BILLY HARRIS SECURES AS A SPOT IN THE EASTBOURNE SEMI-FINALS WITH VICTORY OVER FLAVIO COBOLLI... AS THE BRITISH LATE BLOOMER REFLECTS ON HIS INCREDIBLE RECENT FORM
- Billy Harris defeated Flavio Cobolli to earn a place in Eastbourne semi-finals
- 29-year-old will make Grand Slam debut after receiving a Wimbledon wildcard
At this rate the guy who used to travel to tennis tournaments in a transit van will be rolling up to Wimbledon in a Rolls Royce.
Billy Harris spent many of his early years on tour sleeping in the back of his van as he trawled round Europe, and in 2022 was outside the world's top 400.
But after the latest win in an incredible run on the grass, the 29-year-old is into the Eastbourne semi-finals and is closing in on the top 100.
On a blustery day on the South coast, Harris took out Italian world No49 Flavio Cobolli 6-7, 7-6, 6-2.
'We used to play a lot in the wind so coming from the Isle of Man definitely helped me today!' said Harris. 'I've had three great weeks in a row and I just want to continue as much as I can. I'm loving it.'
Harris reached back-to-back Challenger semi-finals in Surbiton and Nottingham before winning his first ever ATP tour matches at the Queen's Club and now in Eastbourne.
Before Queen's he had earned £232,000 in his career. Since then he has added £144,000 - and with another £60,000 at least to come from his Wimbledon wildcard, he is close to earning more in a month than he had in nine years.
He plays Australian world No94 Max Purcell in the last four today.
In the women's event, Britain's trio of quarter-finalists - the most since 1978 - were decidedly less enamoured with the conditions.
The breeze played havoc with Katie Boulter's serve as she lost 6-1, 7-6 Jasmine Paolini.
'It was very, very tricky today. It was more about a mental game and trying to stay calm in the wind,' said the 27-year-old. 'I don't think my game really suited it today.'
Paolini may be world No7 but she is a clay court specialist and - after she was ushered into the last eight by a bye and a retirement - this was her first ever tour-level win on grass. A missed opportunity for Boulter.
Dart was thrashed 6-1, 6-2 by Leylah Fernandez and Raducanu went down 6-2, 6-2 to Daria Kasatkina of Russia. Gone with the wind.
In better news, Sonay Kartal won in the final round of Wimbledon qualifying at Roehampton, beating Erika Andreeva, older sister of prodigious world No24 Mirra. That means Britain will have a grand total of 19 players in the singles draws for the Championships - the most since 1999.
Read more 2024-06-27T17:52:13Z dg43tfdfdgfd