World 550 Stewart one win away from Wimbledon
Scotland's Hamish Stewart is one match away from a place in the Wimbledon men's singles after coming through a nail-biting deciding tiebreak at Roehampton.
The 25-year-old from Strathblane, ranked 550 in the world, defeated Frenchman Luca Van Assche 7-6 4-6 7-6 to reach the last 32 at the qualifying event.
Advertisement
He meets Leandro Riedi of Switzerland next, with the top 16 progressing to the main draw at SW19.
Stewart, who played Junior Wimbledon in his teens, could not serve out for the match at 5-4 up in the third set and had to dig deep to come from behind in the tiebreak.
Van Assche, who has a career high rank of 63 but is currently 186, led 8-4, but Stewart fought his way back to prevail 11-9 with his opponent serving a double-fault on match point.
"It was a bit of a blur," he told BBC Sport.
"I threw in a dodgy service game at 5-4 and I felt like I was there in the tiebreak but I was 8-4 down.
Advertisement
"He threw in a double (fault) at 8-4, and I was like 'okay, he's feeling it', so I continued to gets balls in court and to be aggressive and somehow won."
One of four British players granted wild cards into Wimbledon pre-qualifying, Stewart has now won four matches at Roehampton.
"It's been a rollercoaster," he added. "I've had a bit of luck but I feel I was due a bit of luck and I'm loving the experience."
Riedi, 23, reached the last 32 by upsetting Argentine 24th seed Federico Agustin Gomez, again in a deciding tiebreak.
Wimbledon begins on 30 June, with Scotland's Jacob Fearnley and Cameron Norrie already in the main draw.
Advertisement
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
8 minutes ago
- Yahoo
A Popular iPhone App Just Got a Simple Yet Significant New Feature
Apple is finally rolling out some key updates to one of its newer iPhone apps. If you don't use Apple Sports as your default sports app, I'd highly recommend trying it. Unlike other popular sports apps, like ESPN, Apple Sports cuts out the bloat — advertisements, news and rumor articles — and just gives you quick access to real-time game scores and stats. It's a minimalist app that's incredibly easy to navigate. But the coolest thing about Apple Sports is that it makes using Live Activities — the feature where your favorite team's games appear right on your Lock Screen — super easy. And, if you find a one-off game that you want to keep track of, a quick tap of the Live Activity icon will get it to show up on your Lock Screen, too. That said, as somebody who uses Apple Sports every day, I'll admit the app isn't perfect. It's pretty barebones and, most significantly, some popular sports haven't been supported. Off the top of my head, tennis and golf, as well as some important competitions, such as FIFA's current Club World Cup, have been notable omissions. But that looks set to change. Today, Apple is adding a simple yet neat new feature to Apple Sports, as well as rolling out support for a new sport. Apple has introduced a new 'Home' section to the Apple Sports app, which will allow you to customize and better organize your favorite teams, leagues and competitions to appear in the app based on your preferences. The press release states: 'Events and matchups are now grouped by league, with intuitive controls for fans to set their preferred order, ensuring their top leagues appear first. Favorite teams always appear at the top, giving fans instant access to the scores and updates they care about the most.' Those who have favorited several teams or competitions can now edit which of them appears at the top of the new Home section. To do this, select Home in the top-right > select Edit > and drag and reorder as you see fit. The other big update is that Apple is finally adding support for Men's and Women's tennis, which had been one of the biggest omissions (along with golf) to date. The addition of tennis comes at an opportune time — Wimbledon begins next week. According to Apple, its sports app will have support for over 1,000 tennis tournaments, including the Grand Slams. The updated app will allow users to track specific players' progress throughout the tournament, just like you've been able to do so with other sports teams — yes, each of their matchups will appear as a Live Activity on your iPhone's Lock Screen. Apple is rolling out this update — technically 'version 3.0' — to Apple Sports right now. Your app will update automatically in the coming days, but you can initiate it manually by following these steps: Open the App Store app on your iPhone. Select your profile icon. Tap Apps. Tap My Apps. Scroll down to Apple Sports and select 'Update.' To learn more about the new features coming to Apple Sports, check out Apple's press release. Tucker Bowe has been on Gear Patrol's editorial team since 2014. As a Tech Staff Writer, he tracks everything in the consumer tech space, from headphones to smartphones, wearables to home theater systems. If it lights up or makes noise, he probably covers it.
