle pushed a forehand long. With her tail up, the Polish girl was in no mood to hang around. After looking so sharp in the first set, Brengle now looked helpless. After an easy Radwanska hold of serve, a Brengle double fault teamed with numerous groundstroke errors quickly handed her younger opponent the set 6-3. Radwanska was now a shadow of the frustrated, angry player so visible in the first set. She reeled off the next six games with the loss of just a few points, taking the third set after floating a backhand return down the line in just 22 minutes. Speaking after the match, the Pole revealed her big serve and cunning drop shot were key in turning the match in her favour. “I was really nervous in the first set but somehow managed to turn it around,” she said. "I noticed she got tense at 3-3 in the second. From that point my drop shot and serve started to work. The drop shot is my favourite.” Radwanska admitted she didn’t realise her victory earned her a place in the Wimbledon history books. “No, I didn't know that. Unfortunately Agnieszka couldn’t be here to see me win as she had to leave yesterday to go to a tournament in Italy. I called her straight after the match to tell her though and she said she was pleased.” And when asked about the comparison with Venus and Serena Williams, Radwanska said she hoped her and her sister could emulate their success. “For sure, I hope we can be as good as them. Winning Junior Wimbledon has been a great beginning to mine and my sister’s careers. It’s brilliant.”
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