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Sky News
7 hours ago
- Sport
- Sky News
Meet the three British teenagers handed Wimbledon wildcards
It's every young tennis player's dream to be good enough to one day play in the Wimbledon main draw against the best in the world. For three British teenagers, that's exactly what's about to happen. Hannah Klugman and Mika Stojsavljevic, both 16, and 17-year-old Mimi Xu have all been rewarded for their exceptional results with Wimbledon wildcards. Essential guide to Wimbledon 2025 Xu is going to have the full-blown Wimbledon experience. She's drawn just about the most high-profile match of the first round, an all-British encounter against Emma Raducanu. 1:26 Big court, big crowds - it couldn't really have been any bigger in terms of profile, but it seems she was the last to know. "I was moving to my Airbnb this morning and I got a text from my coach saying it's a great draw... and everyone was texting my mum... and I'm like 'who am I playing... what's going on?' And eventually I get to know it's Emma Raducanu." Xu, from Swansea, has already left junior tennis behind and has started playing on the main tour with some good results, including wins over top 100 players. She says she's confident in her game, has practised with Emma a few times and is just going to try to "embrace every moment". "It doesn't come around very often, this won't happen a lot in my lifetime, so I'm just ready to go out and enjoy it... enjoy every moment. I'll probably get the full 10 years of Wimbledon experience in one day, so yeah... I'm ready for it!" Klugman, who is a local and lives walking distance from the All England Club, will still contest the girls' title this year and has just reached the final of the French Open Juniors. Still, it's a massive step up to play in the main draw and she's been taking advice from someone who knows a fair bit about playing with the pressure of being a Brit at Wimbledon. "Tim Henman spoke to me and basically said: 'What is the worst that can happen? You lose, that's literally it... just enjoy it'. It's not going to change me, it's just a little stepping stone." Klugman has drawn Canada's Leylah Fernandez, the 29th seed, who lost in the final of the US Open to Emma Raducanu. She has been a hitting partner for her before, but there will be nerves. "Obviously, I'd be lying if I said I didn't have some nerves, but I think you know I embrace it, I love these opportunities, I love the pressure. No matter what happens... I'm going to go for it!" Mika Stojsavljevic, from Ealing in west London, is the reigning US Open Girls' champion. She will also play the junior event here, but is excited to take her place in her home grand slam. For these teenagers, it's like a free hit. They're not expected to win, but they are expected to soak up the experience. And for their parents, it's also special. "I remember FaceTiming my mum after I found out [about the wildcard], she just couldn't believe it. She just said, no you didn't... and I said 'yeah, I did' - really excited." She will be up against the 31st seed, Ashlyn Krueger, and she's ready for it. "I love playing personally on bigger courts at bigger occasions, I think it makes me rise to the challenge and play even better. So hopefully that will be the case here as well." There are 23 British players lining up at Wimbledon this year, and these three junior stars have brought down the average age as well as making a little bit of British tennis history.
The Independent
19-06-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
Who are the Wimbledon wildcards? Meet the 14 British hopefuls handed SW19 opportunity
With the grass-court season in full swing and Wimbledon looming on the horizon, the tournament has released its allocation of wildcards, rewarding a raft of home-grown talent with the chance to compete in SW19. Several British players are ranked highly enough to earn direct access into the main draw, including world No 6 Jack Draper, Cameron Norrie, Billy Harris, and Jacob Fearnley on the men's side, and Katie Boulter, Emma Raducanu, and Sonay Kartal on the women's. Five all-British men's pair and seven all-British women's pairs have been granted wildcards to compete in doubles, while yet more Brits have been awarded wildcards into the qualifying draw for singles, where they must win three /sport/tennis/ matches to progress into the main draw. In total 14 British players have been handed wildcards directly into the main draw at SW19, from household names - including some veterans - to promising youngsters. Men's main draw wildcards On the men's side, all but one of the main draw wildcards have been allocated, with the final one to be announced in due course. Jay Clarke 26-year-old Jay Clarke largely competes on the ITF circuit and has won twelve Futures titles and four Challenger titles. Ten years ago he was the top-ranked British junior, before turning professional in 2016. He made his Wimbledon singles main draw debut in 2018, falling the first round, but partnered Harriet Dart in mixed doubles with the pair reaching the semi-finals. He memorably received a wildcard for Wimbledon doubles alongside Marcus Willis in 2017, when the pair beat the defending champions and second seeds, Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert, in the second round in a five-set thriller. Oliver Crawford South Carolina-born Oliver Crawford previously represented the US before switching to represent the UK, the home country of his parents, in 2024. Having cut his teeth playing tennis on the American college circuit for the University of Florida, Crawford turned professional in 2020. This Wimbledon will be his grand slam singles' main draw debut, after he made his maiden appearance at a grand slam last year, partnering Kyle Edmund in doubles. The pair lost in straight sets in the first round. Dan Evans Fresh off beating