Tomic, Matosevic qualify for Wimbledon
Bernard Tomic and Marinko Matosevic have advanced to the Wimbledon main draw after they both won their final round qualifying matches on Saturday at Roehampton.
Roehampton, 19 June 2011 | Rob O'Gorman
Bernard Tomic and Marinko Matosevic have advanced to the Wimbledon main draw after they both won their final round qualifying matches on Saturday at Roehampton.
Matosevic will make his main draw debut at the All England Club after winning a five-set battle against compatriot Chris Guccione 7-6(9) 6-7(3) 7-6(3) 4-6 6-1.
The Victorian prevailed in a seesawing battle that was played across three days due to wet conditions.
Tomic won through qualifying for the second successive year, downing Monaco’s Jean-Rene Lisnard 6-1 6-4 6-1 in his final round match.
The teenager, who made his debut in the Wimbledon main draw last year when he was beaten by American Mardy Fish in the first round, was excited to again be part of the main action.
“It’s really great, I’m really happy like I did last year, I’m happy with the way I played and hopefully I can play well now in the main draw,” Tomic told tennis.com.au.
“It’s really hard when it rains and sometimes it can play into your opponent’s favour. I’m happy I won the first set before the rain came in and really happy to win the match.”
His best performance in a major occurred in January when Tomic reached the third round of the Australian Open, turning in an impressive display against world No.2 Rafael Nadal.