JEEVAN NEDUNCHEZHIYAN, SRIRAM BALAJI AND VISHNU VARDHAN QUALIFY FOR WIMBLEDON

Sriram Balaji and Vishnu Vardhan lived up to their dream of playing the main draw of Wimbledon by qualifying for it without dropping a set in two rounds in Roehampton.

Sidded sixth, Balaji and Vishnu beat the top seeds Denys Molchanov and Igor Zelenay 6-3, 6-4.

That is some achievement for the two guys ranked 110 and 108 respectively. Of course, Vishnu had played in Wimbledon, in both singles and doubles, when destiny drove him to a partnership with Leander Paes for the London Olympics in 2012.

The joy of the Indian camp was doubled as Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan in partnership with Austin Krajicek of the US grabbed the second of four berths from the qualification stage, with a 7-6(5), 6-3 victory over Edward Corrie and Lloyd Glasspool of Britain.

Last year, Jeevan had partnered Jared Donaldson of the US for Wimbledon main draw and had lost a tough first round, after winning the first two sets against Jay Clarke and Marcus Willis of Britain.

In the women’s singles second qualifying round, Ankita Raina bounced back from being down in the second set and her opponent Vitalia Diatchenko serving for the match, to force the decider in a battle of wits that lasted two hours and 23 minutes.

This was the second Grand Slam attempt by Ankita after the French Open, and she put up a better fare on grass before going down 2-6, 7-5, 4-6.

The results:
Women’s qualifying singles (second round): Vitalia Diatchenko (Rus) bt Ankita Raina 6-2, 5-7, 6-4.

Men’s qualifying doubles (second and final round): Sriram Balaji & Vishnu Vardhan bt Denys Molchanov (Ukr) & Igor Zelenay (Svk) 6-3, 6-4; Austin Krajicek (US) & Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan bt Edward Corrie & Lloyd Glasspool (GBR) 7-6(5), 6-3.