Frances Tiafoe at Queen's on Monday, his best win by ranking in nearly two years, Dan Evans will enter his 10th Wimbledon this summer after being awarded a wildcard. A former world No 21, the 35-year-old has been a stalwart of British tennis - particularly the Davis Cup team - since making his debut as a professional in 2006. He has reached the third round of Wimbledon three times, most recently in 2021, with his best grand slam result coming at the Australian Open in 2017, when he reached the fourth round. George Loffhagen 24-year-old George Loffhagen is a former doubles partner of Jack Draper, partnering the British No 1 in boys' doubles at Wimbledon and the US Open in 2017, and reaching the third round in junior singles at both slams. He has won seven ITF singles' titles, most recently an M25 on hard courts in Nottingham this April, and achieved his maiden ATP Challenger victory in Nottingham too, this time on the grass in 2023 when he beat 150th-ranked Otto Virtanen. He made the quarter-finals that year with a win over Shang Juncheng. The Londoner was awarded a Wimbledon wildcard in 2023, when he lost to Holger Rune in the first round. Johannus Monday Johannus Monday is another British player to tread the path of American college tennis, studying political science at the University of Tennessee on a tennis scholarship, and becoming the number one ranked NCAA player. He has experience on grass, winning the men's doubles title at Nottingham in 2023 alongside Jacob Fearnley, his maiden ATP Challenger title, and reached the second round at Wimbledon with the Scot after the pair were awarded a wildcard. The 23-year-old from Hull won four straight ITF M25 titles at the end of 2024 and start of 2025, in Louisville, Norman, Harlingen and Sunderland, and added another to his haul in Bakersfield this March. He has a 100% winning record in finals at that level. Jack Pinnington Jones 22-year-old Jack Pinnington Jones is another former British junior number one. He reached the quarter-finals on the Wimbledon grass in the 2023 boys' singles tournament, and made his senior major debut in the men's doubles alongside Jacob Fearnley last year. Another player to go down the American college route, he has spent the last few years competing for Texas Christian University, the alma mater of Cameron Norrie. In Nottingham last summer he came through qualifying to make the quarter-finals, knocking out Norrie in an early upset, so he has some form on the grass. He carried that into this season, reaching a maiden ATP Challenger final at Ilkley last week , losing to Tristan Schoolkate. Henry Searle Wolverhampton teenager Henry Searle became the first British player to win the junior title at Wimbledon in 61 years with his victory in 2023. He beat the likes of talented Brazilian Joao Fonseca to become boys' singles champion, and was granted a main-draw wildcard last year as a result of that performance, but lost in the first round to Marcus Giron. The 19-year-old reached his first final on the ATP Challenger circuit this January in Nottingham, where he lost to Viktor Durasovic in straight sets. His main weapon is an enormous serve - one recorded in the Wimbledon boys' final was 134mph - and Dan Evans, who has partnered him in doubles in Queen's this week, said, 'He's got a big future, and if he stays fit, which isn't going to be easy, that body, that build and stuff, he's got to be a hell of a force on this surface, especially.' Women's main draw wildcards All eight of the women's main draw wildcards have been announced, with British hopefuls both established and up-and-coming taking seven of the eight spots. The remaining one has gone to Petra Kvitova, who won her two grand slam titles at Wimbledon, in 2011 and 2014. The Czech player, a former world No 2, has been on the comeback trail this year after taking time off to have her son, Petr, in July last year. Jodie Burrage Jodie Burrage has been ranked as highly as 85th but has slipped down the rankings as a result of a torrid spell with injuries, requiring wrist surgery last year and then rupturing an ankle ligament, which meant she missed six months of the season. The Londoner has won one WTA Tour doubles title - the Transylvania Open two years ago, alongside Jil Teichmann - and seven on the ITF circuit, along with six singles ITF titles. Her best result in grand slams has been three second-round appearances, at Wimbledon and the US Open in 2023, and at the Australian Open this January. Grass is her favourite surface; she reached the Nottingham final in 2023, losing to close friend Katie Boulter, who went on to defend her title last year. She lost in the first round at Queen's to eventual finalist Amanda Anisimova. Harriet Dart Harriet Dart is the current British No 4, ranked 118th in the world, and one of the relative veterans to receive a Wimbledon wildcard. Her best result at a grand slam is reaching the third round, which she did at Wimbledon in 2019 and 2024; last year she defeated Katie Boulter in a dramatic, topsy-turvy second-round encounter. She is also a doubles player, partnering Olivia Nicholls as GB's first-choice doubles pairing at the Billie Jean King Cup. The Londoner partnered Maia Lumsden at Ilkley last week, reaching the semi-finals; she also reached the mixed doubles final at Wimbledon in 2021, alongside Joe Salisbury. Francesca Jones 132nd-ranked Fran Jones is the British No 5. She has a rare genetic condition, ectrodactyly ectodermal dysplasia (EED), which often affects the digits. The 24-year-old has three fingers and a thumb on each hand and seven toes, and has been through multiple surgeries. The Bradford-born player has had to adapt her game as a result of the condition, including by using a lighter racquet, and moving differently around the court to maintain her balance. Throughout her life she was repeatedly told a professional tennis career would not be possible, but she has continually proven her doubters wrong, winning nine ITF titles to date. 