Ashley Harkleroad became the first American to win a share of the Wimbledon girls’ doubles title in 10 years, defeating fellow American Bethanie Mattek in the final on Court 3 at the All England Lawn Tennis Club Monday.

Seeded third, Harkleroad, a Tennessee native who now lives and trains in Wesley Chapel, Fla., and Gisela Dulko of Argentina beat the unseeded team of Mattek, a Wisconsin native who now resides in Boca Raton, Fla., and Christina Horiatopoulos of Australia. Rain delays over the weekend forced The Championships to be extended an extra day.

Harkleroad, 16, is the first American to claim the girls’ doubles title at Wimbledon since Pam Nelson and Julie Steven won the event in 1992 and the first U.S. player to win a Grand Slam girls’ doubles title since Marissa Irvin and Alexandra Stevenson won the 1997 US Open.

"I wanted to win the singles title, but I didn’t play great," said Harkleroad, the No. 1 seed in singles who was upset in the third round. "I’m excited to be in my first Grand Slam final. Singles. Doubles. Either way."

Mattek and Harkleroad went undefeated together in five doubles matches during the United States’ title run at the 2000 ITF Connolly Continental Cup, the junior version of Fed Cup. Different priorities and schedules kept the two players from competing together during the year, but the they have requested a wild-card entry into the 2001 US Open women’s doubles together.

"I don’t play much doubles," explains Harkleroad. "I usually focus on singles and pretty much just play doubles at the Grand Slams. Bethanie is a great doubles player and plays doubles whenever she enters a tournament. We hope to play the US Open together in four to five weeks."

Harkleroad is currently ranked No. 4 in the ITF World Junior rankings after capturing singles titles at the Astrid Bowl and Asuncion Bowl, two major junior international championships. She also reached the semifinals in singles at the 2001 Australian and French Open Junior Championships.

Mattek, who has been ranked as high as No. 5 in the ITF World Junior doubles rankings, won the doubles title at the Astrid Bowl in Belgium with Horiatopoulos. She has two other junior doubles titles on her resume, including the 1999 Orange Bowl, which she won at the age of 14.

In fact it was Harkleroad who is responsible for pairing her opponents in today’s final. She suggested the two play together at the Astrid Bowl since Harkleroad wanted to concentrate on singles. Harkleroad watched Horiatopoulos claim the doubles title at the Asuncion Bowl and thought she’d fair well with Mattek.

Wimbledon is the first event that Harkleroad and Dulko have played together. A mutual friend from Paraguay paired the duo. They played against each other in the quarterfinals of the 2000 US Open girls’ doubles when Dulko and compatriot Maria Salerni defeated Harkleroad and Meagan Bradley en route to the title. The two have been pretty much inseparable during The Championships.