Nights watching Love Island have helped Ranah Stoiber maintain a relaxed mindset on her way to the last eight of Junior Wimbledon.
Londoner Stoiber is one of several British juniors who reached the third round of the All England Club this summer, and was up against Francesca Pace – the daughter of former world No.7 Irina Spirlea – for a place in the quarter-final.
And in front of her home crowd on Court 12, the 18-year-old won the key points in a tight encounter to prevail 6-3 6-4 to reach the quarter-final.
This will be the last Junior Wimbledon for Stoiber who has reached a career high of 11th in the ITF Junior Rankings, and calmness on and off court has been essential
She said: “The only routine I have is getting into bed two hours before I sleep, I like to be relaxed, chill out – watching Love Island, and just hanging out with my friends as well.
“I’m full of excitement, and also a little bit of nerves – but I think the excitement overtakes it. Once I step on court, after a few games I try to have fun on court and really express myself out there.
“It’s very special. As a Brit, I think it’s a very big achievement. It’s my last Junior Wimbledon, so I’m glad to be having a deep run.
“I feel like my name’s out there more, more people know about me and are wishing me well more, because I’m one of the home players. It makes it even more special, it’s so much better for me.”
This is not Stoiber’s first strong run at a Grand Slam event, having reached the quarter-final of the US Open last year and the last four of the Australian Open in January – where she was beaten by Mirra Andreeva.
And that experience is something she believes has been vital for her SW19 success, coming through a tough start to the match to ultimately seal it in a fairly convincing fashion.
She added: “Those experiences have helped me quite a lot, knowing that I have the level to go far as I’m going now, and to even win a Slam one day.
“I think if that first set goes that way, it could have gone her way quite quickly. I just stayed in it and hoped for the best.”
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