By Kieran Jackson | Wednesday, June 20, 2018
Australian teenager Alex DeMinaur has been granted a Wimbledon wild card, while Briton Dan Evans was denied after serving a suspension.
Photo credit: Daniel Huerlimann
Despite a successful two weeks of grass-court competition, Dan Evans will have to do it the hard way.
Former world No. 41 Evans has not received a wild card, into the main draw or qualifying, for Wimbledon, as the AELTC announced their initial selections on Wednesday.
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British player Evans, who returned from a year-long ban for taking cocaine in April, will now enter the pre-qualifying tournament which starts tomorrow, needing to win three matches to clinch a spot in qualifying.
The All England Club said in a statement, “This decision is based on principle in the immediacy of his return from a suspension from competition.”
Having won 16 of his 21 matches since his return, including a run to the final at the Nottingham Challenger event last year, many were calling for the 28-year-old to be handed at least a qualifying wild card, yet the All England Club have stood firm.
After falling to Adrian Mannarino, 6-4, 0-6, 7-5, in his Queen's Club opener on Tuesday, Evans was asked if he felt he deserved a Wimbledon wild card.
"It's potentially a hard question to answer," Evans said with a smile, adding he had not discussed a wild card with officials.
"No. I'm looking to play prequalifying and that's it," Evans said. "My ranking gets me in prequalifying. There has been no discussions with anybody about anything, and that's up to other people, not myself."
Two-time Wimbledon winner Andy Murray called Evans' case for a wild card "a difficult one."
"He's obviously played extremely well the last few weeks in terms of, like, his level and stuff," Murray told the media after his Queen's Club return. "He deserves it. Whether or not it's the right message to be sending, I don't know, but then some would say he's obviously served his, you know, his time and, you know, should be given a second chance."
Elsewhere, 19-year old Alex De Minaur has been rewarded for his excellent form on the grass with a main draw wild card.
The Australian, who is mentored by two-time Grand Slam champion Lleyton Hewitt, has cracked the top 100 and won his first ATP Challenger title in the past two weeks.
Promising young Brits Liam Broady and Jay Clarke have also received main draw wild cards, with five spots still to be determined. 2015 British Davis Cup star James Ward is awarded a qualifying wild card.
On the women’s side, there were six spots awarded to British players. Katie Boulter, Naomi Broady, Harriet Dart, Katy Dunne, Katie Swan and Gabriella Taylor will all bypass qualifying and go straight into the main draw.
23-year old Ons Jabeur of Tunisia is also given a spot in the main draw, with one spot still to be announced.
Other notable inclusions for wild cards are Lleyton Hewitt and Alex Bolt, who teamed up at the Surbiton challenger event two weeks ago, and veteran left-handers Jurgen Melzer and Daniel Nestor, who take two spots in the men’s doubles respectively.
Wimbledon Qualifying takes place at the Bank of England Sports Centre in Roehampton, from Monday 25th June to Thursday 28th June, while Wimbledon starts on Monday, July 2nd.
Freelance sports journalist Kieran Jackson is covering the grass-court season ahead of Wimbledon for Tennis Now. For more of Kieran's tennis coverage, follow him on Twitter.