Where are they now? The last 9 players to win the Orange Bowl before Hannah Klugman
Rising British star Hannah Klugman won the prestigious Orange Bowl International Tennis Championships over the weekend and she joined a truly illustrious list of tennis stars to have won the title.
Klugman defeated American Tyra Grant 6-3, 6-3 in the final at Crandon Park in Key Biscayne, Florida, to win one of the most sought-after trophies for young players.
The Orange Bowl is considered the final Grade A – the highest classification of the event on the ITF World Tennis Tour Juniors calendar – of the season.
The greatest of the greats have won the Orange Bowl as Chris Evert and won back-to-back titles in 1969 and 1970 while the likes of Gabriela Sabatini and Caroline Wozniacki have also lifted the trophy.
Who are the nine most recent female winners of the Orange Bowl?
Mayu Crossley – 2022
Mayu Crossley, who was a member of the famous Evert Tennis Academy, became the first Japanese player to win the title in 2022 when she defeated Clervie Ngounoue from the United States.
The 17-year-old reached a career-high No 1,126 in the WTA Rankings in May 2023, but she is yet to make her breakthrough at the top as she played only a handful of matches at ITF level this year.
She was the fifth-best junior in June this year while her current ITF Junior Ranking is 11, but expect the youngster still has plenty of time on her side to rise over the next few years.
READ MORE: Who is Hannah Klugman? Meet the British teenager who has just claimed a breakthrough win
Petra Marčinko – 2021
Croatia’s Petra Marčinko has already surged up the WTA rankings following her success at the Grade A tournament two years ago as she currently sits at No 175.
Just weeks after her Orange Bowl success, Marčinko won the 2022 Australian Open Girls’ singles title.
She has also won six ITF singles titles since with three of those coming in 2023 with all six coming before she turned 18 on December 4.
Ashlyn Krueger – 2020
American Ashlyn Krueger is already a WTA Tour singles trophy winner as she won her maiden title at the Japan Women’s Open in September 2023, defeating Zhu Lin in the final.
After finishing the 2022 season at No 183, Krueger broke into the top 100 in September on the back of her title as she reached a career-high No 73.
The 19-year-old currently sits at No 81.
Robin Montgomery – 2019
American Robin Montgomery turned professional in 2020 and in September 2021 she won the US Open Girls’ singles title.
She had to wait a while for the next title as that only came in November 2022 when she won the Calgary Challenger against Urszula Radwańska.
This year she won the Open Saint-Gaudens on the ITF Women’s Circuit and also claimed her first win at WTA Tour-level, which came at the WTA 1000 Miami Open.
Montgomery finds herself at No 175 in the WTA Rankings.
Coco Gauff – 2018
By the time Coco Gauff won the Orange Bowl, she had already tasted success at Grand Slam junior level as she won the French Open Girls’ singles title earlier in 2018, defeating good friend Caty McNally in the final. She also won the US Open Girls’ doubles alongside McNally a few months later.
But it was in 2019 that Gauff made the world sit up and take note as she became the youngest player to qualify for Wimbledon at the age of 15 years and three months and she promptly went on to reach the fourth round.
Later that year she won her first title at the age of 15.
In 2022 Gauff reached her maiden Grand Slam final, losing against Iga Swiatek at Roland Garros, but she took her game up several notches in 2023 as she won her maiden major at the US Open.
Gauff also won a WTA 250 event, a WTA 500 title and a WTA 1000 trophy during 2023 and finished the year at No 3 in the rankings while she was also the highest-paid female athlete in 2023 with earnings of an estimated $22m.
Whitney Osuigwe – 2017
Like Coco Gauff, Whitney Osuigwe also enjoyed Grand Slam success at junior level before her December Orange Bowl title as she won the 2017 Junior French Open title in June.
She has won a couple of ITF Challenger titles and has also played the main draw of the Australian Open and US Open, although she is yet to win a match.
The 21-year-old Osuigwe is currently ranked No 158.
Kaja Juvan – 2016
Slovenia’s Kaja Juvan has seven ITF titles to her name with six of those coming after she won the Orange Bowl in December 2016.
Juvan reached her maiden WTA Tour singles final in 2022 as she finished runner-up at the Internationaux de Strasbourg and that helped her to rise to a career-high No 58.
She reached the third round of the US Open in 2023 and sits at No 107 in the rankings.
Bianca Andreescu – 2015
One of the many Orange Bowl champions turned Grand Slam winners, Bianca Andreescu turned professional in 2017 and by 2019 she was a household name as she won the US Open.
The Canadian also won the Indian Wells Open and Canadian Open in 2019 and she surged to a career-high No 4.
Injuries, though, have taken their toll and missed virtually the entire 2020 season while this year she also spent lengthy periods on the sidelines, slipping to No 96.
Sofia Kenin – 2014
American Sofia Kenin finished runner-up at the 2015 US Open Girls’ event, but five years later she became a Grand Slam winner as she stunned Garbine Muguruza in the 2020 Australian Open final.
Soon she found herself at No 4 in the rankings and a few months later she finished runner-up to Iga Swiatek at Roland Garros.
Kenin has five titles to her name, although her last one came in March 2020 as she has struggled in recent years.
Following an extended slump, she has shown glimpses of her best form again in 2023 as she finished runner-up at the Southern California Open in September and now sits at No 33.
