Hannah Klugman wins prestigious U18 Orange Bowl title
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14-year-old Hannah Klugman made history over the weekend – becoming the first British player to win the prestigious U18 Orange Bowl girls' singles title in Florida.
The young Brit closed out an impressive week by defeating USA’s Tyra Caterina Grant 6-3, 6-3 in the final – having knocked out top seed Laura Samsonova and fourth seed Iva Jovic in the quarter and semi-finals respectively.
Last year, Klugman also finished runner-up in the U14 girl’s event.
The Orange Bowl ranks as one of the biggest international competitions in junior tennis alongside the Grand Slams and previous winners of the girl’s event include Coco Gauff, Bianca Andreescu, Caroline Wozniacki and Chris Evert.
"It's an amazing feeling," said Klugman after lifting the Orange Bowl title. "I played U14s last year and made the final. I was really gutted I didn't get the win, and obviously to get the win at U18s, it's incredible.
"This is still just part of the journey - a little step - but it's nice. I was walking past the poster with all the great players who have won and I saw Coco Gauff. It's good that I can be on that board. It doesn't mean anything in the big picture but hopefully I can make it."
Klugman has been supported by our Men’s & Women’s Programme for a number of years and currently trains at the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton with her coach, Ben Haran.
The trophy in Florida caps off a strong year for Klugman, who recently became the youngest player to qualify for an ITF $100,000 at the LTA Performance Competitions Calendar event in Shrewsbury, where she went on to make the quarter-final.
In 2023 she has also made the quarter-finals of the girl’s singles at the US Open and the final of the girl’s doubles at Wimbledon with Isabelle Lacy.
Recently, she also joined forces with Mingge Xu and Hephzibah Oluwadare to finish third at the Billie Jean King Cup Juniors by Gainbridge Finals.
