Hannah Klugman’s stunning run at French Open fell short at the last as the British teenager was beaten by Lilli Tagger in the French Open girls’ singles final.
Klugman became the first British player to make it through to a Junior final at Roland Garros in 49 years but was beaten 6-2 6-0 by the impressive Austrian.
At the age of 14 Klugman made it through to the US Open girls’ quarter-finals and she spoke to the Sky Sports Tennis team at Flushing Meadows…
Klugman has won LTA Junior National titles in Britain and reached the third round of qualifying for Wimbledon last year at the age of 15, and is poised for a major breakthrough.
Tagger, though, performed superbly and was comfortably better than the 16-year-old Brit on the Paris clay – wrapping up victory in emphatic fashion.
Last June, Klugman made headlines by winning two matches at Wimbledon women’s qualifying.
She has been working alongside long-standing coach Ben Haran, as well renowned strength and conditioning coach Jez Green and physio Will Herbert.
Klugman appears to be benefitting from her time practising at the Rafa Nadal Academy in Mallorca this March where she received words of encouragement from the ‘King of Clay’.
“I had three days there, which was amazing, I’m so grateful they gave me that opportunity at Rafa’s. I love Rafa,” Klugman said.
“He said to me, once you have the level, things will come, so trust the hard work, the process. If you’re not having results right now, you have to keep believing.”
Watch the ATP and WTA Tours, as well as the US Open in New York, live on Sky Sports in 2025 or stream with NOW and the Sky Sports app, giving Sky Sports customers access to over 50 per cent more live sport this year at no extra cost. Find out more here.
