Three British teenagers handed Wimbledon wildcards

Telegraph

4 hours ago

Hannah Klugman and Mika Stojsavljevic, a pair of British 16-year-olds with rich potential, have been granted wildcards to play in the main draw of Wimbledon in 10 days' time.
Both these players have reached finals at junior slam level in the last year, with Stojsavljevic winning September's US Open in apparently nerveless style while Klugman finished as runner-up at the recent French Open.
Also on the list is Mingge Xu, who is slightly older at 17, but who claimed a maiden victory at WTA Tour level on Tuesday when she overcame world No 96 Katie Volynets at the Nottingham Open.
These three teenagers have been making waves on the junior circuit for some time. History suggests that it is beneficial to be part of a strong cohort of juniors, so that your contemporaries function as both rivals and sparring partners.
Emma Raducanu is a direct contemporary of fellow top-50 player Sonay Kartal, although two other girls – Holly Fischer and Kylie Bilchev – seemed just as likely to make it for much of the 2010s.
Wimbledon wild cards are a valuable currency, especially now that first-round losers' prize money has climbed to £66,000.
The lists released by the All England Club on Wednesday morning show 14 British names for the main singles draws – seven men and seven women – along with one overseas player: double Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova from the Czech Republic, who is making her return from maternity leave aged 35 and is ranked outside the world's top 500.
The women's list also includes such familiar names as Heather Watson, Jodie Burrage, Harriet Dart and Fran Jones, while former top-30 player Dan Evans – who is due to play Brandon Nakashima on Wednesday at Queen's Club – is the best-known of the male beneficiaries.
Also featured are Jay Clarke, Oliver Crawford, George Loffhagen, Johannus Monday, Jack Pinnington Jones and Henry Searle – the last of these being the 19-year-old who won the Wimbledon boys' championship in 2022.
Who are the three British teenagers making their Wimbledon debuts?
Hannah Klugman (born February 18, 2009)
Klugman, 16, grew up in Wimbledon as part of a well-heeled family and received coaching in her younger years from Alison Taylor, wife of 1973 Wimbledon semi-finalist Roger Taylor. She made the headlines in December 2023 when she won the prestigious Orange Bowl under-18 event in Florida at just 14 years old. No British girl had ever claimed that title before. More recently, she has been coached by the experienced Ben Haran, who also contributed to Jack Draper's development.
Mika Stojsavljevic (born December 15, 2008)
Lives in Acton, west London, and idolises Maria Sharapova. At September's US Open, she became the first British girl to win a junior slam since Laura Robson triumphed at Wimbledon in 2009. The daughter of eastern European parents, her father is a London-born Serb while her mother is from Poland. Like Sharapova, she is a tall player with a big game, while her backhand is a particularly pure strike. While Stojsavljevic, 16, was not as much of a phenomenon in the younger age-groups as Klugman – who developed unusually early – she has come to prominence since turning 14.
Minggee Xu (born October 2, 2007)
Xu s tarted playing tennis as a child in Swansea before moving to the National Tennis Academy in Loughborough. She is coached by fellow Welsh national Matthew James, a former coach of Emma Raducanu. The 17-year-old has an excellent CV at junior level after becoming the youngest player to enter Junior Wimbledon in 2021 before winning the LTA National Championships a year later. She has previously teamed up with Stojsavljevic in doubles, losing in the final of the girls' tournament at Wimbledon last year and won on her WTA main-draw debut in Nottingham this week beating Katie Volynets 6-3, 6-3 in under 90 minutes.