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stateofsport211 · 1 year ago

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Wimbledon MS Q3: Know Your Men's Singles Qualifiers + Lucky Loser Situation (2/2)

The qualifying competition as they happened, side-by-side (📸 AFP via The Japan Times)

Compared to the first batch, most matches covered in the second batch were concluded in four or five sets (as they happened). While some of these could be tense, some also featured the (possible) plot twists that only occurred in the best-of-five sets: either the match that could have finished long ago but the opposition dug deep (thus adding extra pressure) or another kind of turnaround that resulted in a rollercoaster of a kind.

Those stories enriched the Wimbledon qualifying rounds, making it distinct from the other Grand Slams since this is the only Grand Slam played on grass. It could be a good preparation for them coming to the main draw, so be sure to have these qualifiers (and possibly, lucky losers) on the lookout too!

The first part of the article can be found here, and the Twitter thread can also be found here.

Section 5: Radu Albot d. Felipe Meligeni R. Alves 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 7-6(6)

Radu Albot’s point at 3-0* 0-30 to 15-30, 2nd set (left) and match point conversion to 7-6(6), 4th set (📸 Wimbledon qualification feed)

Having qualified for the Championships last year as well, Albot came with at least a tie-breaker set in his previous two rounds, one of which he had to dig deep against Johannus Monday 3-6, 7-6(2), 6-2. On the other hand, Felipe stunned two veterans by defeating Pablo Cuevas and Vasek Pospisil to prevent a vintage battle to claim the qualifying spot.

Although Felipe’s defense-to-offense approach worked to some extent, just like in the fast hard ones, Albot’s creative prowess enabled him to outhit Felipe. While his working drop shots were spotted making the difference, minimizing the gap before Felipe held 1-3 in the second set, Felipe’s balance already went off before his level raise in the fourth set was insufficient to hand Albot the win, all on Felipe’s double fault as an initial differential, that even if the latter saved a match point out of his own volley (to reply to Albot’s lob), it was insufficient to the match tie-break thanks to Albot’s forehand, which Felipe shanked after the ball reached the let cord (and turned out to be in).

Section 8: Dennis Novak d. Yosuke Watanuki 6-7(9), 6-3, 6-3, 6-4

Dennis Novak’s point to *3-4 40-40 to 40-ad, 3rd set (📸 Wimbledon qualifying feed)

Y. Watanuki’s return depth, which also bothered Hubert Hurkacz when the former was a qualifier in Stuttgart (250), could pose an interesting test in the final qualifying round as he faced a more experienced Dennis Novak, who avenged Charles Broom 6-3, 6-4 after his three heartbreaker tie-breaker sets loss in the second qualifying round of the Ilkley Challenger.

The moment shifted in the last three sets once Dennis gained control in the middle of the second set. Stemmed from the Austrian’s power and variety (inclusive of his often proper slice usage and a forehand winner, displayed during a break point creation in the third set), Y. Watanuki’s service games ended up being pressed, often getting his shots rushed when trying to finish a point, hence the rest of the three sets.

Section 10: Dominic Stricker d. Mattia Bellucci 6-3, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4

Dominic Stricker’s point to 3-3* 0-15 to 0-30, 4th set (📸 Wimbledon qualification feed)

M. Bellucci could regain his form in the grass season after reaching the second round of the Ilkley Challenger (l. Jason Kubler) after the rollercoaster clay season post-Australian Open qualifying rounds (l. Francesco Passaro in Q2). Somehow, after defeating Raphael Collignon and Ivan Gakhov in straight sets, he had to face a rising Dominic Stricker, who sought a main draw qualification to close his competitive grass season, notably keeping it close against Andy Murray in the Nottingham Challenger.

Stricker finally qualified for the main draw after sealing the fourth set with an ace. Before that, while handling M. Bellucci’s groundstrokes that worked better in faster courts (notably hard courts and grass), Stricker added more pace and spin to his shots, resulting in the sampled forehand winner to put himself 2 points ahead in the sixth game of the fourth set. In the end, after M. Bellucci got pressed, he rushed his final shots, which did not help anything except Stricker gaining his moment.

Section 2: Oscar Otte d. Marc Polmans 6-3, 7-6(4), 4-6, 7-5

Oscar Otte’s point at 3-3* 30-0 to 30-15, 2nd set (📸 Wimbledon qualification feed)

Otte came with a questionable form since the beginning of the year (even was the 32nd seed last year) but appeared trying to make his comeback count in the grass season. This was visible in his journey to survive this popcorn chaos section, where he defeated Benoit Paire and Leandro Riedi, of all people, to secure his third-round encounter against Marc Polmans, who was eliminated by Cristian Garin in the second round of Wimbledon 2021.

Somehow, his grass-court prowess appeared just in time during the qualifying rounds. Despite being a closer encounter than his first two rounds, Otte’s redirecting ability and shot selection (including some balance of power in between) were still strong, he caught unleashing a drop shot and perfectly landed it before Polmans replied. The margin was thin, where the latter became an important differential in another example, where Otte lobbed his way through the 3-1 lead in the second set tie-breaker, eventually pressing Polmans’ service games at some other moments.

