Aussie battler eyes dream Wimbledon debut

Unheralded Andrew Whittington and teenage ace Destanee Aiava have led a big day for Australians in Wimbledon qualifying at the All England Club.

Andrew Whittington

Andrew Whittington is one win away from making the main draw of Wimbledon. (AAP)

Unheralded Australian Andrew Whittington is one win away from a dream Wimbledon debut after grinding his way into the final round of qualifying at the All England Club.

The 23-year-old scored a spirited 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 6-4 victory over American journeyman Tim Smyczek to move ever closer to a main-draw berth of the grasscourt grand slam, starting on Monday.

Whittington will play America's Denis Kudla for a coveted place alongside Davis Cup stars Nick Kyrgios, Bernard Tomic, Jordan Thompson and Thanasi Kokkinakis in Wimbledon's 128-man draw.

The world No.209 was among five Australian qualifying winners on Wednesday, with John-Patrick Smith also beating an American, Mackenzie McDonald, 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 in his second-round match.

All three Australian women in action advanced to the second round, with teenage ace Destanee Aiava leading the way with a 6-3 6-0 drubbing of British hope Freya Christie.

Arina Rodionova also progressed in straight sets with a 6-3 6-4 win over Nina Stojanovic, while Townsville 19-year-old Lizette Cabrera advanced with a more difficult 6-2 4-6 6-2 victory over Tereza Smitkova.

Young guns Blake Mott and Alex Di Minaur's hopes of a Wimbledon debut ended with second-round defeats in men's qualifying.

Bolt lost 7-5 6-4 to highly rated Kazakh Alexander Bublik while Di Minaur went down 6-2 6-4 to Japan's Tatsuma Ito.


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Source: AAP



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