The City of McKinney honored native daughter Liv Hovde at a city council meeting last week with a proclamation praising her talent in and passion for tennis following her recent win in the girls’ singles 2022 Wimbledon Championship competition.
The city also proclaimed July 19 to be “2022 Wimbledon Girls’ Champion Liv Hovde Day” in her honor. The council was “honoring her distinguished achievements and enthusiastically encouraging her continued success in the game of tennis and as a remarkable representative of our city,” McKinney Mayor George Fuller said.
“We couldn’t be prouder of your accomplishment,” the mayor told the 16-year-old sports champion. “The whole community has talked about it, and I can’t stop talking about it. So, thank you for being such a great representative of our community and achieving something so incredible.”
When the mayor asked Liv Hovde how she felt as he handed her a framed copy of the proclamation, the new champ said she was somewhat overwhelmed.
“I have no words to explain what I felt winning,” Hovde replied. “It’s just an incredible experience and accomplishment.”
Liv Hovde and her family moved to McKinney when she was 10. Fuller noted her talent and passion for tennis have been supported and influenced by the local tennis community in McKinney and across North Texas.
Michelle Mitchell, Hovde’s mother, thanked Hovde’s coach, Matt Hamlin, and the McKinney community for all their support.
“It’s been a wonderful journey,” she said.
Hovde is currently ranked No. 4 in the International Tennis federation’s World Junior rankings and is the No. 1 class of 2024 high school recruit in the country.
She reached the girls’ Australian open semi-finals and girls’ French Open quarterfinals before she entered the Wimbledon girl’s singles championship as the No. 1 seed, according to the city proclamation. Hovde is currently ranked fourth in the International Tennis Federation’s World Junior rankings and is the country’s top high school recruit for the class of 2024.
In her championship match, Hovde dropped only one set en route to the championship final, then won the girls’ singles championship in straight sets, claiming her first junior grand slam crown.
She is just the second American to win the title at Wimbledon in the past 30 years and only the 14th American girl to claim the trophy, according to McKinney’s proclamation.         Â
