Meer

Denmark make tennis history as Holmgren saves three match points to win five-set epic

August Holmgren is set to make his Grand Slam debut
August Holmgren is set to make his Grand Slam debutULISES RUIZ / AFP / AFP / Profimedia
For the first time, Denmark will be represented at this year's Wimbledon by four singles players in the same Grand Slam tournament.

August Holmgren completed the quartet on Thursday, when he defeated the Japanese Yosuke Watanuki in five sets in the final of the qualifications tournament in an epic drama..

Holmgren won 6-4, 6-7, 3-6, 7-6, and 7-6 in an almost four-hour-long epic, which was interrupted by rain along the way.

Already, Elmer Moller and Holger Rune had booked their ticket for the men's singles in the main tournament, while Clara Tauson has paved her way for the main draw of the women's tournament.

August Holmgren also made history on a personal level, as his participation at Wimbledon will be the 27-year-old Dane's Grand Slam debut.

The prestigious tennis tournament in London begins on Monday.

Watanuki, ranked 179 in the world, was otherwise considered the clear favorite against Holmgren, who is ranked 16 places lower.

But Holmgren got off to a good start and took the first set after breaking the Japanese's serve at 3-3.

An equal second set was then decided in a tiebreak after a single break of serve.

Here, Holmgren fell short, as the Japanese took advantage of three minibreaks and won in confident style.

Watanuki's momentum continued in the third set, where the Japanese broke Holmngren twice to take a 2-1 set lead. 

Watanuki also had a bright start to the fourth set, before the match was interrupted for more than an hour due to rain.

When play resumed, the Dane came under pressure, but he held his serve at a crucial moment and forced the match into another tiebreak.

It developed into something of an epic, with Holmgren fending off three Japanese match points, before he finally won the set 13-11 in the tiebreak.

Also in the fifth set, the Dane had problems winning the decisive balls. After a service breakthrough, he took a 5-2 lead, but in the following games squandered five match points and gave Watanuki a lifeline.

The Japanese equalized at 5-5, and when the two players then held their serve, the Wimbledon participant was to be found in the match's third tiebreak - this time a so-called match-tiebreak, where the players had to win ten points to claim the victory.

Holmgren broke the Japanese serve to 8-7 and then made it 9-7 on his serve. That gave him two match points, but this time he took advantage of the first and reached a historic milestone in his career.

Wil jij jouw toestemming voor het tonen van reclames voor weddenschappen intrekken?
Ja, verander instellingen