Cam Norrie is through to Queen’s quarter-finals after come-from-behind win over Jordan Thompson – as Wimbledon delves deep into the world rankings to give Brits 2023 wildcards
- Cam Norrie beat Jordan Thompson to progress in the Cinch Championships
- Ryan Peniston was amongst recipients of a Wimbledon singles wildcard
- World No 167 Jan Choinski has also been selected for a wildcard at Wimbledon
On a day when Wimbledon handed out its usual bounty of wildcards to British players, Cam Norrie was the last home player left standing at Queen’s Club.
The most reliable performer in the GB ranks is through to the quarter-finals of the Cinch Championships, and certainly has no need of one of the 10 privileged entries distributed to Brits for the main draw at SW19.
Norrie reversed this week’s trend by getting a win over an Australian, grass-court expert Jordan Thompson, who he came back to defeat 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. He will face American Sebastian Korda on Thursday.
Southend’s Ryan Peniston fell to No 2 seed Holger Rune of Denmark 6-3, 6-4, leaving only one domestic participant in the singles draw, while Andy Murray withdrew from his scheduled doubles alongside Norrie due to fatigue.
Peniston was one of the grateful recipients of a main-draw singles wildcard to Wimbledon, worth a minimum £55,000 to those who get them. British tennis was forced to reach down to rankings of close to 400 in order to guarantee a quota of domestic participants in the first round.
Cam Norrie is through the Cinch Championships quarter-finals after beating Jordan Thompson
Ryan Peniston was one of the recipients of a main draw singles wildcard to Wimbledon
Included in the number was world No 167 Jan Choinski, born and bred in Germany, but whose mother is a former ballerina who comes from Southampton.
Opportunity will also knock for Arthur Fery, who has two French parents but grew up in Wimbledon. His mother Olivia once played at the French Open, and his father Loic is president of French football club Lorient.
Another new name to conjure with from outside the world’s top 350 is 22-year-old Londoner George Loffhagen. Once a highly promising junior who then briefly gave up the sport, he has been rewarded for a season of progress which has seen him go from 938 to 364 in the rankings.
More than 20 years older is five-time champion Venus Williams, who at 43 has received a wildcard to make her 24th appearance at the All England Club, with a ranking below 600.
Harriet Dart defeated Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 to make the quarter-finals of the Rothesay Classic at Edgbaston.
World No 167 Jan Choinski has also been selected for a wildcard at Wimbledon
