From a nation of 77,000 people with one indoor tennis court, Andorra’s Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva, on her Grand Slam debut, claimed the Australian Open girls’ title at the age of 14.

“I never thought I would be here,” the No.9 seed said, beaming, as she was awarded the trophy inside Rod Laver Arena after a hard-earned 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 win over Weronika Baszak of Poland.

Jimenez Kasintseva saved three match points in her third round match and becomes the youngest junior Grand Slam champion since Coco Gauff at Roland Garros in 2018. Most recently, Marta Kostyuk had won a major on debut, girls’ champion here in 2017.

“I actually didn't think that I would win,” she said. “I fought a lot for it. I was about to lose in some matches, and I just kept fighting. I guess that's how I won.”

Baszak, who has a one-handed backhand, used her big serve and forehand to take a 5-3 lead in the first set and held off a late-set charge to win 7-5.

However, she was unable to convert two break points in the first game of set two, a hiccup she said helped change the momentum of the final.

“I think in the beginning of the second set she started to play more aggressive and much better,” said Baszak, 17. “I did some mistakes in the beginning in the first game and second game, so it was my fault actually. I should do in the first game of the second set.”

It was a successful week, overall, for Baszak, who is ranked No.44 in the world.

“I’m very happy with my final, it’s quite a good success,” she said on court after the match. “Victoria was better than me today, I was fighting to the end. It was my first time in Australia, I like it very much. I hope I will be back in the seniors.”

Jimenez Kasintseva hit 15 of her 21 winners in the match in the latter two sets, growing in confidence as she shook off nerves from playing on the biggest stage of her career.

In 2018, she won the Future Aces event held in conjunction with Roland Garros in Paris and gained an ITF junior ranking for the first time in 2019, making her way to six titles from April to November.

“I try to go step by step,” said the 14 year old about her progression. “Now there's three more Grand Slams to go. I will see. I just go little by little. I don't want to rush. Tournament by tournament.”

Her father and coach, Joan Jimenez Guerra was a touring pro in the 1990s and reached a career-high ranking of No.505 in the world. The family spent time in Kentucky in the U.S. for four years where Joan coached at a club, when Victoria was four to eight.

They have for the last two years split their time between Andorra, home, and Sitges, which is just just outside of Barcelona, where Jimenez Kasintseva does the majority of her training.

She is determined to remain true to her Andorran roots, however, and her father said the nation of less than 77,000 people have flooded them with congratulatory messages. “It’s like a village, we know everyone,” he said.

“I represent Andorra,” Victoria said with a smile in front of more than a dozen journalists who attended her championship press conference. Part of her popularity? She speaks five languages – and well: English, Spanish, Catalan, Russian and French.

Four of her six match wins in Melbourne this week came in three sets, including her aforementioned third round and quarter-final wins.

“I have a very strong personality in a good and in a bad way,” she said, laughing. “Yeah, I guess I have this power inside. I guess that's how I do those shots.”

Where does that come from?

“It’s my parents that gave me that fighting spirit. It’s them,” she said. “I’m competitive in and out of the court. I was born with it. But also, losing is learning and if you want to be a tennis player, you have to learn to lose. It’s part of the game.”

On this occasion, Jimenez Kasintseva did not lose and she walks away as a Grand Slam champion.