WIMBLEDON — The unseeded Mia Pohankova became the second consecutive Slovak girls’ singles champion at Wimbledon with a 6-3, 6-1 defeat of No. 6 seed Julieta Pareja in a 68-minute final between two 16-year-olds.
In 2024, Renata Jamrichova became Slovakia’s first ever junior champion at SW19 after defeating Emerson Jones in the final, and Pohankova followed in her footsteps after coming from 3-1 down in the first set to win 11 of the last 12 games. The Levice native conceded only five points behind her first serve, and fired 13 winners to Pareja’s three.
Pohankova also impressed with the variety in her game. As well as her easy power on the forehand side, particularly useful when turning points from defense to attack, she also deployed the slice to excellent effect and won nine of 13 points at net. This included the best shot of the match, at 3-3 in the first set — having approached off a knifing backhand slice down the line, Pohankova leapt to pull off a high, angled backhand volley winner.
Afterwards, the teenager admitted she had been nervous initially, but had settled as the match had gone on.
“When I step on the court and you saw the crowd and, like, stadium is so big, little bit nervous first three games,” Pohankova said. “I just trying to play, and I’m trying to do my best, like I did … When I lead 3-0 second set, I feel like this my game.”
As 2018 junior champion Iga Swiatek was sealing her first senior crown over on Centre Court, Pohankova also underlined her intention to follow in the Pole’s footsteps.
“I need to won like real Wimbledon, not juniors,” she said. “I think this is just start.”
Pohankova’s Wimbledon run opened with a 7-6(4), 6-1 of home hope and US Open junior champion Mika Stojsavljevic, and also included a 6-2, 6-2 rout of junior No. 1 Jones in the quarterfinals. She dropped just one set all week — to Brazilian 15-year-old Nauhany Vitoria Leme Da Silva in a 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 third-round win.
Pareja had not played on grass before this year, but put together an 11-match winning streak to start off on the surface. The American won the J300 warm-up tournament in Roehampton last week, and defeated both Hannah Klugman and Mingge Xu, the two other leading British junior hopes, en route to the Wimbledon final.
Both Pohankova and Pareja have also begun to make an impact at pro level. Pareja reached the final round of US Open qualifying as a wild card last year, then became the first 2009-born player to compete and win matches in a WTA main draw after making the Bogota semifinals in April. She’s currently ranked No. 340.
Pohankova has played a limited pro schedule to date — just seven tournaments since her debut in October 2023, five of which were in Slovakia — but has already delivered impressive results. She won the 2024 Bratislava ITF W75 last October, notching her first Top 100 win on the way over Oceane Dodin, and raised her year-end ranking from No. 978 to No. 544 last season. Pohankova made her WTA qualifying debut in Berlin three weeks ago, falling to Katerina Siniakova 7-6(5), 6-1 in the first round, and is now ranked No. 465.