WIMBLEDON – It is 16 years since a British woman younger than Hannah Klugman hit a ball in the first round of Wimbledon.
In fact, only Laura Robson (2009) and Annabel Croft (1982) have carried the hopes of the nation at SW19 as 15-year-olds. Klugman, who turned 16 in February, is the third-youngest of the Open era.
It is a dream come true for the Wimbledon High School girl, who had to switch to online learning last year to keep up her education while competing around the world, and delayed her GCSEs until the autumn so she could play in the French Open juniors. It paid off as she became the first British girl for 49 years to reach the final.
Klugman reached the French Open girls’ final, where she lost to Austria’s Lilli Tagger (Photo: Getty)
Klugman lives just over a mile away from the All England Club, but will still take advantage of tournament transport on Monday morning, rather than walking or cycling, to conserve her energy for a formidable first-round tie against Leylah Fernandez, the woman Emma Raducanu defeated in the 2021 US Open final.
But if the world No 573 does give Fernandez a scare, not many insiders of British tennis will be surprised.
“Hannah has been talked about for a long time,” says Katie O’Brien, a former player and now the LTA’s women’s national coach. “She is really skilful, super talented.”
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When tennis players say skilful, they mean something specific, a player who does more than just belt the ball from the baseline until their opponent cannot cope any more.
“I’m a bit different,” Klugman says. “I’m not just someone who hits the ball. I like to do different things; slice, variety. I’ve got a big serve, so that’s gonna help on the grass. And I think I’m a good mover.”
That style is probably why, unusually for a Wimbledonian born and raised, she names an Aussie as her hero. “I used to really love Ash Barty,” Klugman adds. “The way she plays is very different compared to a lot of the women. And she seems really nice.”
So, in fairness, does Klugman. Despite being the youngest player in the draw, she speaks with confidence and poise beyond her years to a room full of journalists desperately resisting the urge to call her “the next Raducanu”, a moniker that would only really be deserved if she upset Fernandez and then won a couple more rounds to boot.
That might just about impress her three older sisters, who in Klugman’s words do not just keep her grounded but “floored”, even when she won the prestigious Orange Bowl Under-18 trophy aged just 14 – although she says they are excited about the prospect of tickets to watch her at Wimbledon.
Advice from Jack Draper
‘Don’t be afraid of the doubts and the fear and the anxiety’ (Photo: Getty)Klugman is lucky to have so many willing mentors, perhaps a sign of a tennis community keen to make sure her obvious talent is not wasted. Will Herbert is her fitness coach, the man Raducanu called her “mechanic” during her US Open triumph, and who has worked with a whole host of top players.
“It’s nice to have someone who’s been through it all,” says Klugman, whose main coach Ben Haran has worked with her since she was nine years old. “He spoke to me about it [and said that] nothing changes after a Wimbledon wildcard. No matter how you do, nothing changes. I mean, unless you win it! But no, you’re still Hannah and you’re still back to juniors. You’re back to working hard.”
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Herbert is not the only one with sage advice for one of Britain’s brightest young hopes. Jack Draper, the men’s No 1, took her out for lunch last year during a rough patch, at Haran’s request, and offered his own perspective, a valuable one given he too was talent-spotted by the LTA from a young age.
“My message to her was that, everyone’s on their own journeys,” Draper says.
“Regardless if you look at a top player, or if you look at someone who’s doing incredibly well, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they’ve got it all figured out and they’re not in a state of struggle themselves, they just know how to deal with it better.
“So don’t be afraid of the doubts and the fear and the anxiety and the struggles that come with the tennis world.
“Because even though you’re feeling like it’s too hard to manage now, it just takes time to understand it, to understand yourself better. And in time, that will come together and it will help you, so it’s a strength, not a weakness.”
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