Aside from the remarkable career of Andy Murray and Emma Raducanu’s stunning victory at the US Open in 2022, emerging from qualifying to win the title, British tennis has largely been absent from the international stage in recent years. However, recent successes in the younger age groups offer a glimpse into a future that could be bright for the nation that invented the sport. Here’s a look at these young talents.
Jack Draper: The Confirmation?
Long considered a major prospect in tennis, alongside talents like Sinner, Alcaraz, and Rune, the towering left-hander at 1.93m might have finally achieved the breakthrough performance that will launch his career to the highest levels. He claimed his first career ATP title at the Stuttgart tournament in June. Since then, the 2024 US Open has helped introduce him to a wider audience. In one of the four Grand Slam tournaments, Jack Draper reached the semifinals, where he was beaten by Jannik Sinner, the eventual champion (7-5, 7-6 [7-3], 6-2). Throughout his previous matches, he didn’t drop a set, knocking out Botic Van de Zandschulp (who had beaten Carlos Alcaraz), Tomas Machac, and Australia’s Alex De Minaur, the world number 10 at the time. Often hindered by injuries and inconsistency, the 2024 season could be the one that sees him take the final step toward joining the world’s best.
Junior Success Stories
Last year, Henry Searle became the first Briton to win the Wimbledon Junior tournament since Stanley Matthews (the son of the first Ballon d’Or winner), who won the title in 1962. During the tournament, he didn’t lose a single set, notably thanks to a powerful serve that reached 215 km/h in the final. Shortly after his triumph, he made the decision to turn professional at the age of 17. Since then, he’s enjoyed several notable achievements, such as his victory earlier this year against world number 39, JJ Wolf, in February 2023, and his first-round showing at Wimbledon 2024, where he won the first set 6-3 against world number 37 Marcos Giron, before losing 3-6, 4-6, 4-6.
More recently, during the US Open juniors, 15-year-old British talent Mika Stojsavljevic followed in Henry Searle’s footsteps. Born in West London to a Serbian father and a Polish mother, both nations with strong tennis legacies, represented by Novak Djokovic and Iga Swiatek, Mika achieved an incredible feat. One of the youngest competitors in the tournament, she was not among the top 16 seeds. Yet, this didn’t stop her from defeating world number 1 seed, Australia’s Emerson Jones, 7-5, 6-4, in the third round. Jones had been a finalist at both the Australian Open and Wimbledon earlier this year. Mika then eliminated two American players consecutively to reach the final, where she claimed a 6-4, 6-4 victory over 7th seed Wakana Sonobe. With her idol being Russian Maria Sharapova, a five-time Grand Slam champion, Mika shares a common trait with Sharapova, standing tall at 1.82m, just 6cm shorter than Sharapova’s 1.88m. This British victory at the US Open marks the first since 2009 when Heather Watson triumphed, though Watson’s career has not fully lived up to expectations, with a current world ranking of 191st and a career-high of 38th in 2015.
Surprise Semifinalists
Mingge Xu knows Mika Stojsavljevic well, as the pair reached the final of the Wimbledon girls’ doubles, only to lose in a super tiebreak to the American duo of Tyra Grant and Iva Jovic. Since then, Swansea-born Mingge has also made a deep run at the 2024 US Open, reaching the semifinals before being eliminated by Wakana Sonobe, preventing a full British final.
In the boys’ draw, Charlie Robertson also advanced to the brink of the final, where he was defeated by the number 1 seed, Nicolai Kjaer. Before that, the Andy Murray fan had the chance to train with the three-time Grand Slam winner before Murray’s retirement.
Klugman and Ceban: Young Champions with Star Potential?
At just 15 years old, Hannah Klugman is perhaps the most talented of them all. After reaching the final of the prestigious 2022 Les Petits As, a highly regarded junior tournament, she made history the following year. In 2023, she became the first Briton to win the prestigious Orange Bowl U18 title, doing so at the age of 14. This tournament is one of the most important in junior tennis and has crowned future professionals such as Coco Gauff and Bianca Andreescu. Last October, she broke Coco Gauff’s record as the youngest player to qualify for a $100,000 tournament. This year, after receiving a wildcard for Wimbledon’s senior qualifications, she almost pulled off a major upset, winning her first two rounds before falling 6-3, 6-3 in the final qualifying round. Though she didn’t make it to the main draw, it seems almost certain that we will see her at the All England Club soon given her immense talent.
On the boys’ side, Mark Ceban, the current likely top European under 15, has enjoyed a stellar career so far. Born in London to Moldovan parents, he won the 2023 Les Petits As tournament with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Frenchman Daniel Jade. That same year, he triumphed at the U14 Wimbledon tournament, defeating Brazilian Luis Queiroz Miguel in the semifinals and Slovenian Svit Suljic in the final.
Both multiple national champions in various junior age categories, Hannah Klugman and Mark Ceban are likely to become major names in European tennis in the years to come, thanks to their current performances and their very young age.
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