Interview: Hannah Klugman

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At just 16 years-old Hannah Klugman has already achieved so much and she has a maturity and perspective beyond her years.

In her relatively short tennis career so far as a junior, she has had tremendous success in events playing against girls much older than her.  At 14, she made history by becoming the first girl from Great Britain to win the prestigious U18 Orange Bowl, which helped her to achieve a career high junior ranking of 6. Her career high women’s WTA ranking was achieved in October 2024 when she reached number 510. In October 2023 she qualified and reached the quarter finals of a W100 ITF tournament in Shrewsbury, becoming the youngest player at 14 years 8 months to qualify for such a high level event, beating top female player Coco Gauff’s previous record .  

As we chatted to her the night before she headed off to Paris to play in the French Open, her connection to SW19 and love of Wimbledon is clear from the outset. “I’ve been very lucky to be brought up in the home of tennis, my family and I have been surrounded and immersed in tennis since I was little,” she says. ” I started playing when I was three at my local tennis club and my parent’s played and my three elder sisters did… not to a really high level, but we were all involved and it was a lot of fun, then it grew and evolved.” 

Hannah was brought up in Wimbledon Village where she was introduced to tennis at the Westside Club, and coached by Alison Taylor, who is the wife of former Wimbledon semi- finalist Roger Taylor, and they remain close friends today. ”Alison had a profound influence on my tennis from the start and then I started training under Ben Haran from the age of nine, and he is still my coach. “  

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For a long time. it wasn’t just tennis that Hannah played, and she was lucky enough to be gifted at lots of different sports. “It came to a point where I was playing both tennis and hockey and I had to make a call between the two. I chose tennis because I love the individual aspect of the sport and the competitiveness of it. I haven’t looked back since.”  

Hannah was at Wimbledon High School from when she was four-years-old and has recently made the tricky decision to leave school and take her learning online. 

Whilst she is delighted to be playing, Hannah is measured and aware of the downside of being a professional tennis player.  “It’s tough juggling the GCSEs, the travel and I’ve now decided to take my GCSEs in November which enabled me to take part in the French Open.” 

“Keeping in touch and seeing friends and getting my school work done… it can be a challenge. But the highs are so high. I love the winning and I love the travel, I get the chance to meet incredible people and get opportunities that are amazing for my age. “ 

Until recently, Hannah has been competing in mainly junior slams, and is now starting to get more opportunities to play in senior grand slams.  “I am getting to an age now, where I am excited to be able to compete at a higher level and I am so ready and looking forward to that.” 

Her excitement and appreciation of the game runs deep and throughout her life she has been inspired by many female players, but a particular favourite of hers was Australian player Ash Barty.  “When I was growing up, I loved watching Ash Barty… she has obviously stopped playing now, but what I loved about her was that her play was so different and amazing to watch.”   

Whilst the travelling has its appeal, Hannah is firmly rooted in Wimbledon and is always pleased to come home.  “I have lived here my whole life and it’s a wonderful place to grow up and live. Tennis is embedded into the town and when you say to people that you are from Wimbledon it feels like it is steeped in prestige, and I am proud of that.” 

Having made the decision to leave school, it feels like a sea change for Hannah and her team and that this is the very beginning of the next stage of her career.  “The next couple of years I want to be in senior slams by myself and to play well in them, and hopefully one day to win one. This is obviously a way away, but it’s something that I aim for. But most importantly I want to keep enjoying my tennis. I have played it all my life and I love it, and I want to keep it that way and keep the spark and joy of tennis going in me.“ 

Last year at Wimbledon, five female players made it into the second round of the tournament for the first time in 37 years and the trajectory of women’s tennis and sport in general in the UK is soaring. Hannah is soaking all of this up.  “The more I am travelling, the more I am spending time around women that are doing amazing things in tennis and sport in general. Women’s sport is coming through and it keeps on getting better and better. 

“I feel so lucky to be able to be part of this. To succeed you have to be hard working, dedicated, passionate and you have to want it. Women are just as dedicated as their male counterparts. It takes a lot of strength and you have to absolutely want to win.”