The British teenage trio creating Wimbledon history

BBC News

a day ago

Wimbledon 2025Dates: 30 June-13 July Venue: All England ClubCoverage: Live across BBC TV, radio and online with extensive coverage on BBC iPlayer, Red Button, Connected TVs and mobile app. Full coverage details.
For the first time in Wimbledon history, there will be three British players aged 17 and under in the women's singles draw.Mika Stojsavljevic, Hannah Klugman and Mimi Xu have been rewarded with main-draw wildcards after demonstrating their potential over the past few years.Stojsavljevic, 16, has made the most notable progress, having won the US Open girls' title last year.Last month, Klugman, also 16, became the first Briton in almost 50 years to reach the French Open girls' final.The 17-year-old Xu is ranked just outside the world's top 300 and has already beaten two top-100 opponents on the grass this year.Now, having got their GCSE and A-Level exams out of the way, the trio are focusing on their Wimbledon senior debuts."We've known for a long time that this is a good three-ball on the girls' side," Iain Bates, the LTA's head of women's tennis, told BBC Sport."All three are on different paths to the top of the game. But their progress shows they are a pack of players - that is the most positive sign right now. "Winning and going far in junior Grand Slams is a massive achievement, but having your friends and peers pushing you to go to the next stage is even more important."
Mika Stojsavljevic – 16 - London
Born in west London to a Serb father and Polish mother, 6ft-tall Stojsavljevic is a big server and clean ball-striker with a similar style to childhood idol Maria Sharapova.She became only the third British girl this century to win a Slam title with her US Open victory, and she is the youngest to achieve that feat since Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in 2006.Since then, the English teenager has won the British national title - beating Klugman in the final - and taken further steps on the professional circuit at Queen's and Nottingham.Stojsavljevic's talent has been nurtured at the LTA's National Academy in Loughborough, where she has trained while studying full-time for her GCSEs.At Nottingham, she was taking practice papers before matches and finished her exams during the tournament.
Hannah Klugman – 16 - London
Klugman, who turned 16 in February, has been touted as an exciting prospect for a few years.In 2023, the English player won the prestigious Orange Bowl junior championships in Florida, emulating the likes of Coco Gauff, Chris Evert and Caroline Wozniacki.Unlike Stojsavljevic and Xu, Klugman did not join the LTA's academy and instead opted to stay at home in Wimbledon.She works with coach Ben Haran out of Reed's School - which also nurtured Jack Draper and Tim Henman - and practises at the National Tennis Centre.Spending two months preparing on clay - including time at Rafael Nadal's academy - fuelled her run to the Roland Garros final, but her solidity from the baseline and touch at the net works well on the grass.Klugman has deferred her GCSEs until November to focus on tennis this summer.
Mimi Xu – 17 - Swansea
Xu is the most experienced of the trio at senior level and already ranked 302nd in the world.The Welsh teenager left the national academy last year and now works with Nigel Sears - who coached Emma Raducanu during her Wimbledon fourth-round run in 2021 - and national coach Katie O'Brien.Being invited to November's BJK Cup as a practice partner for the British team also aided her development.Xu earned her career-best win by shocking American top seed Alycia Parks - the world number 52 - on her way to the Birmingham quarter-finals earlier this month.Described as "super intelligent" by British captain Anne Keothavong, Xu has taken A-Levels early in the past two summers, sitting biology exams between her matches in Birmingham and Nottingham this year.
Are they ready for Grand Slam tennis?
Making their senior Grand Slam debuts at Wimbledon is a significant landmark for all three players.They were given spots after a meeting between the LTA and the All England Club to discuss which players merit wildcards.As well as the valuable experience, the trio will earn at least £66,000 in prize money to reinvest in their careers."If you look at their profiles in isolation, you would say all of them are ready for the opportunity to play," said Bates."As I told them all, I hope - and anticipate - they will have many more Wimbledons. "The first one is about showing their level and competing against some of the best in the world."I think this is the right opportunity and the right time for them." Both Stojsavljevic and Xu won open-age titles on the ITF Tour last year, but the top-level experience of all three has been limited by the WTA Tour's age eligibility rules.
Before they turn 16, teenage players are restricted to the number of tournaments they can sign up for and at what level.Once a player becomes 16, the rules allow them to compete in up to 12 tournaments across all levels. That increases again when they turn 17."Success in junior tennis is clearly a strong indicator of long-term potential, but it is no guarantee," added Bates."The challenge for this group of three really is working through each stage of the professional tour, getting the help and support where they can to get opportunities to play up."This year's Wimbledon is part of that process."