Johanna Konta, Kyle Edmund, James Ward & Heather Watson hoping to impress at Wimbledon
Who are the British hopefuls aiming to impress at Wimbledon?
Monday 3 July 2017 14:26, UK
Aside from defending champion Andy Murray, there are a number of British players hoping to excel and produce their best performances at Wimbledon.
We profile some of the British names hoping to enjoy a good run at the All England Lawn Tennis Club. There are 12, including Murray, British players who are in the main singles draws at Wimbledon.
Jo Konta
The British No 1 has enjoyed a mixed season on the grass courts so far. Konta reached the final at Nottingham before losing surprisingly to Donna Vekic in three sets.
The world No 7 then played in the Aegon Classic at Birmingham but suffered a comprehensive defeat to America's Coco Vandeweghe, who enjoys the grass court setting, but bounced back with a confident run to the semi-finals at Eastbourne before an injury concern forced her to pull out.
The manner of the 6-1 6-3 defeat to the big-hitting American must have come as a body blow to Konta, so close to Wimbledon, but under the guidance of coach Wim Fissette she will hope to produce some of the scintillating form which saw her win the Miami Open in April.
Kyle Edmund
Edmund, the British No 2, suffered a disappointing first round exit at Queen's to Canadian youngster Denis Shapovalov.
The world No 47 lost in the first round at Wimbledon last year but appears to have improved his all-court game and will expect to better last year's result.
Edmund, unlike many of his compatriots, is probably more adept on the clay courts but with his aggressive forehands and powerful service delivery he will back himself to cause his opponents problems.
James Ward
Ward, part of the successful Great Britain Davis Cup squad in 2015, has endured a torrid past 12 months which has seen him struggle with a recurring knee problem and forced him to take time away from the sport.
The 30-year-old faced the daunting prospect of playing Novak Djokovic in the first round last year and since then he has fallen out of the British public's consciousness.
Ward's ranking has plummeted significantly during his absence from the Tour and he is currently ranked 1062nd in the world and required a wildcard to make the Wimbledon men's singles main draw this year.
Heather Watson
Watson, the world No 126, has the grass court credentials to enjoy a good run at Wimbledon, epitomised by her run to the semi-finals at Eastbourne before eventually falling to Caroline Wozniacki.
The former British No 1's best performances at Wimbledon came in 2012 and 2015 where she reached the third round. She has enjoyed a relatively successful spell on the grass courts this year including reaching the ITF final at Surbiton.
She followed that up with a tough opening-round defeat to American Alison Riske at Nottingham but secured morale-boosting victories against Lesia Tsurenko, Dominika Cibulkova and Barbora Strycova at the final warm-up event before Wimbledon.
Naomi Broady
Broady, the British No 2, has forged her career without the financial support of the Lawn Tennis Association. The tall big-hitting world No 111 has never bettered a second round showing at Wimbledon in 2014 but her big-hitting game should suit the grass courts.
She has suffered consecutive first round defeats at the two opening Grand Slams this year and the 27-year-old will want to stop that discouraging run.
Broady, whose brother Liam is playing the Wimbledon qualifying this week, enjoyed a good run at her home event in Manchester earlier this week where she was defeated by Zarina Diyas in the semi-finals and prior to that she reached the quarter-finals at Surbiton losing to No 1 seed Oceane Dodin.
Laura Robson
Robson's talent is unquestionable. The British No 4 won the Wimbledon Junior Girls' Championship at the age of 14 and initially made a strong transition into the professional ranks. In 2012 she reached the fourth round at the US Open, defeating Kim Clijsters and Li Na on the way.
This was followed up by runs to the third round at the Australian Open and fourth round at Wimbledon in 2013. However, her career has hit major roadworks since then through a long-list of injuries, namely a wrist injury which forced her to take a lengthy absence from the tour.
The 23-year-old, world No 188, still has many years left ahead of her on tour should she persist despite her travails but she isn't heading to Wimbledon in confident fashion after suffering successive first round failures at Surbiton and in Nottingham.
Alex Ward
Ward is the story from the week's qualifying action at Roehampton. The world No 855, who was the only player to secure his main draw spot through qualifying, secured a battling 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 7-6 (8-6) 6-1 victory over Russia's Teymuraz Gabashvili.
The 27-year-old, who benefited from a qualifying spot into qualifying, secured his second ever main draw Wimbledon appearance courtesy of victories against Belarusian Egor Gerasimov, ranked 166th, Japan's Go Soeda, ranked 111th, and Gabashvili, ranked 176th.
Ward will meet fellow Brit Edmund in the first round after the pair were drawn against each other securing certain British representation in the second round.
Notable mentions
Aljaz Bedene qualified automatically for the main draw through his world top-100 ranking. Bedene, the world No 56, faces the daunting challenge of facing Croatia's big-serving Ivo Karlovic in the first round.
Brydan Klein, the world No 149, was awarded a main draw wildcard and the 27-year-old faces a winnable opening round match against Japan's Yuichi Sugita. Like Edmund, he has never made it past the first round in either of the last two years when he has played at Wimbledon.
Cameron Norrie is another Brit to have benefited from a wildcard into the singles draw and secured his first victory over a top 50 player by beating Argentina's Horacio Zeballos in Eastbourne before succumbing to Gael Monfils. Norrie will need to perform at his best against the experienced Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the first round.
Katie Boulter will feature in the singles main draw at Wimbledon for the first time in her career. Boulter, a former world top-10 junior, will face America's Christina McHale.
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