Kiwi doubles player Erin Routliffe has qualified for Wimbledon, which starts next week.
The 23-year-old Canadian-based player has qualified for the main draw with her Chilean partner Alexa Guarachi, after beating Russian Anna Kalinskaya and Slovakia's Viktoria Kuzmova 6-4, 6-4 in 1hr, 20m in the second round of qualifying at Roehampton.
She becomes the fourth Kiwi doubles player to qualify for the oldest tennis tournament in the world, joining Micahel Venus, Marcus Daniell and Artem Sitak in competing at the All England Club.
"We are so excited. We didn't even know we were going to get into qualifying so being in the main draw feels unbelievable. I can't wait to play," Routliffe said.
Routliffe, who started the year ranked 339 in doubles, has improved to 116 and she and Guarachi were the last acceptances into the qualifying draw.
"We stayed calm and aggressive the whole time. We knew they were a very good team and to win we had to play on our terms with first serves and big returns and we did that," Routliffe said.
It will be Routliffe's debut Grand Slam appearance and is the pinnacle of what has been an incredible year on the doubles circuit for her having won eight titles at ITF level.
Any run in the main draw at Wimbledon will see Routliffe quickly climb into the top 100.
Newshub.
