Golden day for Aussies as quartet earn Wimbledon spots
Australian tennis is celebrating a green-and-golden day as four more of its battalion qualified for Wimbledon, meaning 17 players will feature in the main draw of the sport's most celebrated Championship -- the biggest Aussie contingent for 30 years.
While Priscilla Hon and Talia Gibson both saved match points in final qualifying to earn their dream Wimbledon dates and Alex Bolt and James McCabe also booked their spots at windy Roehampton, teenage star Maya Joint sealed the stellar day by reaching the Eastbourne International semi-final 100km away.
The only anti-climax was 16-year-old Emerson Jones missing out in her bold bid to become the youngest Australian player since Ash Barty to make the singles main draw at Wimbledon as she succumbed in her final-round qualifier.
But it would have been greedy to expect more than four getting through on a windswept day a few kilometres up the road from Wimbledon, which ensured there'll be seven women and 10 men in Friday's draw, matching the 17 Aussies at the 1995 Championships.
The evergreen Bolt, a bit of a grass-court specialist having learned to play on the courts at his Murray Bridge home in South Australia, started the fun by beating the rain and one of the game's rising young stars, Spaniard Martin Landaluce, 6-1 6-2 6-4.
It ensured he reached back-to-back main draws at Wimbledon and a fourth in all. "It's massive. I guess there's no secret that I'm closer to the end of my career than the start and as long as I'm fit and healthy, I feel like I can keep going," he said.
At the other end of the age scale, 21-year-old Gibson found herself 3-5, 30-40 down in the final set against Argentine 10th qualifying seed Solana Sierra before saving the match point and reeling off the next four games to prevail 6-4 3-6 7-5.
That was as nothing, though, compared to Brisbane stalwart Hon, who had to save five match points on her serve at a set and 5-6 down against another of the game's new stars, Canadian Victoria Mboko, before she escaped to win the tiebreak and then powered past the deflated youngster in the decider.
It was Hon's seventh time trying to qualify for Wimbledon and the 27-year-old was rewarded for her nous, staying more patient than her frustrated opponent as the wind swirled.
The multi-talented 21-year-old McCabe, a former top junior swimmer and accomplished flautist, joined Hon and Gibson as Wimbledon debutants with his doughty 4-6 6-3 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (9-7) victory over Chile's Marcelo Tomas Barrios Vera.
Alas, the 16-year-old Gold Coast star Jones, the world's No.1 junior, couldn't join the party, beaten by Frenchwoman Diane Parry 6-2 6-2, while Li Tu also missed out on the men's main draw, losing to crafty French veteran Adrian Mannarino 3-6 6-3 6-4 6-4.
Jones, who was seeking to become the youngest Aussie since former Wimbledon champ Barty made it back in 2012, couldn't adapt to the blustery conditions as well as her much more experienced opponent Parry, a 22-year-old who reached the third round at SW19 in 2022 as a teen.
But she still has the chance to shoot for the junior title at Wimbledon where she reached the final last year.
Meanwhile, in the big final Wimbledon warm-up at the Eastbourne International, 19-year-old Joint continued her amazing rise with a tough 6-4 7-5 quarter-final victory over experienced Russian Anna Blinkova, reaching her third semi of her rookie season, all on different surfaces.
A grass-court novice, she's the first Australian to get this far in the traditional Wimbledon curtain-raiser for 14 years since Sam Stosur and she'll face former French Open finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the last four.
Elsewhere, at the Boodles event at Stoke Park, north of London, Australia's top two men's players sharpened up by taking on each other in the invitation event, with Alex de Minaur earning the bragging rights over Alexei Popyrin with a 6-3 6-4 win.
Australian tennis is celebrating a green-and-golden day as four more of its battalion qualified for Wimbledon, meaning 17 players will feature in the main draw of the sport's most celebrated Championship -- the biggest Aussie contingent for 30 years.
While Priscilla Hon and Talia Gibson both saved match points in final qualifying to earn their dream Wimbledon dates and Alex Bolt and James McCabe also booked their spots at windy Roehampton, teenage star Maya Joint sealed the stellar day by reaching the Eastbourne International semi-final 100km away.
