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Nicholas Mahut, Kaia Kanepi lead qualifiers’ roll call at Wimbledon
By Nick Georgandis
At an event the size and luster of Wimbledon, most of the qualifiers look like little more than appetizers for the sport’s big fish.
But Nicholas Mahut made qualifiers uber-cool last week with his marathon match against American John Isner, and Kaia Kanepi has viewers consulting both Google and their pronunciation guides with her charge to the women’s quarterfinals.
Kanepi is the only qualifier still alive as the singles’ fields narrowed to 16 apiece at the end of play Monday. After shocking sixth-seeded Samantha Stosur in the first round, she has eliminated Edina Gallovits in the second and 31st-seeded Alexandra Dulgheru with surprising ease in the third (6-1, 6-2).
On Monday, it was Klara Zakopalova’s turn to feel the straight-sets sting. She went down 2-6, 4-6 to conclude another quick day for Kanepi. Ranked 80th in the world entering the field, the 25-year-old Estonian has now won 26 of her last 28 matches on tour.
She now turns her sights on Petra Kvitova, who pulled the biggest upset of the women’s draw Monday, waxing third-seeded Caroline Wozniacki in just 46 minutes.
Tuesday's quarterfinal might go down as one of the “tallest” matchups in Grand Slam history. Kanepi is 5-feet, 11-inches; Kvitova is an even six feet tall.
While no male qualifier made it past the third round, several have worked their names into the conversation as players to watch going forward.
Also making a strong seed work was Lithuania’s Ricardas Berankis.
The slightly-built Berankis, who turned 20 last week, took 22nd-seeded Feliciano Lopez to four sets in the second round before falling 5-7, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6. Berankis entered Wimbledon ranked 156th in the world.
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