Kozlov Advances To Final Day Of Wimbledon Qualifying

Stefan Kozlov moved to within one victory of his Wimbledon debut with a second-round qualifying win Wednesday at Roehampton. The American, who reached the Australian Open second round in his Grand Slam debut earlier this season, defeated Switzerland’s Dominic Stricker 7-6(9), 4-6, 6-3 to set up a Thursday meeting with qualifying 23rd seed Dennis Novak of Austria.  

View Wednesday Qualifying Results

The 24-year-old Kozlov, seeded third in the qualifying draw, got past France’s Evan Furness 7-5, 6-3 on Monday. He currently sits at a career-high of No. 107 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, with his best results of the 2022 season including a quarter-final run in Delray Beach and a second-round showing in Acapulco after qualifying for both events.

Kozlov was one of four American men to advance on Wednesday, including 14th seed Jack Sock, Christian Harrison and Nicolas Moreno De Alboran. Sock, a 6-3, 7-5 winner against France’s Constant Lestienne, is seeking to return to the Wimbledon main draw for the first time since 2018.

Elias Ymer, who fell to Borna Coric in the final of the Montechiarugolo-Parma ATP Challenger Tour event last week, continued his smooth progress through qualifying with a 6-3, 6-4 result against Italy’s Riccardo Bonadio. The 26-year-old debuted in the main draw at all four Grand Slams in 2015 but has not competed in the Wimbledon main draw since. He reached the Pune semi-finals as qualifier in February .

Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber announced after his qualifying win on Monday that Wimbledon would be his last tournament as a professional. He started strongly against 32nd seed Mikhail Kukushkin in his bid to extend his stay, but fell short in a 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-4 decision. The 38-year-old achieved a career-high of No. 16 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings in 2012 and finished his career with eight ATP Tour titles.