George Loffhagen hits jackpot with SW19 wildcard

Rising British star was so disillusioned he gave up tennis completely! Now George Loffhagen hits jackpot with SW19 wildcard

• Less than a year ago Loffhagen had no world ranking and was off to university
• He could now face one of the world’s best players at Wimbledon next week
• Whatever happens, he will more than double his tennis earnings to date 

It was less than a year ago that George Loffhagen had no world ranking and was preparing to go to university, embarking on a degree like many others of his age.

Barely 10 months on, he will play singles in Wimbledon’s main draw next week, with the possibility of tackling one of the sport’s biggest stars on Centre Court.

His is, by any standards, a remarkable transformation. The latest stage of it comes courtesy of one of the boldest wildcard awards made by the All England Club in recent years.

Loffhagen is ranked No 364 and one thing for certain is that the money he will earn — first-round participants are guaranteed a minimum £55,000 — will more than double anything he has made from the game to date.

The 22-year-old from Ealing is known only to the cognoscenti in tennis. The same might be said about his father, John, in the world of golf. A prominent sports business lawyer for many years, until recently John Loffhagen worked as the chief legal officer for the LIV Tour, only stepping down following the recent outbreak of uneasy peace between the rival tours.

George Loffhagen is preparing to play singles in Wimbledon’s main draw next week

The 22-year-old will more than double any earnings he has made from tennis, even if he loses in the first round

He could end up facing one of the world’s top stars – such as Novak Djokovic – in the draw

His son will play at Eastbourne this week, and while George will be chief among the British unknowns trying to make a name for themselves over the next fortnight, it is no accident that a wildcard chance has been taken on his potential.

The rise of Loffhagen through the thicket of lower tier events this year has been unusually swift. His world ranking had disappeared completely by late August 2022 and he began this year at a nominal No 983.

That has been cut to below 400 due to him reaching two finals and winning two professional titles on the Futures level of the tour, the first of them coming in the Indian city of Mysuru in early April.

There were times in the juniors when Loffhagen showed exceptional promise. In 2017, he was so good that Rafael Nadal invited him to be a practice partner at Wimbledon. Among those Loffhagen ran close in the junior ranks was Lorenzo Musetti, the Italian currently ranked 16th in the world.

Yet for a long time, it seemed likely that the British youngster would fall into that black hole that swallows up so many when they attempt to make the transition to the big time.

After trying a French academy and failing to make progress, Loffhagen became sufficiently disillusioned to give up the game. He took his A-levels belatedly, not playing at all for a whole year from August 2021. Last September he enrolled at Loughborough University, only to discover quickly that the conventional student life was not for him.

That led him back to where he had first encountered the game as an eight-year-old: the Unique Tennis Academy in Winchmore Hill. There, Loffhagen had come under the wing of veteran coach Alan Jones, who runs the academy with his son Ryan and his former protégé, Jo Durie.

‘As soon as I saw him when he arrived here you could tell he had a lot of ability, and by 15 you knew he could be really good if he wanted to be,’ says Jones, known for his blunt assessments of players. He once had a young Laura Robson on his books and he puts Loffhagen’s natural ball-striking ability in a similar bracket. 

IT’S A BRIT SPECIAL FOR THIS TRIO 

Eight British men are guaranteed places in the main draw at Wimbledon with three of them — wild cards George Loffhagen, Arthur Fery and Jan Choinski — set for debuts

Jan Choinski (World No 167)

Choinski is German born, of Polish descent, who has represented Britain since 2018 thanks to his mother (an ex-ballerina) coming from Southampton. As a teenager he showed bags of potential – he beat Matteo Berrettini en route to the US Open boys’ singles semis in 2014 – but now, at 27, gets the chance to grace a Grand Slam. The 6ft 5in big hitter has reached two Challenger Tour semis in 2023 but lost in the first round at Nottingham and Queen’s.

George Loffhagen (World No 364)

Chelsea fan Loffhagen won’t be short of support at as he hails from nearby Ealing. The 22-year-old had a dart at qualifying in 2018 – he even buddied up with Rafael Nadal in practice – but that ended in failure and a year he ago his world ranking was plummeting towards 1000. This year has seen a remarkable turnaround with four finals reached, with two ending in triumph.

Arthur Fery (World No 386)

At 20, Fery is the youngest of the first-timers – and he really is local. Fery went to King’s College School, a smash away from Centre Court, before going to Stanford University in California, finishing the college season ranked third nationally. Both his parents are French — his mum Olivia was a WTA player in the 1990s, while businessman dad Loic is the owner of football club Lorient.

PS – Hannah Klugman, just 14, will also be hoping to make the main draw of the women’s event. The Surrey youngster has been given a wild card for qualifying at Roehampton this week.

In 2017, Loffhagen was so good that Rafael Nadal (pictured) invited him to be a practice partner at Wimbledon

‘I think when he went to Loughborough, it made him realise that he did actually want to be a tennis player.’ Jones says.

Ryan Jones has been putting in a lot of work with Loffhagen, which has helped finally to see the talent blossom. ‘He has really pulled his finger out and we are starting to see the results, quicker than expected to be honest,’ says Jones senior.

‘There is still a long way to go, but the natural talent side of things has never been an issue. George has got easy power and has started to rip his forehand. His serve is potentially outstanding.

‘He moves extremely well for a big guy. But the sport is not for the fainthearted and he is starting to believe and understand that he could be very good.’

Loffhagen clinched his Wimbledon wildcard after beating a brace of top 200 players to make the quarter-finals of the Nottingham Open, in which he lost only narrowly to Dominik Koepfer, the world No 95.

Arthur Ferry is another wildcard to watch at Wimbledon when the competition gets underway

Loffhagen is one of several interesting wildcards, although in truth there is still not enough competition for them being provided by the LTA-dominated system. Another to watch is the 20-year-old Arthur Fery, ranked at 385 and who has been on a scholarship at Stanford University.

Two years ago, Fery almost came through qualifying to make Wimbledon’s draw before losing in five sets to Tallon Griekspoor, now the world No 29.

Wimbledon qualifying starts on Monday with the usual clutch of British hopefuls hoping to make it through to the main draw.

Among the wildcards into the preliminary event are two interesting female prospects: 15-year-old Mimi Xu from South Wales and Hannah Klugman, a 14-year-old who is from Wimbledon itself.

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