Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Sport
Eleanor Crooks

Mika Stojsavljevic reaches Wimbledon junior semi-finals at the age of 14

PA Wire

Fourteen-year-old Mika Stojsavljevic is among a trio of British juniors to make it through to the Wimbledon quarter-finals.

Stojsavljevic, who is ranked 282nd and making her Wimbledon debut, followed up her second-round victory over fourth seed Lucciana Perez Alarcon by taking out Australian 13th seed Emerson Jones 6-1 7-5.

“I think it went really well, especially in the first set, I felt like I was just cruising, really comfortable out there,” said Stojsavljevic. “It was a bit of a surprise, I thought I’d be a little bit more nervous but I was quite chill.”

Stojsavljevic, a tall, powerful hitter who grew up idolising Maria Sharapova, took confidence into Wimbledon from a close contest against leading American junior Clervie Ngounoue last week.

“I had five match points against number two in the world,” she said. “I know the level I can produce, it’s just if I can produce it at the right time.”

Joining the 14-year-old, who next meets Slovakian fifth seed Renata Jamrichova, in the last eight are 18-year-old Ranah Stoiber and 17-year-old Henry Searle.

Stoiber is in her final year of juniors and is bidding to reach a slam final for the first time having lost in the semi-finals of the Australian Open to breakout star Mirra Andreeva.

She defeated Italian Francesca Pace 6-3 6-4 and will next face Czech Nikola Bartunkova, who saw off Britain’s Mingge Xu 6-3 6-2.

Fourteen-year-old Hannah Klugman, who is widely considered the most exciting young British talent, lost 6-4 6-4 to Japan’s Sayaka Ishii.

Searle was the only British boy to reach the third round in singles and he matched his run to the French Open quarter-finals by defeating France’s Arthur Gea 6-4 6-2.

Searle, from Wolverhampton, took out top seed Juan Carlos Prado Angelo in the first round and will face eighth seed Joao Fonseca for a place in the last four.

It is the first time Britain has had three singles quarter-finalists in the juniors since 2018, which matches the all-time best. The trio all train at the Lawn Tennis Association’s national academy in Loughborough.

Laura Robson is the last British player to win a junior singles title here back in 2008, while Liam Broady and Jack Draper have both lost in finals since then.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.