She is just 16 years old and has already earned a major achievement in her young career.
Liv Hovde, of McKinney, is the 2022 Wimbledon Girls' Singles winner. She's only the second American girl to do that in 30 years, and just the 14th American in history to bring home the title.
With the win, Hovde also earned her first junior grand slam.
“There were just absolutely no words to describe what I was feeling,” Hovde said. “It was just incredible and it’s still, like, hard to believe that that dream came true.”
Get DFW local news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC DFW newsletters.
Hovde picked up her first racket at age five in Minnesota. She moved to McKinney at age 10 and says she's played on every court in town.
“They've supported me so much,” Hovde said.
A year ago, Hovde's junior ranking was 173 in the world. Now, she's ranked fourth and was the number one seed heading into Wimbledon.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
“I just think I’ve had more competitiveness and I’ve traveled more abroad lately,” she said.
She's brought home a lot of honors over the past year. Tuesday, she brought home one more.
“We could not be prouder,” said McKinney Mayor George Fuller.
Alongside her proud parents and brother, McKinney's city council presented Hovde with a proclamation declaring July 19, "2022 Wimbledon Girls Champion Liv Hovde Day."
“I'm just super honored to even be getting an award in my hometown,” Hovde said.
Hovde says a highlight of her win was getting the chance to meet Novak Djokovic, the top men’s player in the world.
She plans to play at the U.S. Open later this summer.