'The way I see it is that I am just playing the game with a different set of cards,' she has said. She reached her first WTA final in 2023 in Bogota, Colombia, and her first WTA 125 final at the San Luis Open last year. Hannah Klugman 16-year-old Hannah Klugman, who grew up in Wimbledon, made her name by winning the prestigious Orange Bowl junior tournament aged 14. (Previous winners include Caroline Wozniacki, Sofia Kenin, Coco Gauff, John McEnroe, and Roger Federer.) She reached the French Open girls' singles final last month, the first British player to reach a junior final at Roland-Garros in nearly 50 years, but lost to Lilli Tagger. Wimbledon will mark her senior grand slam main draw debut, after she fell at the final hurdle in qualifying last year. Klugman made her WTA Tour debut earlier this week in Nottingham, where she was beaten 6-2, 6-2 by Yulia Putintseva. Mika Stojsavljevic 16-year-old Mika Stojsavljevic is a hugely talented junior who won the US Open girls' title last year, becoming the first British player to do so since Heather Watson won in 2009, and will make her grand slam senior debut this summer. She reached the quarter-finals of the girls' tournament at Wimbledon two years ago, losing to British rival Hannah Klugman, and the final of the girls' doubles last year, partnering Mimi Xu. The pair lost to Tyra Grant and Iva Jovic of the US on a championship tie-break. Klugman and Stojsavljevic have received a doubles wildcard for SW19 as well. Heather Watson Guernsey-born Heather Watson was once ranked inside the top 40 but is now 147th in the world and the British No 6. A former junior US Open winner, Watson won the mixed doubles title at Wimbledon in 2016 alongside Henri Kontinen, becoming the first British woman to win a major title of any kind since Jo Durie in 1991. Her best result at a grand slam in singles was a fourth-round appearance at Wimbledon in 2022, when she lost to Jule Niemeier. She had a promising start to her grass-court season this summer, coming through qualifying at Queen's and beating Yulia Putintseva in the main draw, before losing to former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina in the second round. Mingge (Mimi) Xu 17-year-old Mimi Xu is one of Britain's most exciting young prospects. The Swansea junior is up to a career-high ranking of world No 350 and is close to breaking into the top 300 after beating two top-100 players on grass this month: 52nd-ranked Alycia Parks in Birmingham, where Xu reached the quarter-finals, and 96th-ranked Katie Volynets, who she beat on her WTA Tour main-draw debut, at the Nottingham Open. Competing alongside Mika Stojsavljevic Xu reached the girls' doubles final at Wimbledon last year, and the semi-finals of the US Open girls' singles, which was ultimately won by Stojsavljevic.
Telegraph
18-06-2025
- Sport
- Telegraph
Three British teenagers handed Wimbledon wildcards
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.
New York Times
18-06-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Wimbledon wild cards: Two-time champion Petra Kvitova joined by British players
Two-time champion Petra Kvitová is the only non-British player awarded a main-draw wild card for this year's Wimbledon. Wild cards are awarded to players who are not ranked high enough for automatic entry, and Kvitová, the 2011 and 2014 champion, is currently ranked No. 572 after returning to the WTA Tour this year following the birth of her first child. Advertisement All the other singles wild cards in the men's and women's draws have gone to home players. Youngsters Hannah Klugman, Mingge Xu and Mika Stojsavljevic are the standout choices on the women's side: Klugman reached the junior Roland Garros final earlier this month, while the big-serving Stojsavljevic won the girls' singles title at last year's U.S. Open. Xu, who is a year older than both at 17, beat American world No. 96 Katie Volynets at the Nottingham Open Tuesday, to record her first WTA Tour victory. Heather Watson, who a decade ago came within two points of defeating Serena Williams in the third round, is another recipient. On the men's side, there is still one wild card to be awarded, but the seven so far include former world No. 21 Dan Evans, American college graduates Jack Pinnington Jones and Johannus Monday, and 19-year-old former junior champion Henry Searle. Unlike the other Grand Slams, Wimbledon does not engage in reciprocal wild cards with its fellow majors. But as is tradition, the most recent junior champions, Nicolai Budkov Kjær of Norway, and Slovakia's Renáta Jamrichová, have been given wild cards for the men's and women's qualifying draws. There will also be a couple of qualifying spots in each draw for the winners of the Wimbledon wild card play-off, which is open to British players and takes place Thurs. June 19 and Fri. June 20. Wimbledon qualifying starts on Monday June 23, with the main draw getting under away a week later on Monday June 30. Goran Ivanišević, the 2001 champion, is the sole wild card to have ever won a singles title.
The Independent
18-06-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
The three British teenagers to star at Wimbledon
Hannah Klugman, Mimi Xu, and Mika Stojsavljevic will debut at Wimbledon after being awarded main-draw wild cards. Klugman and Stojsavljevic, both 16, and 17-year-old Xu are considered promising British players. Heather Watson, Harriet Dart, Jodie Burrage, and Fran Jones will also join the main draw. Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova has received a wild card after returning to the sport following the birth of her son. Seven British men, including Dan Evans, Jack Pinnington Jones, Johannus Monday, Henry Searle, Jay Clarke, Oliver Crawford, and George Loffhagen, have been granted wild cards into the main draw.
