Wimbledon 2025's Grand Slam debuts: Xu, Branstine, Ito and more

Five players will make their Grand Slam main-draw debuts at Wimbledon 2025 -- one direct entrant, one qualifier and three teenage British wild cards. Get to know them here:

Carson Branstine (CAN)

Few players made more of an impact at Wimbledon qualifying than Carson Branstine. The 24-year-old Canadian took out No. 1 seed and Roland Garros semifinalist Lois Boisson in the first round, former US Open champion and childhood friend Bianca Andreescu in the second, then squeaked through an emotionally fraught three-setter over Raluka Serban in the third.

In WTA debut, Branstine ousts defending champ Samsonova in 's-Hertogenbosch

Her reward? A third first-round meeting with a No. 1 seed in as many grass-court tournaments this year as she takes on Aryna Sabalenka. Not that Branstine will shy away from the challenge. Firstly, she's 2-0 against those top seeds so far, having also upset defending champion Liudmila Samsonova in 's-Hertogenbosch on her WTA main-draw debut. Secondly, Branstine made it clear to press this week that she backs herself regardless of who's on the other side of the net.

"Maybe not everyone knows me, but I think I can beat anyone out there," she said after defeating Boisson.

The challenges Branstine has overcome have contributed to this. The 2017 Australian Open and Roland Garros girls' doubles champion with Andreescu, she struggled with injuries throughout her junior and college careers. A graduate in society, ethics and law from Texas A&M, her pro tennis career is self-made, initially funded via her "little side-hustle" of modeling. Unranked in November 2023, it's taken just 19 months for Branstine to soar to her current No. 197. As well as her successful tour debut in 's-Hertogenbosch this year, her 2025 highlights also include a first WTA 125 final in Cancun in February.

Aoi Ito (JPN)

Last October, Japan's Aoi Ito made an eye-catching WTA debut in more ways than one. Having qualified for her first WTA main draw in Osaka, she came from 5-2 down in the third set to upset Sofia Kenin -- then went all the way to the semifinals. But it's how Ito did it that really turned heads, using an unorthodox mixture of forehand slices, drop shots and all-round unpredictable shot selection that tied her opponents in knots. The Hologic WTA Tour had, it seemed, found a player to fill the shoes of beloved spin artists Hsieh Su-Wei and Monica Niculescu.

"I don't care at all whether I play like everyone else or not," Ito told wtatennis.com in December. The 21-year-old also revealed that she imagines she's in a video game when she's on court, treats her quest to rise up the rankings as a role-playing game, is a self-taught artist and -- out of all the competitors on tour -- would most like to play herself.

Since her run in Osaka, Ito has continued to reach new levels in her role-playing game. She won her first WTA 125 title in Canberra to start the year, and qualified for her first three WTA 1000 main draws in Doha, Dubai and Miami. Ranked No. 238 this time last year, Ito cracked the Top 100 in May -- enabling her to enter the Wimbledon main draw as the last direct entrant -- and is now at No. 109.

Ito's game didn't pay dividends in the first clay season of her career -- she went 0-4 on it this year. She's equally inexperienced on grass -- her Wimbledon opener against Kamilla Rakhimova will be the first match of her career on the surface -- but her touch and finesse seem tailor-made to thrive on it. It will be fascinating to see how Ito takes to the lawns of SW19 next week.

Hannah Klugman (GBR)

A trio of British teenagers have been awarded wild cards for Wimbledon this year, and Hannah Klugman is the youngest -- and most closely connected to The Championships. The 16-year-old is a Wimbledon local, grew up five minutes from the AELTC and has attended the tournament every year she can remember. Her older sister, Alice, worked in the club's Court Services team for several years.

Hot shot: Hannah Klugman's backhand brilliance on the run in Nottingham

Proximity might serve as a source of inspiration, but it's prodigious talent that got Klugman access to the main draw so young. She was the Orange Bowl champion at the age of 14 in 2023, defeating Iva Jovic and Tyra Caterina Grant to win the U18 trophy. In the same year, she became the first 2009-born player to gain a WTA ranking, ending that season at No. 659. In 2024, Klugman reached the final round of Wimbledon qualifying as a wild card with wins over Petra Marcinko and Linda Fruhvirtova.

This year, Klugman comes into Wimbledon as the junior No. 3, having reached the Roland Garros girls' final last month. She also made her WTA main-draw debut in Nottingham last week, falling to Yulia Putintseva 6-2, 6-2 in the first round in her first meeting with a Top 50 player. Next week, Klugman will get a second such meeting under her belt when she opens against No. 29 seed and 2021 US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez.

Mika Stojsavljevic (GBR)

Many players have juggled tennis matches with schoolwork. Few have managed to score career-best wins in the middle of exam season, though. Last week, Mika Stojsavljevic did just that in Nottingham. The 16-year-old junior No. 8 did not finish her GCSE exams until midway through the tournament and was spotted doing practice papers before her matches -- but nonetheless scored her first career Top 100 victory in qualifying over Anastasia Zakharova.

