Kimberley Zimmermann, or the happiness of playing a first Grand Slam match

For the best, the hundred best players, the hundred best players in the world, participating in the Grand Slam tournaments every year is obvious. Except injury or “sanitary” impediment (we will not come back to this). For the most successful doubles too. Being part of it is natural.

For hundreds and hundreds of professional(s), one day participating in one of the four biggest tournaments in the world will remain an unattainable dream.

And then, there are those, and those, who progress, who fight, who mature, who climb the rankings, and who end up getting there. Who join the final draw of the Australian Open, Roland-Garros, Wimbledon, or the US Open. For them, it is an important personal event, whether they remain more or less anonymous, or whether they achieve a great performance afterwards.

For Kimberley Zimmermann, the event took place. She had already competed in Grand Slam qualifications, Melbourne and Wimbledon, without succeeding in getting by. But there she was for the first time in a large painting. Double.

There are no qualifications, in doubles, so there is no possibility of going for lucky losers, in the event of withdrawals. But there are teams placed in a kind of reserve. The Brussels player, 92nd in the world in doubles, was in this reserve, with the Slovak Anna Karolina Schmiedlova. “I came to play the first two tournaments of the Australian tour. And I had registered, to try to enter the table of the Australian Open. When I left Belgium, I was fourth on the list waiting. And when the draw was made, I was the second substitute”.

And it was this Wednesday morning that she learned that she was entering the picture. “I had heard rumors last night that there had been forfeits, but the WTA only confirmed it to me two or three hours before my meeting. I had decided to prepare anyway as for a game day, just in case”.