Anna Brogan was up against an opponent 179 places higher than her in the rankings
Britain’s Billy Harris and Anna Brogan missed out on places in the Wimbledon main draw by losing in the final qualifying round at Roehampton.
Harris, 28, lost 6-4 7-6 (8-6) 6-4 against big-serving Hamad Medjedovic from Serbia, before Brogan, 25, was beaten 6-3 6-0 by China’s Bai Zhuoxuan.
It means there will be eight Britons in the men’s singles event with six in the women’s singles competition.
The main Wimbledon tournament begins on 3 July – with full coverage on the BBC.
Nineteen-year-old Medjedovic, ranked 155th in the world, got a break of serve in only the third game of the match and took the opening set, despite needing physio treatment on a right shoulder injury.
The Serb clinched the second set via a tie-break, then, following another lengthy medical timeout to deal with blisters on his feet, sealed the victory against Harris, ranked 345th, in three sets.
“It means the world to me – I still can’t believe I’ve done it in my first time here,” said Medjedovic.
“The serving was going quite good over the three rounds and I felt confident when serving. I had a very tough match yesterday – we played three hours, so not much time to recover and I’m still feeling pain in my body.”
Billy Harris was trying to reach his first Grand Slam main draw
Qualifying took place at the Community Sports Centre in Roehampton and Brogan, 370th in the world and looking to qualify for her first Grand Slam, was unable to get past her 20-year opponent, who is ranked 191st.
“For me it’s really amazing and why I started playing tennis – my dream is a Grand Slam,” said Bai.
“She [Brogan] played good and we have known each other for a long time and are good friends. I just gave my best on court and was happy to be in control of the match.”
British tennis ‘moving in right direction’, says LTA chief executive
Sixteen British players – eight men and eight women – had started qualifying, but none of them made it through the three rounds.
Britain’s Dan Evans, Andy Murray and Cameron Norrie qualified automatically for the main draw, while Liam Broady, Jan Choinski, Arthur Fery, George Loffhagen and Ryan Peniston have been given wildcards.
No British women were ranked in the top 100 at the cut-off date for Wimbledon to qualify automatically, although Katie Boulter, Jodie Burrage, Harriet Dart, Sonay Kartal, Katie Swan and Heather Watson were handed wildcards.
Emma Raducanu, the 2021 US Open champion, and Jack Draper are unable to play at the Grand Slam as they recover from injuries.
Despite there being just three direct entries in Friday’s Wimbledon singles draws, Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) chief executive Scott Lloyd says British tennis is “moving in the right direction”.
“Over the last 12 months, we’ve had four men in the top 50 of the world, which we’ve never had in the history of our sport in this country before,” said Lloyd.
“We actually had more players – men’s and women’s singles players – in the top 200 of the world than we’ve had for the last 40 years, so we’re moving in the right direction.
“We’re the only nation in the world that has had a men’s and a women’s Grand Slam singles champion and doubles and mixed doubles champion in the last decade.
“We’re right up there at the top of the game, but obviously we want to keep doing better and better.”
Qualifying round-up – Andreeva advances, but Seyboth Wild loses
Mirra Andreeva is already ranked 102nd in the world, despite only turning 16 in April
Sixteen-year-old Russian Mirra Andreeva advanced to qualify for her second consecutive Grand Slam after she reached the third round of the French Open, taking a set off current world number seven Coco Gauff before losing in three sets.
Andreeva, whose older sister Erika, 19, lost in the second qualifying round on Wednesday, beat Germany’s Tamara Korpatsch 7-5 5-7 6-2, despite struggling with the grass surface.
“It’s my first tournament on grass and at the beginning I didn’t feel pretty confident,” said Mirra Andreeva.
“I’m still sliding a lot – I’m the person who falls more than everybody else. I’m really happy to go through to the main draw. I’ve never been to Wimbledon before so I’m super excited.”
Sofia Kenin, the 2020 Australian Open champion, has qualified without dropping a set in her three matches and overcame fellow American Taylor Townsend 6-3 6-3.
Three-time Wimbledon women’s doubles champion Hsieh Su-wei lost an epic fight with Italy’s Lucrezia Stefaniniwho triumphed 6-2 6-7 (3-7) 7-6 (11-9).
In the men’s event, Lucas Pouille, an Australian Open semi-finalist, had to withdraw from his match through injury, despite being a set up against the Czech Republic’s Thomas Machac. Pouille won the first set 6-3 and was trailing 3-0 in the second when he had to pull out.
Brazil’s Thiago Seyboth Wild, who beat Russia’s Daniil Medvedev in the opening round of the French Open last month, lost in five sets, going down 6-4 6-7 (3-7) 2-6 6-3 6-2 to Thomas Barrios Vera of Chile.
The longest match of the day lasted four hours and one minute, with France’s Laurent Lokoli edging out American Michael Mmoh 2-6 7-6 (7-2) 6-3 2-6 6-2.
2023-06-29 17:44:46
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