Wimbledon 2014: Qualification travails of persistent Sugita and the hopeful Saville

Yuichi Sugita in action at Roehampton

In the tenth century, Mahmud Ghazni, a Mongol king of an area in present day Afghanistan invaded the North West frontiers of India. Not once or twice, but an astonishing seventeen times. It was said that Ghazni looted and plundered, time and again before retreating. Perhaps, it is his spirit that is incarnated as Yuichi Sugita now.

The Japanese has been working his way around qualifiers since the US Open in 2009. The persistent man finally realized his dream, when he qualified for his maiden main draw appearance on his 18th attempt. Sugita overcame late resistance from Marco Chuidinelli to clinch a 6-4, 6-2, 7-5 victory and gain access to the main draw.

Qualifiers are always events filled with life stories of journeyman pros working their way around the tough underbelly of the tour. Another Japanese wrote his own page too – down two sets and a match point in the fourth, Tatsuma Ito prevailed over Ricardas Berankis 5-7, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-0. The Japanese won the last ten games after being down 3-5 in the fourth set.

And if that was not already enough to warm your heart, the 2011 junior Wimbledon champion Luke Saville showed immense grit and character to reach the main draw. The Aussie lad had to battle past Yann Marti 2-6, 6-3, 5-7, 7-6(7), 8-6.

Saville was on the brink of an exit several times during the fourth and fifth sets. He showed tremendous resilience and staying power to survive a match point in the fourth and recovered from a break down in the fifth set.

The 20 year old ousted the top seed Tomaz Belucci in the first round on Tuesday to set up his first entry into the main draw of a grand slam event. Two other Australians, who also qualified for the event, joined Saville.

Luke Saville strikes a forehand during qualifying for Wimbledon 2014

James Duckworth had a straight set victory over Martin Fischer, but Samuel Groth was made to work for four sets by the seasoned Simone Bolelli. Groth will also be making his maiden Wimbledon appearance, but Duckworth will be playing his second straight Wimbledon.

Tim Puetz, a German upstart also earned a maiden entry to the marquee event. He earned a spot in his first Grand Slam main draw, defeating Marton Fucsovics, the 2010 junior Wimbledon winner, 7-6(3), 7-6(16), 6-1.

The Americans matched the Aussies in number – three men forcing their way through to the main draw. The third seeded Tim Smyczek beat compatriot Alex Kuznetsov 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3. Denis Kudla, seeded ninth, got the better of Aljaz Bedene 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, 6-4.

The much-touted Ryan Harrison marched past Daniel Brands 7-6(3), 6-2, 6-3 to book his spot in the tournament. In other results Marsel Ilhan of Turkey upstaged the seventh seeded Tunisian, Malek Jaziri 6-4, 6-2, 1-6, 6-3.

One American who did not have it his way, much like Kuznetsov was Rajeev Ram. Ram lost to Czech player Jan Hernych 3-6, 4-6, 7-6(2), 2-6 to end his hopes. Milsolav Mecir, son of a former Wimbledon (1988) semi-finalist with the same name, failed to make the cut.

Pierre-Hugues Herbert blunted the Slovakian 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 to become the only Frenchman to come through the qualifiers. Canadian Frank Dancevic also met with defeat, at the hands of Jimmy Wang. The Taiwanese will play his eleventh grand slam tournament, thanks to his 2-6, 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 win.

Croatian upstart Ante Pavic extinguished the hopes of 37-year-old Marc Gicquel with a four set victory 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(5), 6-4. But the day truly belonged to Sugita, whose perseverance paid off at long last. Each of the qualifiers is assured of a $52,000 payday, perhaps some more if they are able to keep their run alive.