A DOGGED performance by Noppawan Lertcheewakarn earned her a first junior grand-slam singles title when she defeated the world No 1, Kristina Mladenovic, 12 months after losing in the Wimbledon final to Laura Robson.

In front of a respectable two-thirds capacity crowd on Court One — who decided to witness a far more interesting confrontation than the lacklustre Williams sisters’ senior final — the fourth-seeded 17-year-old became Thailand’s first individual grand-slam champion. The hard-fought 3-6 6-3 6-1 victory avenged her semi-final loss to Mladenovic at Roehampton.

The 5ft 6in Lertcheewakarn who has a deceptively powerful double-handed backhand, lost the first set after being broken in the eighth game, then improved dramatically, aided by several unforced errors by Mladenovic.

The 16-year-old French girl was aiming for her second successive junior grand-slam crown after winning at Roland Garros last month, but it was evident from her body language throughout the third set that Mladenovic was struggling, not just with the heat and humidity but with a bandaged right knee that required extensive treatment at courtside.

For Lertcheewakarn — who was presented with her trophy by Britain’s Ann Jones, the 1969 Wimbledon ladies’ champion — it was her third Grand Slam title. She and Swede Sandra Roma won the 2008 US Open girls’ doubles, and this year she and Romanian Elena Bogdan teamed up to take the French Open girls’ doubles.