52nd Trofeo Bonfiglio 2011 – Girls’ Singles Final

Irina Khromacheva won the girls’ singles title in Milan after beating her doubles partner Danka Kovinic 6-4, 6-2 in the final.

She joins previous winners such as Gabriela Sabatini, Anna Kournikova and Dominika Cibulkova in taking the crown whilst extending her unbeaten run to 26 matches.

It’s not quite to the same level as Novak Djokovic’s run but it’s brought Khromacheva victories in two Grade 1 junior tournaments and two $10,000 ITF events as well as this Grade A success (equivalent to a junior Slam).

Now her coach is already planning the 16-year-old’s future and has said the Russian will play mostly ITF tournaments next year to improve her WTA world ranking, which currently stands at 518.

Montenegro’s Kovinic can take heart from her display and tournament performance as a whole. After being 4-0 down at the start of the match she battled back to 4-4 before losing the first set of her 2011 Trofeo Bonfiglio campaign.

In the second, she had to deal with an injury to her arm but after failing to convert seven game points at *2-4 it left Khromacheva with a simple hold to win in front of 1,500 people.

This may not be the last we see of Kovinic though. At #16 on the junior circuit before the tournament, which will rise next week, she may notice that 2004 beaten finalist Victoria Azarenka is now ranked the WTA’s fourth best player.

It should be mentioned that Khromacheva was the only top five player in the junior rankings to feature at Tennis Club Milano Alberto Bonacossa but having only just turned 16 on May 12th, she’s the youngest and a hot prospect at that.

As with the boys’ singles, highlights of the girls’ final and surreal Rocky-style music can be found at La Gazzetta dello Sport website.