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A host of new faces are making their mark on the lawns of SW19 this year READ MORE
BY REEM ABULLEIL
SOCIAL
Grass is a unique surface that typically favours more experienced players, or at least ones who have grown up playing a great deal of lawn tennis.

It requires specific movements and adjustments that take time to develop, and since the grass court season is very short, many younger players have said they need a few seasons before they figure out how to perform their best on it. Some never take to it, while others quickly fall in love with it.

The best performance by a Wimbledon debutant in the Open era belongs to David Nalbandian, who was runner-up on his maiden appearance in 2002. On the ladies’ side, a trio of women made the semi-finals on their first main draw participation: Chris Evert (1972), Anna Kournikova (1997) and Alexandra Stevenson (1999).

Here’s a look at some players who have enjoyed standout debuts this year.

Sebastian Korda

KORDA: 21ST BIRTHDAY
The American celebrates his 21st birthday on Manic Monday, when he faces the Russian No.25 seed, Karen Khachanov.

A year ago, Sebastian Korda, or ‘Sebi’ - son of the 1998 Australian Open champion Petra Korda - was ranked No.224.

Up to a career high of No.50, the young talent is through to the last 16 on his Wimbledon debut and just the fourth Grand Slam main draw of his career. He also reached the fourth round on his Roland-Garros bow last autumn, and lifted his maiden ATP title on clay in Parma in May.

Korda made it to the second week with victories over No.15 seed and recent Eastbourne champion Alex de Minaur, fellow debutant Antoine Hoang, and No.22 seed Dan Evans.

I'VE BEEN TALKING WITH ANDRE AGASSI FOR PROBABLY ABOUT A YEAR NOW. HE'S JUST A SPECIAL PERSON. WE TALK BASICALLY EVERY SINGLE DAY, EVERY SINGLE MATCH ABOUT HOW I'M FEELING, WHAT I SHOULD DO
His run at SW19 comes as no surprise considering his strong form on grass – he beat Roberto Bautista Agut and Kei Nishikori en route to the Halle quarter-finals – and the fact he’s been receiving advice from both his father – a quarter-finalist at Wimbledon in 1998 – and eight-time major winner Andre Agassi.

“I've been talking with Andre for probably about a year now,” said Korda. “He's just a special person. We talk basically every single day, every single match about how I'm feeling, what I should do. But the most important thing he told me (before my third round with Evans) was just to enjoy it. It's your first time on Centre Court at Wimbledon, just enjoy it, embrace it, have a lot of fun.”

Emma Raducanu

RADUCANU: WINNING SMILE
Ranked No.338, Emma Raducanu isn’t just making her Wimbledon debut, she is playing in the main draw at a Grand Slam for the first time. The 18-year-old British wild card has knocked out Vitalia Diatchenko, 2019 Roland-Garros finalist Marketa Vondrousova and Sorana Cirstea without dropping a set.

IT'S FUNNY BECAUSE WHEN I WAS PACKING TO COME INTO THE BUBBLE, MY PARENTS WERE LIKE, 'AREN'T YOU PACKING TOO MANY SETS OF MATCH KIT?'
Her run is so unexpected, that even her own parents didn’t predict she would staying this long. “It's funny because when I was packing to come into the bubble, my parents were like, 'Aren't you packing too many sets of match kit?' I think I'm gonna have to do some laundry tonight but I think they have a laundry service at the hotel, so I'm all good guys,” she told the No.1 Court crowd on Saturday.

Raducanu is the youngest British woman in the Open era to reach the last 16 at Wimbledon, where she will face Australian Ajla Tomljanovic.

Liudmila Samsonova

SAMSONOVA: 10 WINS IN A ROW
Two weeks ago, Liudmila Samsonova was ranked outside the top 100 and was a qualifier at the grass court tournament in Berlin. The 22-year-old Russian, who spent most of her life in Italy, swept to seven victories in a row there to lift her maiden WTA trophy and earn a wild card into the Wimbledon main draw.

Appearing at The Championships for the first time, Samsonova extended her winning streak to 10 with successes over Kaia Kanepi, No.22 seed Jessica Pegula and 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens. She faces former world No.1 Karolina Pliskova for a spot in the quarter-finals.

Ilya Ivashka
Anyone following the Belarusian Ilya Ivashka closely would not be surprised that he is through to the fourth round on his Wimbledon debut. Now ranked a career-high No.69, Ivashka reached the quarter-finals as a qualifier on the grass at Eastbourne and had a tight defeat against Roger Federer in Halle the week before.

On clay, he qualified and made the semi-finals in Munich after knocking out Alexander Zverev, and took a set off Rafael Nadal in Barcelona. With wins over Jaume Munar, Jeremy Chardy and Jordan Thompson, Ivashka is through to the second week at Wimbledon and faces Italian No.7 seed Matteo Berrettini.

Barbora Krejcikova

KREJCIKOVA: DOUBLES CHAMPION
The reigning Roland-Garros singles and doubles champion had never featured in the singles main draw at Wimbledon before. Barbora Krejcikova was doubles champion at the All England Club in 2018 but her singles form only seriously picked up in the past nine months.

Krejcikova was so nervous doing pre-tournament press in the main interview room at Wimbledon, her voice was practically shaking. She played down her chances, given her inexperience on grass in singles, but has surprised herself with how well she has done.

“I think the fighting spirit is something that changed in Paris. I really want to build up on it. I really want to improve this,” the Czech No.14 seed said after overcoming Anastasija Sevastova in three sets. Next up is No.1 seed Ashleigh Barty.

Elena Rybakina
The Kazakhstani big-server is making her debut as the No.18 seed. Fresh from a maiden Grand Slam quarter-final run in Paris, where she ousted Serena Williams, Elena Rybakina has yet to drop a set in victories over Kristina Mladenovic, Claire Liu and Shelby Rogers. Her reward is a fourth round meeting with Belarusian No.2 seed Aryna Sabalenka.

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