Sixteen-year-old British tennis sensation Hannah Klugman became emotional after her defeat in the French Open junior final, stating she felt “broken mentally and physically”.
Regarded as one of Britain`s promising young talents, Klugman was decisively defeated 6-2, 6-0 in just 77 minutes by Austria`s Lilli Tagger in the girls` singles championship match.
The 16-year-old Klugman appeared to struggle with the windy conditions on Court Simonne-Mathieu.
The young player, a schoolgirl from Kingston-upon-Thames, was aiming to be the first British winner of the Roland Garros junior title since Michelle Tyler in 1976.
Wiping away tears during the presentation, she addressed her opponent: “I want to start off by saying congratulations to Lilli. Honestly, you deserve it so much.”
“You broke me mentally and physically today,” she continued. “It’s been a long week, and I’m really proud of myself.”
She added: “I’m very tired. It’s been a long week. I want to thank my team for all of their hard work – it means a lot to me.”
Speaking to the spectators, she said: “The crowd, you were amazing. I’ve never played in an atmosphere like this, so thank you so much.”
She concluded: “Hopefully I’ll be back sometime in the senior tournaments. Thank you so much.”
The 17-year-old Tagger, who didn`t lose a set throughout the tournament, sealed her victory by dominating the second set in just 23 minutes, winning 24 of the 35 points played.
For Klugman, this experience highlighted the significant lessons still to be learned on clay, a surface she had limited experience on until dedicating two months to practice earlier this year.
Her preparation included training for several days at Rafael Nadal’s academy in Spain, where she reportedly impressed the 22-time Grand Slam singles champion.
Notable former winners of this junior title include players who went on to become Grand Slam champions like Jennifer Capriati, Martina Hingis, Amélie Mauresmo, Justine Henin, and Coco Gauff.
Klugman has also reached two Grand Slam girls` doubles finals, finishing as runner-up at Wimbledon in 2023 and the Australian Open earlier this year.
