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Australian trio close in on Wimbledon draw

3 minute read

Jason Kubler, Rinky Hijikata and Max Purcell have all won their opening Wimbledon qualifying matches but there was disappointment for Andrew Harris.

JASON KUBLER of Australia.
JASON KUBLER of Australia. Picture: Scott Barbour/Getty Images

Three of the four Australians in Wimbledon men's singles qualifying have won their opening-round matches, taking them two victories from joining the seven already accepted into the main draw.

Jason Kubler, Rinky Hijikata and Max Purcell were all successful on Monday at Roehampton, a few miles away from the Wimbledon complex. However, Andrew Harris was beaten.

Kubler was the last Australian standing at Roland Garros, where he lost in the second round, and has been in good form since winning a Challenger tournament in Little Rock, Arkansas, and reaching the final in another Challenger in Orlando.

Despite that the 29-year-old Queenslander had not amassed quite enough points early enough to make it into the main draw.

The US events were on hard courts and Kubler took a while to adjust to grass, losing the first set to Turkey's Cem Ilker. However, the second seed settled to win 3-6 7-5 6-2 in just over two hours.

He now faces Argentina's Thiago Agustin Tirante.

Sydneysider Hijikata beat France's Geoffrey Blancaneaux 7-5 6-3.

The 21-year-old broke in game five in the first set, game six in the second, and was largely in control of the 101-minute match.

Hijikata, the world No. 228, will now meet France's Alexandre Muller, ranked 164.

Purcell began with a straight sets victory over Dutchman Gijs Brouwer, 7-5 7-6 (9-7).

Like the others Purcell, who told AAP before the tournament he loves playing on grass, is seeking to compete in the main draw at Wimbledon for the first time.

In a hard-fought match, Purcell broke in game 11 then saved two break points to serve out the first set. The second went to a lengthy tiebreak which Purcell finally edged.

Harris went down 6-4 7-5 to Antoine Hoang, of France.

Harris, 28 from Melbourne, is currently ranked 558th but has been as high as No.159. In 2012, he won the junior doubles partnering Nick Kyrgios.

Harris was broken in game six in the opening stanza, and while he had a break point to pull the set back to 5-5 he was unable to take it.

In the second set Harris recovered from 1-3 down to be 4-3 up but was broken when serving at 5-5.

Among the familiar faces at Roehampton is German veteran Philipp Kohlschreiber, Wimbledon quarter-finalist in 2012, who said he would end his career at the tournament, or earlier if he goes out in qualifying.

The 38-year-old, now 230 in the world rankings, prolonged his career for the moment with a 6-2 6-2 win against Frenchman Gregoire Barrere.

"It was a great and wonderful career. It will be my last tournament. I am happy that I have another match here and maybe I will make the main draw," he said.

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