Seventeen-year-old British tennis player Mika Stojsavljevic secured her first WTA Tour main-draw win at the Hong Kong Open by defeating former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 after receiving only an hour’s notice that she would be stepping onto the court.
British Teenager Enters Main Draw as Lucky Loser
Mika Stojsavljevic originally lost during the qualifying rounds at the Hong Kong tournament. But when an opening emerged, she entered the main draw as a lucky loser. The teenager learned she was playing just sixty minutes before her match against Sofia Kenin, BBC Sport reported.
FIRST EVER WTA MAIN DRAW WIN!!!!🔥🔥 17 year old Mika Stojsavljevic🇬🇧 takes down Former World No.4 Sofia Kenin🇺🇸 6-3 4-6 6-4 to move into the second round of WTA250 Hong Kong👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 Absolutely brilliant from Mika, what a win!🇬🇧💪🏼 pic.twitter.com/zEuKWfsmvI
World number 411 Stojsavljevic faced an opponent ranked 224 places higher. Kenin captured the Australian Open crown in 2020 but has experienced a difficult run of form since that Melbourne victory. Despite the ranking chasm, the British teenager took the opening set, dropped the second, and ground out a close deciding set to seal the 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 victory.
Converting Break Points Under Pressure
The match statistics highlighted Stojsavljevic’s ability to capitalize on crucial moments. The 17-year-old hit six winners compared to zero for her opponent, while successfully saving three of the eight break points she encountered.
“I only knew an hour before I was going to be playing. I kind of just went out and swung today,” Stojsavljevic said, according to BBC Sport. “I know she’s a Grand Slam champion and it was never going to be an easy match, but I believed in myself and it worked out.”
Building on Junior Success
This result marks the second big win of the season for Stojsavljevic. Back in April, she earned a victory against then world number 56 Talia Gibson during Billie Jean King Cup qualifying. Her rise follows a decorated junior career where she won the US Open junior title in 2024—becoming the first Briton in 15 years to achieve the feat—before reaching a high of fifth in the junior rankings and turning professional in 2025.
Stojsavljevic began playing tennis at age seven at Ealing Lawn Tennis Club in north-west London after watching her brother practice. Earlier this year, she reached the quarter-finals of a WTA 125 event in Birmingham.
Upcoming Second Round Matchup
With her breakthrough victory secured, Stojsavljevic advances to face world number 67 Zeynep Sonmez in the second round in Hong Kong. Meanwhile, fellow Briton Katie Boulter saw her season come to a close on the same courts following a 7-5, 6-4 defeat to American Claire Liu.
No Beginner's Luck "Lucky loser" sells Mika Stojsavljevic short. In June, she became the youngest quarterfinalist in Birmingham Open history. That was a WTA 125. A first WTA Tour main draw win took a bit longer. The 17yo upends Sofia Kenin, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, to reach round 2. pic.twitter.com/5rbQAUnyfi
More on Mika Stojsavljevic
Outstanding for Mika Stojsavljevic 🇬🇧 as she notches up a first career WTA win in Hong Kong 🇭🇰 as a lucky loser over former AO Champion Sofia Kenin 🇺🇸. She does it 6-3,4-6,6-4 in gutsy fashion and it’s finally a breakthrough moment for the teenager on the main tour after success…
She did it! Gutsy battling win for Mika Stojsavljevic 🇬🇧 6-3 4-6 6-4 over Sofia Kenin 🇺🇸 as the lucky loser teenager progresses in WTA Hong Kong Huge 2nd set and 3rd set leads and she finally managed to hang on for a famous victory in her career ❤️ pic.twitter.com/v6aPJiJ76C
Massive win for the 17yo talent Mika Stojsavljevic who beats Sofia Kenin in a thriller. As a LL, Mika almost lost the match from 6-3, 3-0, *40:30 but showed decent mentality in the deciding set with clutch serving. Kenin is now on a 5L streak in WTA main draws pic.twitter.com/PciN9ZSjiy