Yahoo
36 minutes ago
- Yahoo
'A sensible signing' - Arsenal agree Norgaard deal
Arsenal have agreed a deal with Brentford to sign midfielder Christian Norgaard. Sources have indicated the Gunners have been discussing a fee worth in the region of an initial £10m, with a possible £5m in performance-related add-ons. Advertisement The move for Norgaard comes just a week before Thomas Partey's Arsenal contract expires. Ghana international Partey, 32, has been in talks over a new deal to stay at Emirates Stadium, but no agreement has been reached. BBC Sport understands Sevilla's French midfielder Lucien Agoume, 23, also featured prominently on Arsenal's list of potential targets to replace Partey. Crucially, however, it is understood manager Mikel Arteta identified Norgaard as the midfielder he wanted because he preferred a Premier League-ready player. Club-to-club discussions over the Denmark international have accelerated in the last 24 hours and a deal is now in place. Advertisement The 31-year-old, who joined Brentford from Fiorentina in 2019, will now undergo a medical before completing his move. Norgaard wasn't a long-term Arsenal target, but entered the club's radar as they sought experience in midfield ahead of Partey's potential departure. Norgaard became a key player for the Bees and captain under Thomas Frank, who left to become manager of Tottenham earlier in June. Arsenal are also set to complete the signing of Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga this week by paying his £5m release clause and are close to finalising the £51m signing of Real Sociedad midfielder Martin Zubimendi. What would Norgaard bring to the Emirates? Matthew Hobbs, BBC Sport Advertisement Norgaard was linked with a reunion with former manager Thomas Frank at Tottenham earlier this summer and his record shows why he is highly regarded by the top teams. The 31-year-old has just completed his sixth successive season at the Gtech Community Stadium, including all four of the Bees' Premier League campaigns. Since his top-flight debut in 2021, Norgaard has made 201 interceptions – the most of any Premier League player during this period – while he also ranks second overall for recoveries (844) and third for tackles won (189). Not necessarily renowned for goalscoring, six goals in all competitions in 2024-25 was also the best return of his entire 14-year professional career. Advertisement While Norgaard offers his own well of experience, it would not be a like-for-like replacement for Partey should he depart. The Ghanaian offers more dynamism carrying the ball in central areas, whereas the Dane is more of a traditional six, screening for danger in front of Brentford's defence. As a result, Partey's average carrying stats comfortably surpass those of Norgaard, who is more prolific at breaking up opposition attacks. 'He can be great addition for Arsenal' Edu Rubio, former West Ham, Crystal Palace and Wolves coach Norgaard is a modern defensive-anchor player. There's no doubt he can rival Partey, or offer more options to Arteta - offering him more depth in his squad. Christian can break up play, intercept, tackle, block and win aerial duels. He can let Martin Odegaard and Declan Rice do their thing while he protects their backs. Advertisement He can also recycle the ball and play forwards effectively. In a league where there are so many transitions, a player who senses danger and has a great ability to regain the ball can be a must-have in your team. His physicality, and the fact it's been tested at the Premier League, also makes him a very sensible signing. He can be a great addition to Arsenal. He would also fit perfectly with Zubimendi, if he signed. They can even play together if Arteta opts for two holding players and one 10, instead of one anchor and two number eights. Zubimendi is more of a passer and creator. Christian is more a break-up play midfielder who can regain possession, secure possession and stop the opposition from easily breaking into the final third. I feel Arteta is making sure he will have enough strength in the midfield area to compete in all four competitions. 'The glue that holds the side together' Ian Westbrook, Brentford fan writer Advertisement Norgaard has played a vital role in almost six years at the club, making nearly 200 appearances in all competitions and being named captain in the summer of 2023. His importance to the side can be shown by the fact we failed to win any of the four Premier League games he missed last season, and had two victories in the seven in which he was absent during the last campaign. He is the glue that holds the side together in his defensive midfield role, protecting the defence, winning tackles and setting up attacks. This season he has also become a more regular goalscorer - with his six in all competitions (five in the Premier League) nearly half of his entire total of 13 for the club. We are a much weaker team without him.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Liverpool finally enter race for €80m PHENOMENON
Liverpool have belatedly entered the race for one of Europe's hottest strikers. Can they get a deal done? Liverpool are in the market for a striker this summer. Exactly who they'll land on is a bit of a mystery, however. Advertisement Alexander Isak is the dream. The Newcastle United striker ticks every single box right now and there's no question that Liverpool would love to sign him. Newcastle are very much aware of this, too, and set his price accordingly: roughly £150m. It would smash to the British transfer record and honestly, there's no guarantee they'd even accept that. Thus Liverpool must look at other options. That's included Hugo Ekitike and Benjamin Sesko - two of the best young strikers in Europe. But is that really what the Reds are after? We get the impression that they'd prefer to sign a player entering his prime rather than a work-in-progress talent. Advertisement And that might explain why they've belatedly entered the race for one of Europe's top goalscorers. Liverpool enter Viktor Gyokeres race Correio da Manha reports that Liverpool have now entered the race for Sporting CP striker Viktor Gyokeres. The Swede have been an absolute revelation since arriving in Portugal. 43 goals in his debut campaign was followed by a ridiculous 54 in 52 games last season. His effort in the league (39 goals) finished second in the running for the European Golden Boot. That naturally has teams looking at him, though Arsenal are the only club to have made a bid. Sporting rejected the offer of around €65m all-in, says the report. Advertisement The Portuguese champions want close to €80m in order to sell Gyokeres but it's said here that Liverpool will not pay that. It creates the impression that they're simply putting a bit of pressure on the situation in order to lower that price tag.
