Scot nears Wimbledon dream as he hopes to follow Andy Murray

The Herald Scotland

6 hours ago

Stewart beat Van Assche 7-6(3) 4-6 7-6(9) to move into the third round.
It was another thrilling chapter of a rollercoaster journey, with Stewart having had to progress through a pre-qualifying competition just to confirm his place in SW15.
And while the Scot may be the one taking centre stage, he admits he still can't quite believe the events that have led him to this moment.
"I'm still trying to figure out what's going on a little bit to be honest. It'll take some time for it to drop," he said. "I'm glad to get the job done. I've saved quite a few match points before but nothing compared to this level of stress and pressure.
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"It's a dream to play at Wimbledon, especially being British and growing up watching Andy Murray win it. It's an absolute dream to play there and if at the start of qualifying, you'd have told me I'd be in this situation, I'd have bitten your arm off."
Stewart's success over Van Assche marks his second this week, having defeated Valentin Vacherot in the first round on Monday.
The world number 550 was trailing 6-4 6-5 to the Monegasque when his foe had to retire due to injury after slipping on the grass.
Stewart's subsequent battle against Van Assche was a much tighter affair, with the pair delighting the Roehampton crowd with a breathless showcase of grass court tennis.
And it so easily could have gone the other way, with Van Assche leading 8-4 in the deciding tie-break, only for Stewart to claw his way back tooth and nail ahead of sealing it11-9 after his French opponent served a double-fault on match point.
Stewart said: "It was a bit of a blur. 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.
Hamis Stewart hopes to follow in the footsteps of his hero Andy Murray (Image: Adam Davy)
"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.
"It's been a rollercoaster. I've had a bit of luck but I feel I was due a bit of luck and I'm loving the experience."
Only Riedi stands between Stewart and a coveted place in the main draw in Wimbledon.
Stewart, who trains in Stirling, has flourished on the ITF Futures circuit this season – the third tier of men's tennis tournaments – and he is relishing the opportunity to showcase the best of his tennis in front of a home crowd.
He added: "This match was a lot longer than the first one. How the first one ended is not the way you want to win but it was my first Grand Slam match and to just get a runout was important in terms of bringing belief and getting me used to the atmosphere and playing in front of a bigger crowd.
"It was really chill to be here in front of a home crowd but there were quite a few Frenchmen there as well. There were a few Luca chants and I thought 'Hold on, what's going on here?!'.
"But the crowd were brilliant and the reaction at the end was absolutely electric. I loved it."
Stewart was the only Brit in the men's draw to progress to the third round, with several of his compatriots unable to clear that hurdle.
Ryan Peniston lost to Spain's Martin Landaluce 3-6 6-4 6-4, while Paul Jubb bowed out in straight sets 6-3 6-2 to Italy's Giulio Zeppieri and Oliver Bonding lost out to Juan Pablo Ficovich 7-5 6-4.
But while the home trio's Wimbledon dreams for this year have ended, they believe their displays left plenty to take heart from.
Peniston said: "I'll take loads of positives from this week for sure, especially from this match," said Peniston. "It feels like I'm getting closer to where I want to be.
"It was amazing here. It's always nice to play in front of home fans. We only get it a few weeks a year so to put out a good performance was enjoyable."
Jubb added: "For the rest of the day, I'll still be disappointed but as a professional, you can't let it drag or dwell.
"You just have to keep going day-by-day. Whatever happens, happens. You can't change anything about today and you just have to be ready to go again tomorrow."
In the women's draw, Amarni Banks exited in the second round after losing to Katarzyna Kawa 6-2 6-4.
For the latest action on the British summer grass court season, check out the LTA website.