On Wednesday, 15-year Hannah Klugman was among the 32 women making it into the 3rd round of Qualifying for Wimbledon’s main draw, alongside fellow Britons Sonay Kartal and Armani Banks.
I can’t even describe it, this is just amazing. I’m feeling really positive, and happy with the win. Since I’ve been playing tennis, since I was three or four years old, being at the Grand Slams and playing on the main stages is what I’ve always dreamt of so that would mean the world to me.” Armani Banks
Klugman is competing in her 10th professional tournament this week, and is already ranked No 623 in the world, the highest-placed player born in 2009.
Having defeated Petra Marcinko in the 1st-round, Klugman pulled off a remarkable 6-2 0-6 6-4 upset win over Linda Fruhvirtova, the Czech No 28 seed, to come within one match from a place in the main draw.
“I’m speechless,” said Klugman. “To get the win was really good, it was very emotional.”
It is her first win over a player ranked inside the Top 100, and she produced 33 winners to Fruhvirtova’s 18, using her clean power to bounce back from a one-sided bagel in the second set.
A bathroom break helped the teenager reset, and the support of home fans re-energised her in the decider as she fought back to overhaul the 19-year old Czech, who is ranked 376 places above her.
“If you dwell on it, you don’t have much chance in the third set,” Klugman said.”The crowd got me going, and I just stuck in it and fought.”
Klugman, who competed in the juniors at Wimbledon last year, won the prestigious Orange Bowl title in Florida, aged 14, in December.
AELTC/Jon Super
Meanwhile, 22-year old Sonay Kartal will face Russia’s Erika Andreeva after defeating China’s Wei Sijia, 6-4 4-6 6-1.
The Brit was on the cusp of leading by a set and a break in the second, but missed her chance to move ahead as she lost 2 break points, which buoyed Wei to level the match at 1-1.
Kartal’s first serve percentage then rose above the 80% mark in the decider to help her march comfortably into the next round.
AELTC/Jon Super
Armani Banks, who is 21, also pulled off an upset, beating the American 26th seed, Kayla Day, 7-6(6) 6-3, winning over 90% of her service games to seal a convincing victory, and she next meets Canadian Marina Stakusic.
“I can’t even describe it, this is just amazing,” said Banks. “I’m feeling really positive, and happy with the win.
“Since I’ve been playing tennis, since I was three or four years old, being at the Grand Slams and playing on the main stages is what I’ve always dreamt of so that would mean the world to me.”
AELTC/Jon Super
19-year old Robin Montgomery made it to her first match to go to 3 tiebreaks, defeating No 10 seed Kamilla Rakhimova from Russia, 7-6(0) 6-7(4) 7-6[4], to advance to the final round.
Neither player dropped serve, and Montgomery slammed down 20 aces in total.
“When the set goes 6-6, I relax,” Montgomery said after her 3-hour, 1-minute win. “I’ve had so much experience playing them – we’d practice first to 7, first to 10, first to 15, first to 21. So I think, here we go – practice time!”
Montgomery will next face Valentina Ryser from Switzerland for a place in her first Wimbledon main draw.
Another American, Amanda Anisimova, was one of several players who pulled off remarkable come-backs, overturning a 0-4 second-set deficit to upset No 4 seed and compatriot Hailey Baptiste, 6-7(3) 7-5 6-1.
Elsewhere, Alexandra Eala from the Philippines saved 8 match points en route to upsetting No 14 seed Tamara Zidansek of Slovenia, 1-6 7-6(9) 6-3, while Romania’s Anca Todoni came from 0-3 down in the decider to up-end the Australian No 32 seed, Kimberly Birrell, 6-7(2) 7-5 6-4.
Playing just the 4th event of her come-back from a 2-year injury hiatus, Zarina Diyas from Kazakhstan came from 2-5 down in the third set to edge No 29 seed Sachia Vickery from the USA, 3-6 7-5 7-5.
No 23 seed Lulu Sun of New Zealand narrowly avoided being on the wrong side of a similar come-back after leading 5-1 in the deciding set against the Czech, Gabriela Knutson, only to lose 5 straight games to trail 5-6.
Sun had to save one match point in that game before coming through, 4-6 6-4 7-6[6].
