LONDON : Thailand's Noppawan Lertcheewakarn won the Wimbledon girls' singles title on Saturday when she defeated French top seed Kristina Mladenovic 3-6, 6-3, 6-1.

The 17-year-old from Chiang Mai had finished runner-up to Britain's Laura Robson in the 2008 final, but she went one better this time round recovering from a set down to beat the French Open champion.

It was Noppawan's first major title.

The Thai player finished 2008 as the world number one and began her Grand Slam year with a semi-final placing at the Australian Open before a disappointing second round exit at Roland Garros.

Noppawan was overpowered in the first set with the French 16-year-old sending down serves of up to 122mph.

Mladenovic fired down five aces and 15 winners with two breaks in the opening set. In contrast, the Thai girl was serving around 85mph.

But she is regarded as one of the best returners in the junior game and slowly she clawed her way back into the final and levelled the tie as her first set percentage also rose.

Mladenovic's backhand then began to falter and she slipped to a 4-0 deficit in the decider before her afternoon got worse when the trainer was required to treat a knee injury.

Noppawan then celebrated victory after an hour and 43 minutes of Court One action.

- AFP /ls