Bemelmans Makes Wimbledon Qualifying History
Bemelmans Makes Wimbledon Qualifying History
Wimbledon doesn’t start until Monday, but Belgian Ruben Bemelmans has already made history at The Championships.
The 31-year-old qualified for an Open Era record sixth time at Wimbledon on Thursday, beating American Donald Young 6-4, 6-4, 6-1. Bemelmans had been tied for the qualifying record with Alejandro Falla, Ken Flach, Edouard Roger-Vasselin and Jimmy Wang.
Next for the Belgian: Reaching the fourth round at SW19 for the first time. Bemelmans made the third round in 2017 (l. to Anderson) and the second round in 2018 (l. to Isner).
View Bemelmans’ All-England Club History
A pair of #NextGenATP players also qualified. Aussie Alexei Popyrin, 19, overcame American Bjorn Fratangelo 6-3, 7-6(6), 6-7(4), 7-6(6). Popyrin, who cracked the Top 100 of the ATP Rankings on Monday, has played in every Grand Slam main draw this year after playing only at the Australian Open last year.
Top seed Corentin Moutet of France qualified with a routine 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 win against Aussie Andrew Harris, who won two boys’ junior doubles titles with Nick Kyrgios in 2012 (Roland Garros, Wimbledon). The 20-year-old Frenchman made the third round in Roland Garros but will be making his Wimbledon debut.
Read More: Moutet Leading France’s #NextGenATP In Paris
Moutet is currently in seventh place in the ATP Race To Milan, which will determine seven of the eight players who compete at the Next Gen ATP Finals, to be held 5-9 November in Milan. The eighth spot will be given to the winner of an all-Italian qualifying tournament to be held just before the 21-and-under event. Popyrin sits in 11th place.
See Who Moutet, Popyrin Are Chasing In The ATP Race To Milan
Italy will have nine men in the main draw after Andrea Arnaboldi and Salvatore Caruso qualified. Arnaboldi battled past Evgeny Karlovskiy 6-4, 6-3, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3. Caruso knocked out Canadian Brayden Schnur, New York Open finalist in February, 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 in only 84 minutes. Italy also had nine in the Roland Garros draw and at 2018 Wimbledon.
American Marcos Giron is continuing the best season of his career. The 25-year-old made the third round at the BNP Paribas Open in March and now will play at Wimbledon for the first time. Giron beat Viktor Galovic of Croatia 7-5, 6-2, 2-6, 6-4.
Read More: Two Hip Surgeries Later, Giron Ready For More Success
Noah Rubin, 2014 Wimbledon boys’ junior singles champion, also will be making his main draw debut. The American beat German Yannick Hanfmann 7-6(5), 6-2, 4-6, 6-2.
Seventh seed Jiri Vesely, who climbed to a career-high of No. 35 in April 2015, beat Tommy Paul of the U.S. 6-2, 6-3, 6-3. Vesely has twice reached the fourth round at SW19. Last year, he fell to World No. 1 Rafael Nadal in the Round of 16, and in 2016, Vesely lost in five sets to countryman Tomas Berdych.