Hannah Klugman, 14, had broken Coco Gauff's record in becoming the youngest player to qualify for a W100 tournament; she then matched Gauff's feat with a run to the quarter-finals before becoming unstuck against world No 46, and second seed, Oceane Dodin, losing 7-5 3-6 6-2
Friday 20 October 2023 17:53, UK
Teenager Hannah Klugman's record run at the W100 Shrewsbury was ended in the quarter-finals, with the 14-year-old Brit defeated 7-5 3-6 6-2 by world No 46, and second seed, Oceane Dodin.
It was another remarkable effort by the future star, who defeated British No 5 Lily Miyazaki in the previous round, as she took Dodin all the way to a decider.
The Frenchwoman eventually won out, letting out an enormous shriek in celebration when earning a crucial break in the sixth game of the third set, before breaking Klugman again to close out the match.
Klugman became the youngest player to qualify for a W100 tournament on the ITF Tour in Shrewsbury, bettering the record of reigning US Open women's singles champion Coco Gauff, who was the previous youngest when reaching the quarter-finals at W100 Charleston aged 15 in 2019.
Klugman then matched Gauff's effort in reaching the quarter-final stage of her inaugural W100 event with her shock win over Miyazaki, and she came flying out of the blocks here to secure a 5-1 advantage in the first set.
Any thoughts of the 14-year-old schoolgirl, coached by Ben Haran at Reed's Schoo in Cobham, breezing through to the semis were swiftly extinguished, however, as she dropped the next six games to lose the opening set.
Klugman, in another nod to her resilience and mental fortitude at such a young age, recovered instantly to win the opening game of the second set before again gaining a break over her opponent.
She would go on to force a decider in stunning fashion by clinching the second set 6-3 with a service game entirely made up of aces.
Eventually, 26-year-old Dodin's experience told as she ground down her younger opponent in the third set, claiming the longer rallies and forcing the teenager to constantly battle to hold serve before the pressure ultimately told.
Speaking at the US Open earlier this year, Klugman said: "I still go to Wimbledon High School, I want to stay there as long as I can, it's nice to have friends outside tennis.
"It's getting quite tough now but I will try and stay as long as possible. I take my computer away with me and stay in touch with my teachers.
"I want to get my GCSEs at school for sure but that's so far ahead. I don't really want to go on to college but we will see how it goes, for now I want to go professional."
In Friday's other matches, another home hope Amarni Banks caused an upset by defeating Swiss eighth seed Simona Waltert, coming back to win 2-6 6-3 6-2. Fellow Brit Francesca Jones' tournament is done, however, after having to retire hurt when trailing 4-3 in the first set to Switzerland's Viktorija Golubic, the top seed.
