Rodionova qualifies for first Wimbledon

After coming within one match of qualifying in 2011, Arina Rodionova will make her main draw debut at Wimbledon after a stellar week at Roehampton.

London, UK, 1 July 2017 | Matt Trollope

When Arina Rodionova clinched match point against Tamara Korpatsch on Friday at Roehampton, she turned to her team and said one word: “Wow.”

The Australian’s 6-3 6-3 win over the 11th seeded German send her through to her first ever Wimbledon main draw, after coming one win away from qualifying back in 2011.

Rodionova said she’d been so focused during the match that it was almost unreal when she served out victory for the loss of just one point in the final game.

“I tried not to think about what the score is, so I didn’t really believe that it’s all done,” she said.

“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.”

Rodionova’s trio of victories on the grasscourts at Roehampton also included a win in the second round against former world No.15 and two-time Wimbledon quarterfinalist Kaia Kanepi.

Kanepi won the first set 6-2 before Rodionova stormed back to win 7-5 in the third.

“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.

The result represents the latest in an impressive run of performances by Rodionova in 2017.

The 27-year-old, currently ranked 166th, has this year improved her ranking by almost 30 places after several strong showings at ITF level, including a trip to the final of the $60,000 event in Burnie in February.

“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,” she said.

“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.”

Earlier on Friday, another Australian, Destanee Aiava, fell at the final hurdle of qualifying to New Zealander Marina Erakovic.

In an error-strewn performance, Aiava went down 6-3 6-2 in 52 minutes.