Some of the most intense days of every calendar year in tennis are the final rounds of qualifying at the four Grand Slams. It’s an all-or-nothing ordeal, as losers go home without anything to show for their victories earlier in the week and the winners advancing to the biggest stage in tennis. As almost everyone involved in qualifying is outside the top 100, successful qualification also represents a huge, potentially career-changing payday.
With such stakes on the line, 2019 Wimbledon qualifying concluded at Roehampton on Thursday.
Among the men’s qualifiers were Alexei Popyrin, Thiago Monteiro, Salvatore Caruso, Marcel Granollers, Ruben Bemelmans, Marcos Giron, Dennis Novak, and Gregoire Barrere. Bemelmans set a new record by successfully qualifying at Wimbledon for a sixth time. Novak reached the Wimbledon third round last year as a qualifier. Barrere beat Liam Broady from two sets down on Thursday.
Among the women’s qualifiers were Yanina Wickmayer, Coco Gauff, Caty McNally, Kristie Ahn, and Arina Rodionova. At 15 years old, Gauff becomes the youngest participant in a Wimbledon main draw since British wild card Laura Robson in 2009.
Both the men’s and women’s draws begin with 128 competitors, whittled down to 16 left standing and into the main draw when it’s all said and done. Few survive Roehampton, players and apparently rackets alike.
The dust has now settled at Roehampton. It’s on to the All-England Club.
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draw tomorrow morning. just about go time.
Ricky, how do the lucky losers get selected? Is it totally random based on those who lost in last qualifying round? Or do higher seeds that lost get a preference? Thanks