Wolverhampton tennis star Henry Searle handed Wimbledon wildcard
Wolverhampton tennis star Henry Searle has been given a wildcard into the men’s singles draw at Wimbledon.
Fellow Midlander Dan Evans is also among seven British men to be handed wildcard entries into the tournament at the All England Club, which begins on June 30. A further spot will be confirmed later in the month.
It means Searle, who became the first Brit to win the boys' singles title at the All-England club two years ago, will compete in the men’s singles tournament for the second successive summer.
The 19-year-old, who began his career at Wolverhampton Lawn Tennis and Squash club, currently plays on the Challenger Tour and is ranked 445th in the world.
He will be eager to again perform well on the big stage, having impressed last year on his senior Wimbledon debut, winning the first set against American Marcos Giron before eventually going down to a 3-1 defeat.
Searles' doubles partner Evans, now aged 35 and the opposite end of his career, recently regained his place in the world’s top 200 and his wildcard award comes in the same week he recorded his most eye-catching result for more than two years, beating Frances Tiafoe in the opening round at Queen’s.
The Birmingham man, who once stood as high as 21 in the world, last year said he did not want to be “coming back to ask” for a wildcard.
When asked about the subject again, following Monday’s win over Tiafoe, he said: "I'm the first to harp on about the wildcards. It's not just about one week or one match. It's about what you do 52 weeks of the year.
"Tennis is not just about the grass court season in Britain. It's great that we've got an amazing set of events, but there is other tournaments.
"I haven't been good enough at those other tournaments, but I've still been professional, still train day in, day out."
In the women’s draw, teenagers Hannah Klugman, Mimi Xu and Mika Stojsavljevic will make their senior Wimbledon debuts.
Klugman and Stojsavljevic, both 16, and 17-year-old Xu are at the forefront of an exciting generation of British youngsters.
Stojsavljevic won the US Open junior title last year and Klugman, who made the final round of Wimbledon qualifying 12 months ago, reached the French Open girls’ final earlier this month.
Xu, meanwhile, has beaten two top-100 players on grass this month and is close to breaking into the top 300 in the women’s game.
The trio will be joined in the main draw by more experienced campaigners in Heather Watson, Harriet Dart, Jodie Burrage and Fran Jones.
Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova has also been given a wild card after returning to the sport following the birth of her son.
