34 Americans in Wimbledon main draw after 6 qualify

A total of 34 Americans—21 women and 13 men—are now in the singles main draws at Wimbledon 2021 after six qualified. It's the most Americans in the Wimbledon main draws since 35 in 1998. The 21 women are the most of any nation this year, while the 13 men are joint-most with France.

The six U.S. qualifiers—three men and three women—are also the most of any nation, and the most Americans since six also qualified in 2010.

On the men's side, Mackenzie McDonald, Denis Kudla and Brandon Nakashima all qualified. McDonald, seeded No. 2 in qualies, came from two sets down to defeat compatriot Maxime Cressy, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 in the final round. The former UCLA Bruin will make his second Wimbledon main draw appearance, after his run to the Round of 16 in 2018. Kudla, 28, was seeded sixth in the play-in tournament and dropped just one set in his three wins. He will be making his seventh Wimbledon main-draw singles appearance, with his fourth-round London run in 2015 standing up as his best Grand Slam result. 

The 19-year-old Nakashima will make his Wimbledon debut after earning a pair of three-set qualifying wins. It will be his second career Grand Slam main-draw appearance, after he received a wild card and reached the second round at the 2020 US Open. Nakashima will face fellow San Diego native in No. 31 seed Taylor Fritz in Round 1.

Fritz is one of three seeded Americans in the men's draw, alongside No. 27 Reilly Opelka and No. 28 John Isner. Also competing for Team USA are Frances Tiafoe, Sebastian Korda, Steve Johnson, Tennys Sandgren, Sam Querrey, Marcos Giron and Tommy Paul.

On the women's side, Danielle Lao, Claire Liu and Katie Volynets qualified to join 18 other American women in the singles main draw. Lao defeated qualifying No. 2 seed Viktoriya Tomova in three sets and notched a pair of straight-sets wins to reach the Wimbledon main draw for the first time at the age of 30. Liu, 21, topped Aussie Astra Sharma in three sets in the final qualifying round to reach her second Wimbledon main draw and her fifth Slam main draw overall. 

Volynets, 19, notched three straight-sets qualifying wins in her first attempt at qualifying for the London event. The California native made her Grand Slam debut at the 2019 US Open, where she earned a wild card by winning the USTA Girls' 18s National Championships title. At the 2019 US Open, she fell to eventual champ Bianca Andreescu in Round 1.

Direct entrants for Team USA at Wimbledon include six seeded players: No. 4 Sofia Kenin, No. 6 Serena Williams, No. 20 Coco Gauff, No. 22 Jessica Pegula, No. 23 Madison Keys, No. 28 Alison Riske. The rest of the American contingent includes: Sloane Stephens, Venus Williams, Amanda Anisimova, Danielle Collins, CoCo Vandeweghe, Bernarda Pera, Ann Li, Kristie Ahn, Lauren Davis, Madison Brengle, Christina McHale and Shelby Rogers. World No. 15 Jennifer Brady withdrew with a foot injury.

There is one all-American matchup set for the opening round—Brengle vs. McHale. The winner of that matchup could face Kenin in Round 2, with 11 of the 21 American women drawn into Kenin's quarter. 

Main-draw play begins on Monday, with the tournament set to conclude on July 11. For more information, visit the official Wimbledon website.