Hannah Klugman’s friends think it is hilarious that their chum is being stopped more and more around her home in Wimbledon.

To them, she’s just Hannah, the blonde girl with a wide, friendly smile. She’s the girl they’ve always known as they’ve grown up in the village synonymous with tennis greatness.

“It’s a little bit weird, definitely, people coming up to me now,” the 14-year-old Klugman said on Wednesday at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. “But yeah, my friends think it’s strange and don’t get it.”

Memo to Hannah’s friends: better get used to people bothering their pal a lot more. The 14-year-old who trains at Reed’s School in Sussex is continuing her rapid ascent up the junior tennis ladder. Coming off a third-round run at Wimbledon in July, Klugman is rolling through the competition here at the US Open Junior Championships. 

She has not dropped a set in three matches, with Wednesday being her most impressive performance yet. Facing No. 3 seed Sayata Ishii of Japan, who had dispatched Klugman in the third round at the All England Club in July, Klugman managed the brutal heat and dominated her older opponent, winning 6-4 6-1.

She’s now into her first Grand Slam quarter-final and will take on No. 10 seed Laura Samsonova of Czechia.

“I definitely had some revenge on my mind after Wimbledon,” Klugman said. “I played really tactical against her today, changing my variations and heights, slicing more. Just changing speeds and bringing her forward, and that seemed to work well.”

Everything Klugman has done lately has worked well. Training seriously at Reeds since right before the pandemic under coach Ben Haran, the teenager has risen to No. 23 in the junior world rankings and is continuing the recent resurgence of strong British female players, led of course by 2021 US Open winner Emma Raducanu.

“For me, as the coach you just feel like you get your head down and work, and the results take care of themselves,” Haran said. “She’s working hard and improving all the time. And she’s been very well prepared mentally and physically this week.”

Part of that preparation comes from a week Haran and Klugman spent in steamy Miami last week, training to prepare her for New York conditions.

“I was very fortunate to be able to go there and get used to the heat a little bit, I feel like that’s helped me a lot,” Klugman said. “I really felt strong physically today.”

As her fame and rankings improve, Klugman said she’s trying hard to maintain some sense of normality. She values her “non-tennis” friends and feels they’re integral to her life, and she said she’d like to continue attending Wimbledon High School for as long as she can.

Klugman brings her laptop with her to tournaments, corresponding with teachers as much as she can, and doing online homework and video chats with her educators.

“It’s getting much harder, but I really want to try to keep at it in school,” Klugman said.

While Klugman said she hasn’t ever spoken to Raducanu or other young British female players like Katie Boulter, she did get to have lunch here in New York with Jack Draper, who reached the third round of the men’s singles.

“He was lovely, explaining to me about life in pro tennis, how to prepare, what to expect,” Klugman said. “It was really helpful.”

Knowing that just two years ago Raducanu won a Grand Slam here shows Klugman that anything is possible; she remembers watching Raducanu’s US Open win in a hotel in Tarbes, France, where was competing.

“It was incredible, and it was like a dream,” Klugman said. “I can’t even imagine what that would be like.”

Three more wins here, and Klugman won’t have to imagine it, she’ll be living the junior version of Raducanu's success.

In other action on Wednesday, there was a significant upset in the boys' draw as players battled the 90-plus degree heat and humidity. No. 1 seed Yaroslav Demin, who’d won his first two matches in close two-set affairs, was beaten by No. 14 Federico Cina of Italy, 6-3 3-6 7-6 (10-8).

The tiebreaker was dramatic, with Cina winning the match on a crushing backhand crosscourt winner with Demin at the net.

“Yesterday I was cramping, so today I drank a lot and feel much better,” Cina said. “Incredible match, and I’m very happy.”

The quarter-finals in both boys' and girls' singles draws are now set. For the girls, No. 1 seed Renata Jamrichova of Slovakia will battle No. 11 seed Anastasiia Gureva; No. 4 seed Sara Saito of Japan will play No. 9 Tereza Valentova of Czechia.

The other two match-ups will pit Klugman against No. 10 seed Laura Samsonova of Czechia, while No. 6 seed Ena Koike of Japan will face American wild card Katherine Hui, who lost only one game in her third-round victory.

On the boys' side, No. 7 seed Joao Fonseca of Brazil has made his fourth quarter-final in four Slams played this year, quite an achievement; he’ll take on American and No. 3 seed Cooper Williams.

The other quarters will pit Cina vs. No. 9 Yi Zhou of China; American wild card Alex Frusina vs. France’s No. 15 seed Arthur Gea, and American Learner Tien against No. 2 seed Rodrigo Pacheco of Mexico.

Click here for a full list of results from the 2023 US Open Junior Championships.