Wimbledon wild cards announced

 

Originally published on: 12/06/13 00:00

The British No.5 pulled off one of the wins of his career as he saw off world No.37 Jarkko Nieminen 6-4 6-7 6-4 to reach the third round at the Aegon Championships.

Evans, who could rise inside the world’s top 250 when the rankings are released next week, says he wasn’t expecting a direct passage to the main draw at The All-England Club.

“I'm grateful that I got a wildcard into qualies, to be honest,” said the Birmingham man. “All the other guys have to sign in tonight and play qualies. That happened to me last year, so I wasn't expecting a main draw, anyway.

“I wasn't inside the criteria, and I think it's good that they're being strong with it, because then there's no gray area,” Evans added. “You're either inside 250 or you're not, especially for the older ones.

“I think it's good that we have to play qualies to get a chance to earn our way in,” added Evans, who will face Juan Martin del Potro for a spot in the quarter-finals at The Queen’s Club.

German Andrea Petkovic, Australian Matthew Ebden and Frenchman Nicolas Mahut join British players James Ward (215), Kyle Edmund (NR), Johanna Konta (140), Tara Moore (194), Anne Keothavong (211), Elena Baltacha (217) and Samantha Murray (240) in the Wimbledon main draw after the first batch of wild cards were announced. There are still four spots available in the men’s draw and two in the women’s.

 

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