The only anti-climax was 16-year-old Emerson Jones missing out in her bold bid to become the youngest Australian player since Ash Barty to make the singles main draw at Wimbledon as she succumbed in her final-round qualifier.
But it would have been greedy to expect more than four getting through on a windswept day a few kilometres up the road from Wimbledon, which ensured there'll be seven women and 10 men in Friday's draw, matching the 17 Aussies at the 1995 Championships.
The evergreen Bolt, a bit of a grass-court specialist having learned to play on the courts at his Murray Bridge home in South Australia, started the fun by beating the rain and one of the game's rising young stars, Spaniard Martin Landaluce, 6-1 6-2 6-4.
It ensured he reached back-to-back main draws at Wimbledon and a fourth in all. "It's massive. I guess there's no secret that I'm closer to the end of my career than the start and as long as I'm fit and healthy, I feel like I can keep going," he said.
At the other end of the age scale, 21-year-old Gibson found herself 3-5, 30-40 down in the final set against Argentine 10th qualifying seed Solana Sierra before saving the match point and reeling off the next four games to prevail 6-4 3-6 7-5.
That was as nothing, though, compared to Brisbane stalwart Hon, who had to save five match points on her serve at a set and 5-6 down against another of the game's new stars, Canadian Victoria Mboko, before she escaped to win the tiebreak and then powered past the deflated youngster in the decider.
It was Hon's seventh time trying to qualify for Wimbledon and the 27-year-old was rewarded for her nous, staying more patient than her frustrated opponent as the wind swirled.
The multi-talented 21-year-old McCabe, a former top junior swimmer and accomplished flautist, joined Hon and Gibson as Wimbledon debutants with his doughty 4-6 6-3 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (9-7) victory over Chile's Marcelo Tomas Barrios Vera.
Alas, the 16-year-old Gold Coast star Jones, the world's No.1 junior, couldn't join the party, beaten by Frenchwoman Diane Parry 6-2 6-2, while Li Tu also missed out on the men's main draw, losing to crafty French veteran Adrian Mannarino 3-6 6-3 6-4 6-4.
Jones, who was seeking to become the youngest Aussie since former Wimbledon champ Barty made it back in 2012, couldn't adapt to the blustery conditions as well as her much more experienced opponent Parry, a 22-year-old who reached the third round at SW19 in 2022 as a teen.
But she still has the chance to shoot for the junior title at Wimbledon where she reached the final last year.
Meanwhile, in the big final Wimbledon warm-up at the Eastbourne International, 19-year-old Joint continued her amazing rise with a tough 6-4 7-5 quarter-final victory over experienced Russian Anna Blinkova, reaching her third semi of her rookie season, all on different surfaces.
A grass-court novice, she's the first Australian to get this far in the traditional Wimbledon curtain-raiser for 14 years since Sam Stosur and she'll face former French Open finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the last four.
Elsewhere, at the Boodles event at Stoke Park, north of London, Australia's top two men's players sharpened up by taking on each other in the invitation event, with Alex de Minaur earning the bragging rights over Alexei Popyrin with a 6-3 6-4 win.
Australian tennis is celebrating a green-and-golden day as four more of its battalion qualified for Wimbledon, meaning 17 players will feature in the main draw of the sport's most celebrated Championship -- the biggest Aussie contingent for 30 years.
While Priscilla Hon and Talia Gibson both saved match points in final qualifying to earn their dream Wimbledon dates and Alex Bolt and James McCabe also booked their spots at windy Roehampton, teenage star Maya Joint sealed the stellar day by reaching the Eastbourne International semi-final 100km away.
The only anti-climax was 16-year-old Emerson Jones missing out in her bold bid to become the youngest Australian player since Ash Barty to make the singles main draw at Wimbledon as she succumbed in her final-round qualifier.
But it would have been greedy to expect more than four getting through on a windswept day a few kilometres up the road from Wimbledon, which ensured there'll be seven women and 10 men in Friday's draw, matching the 17 Aussies at the 1995 Championships.
