The first-time players at Wimbledon are ready for professional careers

Two British girls, both 16 years old, made their main draw debut at Wimbledon this summer. They feel it's time to move up to the senior ranks.

After reaching the final of the French Open, the semifinals of the US Open, and the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, Hannah Klugman is now ranked second in her career as a junior.

Mika Stojsavljevic is already a junior Grand Slam champion. Last week, she lost in the semifinals of the US Open, where she was trying to defend her championship.

They both had their professional debuts when they were 14, and now they feel ready to start moving up the WTA Tour.

"I think I'm done with juniors now; I'm ready to move up to seniors," Klugman told BBC Sport in New York.

"I came through at such a young age, so I've seen a lot." It's time to move on after three full years of doing this.

"Junior Slams don't matter."

Klugman isn't saying she won't play in her last junior Grand Slam at Roland Garros next June, but she thinks she's reached the limit of what she can learn at this level.

"I don't have to play well to win these matches." "I can play a five out of ten and win, but I know I can't do that in seniors," she remarked.

"Juniors is only a step up. I'd love to win a junior Slam, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to, but my team keeps telling me it doesn't mean anything.

On the ITF World Tennis Tour, Stojsavljevic has already won a tournament for $35,000 (£25,860). She won the title in Nottingham in April 2024 and got $3,935 (£2,903) and 35 world ranking points.

She also made a splash in her first WTA main draw match in October, when she took Moyuka Uchijima, who was ranked 57th at the time, to a third-set tie-break in the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo.

"I think my game is ready for pro tennis," Stojsavljevic stated.

"I played a top-60 player in a tough three-set match in my first WTA main draw and won an ITF title." So I know I can compete with the best players when I'm playing well, and that's what I'm going to work on and grow from now on.

Jeremy Bates, who has trained many British players, notably Katie Boulter, is currently Stojsavljevic's coach. Stojsavljevic graduated from the LTA's Loughborough Academy. She wants to keep learning as she travels, and she has A-levels in English literature and politics planned.

Ben Haran has been Klugman's coach since he was nine. He also works out with fitness trainer Jez Green and physiotherapist Will Herbert for a few weeks at a time. Most of the time, they work alongside men's world number three, Alexander Zverev.

Klugman can still compete in junior events for two more years because he was born in February.

"One of my proudest moments was winning a junior Slam."

Annabel Croft, who won junior Wimbledon when she was 17, is not sure if players should go on too quickly.

Croft stated, "When I was a junior, I was just like Hannah."

"I was playing in the seniors at the same time as I won the juniors [Australian Open and Wimbledon crowns]. In the third round of Wimbledon, I was playing my idol Chris Evert on Court One. I wasn't thinking about the youngsters at all.

"I was much more enthusiastic about the chance to play senior Wimbledon and compete against the best in the world.

"But looking back, it's one of the things I'm most proud of, and I know I'll always be in that trophy cabinet.

"I think she [Klugman] has plenty of time to compete against the seniors, but the one thing you can say about juniors is that you will never get that time back."

"I understand completely, but I hope she doesn't regret it."

According to the WTA's age eligibility rules, 16-year-olds can only play in 12 professional tournaments per year. However, anyone who finishes the year in the top five of the junior rankings can play in four more.

Next year, the professional tour will see a lot more of the two, who have been playing each other since they were under 10.

Stojsavljevic, who looks up to Maria Sharapova and Novak Djokovic, hits the ball cleanly and hard. Klugman can serve and volley, and she says she "does not play like a usual woman."

"I've got a big serve and I like to change the rhythm up and mess with the other player," she stated at Wimbledon this year.

"I used to really like Ash Barty, and I still really like Emma Navarro."