10 hours ago
Maya Joint advances to Eastbourne Open semifinals as Australians qualify for Wimbledon
Australian teenager Maya Joint has reached the Eastbourne Open semifinals, while four of her compatriots booked spots in the Wimbledon main draws.
Joint, 19, continued her amazing rise with a gritty 6-4, 7-5 quarterfinal victory over experienced Russian Anna Blinkova.
The win gave Joint her third semifinal appearance of the season, with each coming on a different court surface.
A grass-court novice, Joint is the first Australian to advance to the last four at the traditional Wimbledon warm-up event for 14 years.
She will face former French Open finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the semifinals.
Seventeen Australians will feature in the respective women's and men's singles draws at Wimbledon, the largest contingent in 30 years.
Priscilla Hon and Talia Gibson both saved match points in the final qualifying round to earn their Wimbledon berths.
Alex Bolt and James McCabe also booked their spots at windy Roehampton.
The only anti-climax was 16-year-old Emerson Jones missing out in her bold bid to become the youngest Australian player since Ash Barty to make the singles main draw at Wimbledon as she succumbed in her final-round qualifier.
Jones, the world's number one junior, was beaten by Frenchwoman Diane Parry 6-2, 6-2.
Li Tu missed out on the men's main draw, losing to crafty French veteran Adrian Mannarino 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.
Hon had to save five match points on her serve against Canadian Victoria Mboko, before prevailing 4-6, 7-6 (7/6), 6-1.
It was Hon's seventh time attempting to qualify for Wimbledon.
Gibson, 21, found herself 3-5, 30-40 down in the final set against Argentine 10th qualifying seed Solana Sierra before reeling off the next four games to win 6-4, 3-6, 7-5.
The evergreen Bolt defeated Spaniard Martin Landaluce 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 to ensure he reached back-to-back main draws at Wimbledon.
The multi-talented McCabe, a former top junior swimmer and accomplished flautist, joined Hon and Gibson as Wimbledon debutants with his doughty 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (9/7) victory over Chile's Marcelo Tomás Barrios Vera.
Wimbledon commences on Monday.
AAP/ABC