The evergreen Bolt, a bit of a grass-court specialist having learned to play on the courts at his Murray Bridge home in South Australia, started the fun by beating the rain and one of the game's rising young stars, Spaniard Martin Landaluce, 6-1 6-2 6-4.
It ensured he reached back-to-back main draws at Wimbledon and a fourth in all. "It's massive. I guess there's no secret that I'm closer to the end of my career than the start and as long as I'm fit and healthy, I feel like I can keep going," he said.
At the other end of the age scale, 21-year-old Gibson found herself 3-5, 30-40 down in the final set against Argentine 10th qualifying seed Solana Sierra before saving the match point and reeling off the next four games to prevail 6-4 3-6 7-5.
That was as nothing, though, compared to Brisbane stalwart Hon, who had to save five match points on her serve at a set and 5-6 down against another of the game's new stars, Canadian Victoria Mboko, before she escaped to win the tiebreak and then powered past the deflated youngster in the decider.
It was Hon's seventh time trying to qualify for Wimbledon and the 27-year-old was rewarded for her nous, staying more patient than her frustrated opponent as the wind swirled.
The multi-talented 21-year-old McCabe, a former top junior swimmer and accomplished flautist, joined Hon and Gibson as Wimbledon debutants with his doughty 4-6 6-3 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (9-7) victory over Chile's Marcelo Tomas Barrios Vera.
Alas, the 16-year-old Gold Coast star Jones, the world's No.1 junior, couldn't join the party, beaten by Frenchwoman Diane Parry 6-2 6-2, while Li Tu also missed out on the men's main draw, losing to crafty French veteran Adrian Mannarino 3-6 6-3 6-4 6-4.
Jones, who was seeking to become the youngest Aussie since former Wimbledon champ Barty made it back in 2012, couldn't adapt to the blustery conditions as well as her much more experienced opponent Parry, a 22-year-old who reached the third round at SW19 in 2022 as a teen.
But she still has the chance to shoot for the junior title at Wimbledon where she reached the final last year.
Meanwhile, in the big final Wimbledon warm-up at the Eastbourne International, 19-year-old Joint continued her amazing rise with a tough 6-4 7-5 quarter-final victory over experienced Russian Anna Blinkova, reaching her third semi of her rookie season, all on different surfaces.
A grass-court novice, she's the first Australian to get this far in the traditional Wimbledon curtain-raiser for 14 years since Sam Stosur and she'll face former French Open finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the last four.
Elsewhere, at the Boodles event at Stoke Park, north of London, Australia's top two men's players sharpened up by taking on each other in the invitation event, with Alex de Minaur earning the bragging rights over Alexei Popyrin with a 6-3 6-4 win.
Australian tennis is celebrating a green-and-golden day as four more of its battalion qualified for Wimbledon, meaning 17 players will feature in the main draw of the sport's most celebrated Championship -- the biggest Aussie contingent for 30 years.
While Priscilla Hon and Talia Gibson both saved match points in final qualifying to earn their dream Wimbledon dates and Alex Bolt and James McCabe also booked their spots at windy Roehampton, teenage star Maya Joint sealed the stellar day by reaching the Eastbourne International semi-final 100km away.
The only anti-climax was 16-year-old Emerson Jones missing out in her bold bid to become the youngest Australian player since Ash Barty to make the singles main draw at Wimbledon as she succumbed in her final-round qualifier.
But it would have been greedy to expect more than four getting through on a windswept day a few kilometres up the road from Wimbledon, which ensured there'll be seven women and 10 men in Friday's draw, matching the 17 Aussies at the 1995 Championships.
The evergreen Bolt, a bit of a grass-court specialist having learned to play on the courts at his Murray Bridge home in South Australia, started the fun by beating the rain and one of the game's rising young stars, Spaniard Martin Landaluce, 6-1 6-2 6-4.
It ensured he reached back-to-back main draws at Wimbledon and a fourth in all. "It's massive. I guess there's no secret that I'm closer to the end of my career than the start and as long as I'm fit and healthy, I feel like I can keep going," he said.
