Storm Hunter has again spearheaded Australia’s challenge at Wimbledon’s qualifying tournament, leading a trio of her compatriots into the final round with a place in the main draw just one tantalising win away.
Key points:
- Only three Australians remain in the Wimbledon qualifiers after four others bowed out overnight
- Storm Hunter, Olivia Gadecki and Marc Polmans are all one win away from the main draw
- The Wimbledon main draw will start in the evening of Monday, July 3
Queenslander Hunter, up-and-coming Gold Coast player Olivia Gadecki and Melbourne’s Marc Polmans all earned second-round victories on a rain-interrupted afternoon at Roehampton, a couple of kilometres from the All England Club, on Wednesday.
Hunter — formerly Sanders, before her marriage late last year — is on a bit of a roll after also being the only Australian to successfully qualify at the French Open where she reached the second round.
She again earned a notable triumph at Roehampton, defeating Russia’s top seed in the qualifying event, world number 64 Elina Avanesyan, in two tough tiebreak-settled sets 7-6 (7-1), 7-6 (7-2).
Tonight, Rockhampton’s Hunter, ranked the sixth-best doubles player in the game but only 162 in singles, will face Japan’s Nao Hibino, ranked 125, in a contest to earn the main draw place.
Gadecki, a 21-year-old who’s one of the rising stars of the Australian women’s game, made handsome progress with a 6-3, 6-1 demolition of American Ann Li, and she’ll look to make her Wimbledon debut by beating another youngster, Spain’s 20-year-old Jessica Bouzas Maneiro.
Polmans, the lanky South African-born player who has a liking for the grass courts and qualified for Wimbledon two years ago, had to come from behind to beat American Zachary Svajda 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.
But the last Aussie man standing of the five who entered qualifying will have his work cut out against German Oscar Otte, who only a couple of years ago made it to the fourth round at the US Open.
There was disappointment for Polmans’ Sydneysider colleagues James Duckworth, who went down 6-4, 6-4 to Frenchman Harold Mayot, and Rinky Hijikata, the ninth seed who was beaten 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-2) by Chile’s Tomas Barrios Vera.
Slovakian Viktoria Hruncakova knocked out Melbourne’s Jaimee Fourlis 6-1, 6-3, while Italian Lucrezia Stefanini ended the hopes of Brisbane’s Priscilla Hon with a 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) win.
AAP
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