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Former World No. 10 Gulbis also moves through
Stephane Robert first played the Wimbledon main draw in 2010. And eight years later, at 38 years old, the Frenchman becomes the second-oldest qualifier in the tournament’s Open Era history (Neale Fraser, 40, 1974), defeating Italian Luca Vanni 6-4, 3-6, 7-5, 6-1 on Thursday to move through.
Robert, who has climbed as high as No. 50 in the ATP Rankings, will compete in the grass-court Grand Slam’s main draw for the fifth time.
But the Frenchman is not the only player who completed a memorable qualifying run at Wimbledon. Christian Harrison, the 24-year-old brother of Ryan Harrison, qualified on the Roehampton grass for the first time with a 7-6(3), 7-5, 6-1 victory against Canadian Brayden Schnur.
“It means so much,” Harrison told Wimbledon.com. “It's special because my family is here, we're all staying in the same spot, they were with me the whole step of the way. And I definitely wouldn't have been here without their support.”
Harrison, who broke into the Top 200 of the ATP Rankings on Monday for the first time, dropped out of the rankings for nearly eight months from August 2015 through May 2016. In fact, due to seven surgeries, Harrison did not play a singles match at any level from July 2013 until January 2016.
Watch: Sweet Success For Harrison In New York
The World No. 200 will now get a chance to compete in a Grand Slam main draw for the second time (2016 US Open), which will mark his sixth tour-level match. Harrison’s lone tour-level victory came in Atlanta five years ago, when he beat Alejandro Falla in three sets.
Bradley Klahn, an American who missed 21 months due to back surgery from February 2015 until November 2016, will compete in his first Grand Slam main draw since the 2014 US Open. The left-handed 27-year-old beat Italian veteran Simone Bolelli 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(3).
Read Klahn Feature
Latvian Ernests Gulbis, former World No. 10, will make his 11th appearance in the Wimbledon main draw after ousting Italian Lorenzo Sonego 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3. It is the six-time ATP World Tour champion’s first showing at the tournament as a qualifier.
In addition to Harrison, Aussies Alex Bolt and Jason Kubler, Frenchmen Benjamin Bonzi and Gregoire Barrere, German Yannick Maden and Austrian Dennis Novak will all make their Wimbledon debuts.
Ruben Bemelmans, the No. 2 seed, tied an Open Era record by qualifying for the fifth time, while Italians Stefano Travaglia and Thomas Fabbiano, Chilean Christian Garin, Aussie John-Patrick Smith and Slovakian Norbert Gombos also advanced.
Did You Know?
In 2017, two qualifiers reached the third round at Wimbledon: Ruben Bemelmans and Sebastian Ofner.

Dimitrov vs. Wawrinka in first round; Federer could meet Halle conqueror in fourth round

Defending champion Roger Federer has been drawn in the same half of The Championships draw as Marin Cilic, the player he beat in last year’s Wimbledon final. Three-time former champion Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, the 2013 and 2016 titlist, are in the bottom of the 128-man Wimbledon draw with World No. 1 Rafael Nadal and Juan Martin del Potro.

The draw ceremony, held at the All England Club on Friday morning, has also thrown out intriguing first-round matches. Early popcorn matches include, 2014 and 2015 quarter-finalist Stan Wawrinka against sixth seed and 2014 semi-finalist Grigor Dimitrov and an all-French clash between Gael Monfils and two-time former semi-finalist Richard Gasquet. Borna Coric will face Daniil Medvedev in the opening round, while in-form London-based Jeremy Chardy plays No. 26 seed Denis Shapovalov.
You May Also Like: Five Must-See First-Round Matches At Wimbledon

View Draw

If Nadal, who plays Dudi Sela in the first round, is to complete the Roland Garros-Wimbledon title double for the third time (2008, 2010), the Spanish icon may need to work his way past Murray or 2013 semi-finalist Del Potro in the quarter-finals, followed by potentially one of fourth seed Alexander Zverev, No. 12 seed Djokovic or No. 15 seed Nick Kyrgios in the semi-finals. Nadal lost to Gilles Muller – who is in Federer’s top quarter of the draw – in last year’s fourth round.

Potential Popcorn Matches
Third Round: Andy Murray vs. Juan Martin del Potro
Third Round: Marin Cilic vs. Milos Raonic
Third Round: Grigor Dimitrov vs. John Isner
Third Round: Alexander Zverev vs. Nick Kyrgios
Fourth Round: Roger Federer vs. Borna Coric

Federer, the top seed, who will be looking to add to his 20 Grand Slam championship crowns, competes at the All England Club for the 20th year. With a 92-11 record at the grass-court major, the Swiss superstar will open his campaign for a ninth trophy against Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic. He may have a chance to avenge his Gerry Weber Open final loss to Coric in the fourth round. Should he reach the quarter-finals, Federer could then face eighth seed Kevin Anderson or last year’s semi-finalist and No. 11 seed Sam Querrey.

