Klugman Makes British Tennis History with Orange Bowl Title; Panarin Heads to College with Boys Championship

©Colette Lewis 2023--
Plantation FL--

Fourteen-year-old Hannah Klugman and 18-year-old Daniel Panarin came into the ITF J500 Orange Bowl finals Sunday with differing perspectives.

Klugman was trying to capture the Orange Bowl title that had eluded her in the 14s division the past two years, while Panarin was motivated to end his junior career on a high note. Both reached their goals on a breezy morning at the Veltri Tennis Center, earning the coveted crystal bowl of oranges that has gone to its champions for 77 years.

Klugman, the No. 5 seed, defeated No. 6 seed Tyra Grant of the United States 6-3, 6-3, to become the first girl from Great Britain to capture the Orange Bowl title.

"I was walking by the poster of all the great players who won this, and it's great to be among them," said Klugman, who will join grand slam champions Sofia Kenin, Bianca Andreescu and Coco Gauff on next year's banner. "It's just a step in the journey, there's a lot more to go, but it's nice to take these wins along the way."

Klugman wasn't aware she would make history with the title, not realizing that none of the names on the banner were from Great Britain.

"Is there no one?" she replied when asked if she had noted the absence of a British winner. "Oh my god, first one, I didn't know that."

Klugman had won four consecutive three-set matches to reach the final, and saved a match point in her 7-6(2), 0-6, 7-6(2) quarterfinal win over top seed Laura Samsonova, but she looked in control from the beginning against Grant.

Despite wind speeds of 15-20 mphs, Klugman won the first eight points of the final, serving well despite the necessity of extra ball tosses. Grant found her footing in the third game, getting the break back, but Klugman broke in the next game and stayed in the lead. With Klugman serving for the set, Grant had a small opening at 30-all, but Klugman won the next two points, putting away a short ball at the net on her first set point.

"It was very windy, tough to get into points, to feel your game," Klugman said. "A lot of starting and stopping, a lot of short points."

Grant was not happy with her performance, particularly on serve.

"In this match, serve was a big factor, and she definitely served unreal," said the 15-year-old from Orlando, who trains at the USTA National Campus. "I didn't serve really well today. It was really windy and I didn't play with the wind, if you know what I mean, didn't use it to my advantage. I had some chances to get back in the match and I didn't use all of them."

After falling behind 3-0 in the first set, Grant got both of the breaks back, with Klugman double faulting at 2-3 ad-out to put Grant back in the second set, which gave some hope to the mostly pro-Grant crowd. Grant provided more optimism when she went up 40-15 in her service game, but Klugman hit a lovely slice passing shot to earn an advantage and she retook the lead when Grant make an unforced error on the backhand.

"At a set and 3-love up, it went back to 3-all, but I was mentally very strong today to stay at it and get that game," Klugman said. "I think that was a key game to get to 4-3, and the next two games I was on top of her. But the match was definitely tighter than what the score was."

Klugman reflected on winning the 18s title just a year removed from falling, as the top seed, in the 14s final in Coral Gables last year.

"Last year I was very disappointed, making the final of 14s," said Klugman, who is one month older than Gauff, who was also 14 when she won the Orange Bowl title in 2018. "I was really gutted not to get the win there. But obviously to get the win in 18s now, at just 14, it's great."

Klugman's coach Ben Haran credits Klugman for taking that disappointment a year ago in stride while continuing to develop her game.

"It's simple stuff," said Haran who has been working with Klugman for nearly four years at Reeds School Tennis Academy in Surrey, while also training at the LTA's National Tennis Centre. "She's worked on her game, taken on board the areas she needs to improve, she's gotten stronger, physically better. And I think mentally, the last six months, she's showed a lot of improvement, resilience, a lot of fighting qualities."

Klugman reached the quarterfinals of $60,000 and $100,000 tournaments on the ITF women's World Tennis Tour in October, which is another improvement Haran has seen in the past year.

"She adapts very well to the levels," Haran said. "She plays a level and goes up a level and she adapts her game very well to that level."

Klugman has not yet signed a professional contract with any of the management agencies eager to represent her, with the Klugman family in no hurry to take that step.

"She's done things like this quickly, but at the end of the day, she's still young," Haran said. "Most important is that she keeps her feet on the ground, keeps working hard, keeps doing what she's been doing the last three years. Nothing needs to change."

Klugman will be making her first trip to Australia next month, to compete in the J300 in Traralgon and the Australian Open Junior Championships, with Grant also planning to compete in those two events.

Panarin's junior slam days are behind him, but he could not ask for a better ending to his junior career: a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Luca Preda in the first final between unseeded players in this century.

After his 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 semifinal win over No. 9 seed Kaylan Bigun, Panarin said his goal was to enjoy his last junior tournament, with no ranking points pressure, and the beginning of his college career next month at Vanderbilt.

"Honestly I feel so happy, I didn't expect this," said Panarin, who trains at the IMG Academy in Bradenton. "I was just trying to enjoy this game, enjoy this final."

Panarin had beaten Preda in two tiebreakers in the semifinals at the J300 last month in Mexico, but the Orange Bowl final was not nearly as close, with Panarin attributing that to conditions in Mexico and his commitment to a different style of play today.

"Last time we played in Guadalajara, it was altitude, 1500 meters, so the game is completely different," Panarin said. "The serve is working much more there than here. Here there are longer points, so I was just trying to make it more physical for him. I had this tactic and was trying to keep this tactic through the whole match."

Preda had his chance in the first set, with Panarin serving at 4-all 40-0. The lanky 17-year-old brought the score to deuce, then earned a break point, but Panarin's serve came up big, with a good first serve saving that and propelling him to the hold.  

Panarin then seized his opportunity with Preda serving at 30-40, winning a long and intense rally before Preda's defensive volley landed wide.

The second set was less competitive, with Panarin maintaining his level and Preda unable to match it.

"He played really well, I didn't really get to play that well like I did these last two weeks," said Preda, who was 146 in the ITF junior rankings just a month ago. "He served well, played balls really deep, he didn't really miss, so congratulations to him."

Preda, who will head to Australia next month for his first junior slam, is satisfied with how his first trip to North America played out.

"It's been great," said Preda. "I've played really good matches, really tough matches, and for my future, it will really help me a lot."

Panarin agreed that his level was high throughout the match.

"I think I played good, sometimes there were some very, very tough moments but I think I handled them very well, mentally and physically. I was just trying to stay solid on all the shots, I don't think any were much better than the others, but it's good that all the shots were working. It's just a great finish to my junior career before going off to college."

Vanderbilt assistant coach TJ Pura was in Plantation throughout the week, supporting Panarin as he made what most would characterize as an unexpected run.

"It does not surprise me," Pura said. "Danil is a mental giant and he really plays the game in such a smart way. It's been beautiful to see him grow and develop over the last six months, and for it to culminate in his winning the Orange Bowl, no one could be more deserving. We're really excited for Danil to be a Commodore."

Panarin will be the first Orange Bowl champion to attend college since John McEnroe who won the title in 1976. McEnroe played one year at Stanford in 1977-78, winning the NCAA title in 1978.