Wimbledon 2019: Shintaro Mochizuki becomes first Japanese player to win boy's Grand Slam title

London: Shintaro Mochizuki made history on Sunday becoming the first Japanese player to win a boy’s Grand Slam title, beating Carlos Gimeno Valero of Spain 6-3, 6-2 in the Wimbledon final. The 16-year-old, who was playing just his third grass court tournament, follows 1969 girls singles title winner Kazuko Sawamatsu in triumphing at the grass court Grand Slam. [caption id=“attachment_6992501” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Shintaro Mochizuki defeated Carlos Gimeno Valero 6-3, 6-2 in the Wimbledon final. AP[/caption] Mochizuki said he had learned a lot from his compatriot, 2014 US Open finalist Kei Nishikori. “He’s really nice,” said Mochizuki. “He gives me a lot of advice. “Like sometimes I practice with him. I learn from him a lot. Yeah, he’s smart.” Nishikori, nine times a Grand Slam quarter-finalist, took to Twitter almost immediately to fete his compatriot. “Huge congrats to @ShintaroMOCHIZU! Such an amazing tournament,” tweeted the Japanese star, adding a thumbs up icon, a flexed bicep icon and several Japanese flags. However, it is not 29-year-old Nishikori who is his idol. “Roger Federer, I love watching him on TV, yeah,” he said.

First Japanese player to win a Grand Slam boys’ singles title 🇯🇵

It’s a #Wimbledon to remember for Shintaro Mochizuki, who defeats Carlos Gimeno Valero 6-3, 6-2 in the final pic.twitter.com/4PTlGQ5lCR

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 14, 2019

“I don’t want to copy him, but I love watching him.” Mochizuki said he had been mindful of his implosion at the French Open when he led 5-2 in his semi-final only to lose. He said the pivotal moment had been when he was a set up but break points down early in the second set and managed to hold. “In the first set, I got broken twice,” he said. “I wanted to hold my service game a lot. It was good. I played really tough. “He had some break points, but I just tried my best to hold my service game. “Yes, it was really important game for me.”

Huge congrats to @ShintaroMOCHIZU! Such an amazing tournament 💪👍🇯🇵🇯🇵🇯🇵🇯🇵🇯🇵🇯🇵🇯🇵. Amazing to see the continued success of Mr. Morita’s vision! https://t.co/isXtIMuTK4

— Kei Nishikori (@keinishikori) July 14, 2019

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Mochizuki admitted not being used to playing in front of so many people on Court One had made him reluctant to perform in front of them. “I’m shy, so I was like, Why do I have to do that?” he said. “But it was fun. It’s so many people were there. I was a little bit nervous.” However, once out there he rather enjoyed playing to his audience, with one jump smash being a special crowd pleaser. “It was a big chance to do that, so I just did it for fun,” he said. “It was easy ball. I just wanted to make people have fun watching me.”