Wimbledon: Tara Moore, Laura Robson and Katie Swan handed wild card pick
Wild cards have also been handed to Daniela Hantuchova and Marina Melnikova
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Your support makes all the difference.Tara Moore’s fine start to the grass-court season has earned the 23-year-old Briton a wild card at Wimbledon. Moore beat eight higher-ranked players in her first two tournaments on grass this month as she reached the final of an International Tennis Federation tournament in Eastbourne and then made the quarter-finals of the Aegon Open in Nottingham.
Moore was ranked outside the world’s top 300 at the start of last month but has since climbed to No 230, though that is still 47 places beneath her career-high position, which she reached three years ago. She was given wild cards at Wimbledon in 2013 and 2014 and suffered narrow defeats in the first round on both occasions, to Kaia Kanepi, who was then the world No 46, and to Vera Zvonareva, a former runner-up at the All England Club.
Two other Britons, Laura Robson and Katie Swan, have also been given wild cards. Robson, the world No 308, has been struggling to climb back up the rankings since starting her comeback following wrist surgery.
Swan, aged 17, is currently ranked No 437 but is regarded as Britain’s best young prospect. Joanna Konta (world No 19), Heather Watson (No 55) and Naomi Broady (No 84) go straight into the main draw by dint of their world rankings.
Wild cards have also been handed to Slovakia’s Daniela Hantuchova and Russia’s Marina Melnikova. Decisions on three more women’s wild cards will be made at a later date. Wimbledon starts on Monday week.
Five men’s wild cards have also been awarded in the initial allocation, with James Ward (world No 178), Liam Broady (No 234) and Alex Ward (No 246) the British beneficiaries. James Ward will be appearing at the All England Club for the seventh time, having enjoyed his best run last year, when he reached the third round. Broady won on his main draw debut 12 months ago, beating Australia’s Marinko Matosevic in the first round.
Alex Ward, who has climbed more than 100 places in the world rankings in the last eight months, has never played at Wimbledon before, having lost in the first round on all four of his previous attempts to qualify.
The Czech Republic’s Radek Stepanek and Germany’s Dustin Brown have also been given wild cards. Stepanek, aged 37, was the oldest man to play in singles at the recent French Open, where he took Andy Murray to five sets in the opening round. Brown, who famously beat Rafael Nadal in the second round at Wimbledon last year, won the Aegon Manchester Trophy on grass earlier this month. Three more men’s wild cards have yet to be awarded.
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