Wimbledon is coming! One Czech and two Slovaks will try to advance through qualifying today

The legendary Wimbledon starts on July 3, but qualifying for the event is already underway. The hopes of four Czech and Slovak tennis players ended in the first round. The other three will face off on Wednesday to advance to the final round. Who are they and what are their prospects?

Lukáš Klein and his second successful qualification attempt

The native of Spišská Nová Ves enjoyed his Wimbledon debut last year. Although he dropped out in the first round, he enjoyed it to the full. He played a five-set battle against home player Liam Broady. The lanky Slovak will play Japan’s Mochizuki for a place in the final qualifying match.

The Japanese is more than fifty places lower than Klein in the ATP rankings and his previous and only qualifying experience at the legendary Grand Slam ended in the second round. Meanwhile, Lukas Klein is building on his successful qualifying run last year and will be a slight favourite against Mochizuki.

Will Tomas Machac confirm his results this year?

The duels with the Japanese are abundant in the qualification duels of the Czechs and Slovaks. The Czech twenty-two-year-old Tomáš Macháč is still looking for his Wimbledon debut and he started his fight for it on Monday successfully against the Japanese Uchijama. Last year, he made it to the final stage of qualifying.

He will at least match that performance if he beats another representative of the Land of the Rising Sun, Kaichi Uchida. The 28-year-old has only played two matches on grass and had lost seven in a row before winning his first round qualifier against Agamenon on Monday.

The Beroun native, on the other hand, has played excellent tournaments this year on both hard surface and clay. In Dubai he had an even match with Novak Djokovic, in Houston he reached the quarterfinals. Three weeks ago he reached the final of the Prostejov Challenger. This year, Tomas Machac has the form to finally play in the main event at Wimbledon.

Norbert Gombos has a chance for a fifth Wimbledon

Thirty-two-year-old Slovak player Norbert Gombos has already played four times in the main event at the All England Club. He made his fifth appearance at the top event with a successful three-set win against American Moreno De Alboran. He is ranked 142nd in the ATP rankings. His next opponent is more than fifty places lower.

Gombos will face Frenchman Laurent Lokoli, who is an experienced tennis player, but this year is gaining his first experience on the fastest surface. Before Wimbledon, he had twice made it to the main event at Challengers, but neither time made it past the first round. Gombose’s progression at the only grass tournament he has played this year stopped at the same benchmark.

The Galanta native has preferred to participate in challengers in recent years. He has tried his hand at Grand Slams, only last year Wimbledon did not attract him without points in the rankings. Let’s see how many points he can take away from this year’s event.

Sources: Wimbledon, ATP, Tenisportal