'Chill and watch Love Island': Stoiber leads Great Britain's SW19 bid
Among the millions of viewers tuning in to Love Island tonight will be Great Britan’s Ranah Akua Stoiber, who has made watching the reality TV show an integral feature of her Wimbledon odyssey.
“The only routine I have right now is getting into bed two hours before I sleep, as I like to be really relaxed, chilling out and watching Love Island,” Junior world No. 22 Stoiber tells itftennis.com.
Hopes were high at the start of the day that Great Britain would have an unprecedented level of representation in the quarter-finals at the Junior Championships with five Brits – four girls and one boy – in action.
As it was, three – Stoiber, Mika Stojsavljevic and Henry Searle – secured their passage to the quarters, the most since 2018 when Jack Draper, Anton Matusevich and Emma Raducanu all made it to the quarters.
With Stoiber and Stojsavljevic advancing, it is the first time since 2010 (the players in question were Laura Robson and Tara Moore) and only the fourth time this century that two British girls have reached the quarter-finals. Had Hannah Klugman or Mingge Xu also prevailed, that would have been record-breaking territory.
Stoiber had looked to be in a degree of trouble against Italy’s Francesca Pace before finding her poise and triumphing 6-3 6-4. She will now face Nikola Bartunkova of the Czech Republic, the conqueror of Xu, for a place in the semi-finals.
Bartunkova is likely to be a formidable opponent. The 17-year-old was a member of the Czech Republic team, alongside Brenda Fruhvirtova and Sara Bejlek, which topped the podium at the 2021 Billie Jean King Cup Juniors Finals, while the 18-year-old holds a WTA ranking of No. 348.
Londoner Stoiber does, however, have previous experience of going deep in Junior Grand Slams having reached the semi-finals at the Australian Open in January and the quarter-finals at last year’s US Open. She is also riding a wave of pride and optimism at her home Slam.
“It is very special to have reached the quarter-finals,” said Stoiber. “As a Brit, it is a very big achievement and with this being my last chance to play the Junior Championships, I am glad that I am having a good run.
“I am full of excitement each morning and, while there are some nerves, the excitement takes over. When I step on court and express myself, after a few games I start to enjoy it.
“Reaching the semi-finals in Melbourne and the quarters at the US Open has definitely helped me. It shows me that I have the level to go as far as I am now and even to win a Grand Slam.
“At the very least, I feel that with this being my home Grand Slam my name is out there more and more people now know about me and are wishing me well, which is really nice.”