Belgium's Yanina Wickmayer qualified for the Wimbledon championships on Thursday after beating Su Jeong Jang, from South Korea after 1 hour 21 minutes of play in London.
Seeded at 603rd place in the rankings, Wickmayer won the game 2-0, beating her opponent 6-1 in the first set and 6-4 in the second set. It was the third round of Women's singles qualifiers. "It was a very good game, the best of the three," she said after her victory.
"I was very aggressive today and made the right choices. I didn't hesitate to enter the field and come and get the points at the net. And that's what allowed me to make the difference," added the 32-year-old native of Lierre, who hit 21 winners, and made only 13 unforced errors.
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It is the first time Wickmayer will play in Wimbledon since 2019, when she was beaten in the second round by China's Zhang Shuai. Her last Grand Slam tournament was in the 2020 US Open, where she lost in the first round against American Sofia Kenin.
"It will be my first Grand Slam since becoming a mum and that alone makes it special. It's a very special moment and I'm very proud of the journey made to get there. It wasn't easy having to start from scratch and train hard in hopes of getting back to my level, but it was worth it and I enjoyed every moment."
Belgium's finest
Wickmayer is among the ranks of Belgium's great tennis players. Other notables include former professional tennis player Justine Henin, who spent a 117 weeks as the world's number one in 2003, 2006 and 2007.
Former tennis player Kim Clijsters reached the number one ranking in both singles and doubles, achieving both titles at the same time in 2003. She won six major titles in singles and doubles.
Wimbledon is taking place in London between 20 June till 10 July.
