Six Aussies to start in Wimbledon singles draws

Two of Australian tennis’ Tour veterans, Wayne Arthurs and Nicole Pratt, have qualified for the Wimbledon singles main draws, adding to the four Aussies who had already gained a spot in the prestigious event.

35-year-old Arthurs beat Jean-Christophe Faurel of France 4-6 6-3 6-4 6-4 in his final qualifying match to set up a first round match against another veteran of the ATP Tour, wily Frenchmen Fabrice Santoro, while 33-year-old Pratt ended the main draw hopes of Ukraine’s Julia Vakulenko, defeating her 6-4 6-2.

By qualifying, Pratt has drawn an opening round encounter against 86th-ranked Slovakian Jarmila Gajdosova, a player that she is a genuine chance of getting on top of.

Arthurs will have a tough time against his experienced French opponent but, having reached the fourth round at the All England Club in 1999 and 2000, he has proven to be a dangerous competitor on grass in the past.

Fortunate to be joining Arthurs in the men’s singles main draw is Mark Philippoussis. The 29-year-old’s flagging career has been a topic of much discussion over the years, with his commitment to his tennis a common topic of discussion.

However, despite initially missing out on a wildcard, Wimbledon’s tournament organisers later announced that Philippoussis had secured a late main draw wildcard entry after staking his claim by reaching the third round of the traditional lead-up event at The Queen’s Club.

A Wimbledon finalist in 2003, Philippoussis has compiled a meagre 5-6 win-loss record in 2006 that has seen his ranking dwindle to 208 in the world and will need to carry over the type of form he showed at Queen’s, which included wins over South African Wesley Moodie and Frenchman Sebastian Grosjean, if he is to reach the second round at the world famous All England Club.

The Aussie has a tough first round encounter against dangerous young Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu, who has a current world ranking of No.34.

Not for the first time, Australia’s best player Lleyton Hewitt will be carrying the hopes of Australia in the men’s draw.

His drought-breaking win at Queen’s last week could not have come at a better time, as he is now of the belief that he can go all the way at Wimbledon for a second time.

The draw has been kind to Hewitt, as he has a potential quarterfinal match-up with American third seed Andy Roddick and, more significantly, has been drawn on the half of the draw where grass court King and world No.1 Roger Federer is not. There is no doubting that the 25-year-old Aussie will enter his first round match against Italy’s Filippo Volandri with confidence.

In the women’s draw, Pratt will be joined by Alicia Molik and Samantha Stosur.

Former world No.8 Molik was awarded with a wildcard entry into the tournament’s main draw, while Stosur, Australia’s highest ranked woman was an automatic entry because of her current world ranking of No.50.

South Australia’s Molik will be expected to reach the second round, as she has drawn qualifier Yung-Jan Chan of Taipei, while Stosur will have a tougher time with rising Dutch teen Michaela Krajicek.

Stosur, with regular American team-mate Lisa Raymond, will be hoping to win the doubles women’s doubles as the No.1 seeds, while she is also expected to do well in the mixed doubles draw where she will play with highly-regarded doubles specialist Leander Paes of India.

Other Australians to keep an eye on during the fortnight at the All England Club are Stephen Huss (with South African Wesley Moodie), the men’s doubles defending champion, Paul Hanley (with Kevin Ullyet of Zimbabwe), the fourth seeds in the men’s doubles, and Rennae Stubbs (with Cara Black of Zimbabwe), the No.2 seeds in the women’s doubles.

Wimbledon begins June 26 and culminates with the men’s singles final on July 9.

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