Djokovic, the 2011 and 2014-15 winner (58-10 record at Wimbledon), who finished runner-up to Marin Cilic at last week’s Fever-Tree Championships – representing his first ATP World Tour final for 12 months – will face American Tennys Sandgren in the first round and could meet No. 21 seed Kyle Edmund in the third round. Seventh seed Dominic Thiem, who opens against Marcos Baghdatis and in the same quarter, is a potential fourth-round opponent. The Serbian may then meet fourth seed Alexander Zverev, who advanced to the Last 16 in 2017, in the quarter-finals.

Murray, who started his comeback from hip surgery at The Queen’s Club last week, plays Benoit Paire in the first round. The 2013 and 2016 champion, with a 57-10 record at SW19, features in the same section as Del Potro and Nadal. But Murray will need to beat Chardy or Shapovalov in the second round prior to playing Del Potro, who begins his campaign against Germany’s Peter Gojowczyk.

Third seed Cilic, in the top half, is in the same quarter of the draw as Milos Raonic, the 2016 runner-up, ninth seed John Isner, Wawrinka and Dimitrov. Cilic, who is 27-11 lifetime at Wimbledon, opens his bid against Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan, while No. 13 Raonic plays British wild card Liam Broady.

Zverev, who reached his first major championship quarter-final at Roland Garros recently, starts against Australia's James Duckworth. Kyrgios, the No. 15 seed, challenges Denis Istomin, with a potential third-round clash against No. 24 seed Kei Nishikori, who begins against qualifier Christian Harrison.

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© Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images
Grigor Dimitrov leads Stan Wawrinka 4-2 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series ahead of their Wimbledon first-round clash next week.
Five Must-See First-Round Matches At Wimbledon
Jun
29
2018

ATP Staff

This article contains:
Wimbledon
Match Preview
2018
Stan Wawrinka
Grigor Dimitrov






Exciting match-ups aplenty in the first round at the All England Club

If you thought you could settle gently into 13 days of action at The Championships, think again. There are plenty of must-see clashes in the first round.
You May Also Like: Federer, Cilic In Same Half At Wimbledon; Nadal In Loaded Section
Stan Wawrinka (SUI) vs. [6] Grigor Dimitrov (BUL)
Take a deep breath, two of the sport's great one-handed backhands are to clash. Neither sixth seed Grigor Dimitrov nor Stan Wawrinka would have hoped for such a draw, but with Wawrinka outside of the Top 200 in the ATP Rankings the prospect of meeting a seed was always on the cards.
Back in London, the scene of his Wimbledon semi-final run in 2014 and last year’s Nitto ATP Finals crown, Dimitrov is looking for an injection of confidence and has a 4-2 lead in his FedEx ATP Head2Head series against Wawrinka.
The Bulgarian, who has won their past four meetings, beat Wawrinka on grass in the semi-finals of the 2014 Fever-Tree Championships 6-2, 6-4. Dimitrov has a 19-12 record on the 2018 season.
Wawrinka, who says that he has been training well on the practice courts, believes that it’s only a matter of time before he produces his best tennis on a match court. It makes the 2014 and 2015 quarter-finalist at Wimbledon dangerous, following two left knee surgeries last year.
[23] Richard Gasquet (FRA) vs. Gael Monfils (FRA)
Two of France’s most talented players of the past 15 years square off for the 17th time (Monfils 9-7). They have split their past two grass-court matches with Gasquet winning their 2017 Gerry Weber Open first-round encounter 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, while Monfils won last year’s Nature Valley International semi-final 6-2, 6-7(7), 7-6(4).
Gasquet certainly has the pedigree to win, with two semi-finals at Wimbledon in 2007 and 2015, in addition to a 3-1 record in grass-court finals. But while Monfils has never gone past the third round in nine appearances at The Championships, the 31-year-old is capable of brilliance. Monfils will play with confidence having advanced to the Turkish Airlines Open Antalya semi-finals this week.
[16] Borna Coric (CRO) vs. Daniil Medvedev (RUS)
Borna Coric beat eight-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer last week to capture his second ATP World Tour trophy at the Gerry Weber Open.
The 21-year-old Coric won his lone FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting against Medvedev in the round-robin stage of the 2017 Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan, on indoor hard courts.
Coric, who is currently at a career-high No. 21 in the ATP Rankings, will be wary though of 22-year-old Medvedev, who knocked out Wawrinka in the Wimbledon first round last year.
Jeremy Chardy (FRA) vs. [26] Denis Shapovalov (CAN)
What price do you put on confidence against a shot-maker? We’ll soon find out in a first-time match-up on the hallowed lawns.
Jeremy Chardy, who recently moved to London, has enjoyed a solid run of form in recent weeks, which has seen him move up from No. 86 to No. 46 in the ATP Rankings, his highest ranking since 8 August 2016 (No. 39). On the back of a sixth ATP Challenger Tour crown at the Surbiton Trophy (d. de Minaur) and a run to the Libema Open title match (l. to Gasquet), the Frenchman moved into the Fever-Tree Championships semi-finals (l. to Djokovic) last week.
Shapovalov may only have a 3-5 lifetime record on grass courts, but the #NextGenATP Canadian has shown over the past 12 months how, with discipline, he can control his powerful baseline game. Daniel Nestor, the former doubles World No. 1, has given the 19-year-old guidance on volleying and building his confidence on approach to the net.
[7] Dominic Thiem (AUT) vs. Marcos Baghdatis (CYP)
In another first-time clash, recent Roland Garros finalist Thiem challenges a player with experience at Wimbledon. Baghdatis may be riding a six-match tour-level losing streak, but at the All England Club the 33-year-old Cypriot has reached the 2006 semi-finals and 2007 quarter-finals.
Thiem heads to Wimbledon with one grass-court win this year – over Mikhail Youzhny in the Halle first round last week – but like Baghdatis, the Austrian has reached one grass-court final, at the 2016 MercedesCup (l. to Kohlschreiber). Baghdatis, the 2007 Halle runner-up, lost in the Antalya first round this week (l. to Kavcic).

