Memory Lawn

Second week surprises: Qualifiers, wildcards who've shined at SW19

Over the past two decades, qualifiers and wildcards have taken advantage of their berths in the draw at Wimbledon for stunning runs. Check out notable results for these players on British lawns since 1999.

01 /18
Before she became a Hall of Famer, Kim Clijsters was a 16-year-old qualifier at Wimbledon in 1999 and made it to the fourth round on her debut. Coming into the event, she was the youngest player in the Top 200.
02 /18
Jelena Dokic stunned World No.1 Martina Hingis en route to the Wimbledon quarterfinals as a qualifier in 1999.

Getty Images

03 /18
Alexandra Stevenson had a magical run to the semifinals of Wimbledon in 1999 out of qualifying, where she beat Dokic in an all-qualifier quarterfinal round.

Getty Images

04 /18
American qualifier Laura Granville reached the fourth round in 2002, beating Mary Pierce along the way.

Getty Images

05 /18
A year before winning Wimbledon at 17 in 2004, Maria Sharapova was a wildcard entry in 2003, and reached the fourth round.

Getty Images

06 /18
After winning junior Wimbledon in 2005, Agnieszka Radwanska was awarded a wildcard in 2006, and made the fourth round before losing to Clijsters.

Getty Images

07 /18
Qualifier Séverine Beltrame was a quarterfinalist in 2006, where she beat three seeds before losing to eventual runner-up Justine Henin.

Getty Images

08 /18
Zheng Jie had a history-making Wimbledon run in 2008: the first Chinese woman to ever reach a Grand Slam singles semifinal, she was the first wildcard to do so at the tournament. Along the way, she beat World No.1 Ana Ivanovic for her first Top 10 win.

Getty Images

09 /18
Before reaching the quarterfinals at the US Open as a wildcard in 2009, American Melanie Oudin reached the fourth round of Wimbledon as a qualifier, beating No.6 seed Jelena Jankovic en route.

Getty Images

10 /18
Estonian Kaia Kanepi reached her first of two Wimbledon quarterfinals in 2010 as a qualifier, losing out to Petra Kvitova in a thrilling 4-6, 7-6(8), 8-6 match after having five match points.

Getty Images

11 /18
In 2011, future finalist Sabine Lisicki joined Zheng as a wildcard to reach the women's semifinals, beating reigning French Open champion and No.3 seed Li Na and No.9 seed Marion Bartoli en route.

Getty Images

12 /18
Yaroslava Shvedova's 2012 run was historic in a pair of ways: as a wildcard, she reached the fourth round, and she became the first player in the Open Era to win a 'golden set' at Wimbledon.

Getty Images

13 /18
Czech Tereza Smitkova had a dramatic run to the fourth round as a qualifier in 2014, beating Hsieh Su-wei and reigning 's-Hertogenbosch champion CoCo Vandeweghe before losing to Lucie Safarova.

Getty Images

14 /18
Italy's Camila Giorgi put herself on the tennis map with a fourth round Wimbledon showing as a qualifier in 2012, beating compatriot Flavia Pennetta and Nadia Petrova along the way.

Getty Images

15 /18
Seven years after reaching a career-high ranking of World No.35, Belarus' Olga Govortsova reached the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time as a qualifier at Wimbledon in 2015.

Getty Images

16 /18
In the midst of a 2017 comeback season following a career-threatening back injury, Petra Martic reached the fourth round of Wimbledon as a qualifier.

Getty Images

17 /18
Russian Evgeniya Rodina had her best-ever Wimbledon in 2018 as a qualifier, beating Madison Keys before losing to Serena Williams on Centre Court in a fourth round match between two moms.

Getty Images

18 /18
As the youngest qualifier at Wimbledon in the Open Era, Coco Gauff thrilled audiences on both sides of the Atlantic with a fourth round showing in 2019.

Getty Images

Latest News

Title Partner

Global Partners

Affiliates

© 2023 WTA TOUR, INC. | WTA AND THE WTA LOGO ARE TRADEMARKS OF THE WTA TOUR, INC.