Last year at the US Open, Stojsavljevic became the first British girl in 15 years to become a junior Grand Slam champion -- the first since Heather Watson at the same tournament in 2009 -- after defeating Iva Jovic and Wakana Sonobe in the last two rounds. In the same season, she captured her first ITF W35 title in Nottingham and made an impressive WTA main-draw debut as a wild card in Tokyo, stretching Moyuka Uchijima all the way in a 6-4, 6-7(7), 7-6(6) loss, ending the season at No. 678.

Uchijima edges US Open junior champion Stojsavljevic in three-set thriller

The calling card of Stojsavljevic's game was very much in evidence in New York and Tokyo: ferocious, clean power off both wings with the ability to generate winner after winner. It's unsurprising that the 16-year-old patterns her game after former World No. 1 Maria Sharapova. Born and raised in West London to a Serbian father and a Polish mother, 24-time major champion Novak Djokovic is another obvious pick.

Stojsavljevic's focus on her GCSEs has meant that tennis has taken a back seat in 2025 so far. But exams are now out of the way, and results aren't due until August. What better way to mark that freedom than your first Grand Slam main draw? Stojsavljevic, the girls' doubles finalist last year alongside Mingge Xu, will face No. 31 seed Ashlyn Krueger in the first round next week.

Mingge Xu (GBR)

A year after Mingge Xu partnered Mika Stojsavljevic to the Wimbledon girls' doubles final, both players have graduated to the singles main draw. Xu is a rarity in British tennis, which has traditionally been dominated by English and Scottish players. Born in Swansea to Chinese parents who came to study at the city's university and then stayed in the area on graduating, the 17-year-old will become the first Welsh player to compete in the Wimbledon main draw since Rebecca Llewellyn in 2005.

Like Stojsavljevic, Xu -- known to all as Mimi -- also won her first ITF W35 title in 2024, picking up the Aldershot trophy in August and ending the season at No. 506. She's already improved that to a current career high of No. 318 -- primarily on the strength of a breakthrough grass swing over the past month. Xu notched her first career Top 100 win at the Ilkley WTA 125, upsetting No. 1 seed Alycia Parks in the first round and reaching the quarterfinals. Two weeks later in Nottingham, on her main tour-level debut, she added a second, defeating Katie Volynets to make the second round.

In both those wins, Xu's well-rounded all-court game was on full display: easy power augmented by smart use of the slice and excellent touch at net. All eyes will be on the teenager in the first round next week as she faces compatriot Emma Raducanu, the 2021 US Open champion, in a popcorn opener.

Previously:

Roland Garros 2025's Grand Slam debuts: Eala, Mboko, Boisson and more

Australian Open 2025's Grand Slam debuts: Lamens, Emerson Jones, Wei and more

US Open 2024's Grand Slam debuts: Joint, Jovic, Shibahara and more

Wimbledon 2024's Grand Slam debuts: Todoni, Stakusic

Roland Garros 2024's Grand Slam debuts: Sonmez, Carle, Riera and more

Australian Open 2024's Grand Slam debuts: Sun, Kessler, Starodubtseva and more

US Open 2023's Grand Slam debuts: Ngounoue, Prozorova, Crawley

Wimbledon 2023's Grand Slam debuts: Bouzas Maneiro, Bai, Naef and more

Roland Garros 2023's Grand Slam debuts: Mirra Andreeva, Waltert, Shymanovich

Australian Open 2023's Grand Slam debuts: Shnaider, Lys, Polina Kudermetova, and more

US Open 2022's Grand Slam debuts: Erika Andreeva, Avanesyan, Stearns and more

Wimbledon 2022's Grand Slam debuts: Yuan, Chwalinska, Kartal and more

Roland Garros 2022's Grand Slam debuts: Noskova, Niemeier, Selekhmeteva and more

Australian Open 2022's Grand Slam debuts: Zheng Qinwen, Bronzetti, Cristian and more

US Open 2021's Grand Slam debuts: Navarro, Krueger, Parks and more

Wimbledon 2021's Grand Slam debuts: Raducanu, Burrage

Roland Garros 2021's Grand Slam debuts: Osorio, Liang, Gorgodze and more

Australian Open 2021's Grand Slam debuts: Danilovic, Francesca Jones

Roland Garros 2020's Grand Slam debuts: Tauson, Sherif, Zarazua and more

US Open 2020's Grand Slam debuts: Gracheva, Montgomery, Baptiste and more

Australian Open 2020's Grand Slam debuts: Fernandez, Trevisan, Cocciaretto and more

US Open 2019's Grand Slam debuts: Wang Xiyu, Volynets, Bolkvadze

Wimbledon 2019's Grand Slam debuts: Gauff, McNally, Flink

Roland Garros 2019's Grand Slam debuts: Rybakina, Paolini, Samsonova and more

Australian Open 2019's Grand Slam debuts: Swiatek, Badosa, Veronika Kudermetova and more

US Open 2018's Grand Slam debuts: Muchova, Yastremska, Kalinina and more

Wimbledon 2018's Grand Slam debuts: Ruse, Dart, Lapko and more

Roland Garros 2018's Grand Slam debuts: Krejcikova, Dolehide, Jakupovic and more

Australian Open 2018's Grand Slam debuts: Kostyuk, Kalinskaya, Wang Xinyu and more

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