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There were distressing scenes until tennis fans were touched by a heartfelt moment following a thrilling Australian Open junior girls’ final on Saturday afternoon.
Russian 15-year-olds and friends Alina Korneeva and Mirra Andreeva faced off in the title decider with Korneeva coming back from a set down to prevail 6-7(2) 6-4 7-5 in a mammoth three-hour, 18-minute match.
Korneeva threw away two championship points serving at 5-4 in the final set but broke back right away to seal the title.
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The close result left Andreeva in tears but Korneeva quickly ran over to her friend to console her, which melted many on social media.
“Love this so much!!! Go girls!!! No one deserved to lose,” injured Australian star Daria Saville tweeted.
Prominent tennis journalist Stephanie Myles added: “Totally class behaviour by the champion, whispering words of comfort in Andreeva’s ear before going on to celebrate it.”
However Andreeva was inconsolable and tears continued to flow during the post-match ceremony.
While a junior slam title is no guarantee of future success, two-time champion Victoria Azarenka and semi-finalist Karolina Pliskova are among those on the Melbourne Park honour roll, while Ash Barty, Simona Halep, Iga Swiatek and Caroline Wozniacki won titles at both junior and professional level.
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