Hamish Stewart hoping his Wimbledon dream will come true

South Wales Argus

26-06-2025

The Strathblane star had to dig deep to defeat Luca Van Assche in a deciding tie-break to set-up a win-and-in battle with Switzerland's Leandro Riedi at qualifying in Roehampton.
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.
"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.
"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."
Oliver Tarvet also progressed to the next round by beating Canada's Alexis Galarneau 6-6 6-2.
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.
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."
For the latest action on the British summer grass court season, check out the LTA website