Third time's the charm: Ngounoue wins first ITF pro singles title
Seventeen-year-old Clervie Ngounoue made the perfect start to her 2024 season this weekend – winning the first professional singles title of the career on the ITF World Tennis Tour at W35 Naples.
The American’s triumph on home soil at the Emilio Sanchez Academy in Florida – in which she thumped compatriot Allie Kiick 6-1 6-1 in the final - comes just six months after she won her first junior Grand Slam singles title at Wimbledon.
Ngounoue, who was born in Washington D.C. to Cameroonian parents, has been on the radar as a rising young talent for some time, having led USA to victory at the 2022 Billie Jean King Cup Juniors and gone on to rank as the junior world No. 1 last June.
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In winning at Wimbledon last July, she became the third American in a row to win a junior Wimbledon title (following on from Samir Banerjee in 2021 and Liv Hovde in 2022).
She also followed in the footsteps of fellow Americans Coco Gauff, Amanda Anisimova, Sebastian Korda, Taylor Fritz, Reilly Opelka and Tommy Paul, who have all won Junior Grand Slam titles in recent years.
The likes of Gauff and Sloane Stephens, who each went on win their home Grand Slam at Flushing Meadows, were quick to congratulate Ngounoue on Instagram for her first pro success.
The world No. 490's first ITF singles title came in her 24th appearance in a professional tournament, and follows runner-up finishes at W15 Marrakech in March 2022 and W25 Austin in October 2022.
Meanwhile, Thailand's Mananchaya Sawangkaew won the most significant ITF tournament of the week, stopping Croatian Antoinia Ruzic's winning streak at 14 matches after winning their final at W50 Nothanburi 6-1 2-6 6-2.
It was the 21-year-old's third ITF singles crown overall and her biggest career triumph to date, taking her back up to NO. 259 in the world this week.
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