Home favourite Ashlyn Krueger of the United States and France’s Arthur Fils toasted the first Grade A titles of their careers following victory at the prestigious Orange Bowl at Plantation, Florida.

Krueger was crowned girls’ champion after overpowering Jana Kolodynska of Belarus in the final, while Fils held his nerve in the decisive set to dispatch top seed Peter Fajta of Hungary and top the boys’ podium.

For Krueger, there was a little piece of history as she followed in the footsteps of 2019 US Open winner Bianca Andreescu by winning the Orange Bowl 18-and-under title 12 months after sealing the 16-and-under equivalent. Andreescu achieved the same feat in 2015.

By defeating second seed Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva of Andorra in the third round, the 16-year-old also had a major say in determining the destination of the year-end No. 1 accolade.

Only time will tell whether Krueger is in contention for such honours in the years to come. For now, she has her sights set on a Junior Grand Slam debut in 2021.

“I would love to play a junior Slam, that’s been a goal of mine for a really long time – any event, I’m not picky – and I just want to play more, play more tournaments,” said Krueger, who believes on-court positivity is her key to success.

“I’ve improved a lot, especially in that area, fighting and mentality, staying more positive, because last year I did get way more upset than I did this year. For me, it is about staying positive, because when I get negative, I don’t play well.”

Krueger, who stands at 6' 1" tall, is the fourth successive American winner of the girls’ draw after the success of Whitney Osuigwe, Coco Gauff and Robin Montgomery in recent years, while Sofia Kenin also lifted Orange Bowl silverware in 2014.

Fils, meanwhile, is only the second French champion since 2009 and follows in the footsteps of Hugo Gaston, who conquered all before him at the Orange Bowl in 2017.

Fils, 16, defeated four seeded players, including No. 3 seed Lukas Neumayer of Austria as well as Fajta, as he made his way through the boys’ draw and onto a star-studded roster of tournament winners.

He admits to being buoyed by his showing at the Roland Garros Junior Championships in October, where he navigated a couple of rounds before slipping to defeat against fellow countryman Sean Cuenin, gaining belief in his ability to express himself on such stages.

“At Roland Garros, I took a lot of confidence,” said Fils. “I knew I was playing good, but I didn’t have any results yet.”

That has certainly changed now and Krueger and Fils have joined an illustrious list of Orange Bowl champions, which includes Roger Federer, Andy Roddick, Caroline Wozniacki and Dominic Thiem.