Rodionova qualifies for Wimbledon debut

Australia will have three women in the Wimbledon main draw after Arina Rodionova successfully qualified for tennis's biggest show for the first time.

Jubilant Arina Rodionova could scarcely believe it after earning a dream Wimbledon debut with a relentless run through qualifying.

The world No.166 joined fellow Australians Daria Gavrilova and Ashleigh Barty in the women's main draw with an impressive 6-3 6-3 defeat of 11th seed Tamara Korpatsch.

After stumbling before in the final round of qualifying at nearby Roehampton, Rodionova was intent on staying in the zone until the very last point on Friday.

"I tried not to think about what the score is, so I didn't really believe that it's all done," the 27-year-old Melburnian said.

"Main draw of Wimbledon for the first time in my life in singles, and yeah I just sort of tried to distract myself I little bit and pretend that the score is like 1-1 second set.

"So that's why I was like, 'wow, it's all done'."

The partner of Hawthorn AFL star Ty Vickery, Rodionova will take the household spotlight on Tuesday when she takes on 16th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova hoping to continue her inspired run.

"I always loved to play on grass. It's my favourite surface. I was getting a little bit better every day and today I think was a really good match," she said.

"I'll do my best (to build on this). I'm taking it week by week and match by match and we'll see where it's going to take me.

"But I feel great and my body is in good shape. I feel good being on the court and I really enjoy it at the moment so hopefully it will take me somewhere."

While Rodionova rolls on, teenage star Destanee Aiava must wait at least another year to earn her ticket to tennis's biggest show after losing her final-round qualifying match against New Zealand's Marina Erakovic 6-3 6-2.


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Source: AAP



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