At the other end of the age scale, 21-year-old Gibson found herself 3-5, 30-40 down in the final set against Argentine 10th qualifying seed Solana Sierra before saving the match point and reeling off the next four games to prevail 6-4 3-6 7-5.
That was as nothing, though, compared to Brisbane stalwart Hon, who had to save five match points on her serve at a set and 5-6 down against another of the game's new stars, Canadian Victoria Mboko, before she escaped to win the tiebreak and then powered past the deflated youngster in the decider.
It was Hon's seventh time trying to qualify for Wimbledon and the 27-year-old was rewarded for her nous, staying more patient than her frustrated opponent as the wind swirled.
The multi-talented 21-year-old McCabe, a former top junior swimmer and accomplished flautist, joined Hon and Gibson as Wimbledon debutants with his doughty 4-6 6-3 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (9-7) victory over Chile's Marcelo Tomas Barrios Vera.
Alas, the 16-year-old Gold Coast star Jones, the world's No.1 junior, couldn't join the party, beaten by Frenchwoman Diane Parry 6-2 6-2, while Li Tu also missed out on the men's main draw, losing to crafty French veteran Adrian Mannarino 3-6 6-3 6-4 6-4.
Jones, who was seeking to become the youngest Aussie since former Wimbledon champ Barty made it back in 2012, couldn't adapt to the blustery conditions as well as her much more experienced opponent Parry, a 22-year-old who reached the third round at SW19 in 2022 as a teen.
But she still has the chance to shoot for the junior title at Wimbledon where she reached the final last year.
Meanwhile, in the big final Wimbledon warm-up at the Eastbourne International, 19-year-old Joint continued her amazing rise with a tough 6-4 7-5 quarter-final victory over experienced Russian Anna Blinkova, reaching her third semi of her rookie season, all on different surfaces.
A grass-court novice, she's the first Australian to get this far in the traditional Wimbledon curtain-raiser for 14 years since Sam Stosur and she'll face former French Open finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the last four.
Elsewhere, at the Boodles event at Stoke Park, north of London, Australia's top two men's players sharpened up by taking on each other in the invitation event, with Alex de Minaur earning the bragging rights over Alexei Popyrin with a 6-3 6-4 win.
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De Minaur's lapse at Roland Garros, when he was two sets up against Alexander Bublik and then felt he lost his way against the marvellous, manic Kazakh, was a rare recent grand slam calamity for the 26-year-old, who had reached at least the last-16 in his six previous majors. Reflecting that he could give himself a "pat on the back" for that consistency, he also admitted his constant demanding schedule had eventually "taken its toll." And asked how so many tour players could avoid that same physical and mental toll, he said: "I think I speak for the vast majority of tennis players, that ideally what we would like to have is a shorter schedule that allows us to have a proper off-season. "So I would shorten the schedule and give players more time off at the end of the year, and then you would see less injuries, over-use injuries and less mental fatigue, which will allow a better level as a whole for the tour, for the spectator, for the sport, and a better atmosphere for everyone." Alex de Minaur reckons the downcast figure of Paris has been replaced by the rejuvenated optimist of Wimbledon who's put himself first and is feeling full of beans. But Australia's main man isn't about to make any predictions about another stirring run to match his surge to the quarters last year at Wimbledon, shrugging: "It's now up to my tennis to do the talking." Question marks have swirled around de Minaur's form and confidence after his dejected second-round exit at Roland Garros was followed by him losing his only tour grass-court match of the season at Queen's Club. But back at another grand slam after a revitalising break in London that's featured golf, relaxation around Wimbledon with fiancee Katie Boulter and a lone exhibition win over fellow Aussie Alexei Popyrin, he sounded a bit more like his normal chipper self at his annual state-of-the-Demon address at Wimbledon on Saturday (Sunday AEST). He did admit his return to his favoured surface had been a bit tentative this year as he recalled the freakish hip injury, caused by "an unnecessary slide" at the end of his Wimbledon fourth-round win over Arthur Fils that eventually stopped him taking the court against Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals. "But I've been able to really start to feel comfortable again and start to move the way I was last year, and not be afraid to kind of go out there and slide, which is a very good sign for me," said 11th seed