Britain’s Billy Harris will not play in his first Grand Slam at the French Open after falling to a 7-6 (7-2) 7-5 defeat in the final round of qualifying.
Harris squandered a lead in both sets against Valentin Vacherot of Monaco, who was also trying to reach the main draw at a major for the first time.
Harris was aiming to join Andy Murray and Dan Evans at Roland Garros after the British duo were awarded a wildcard for the men’s doubles.
The world number 202 struck the first blow in the opening set, but he missed a set point and Vacherot broke back before dominating the tie-break.
After a disappointing end to the first set, Harris recovered and raced to a 3-0 lead in the second, only to be pinned back to 4-4 by the 14th seed, who won seven points in a row to wrap up the match.
Harris was the only Briton left in either the men’s or women’s qualifying tournaments after Ryan Peniston, Heather Watson and Oliver Crawford suffered first-round defeats.
The 29-year-old won his first match on the ATP Tour in November last year, having spent the start of his professional career driving to tournaments in a Ford Transit van to save money.
2024-05-23 12:07:29
#French #Open #qualifying #Billy #Harris #misses #major #main #draw #appearance
