15-year-old Mika Stojsavljevic becomes first Brit in 15 years to win US Open junior title

Posted by author September 8, 2024 Tennis

15-year-old Mika Stojsavljevic has etched her name in the history books after becoming the first British tennis player to win the US Open junior title in 15 years.

The rising star backed up her impressive semi-final performance against 16-year-old Iva Jovic – who reached the second round of the women’s main draw – with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Japanese junior world No.10 Wakana Sonobe.

The Hammersmith-born star was dominant on serve throughout the final battle – winning 91% of points behind her first serve to eventually close out the biggest title of her career in just 85 minutes.

Her victory sees her become the first British girl since Heather Watson in 2009 to clinch the trophy and is now the youngest player to win the girls’ title at Flushing Meadows since Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in 2006.

“I think I’m still in a little bit of shock, I haven’t had much time to process it yet,” Stojsavljevic said on winning her first Grand Slam junior title.

“I think it was a really good match. She (Sonobe) played really well, I think we both stepped up our level in the second set. I think it was not something I expected, but I’m super happy.

“I started off trying to be more consistent at the start. Obviously in a final, you want to just get into it a little bit. I think I was consistently getting good depth. It was a bit windy out there, so I think that could’ve changed things.

Mika Stojsavljevic’s run to the US Open junior title:

First round: Bt. Charo Esquiva Banuls (ESP) 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-2
Second round: Bt. Kaitlyn Rolls (USA) 6-1, 6-0
Third round: Bt. Emerson Jones (AUS) 7-5, 6-4
Quarter-final: Bt. Annika Penickova6-2, 7-6(3)
Semi-final: Bt. Iva Jovic (USA) 6-0, 3-6, 6-3
Final: Bt. Wakana Sonobe (JPN) 6-4, 6-4

Despite it still being early days in her tennis career, Stojsavljevic, who has spent the last few years training with the LTA National Academy in Loughborough, has proven she can rise to the occasion on some of the biggest stages in world tennis.

Alongside clinching her first Grand Slam title, the 15-year-old also reached the girls’ doubles final at Wimbledon this year with compatriot Mimi Xu and has previously made the singles quarter-finals at SW19.

Despite returning back to home soil with a Grand Slam title under her belt, life is set to return to normality for Stojsavljevic as she prepares to head back to school.

“I think I’m going back to school on Tuesday. I’m flying back tomorrow and then going back to school. I have my GCSE’s this year and obviously it’s important to get those done and we’ll see after that.

“In our setup, it’s only tennis players in our classroom. The Loughborough National Academy from the LTA have made these really small classrooms to make sure it’s just focused on us. So I think it will be a little bit easier just being with tennis people, but around school it might be a little bit different.”