de Minaur, who'll open his defence on Tuesday against Spain's world No.74 Roberto Carballes Baena. Talking about his enforced break after Paris when it was hard to remember him seeming so down, he reflected: "I was able to to take a step back, accept what has happened and and put myself first for the first time in a while, and I think that was quite crucial. "And even though it didn't bring out the result I wanted in Queen's (where he was beaten by eventual finalist Jiri Lehecka), I do now feel in a very good head-space going into Wimbledon. "I feel refreshed. I feel full of energy. And now it's up to my tennis to do the talking, right? But there's no excuses, whether physically or mentally. I feel like I'm ready to go." De Minaur's lapse at Roland Garros, when he was two sets up against Alexander Bublik and then felt he lost his way against the marvellous, manic Kazakh, was a rare recent grand slam calamity for the 26-year-old, who had reached at least the last-16 in his six previous majors. Reflecting that he could give himself a "pat on the back" for that consistency, he also admitted his constant demanding schedule had eventually "taken its toll." And asked how so many tour players could avoid that same physical and mental toll, he said: "I think I speak for the vast majority of tennis players, that ideally what we would like to have is a shorter schedule that allows us to have a proper off-season. "So I would shorten the schedule and give players more time off at the end of the year, and then you would see less injuries, over-use injuries and less mental fatigue, which will allow a better level as a whole for the tour, for the spectator, for the sport, and a better atmosphere for everyone." Alex de Minaur reckons the downcast figure of Paris has been replaced by the rejuvenated optimist of Wimbledon who's put himself first and is feeling full of beans. But Australia's main man isn't about to make any predictions about another stirring run to match his surge to the quarters last year at Wimbledon, shrugging: "It's now up to my tennis to do the talking." Question marks have swirled around de Minaur's form and confidence after his dejected second-round exit at Roland Garros was followed by him losing his only tour grass-court match of the season at Queen's Club. But back at another grand slam after a revitalising break in London that's featured golf, relaxation around Wimbledon with fiancee Katie Boulter and a lone exhibition win over fellow Aussie Alexei Popyrin, he sounded a bit more like his normal chipper self at his annual state-of-the-Demon address at Wimbledon on Saturday (Sunday AEST). He did admit his return to his favoured surface had been a bit tentative this year as he recalled the freakish hip injury, caused by "an unnecessary slide" at the end of his Wimbledon fourth-round win over Arthur Fils that eventually stopped him taking the court against Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals. "But I've been able to really start to feel comfortable again and start to move the way I was last year, and not be afraid to kind of go out there and slide, which is a very good sign for me," said 11th seed de Minaur, who'll open his defence on Tuesday against Spain's world No.74 Roberto Carballes Baena. Talking about his enforced break after Paris when it was hard to remember him seeming so down, he reflected: "I was able to to take a step back, accept what has happened and and put myself first for the first time in a while, and I think that was quite crucial. "And even though it didn't bring out the result I wanted in Queen's (where he was beaten by eventual finalist Jiri Lehecka), I do now feel in a very good head-space going into Wimbledon. "I feel refreshed. I feel full of energy. And now it's up to my tennis to do the talking, right? But there's no excuses, whether physically or mentally. I feel like I'm ready to go." De Minaur's lapse at Roland Garros, when he was two sets up against Alexander Bublik and then felt he lost his way against the marvellous, manic Kazakh, was a rare recent grand slam calamity for the 26-year-old, who had reached at least the last-16 in his six previous majors. Reflecting that he could give himself a "pat on the back" for that consistency, he also admitted his constant demanding schedule had eventually "taken its toll." And asked how so many tour players could avoid that same physical and mental toll, he said: "I think I speak for the vast majority of tennis players, that ideally what we would like to have is a shorter schedule that allows us to have a proper off-season. "So I would shorten the schedule and give players more time off at the end of the year, and then you would see less injuries, over-use injuries and less mental fatigue, which will allow a better level as a whole for the tour, for the spectator, for the sport, and a better atmosphere for everyone."
