As Wimbledon winds down this weekend, we look back at the tournament and highlight Florida tennis representatives who participated at the event.
There were twelve athletes who call Florida their home at Wimbledon. Two played in the Men’s Draw, four in the Women’s Draw, and six in the Junior’s Draw.
Reilly Opelka represented Florida in the main draw. Opelka took his opening match in straight sets. However, he fell in his second-round match against Tim van Rijthoven (Netherlands) 6-4, 6-7, 7-6, 7-6. Austin Krajicek also competed at Wimbledon in the Men’s Doubles with Ivan Dodig (Croatia). The pair took their first two matches, but were forced to withdraw in the Round of 16 after sustaining injuries.
Amanda Anisimova reached the Quarterfinals at Wimbledon.
The Florida representative that performed the best at The Championships was Amanda Anisimova. She reached the quarterfinals, where she lost to former Wimbledon Champion, Simona Halep (Romania). During her run, she took down Florida’s Coco Gauff, who reached the finals at the French Open just over a month ago. In their third round match the two went back and forth, with Gauff taking the first set in a tiebreaker. However, Anisimova was able to gain control and take the next two sets with ease, winning 6-2 and 6-1.
Two other Florida women also took the court in England but fell in the first round. Former Australian Open winner, Danielle Collins lost her opening match in a tough three-sets. However, she remains in the Women’s Doubles, where she and partner Desirae Krawczyk are set to play in the Semifinals on Friday.
Former US Open champion and Florida resident, Sloane Stephens also played in the tournament. She lost a hard-fought battle in her first match at Wimbledon to Qinwen Zheng (China).
Over in the Mixed Doubles, Coco Gauff teamed up with American, Jack Sock. The pair rolled through their first three opponents without dropping a set. However, in the Semifinals, Gauff and Sock were unable to take down the Australian duo of Matthew Ebden and Samantha Stosur.
Coco Gauff reached the Semis in the Mixed Doubles.
Mia Slama (Boca Raton) was one of six from Florida to play on the Junior side. Slama was making her second appearance at a Major this year with her first being at the Junior Roland Garros Championship in May. Unfortunately, at Wimbledon she fell in her first-round matchup.
Qavia Lopez (Delray Beach) also competed at the French Open Junior tournament and took the court in London. Entering as the eighth seed, expectations were high. She won her first match but was forced to withdraw after suffering an injury.
Alexis Blokhina (Fort Lauderdale) competed in both the singles and doubles for the Junior side. She took her opening match in the singles in straight sets but lost a close three-set match against the seventh seed, Luca Udvardy (Hungary). Over in Doubles, she lost her first-round match, ending her Wimbledon run.
Another Junior girl, Kaitlin Quevedo (Naples), had to fight through the qualifying round to earn her spot in the main draw. After securing her spot, she fell in both the singles and doubles event.
A junior boy that was looking to make a name for himself was Jonah Braswell (Sarasota). This was his first appearance at a Major tournament. Braswell fought through the Qualifying Draw where he took down Federico Bondioli (Italy) and Jelani Sarr (USA), both in tiebreaker sets. In the Main Draw, Braswell fell in his opening match, but impressed many. He also took the court in Doubles but lost his opening round match in a tiebreaker set.
Leanid Boika (Delray Beach) was the other Junior boy from Florida, who played in both Singles and Doubles. Boika qualified for singles by winning two matches but in the Main Draw, fell to the sixth seed Kilian Feldbausch (Switzerland). In Doubles, Boika lost in the first round, losing in a tiebreaker third set.
