Team USA sends 11 into Wimbledon qualies final day

Six American women and five U.S. men advanced to the final round of Wimbledon qualifying on Wednesday, each putting themselves one win away from a trip to the All England Club.

Thursday’s third-round matchups will determine the 16 men and 16 women qualifiers for the year’s third Grand Slam, with the men switching over to a best-of-five format for the final play-in matches.

Coco Gauff is in line to make her major debut at the age of 15, after she followed up her upset of top-seeded Aliona Bolsova with another straight-sets victory in Round 2, this one a 6-2, 6-3 decision over Russia’s Valentyna Ivakhnenko. She will now face another seeded opponent, No. 19 Greet Minnen of Belgium, on Thursday.

Caty McNally (pictured above), who paired with Gauff to win the 2018 US Open girls’ title, could join her partner in making her Grand Slam main-draw debut. The 17-year-old Cincinnati native will face the unseeded Jana Cepelova of Slovakia for that right, after defeating No. 23 Priscilla Hon, 6-4, 6-4.

Also advancing on the women’s side were No. 3 seed Lauren Davis, No. 6 Christina McHale, Danielle Lao and Kristie Ahn. The U.S. is guaranteed at least one qualifier, as Davis and Ahn are set to square off in Round 3.

Of the five U.S. men to advance—No. 27 seed Bjorn Fratangelo, No. 30 Tommy Paul, Donald Young, Noah Rubin and Marcos Giron—three went the distance in come-from-behind victories.

Fratangelo’s match extended to 13-11 in the final set before he finally got past Quentin Halys of France, setting up a third-round showdown with rising Aussie star Alexei Popyrin. Paul recovered from dropping a 6-0 opener to Ohio State grad Mikael Torpegaard to advance, while Rubin outlasted Colombian Roberto Quiroz.

It was smoother sailing for Giron, who upset No. 10 Antoine Hoang, 6-4, 7-6, and Donald Young, a 7-6, 6-3 winner over Daniel Elahi Galan of Colombia.

All 11 advancing Americans will be in action on Thursday. Full men’s and women’s qualifying draws and results can be found on the Wimbledon website.