Section 4: Kimmer Coppejans d. Taro Daniel 6-3, 4-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2

Kimmer Coppejans’ point at *4-4 15-15 to 15-30, 4th set (📸 Wimbledon qualification feed)

The fourth section partially fell apart when Coppejans defeated last year’s Ilkley Challenger champion, Zizou Bergs, in the second qualifying round after digging deep to defeat Timofey Skatov (in the first qualifying round) to conclude that match in a tie-breaker to break his 8-match losing streak on grass. On the other hand, although T. Daniel’s career grass records were an entirely different entity, he kept it competitive against Tommy Paul in the Queen’s Club’s first round; and it is possible to visualize the application of his game on the grass courts, with some pacing adjustments while trying to stay aggressive.

Had this been a best-of-three match, T. Daniel would have advanced. However, maintaining the rhythm looked like a tough challenge for T. Daniel, where his rushes only shifted his moment in Coppejans’ favor. Even if T. Daniel broke for the other two sets, Coppejans re-found his balance thanks to his systematic point construction, where not only his forehand caused more damage, but he also smashed his way to open the path before he broke T. Daniel’s service game in the fourth set. The latter then ended up having his balance further off, resulting in the fifth set beatdown with Coppejans dominating its flow.

Section 3: Maximilian Marterer d. Fabian Marozsan 7-5, 6-4, 6-7(5), 5-7, 7-5

Maximilian Marterer’s match point conversion to 7-5, 5th set (📸 Wimbledon qualification feed)

Upon winning the Perugia Challenger (which was held on clay), Marozsan entered the Top 100 for the first time in his career, currently sitting at number 95 in the official rankings. Playing his first professional grass-court Slam qualifying, Marozsan adapted his game in his own way by defeating Oleksii Krutykh and Elias Ymer before facing Maximilian Marterer, who qualified for the main draw last year after defeating Nicolas Moreno de Alboran.

This match became the match of the day as both players fought thick and thin in another five-set thriller. While Marterer often came up with passes caught off-guard in his strokes, Marozsan’s grass-court adaptation worked by using more slices and trying to use more drop shots despite its 50-50 success rate. However, as deep as Marozsan tried to dig, Marterer stood out by the end of the decider because of Marozsan’s rushed forehands, resulting in Marterer’s qualification to the main draw.

Section 9: M. Tomas Barrios Vera d. Thiago Seyboth Wild 6-4, 6-7(3), 2-6, 6-3, 6-2

M. Tomas Barrios Vera broke to 5-2, 5th set (📸 Wimbledon qualification feed)

Barrios Vera came to the qualification right after being the runner-up of the Poznan Challenger on clay (l. Mariano Navone 7-5, 6-3). However, having qualified in 2021 before his first-round elimination to Kevin Anderson, he might have a slight edge in facing an aggressive Seyboth Wild, who advanced after defeating Jelle Sels and Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the first two rounds.

After Barrios Vera took the first set 6-4, he tried to find his balance because Seyboth Wild tried to paint his own lines, with a forehand down-the-line winner sealing him the second set through a tie-breaker. However, a fall in the middle of the fourth set forced Seyboth Wild to take a medical timeout in the middle of a game, and Barrios Vera started to regain his pace and passed him in one way or another. The forehand winner to double the break in the fifth set was the pinnacle before he served it out to dominate the last two sets, finally securing his main draw ticket.

Section 13: Laurent Lokoli d. Michael Mmoh 2-6, 7-6(2), 6-3, 2-6, 6-2

Laurent Lokoli’s point to break 3-1, 3rd set (📸 Wimbledon qualification feed)

In an already chaotic section, Lokoli and Mmoh faced off to secure a spot in the main draw. While Mmoh had to dig deep in defeating Adrian Andreev and Dragos Nicolae Madaras in the first two qualifying rounds, Lokoli qualified for both the Nottingham and Ilkley Challengers in his maiden grass season, coming to the third qualifying round without dropping a set here.

Despite this match coming to a decider, Lokoli’s creativity carried several crucial parts in his favor. Not only his drop shot could run Mmoh over at the net (on his volley side) in this third set sample, but he also could utilize the open space to adjust his pacing, neutering Mmoh’s baseline game in one way or another. Things like these were behind Lokoli’s stand-out performance in the fifth set, resulting in a relieving ending as he qualified for his second Grand Slam appearance this year after the Australian Open.

Lucky Loser Situation

Lucky loser situation per the last two matches playing (📸 Entry List Updates via Twitter)

After Jan-Lennard Struff and Gael Monfils withdrew due to an injury, four highest-ranked people (lost in the third qualifying round) will be drawn for two spots in the main draw, which are Marozsan, T. Daniel, Y. Watanuki, and Mmoh (all of which, somehow, came from this batch). Two of them will appear in tomorrow’s main draw, while the other two would stand by (just in case).

By the time the last match ended, it means A. Kovacevic and Piros will stay on the borderline, leaving the first four names to be drawn (for that moment). The lucky losers will be covered in a separate article before or after the draw and could be updated should they increase. For the first time in the tournament's history, the main draw ceremony will be streamed live on their official website at 10am local time, where the qualifiers and lucky losers will also be placed.

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