An executive summary of what every fan should know about the coming week on the ATP World Tour

The ATP World Tour's best are descending on the All England Club for the third Grand Slam of the season. Roger Federer, the top seed and defending champion, seeks a ninth title at The Championships, while World No. 1 Rafael Nadal pursues a third trophy at Wimbledon.

But there are plenty of dangerous players throughout the draw looking to earn a title on the grass. Marin Cilic, last year's runner-up, carries the momentum of a victory at the Fever-Tree Championships, while German Alexander Zverev, former World No. 1 Novak Djokovic and others have their sights set on deep runs. Two-time Wimbledon champion Andy Murray is competing in his first major since undergoing hip surgery in January.

View Draw

10 THINGS TO WATCH AT WIMBLEDON

1) Reunited: Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Murray have combined to win the past 15 Wimbledon titles. They return this fortnight for the 150th anniversary of the All England Club, marking the first tournament of the season to feature the complete ‘Big Four’.

2) Nine to 99: Federer seeks his 99th title and a record-extending ninth Wimbledon championship. He begins his 20th consecutive campaign at Wimbledon just 99 wins shy of Jimmy Connors’ record 1,256 match victories. Connors is also the only man in the Open Era with more titles than Federer (109) and more Wimbledon appearances (21), though the Swiss owns the most wins at Wimbledon (91).

You May Also Like: Federer, Cilic In Same Half At Wimbledon; Nadal In Loaded Section
3) Nadal Nostalgia: Ten years ago, Nadal survived a furious Federer comeback to win his first of two Wimbledon titles. Nadal reached five finals in as many appearances at Wimbledon from 2006-11. Nadal is one of 12 players in the Open Era to lift the trophy multiple times, capturing glory in 2008 and 2010.

4) Two For One: After swapping the No. 1 ATP Ranking six times this season, Nadal and Federer can both claim to be No. 1. Nadal is atop the ATP Rankings and Federer is the No. 1 seed. Federer will return to World No. 1 on 16 July if he retains the Wimbledon title and Nadal fails to reach the fourth round.

5) One of a Kind: Djokovic is the only player to beat both Nadal and Federer in a Grand Slam final, defeating the Spaniard in 2011 and the Swiss in 2014 and 2015 for his three Wimbledon titles. After ending his 2017 season in the Wimbledon quarter-finals due to a right elbow injury, Djokovic is rounding into form. The Serbian reached the semi-finals in Rome, the quarter-finals at Roland Garros and last week advanced to The Queen’s Club final for the second time (l. to Cilic).

Read: Five Must-See First-Round Matches At Wimbledon

6) Welcome Home: Like Djokovic, Murray did not play again in 2017 after Wimbledon. Unlike Djokovic, he missed the first 24 weeks of 2018 as well. Following right hip surgery on 8 January, Murray will make his Grand Slam return against Benoit Paire, whom he beat at 2017 Wimbledon. The Scot pushed Nick Kyrgios to a third-set tie-break at The Queen’s Club and beat Wawrinka in Eastbourne.

7) Croats on Grass: Marin Cilic and Borna Coric of Croatia arrive at the All England Club after sweeping ATP World Tour 500-level grass-court titles on 24 June. Cilic saved a championship point to defeat Djokovic at the Fever-Tree Championships shortly after Coric denied Federer his 10th title at Halle in the Gerry Weber Open final.

Sascha Striving: Alexander Zverev reached his first Grand Slam quarter-final at Roland Garros in his 12th major appearance. The three-time ATP World Tour Masters 1000 champion mounted comebacks from two-sets-to-one down in the second, third and fourth rounds.

9) Lopez Beats Federer: Feliciano Lopez owns an 0-13 FedEx ATP Head2Head record against fellow 36-year-old Federer, but he is ensured a moral victory over the living legend at Wimbledon. When he faces Federico Delbonis, Lopez will break Federer’s all-time record by playing in his 66th straight Grand Slam main draw.

10) Doubles Encore: The Top 2 seeds in doubles are Oliver Marach/Mate Pavic and Lukasz Kubot/Marcelo Melo, who could meet in the Wimbledon final for the second straight year. In 2017, Kubot and Melo defeated Marach and Pavic 13-11 in the fifth set after four hours and 39 minutes.