Mankad qualifies for main draw

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US-based Indian Prakash Amritraj fell at the final hurdle of the Wimbledon singles qualifiers with a 6-7 (3), 3-6, 4-6 loss to Australia’s Bernard Tomic here on Thursday. India’s No.1 Somdev Devvarman had already exited in the second round of the qualifiers.

Earlier, India’s Harsh Mankad along with Serbian Ilija Bozoljac qualified for the doubles main draw with a 7-6(5), 6-4 win over Austrian Alexander Peya and Germany’s Bjorn Phau in the second round of the qualifiers.
This is the first time that Harsh, 30, son of former Test cricketer Ashok Mankad and former tennis national champion Nirupama Mankad, has qualified for a Grand Slam tournament. “Yes, it’s definitely a very special moment to qualify for Wimbledon. It’s been a long and tough journey. It’s been a lot of hard work but I’ve enjoyed it. I’m grateful for the opportunities I’ve had,” Mankad said.
Mankad was at the peak of his singles career, close to breaking into top 200, when a knee injury put a break on his progress in 2006. He spent almost one year in rehabilitation and when he came back in November 2007, barring a few good tournaments, positives results were a few to mention. Mankad said the passion for the game kept pushing him during the injury period and he did not forget to mention about the people who supported him those testing times. “I wanted to get back on the court and play again. This thought kept me going. My wife has been a huge support. The Goodwin family from the USA and my friend Siddharth from Bombay have supported me financially through this past year which has been a tremendous help.
“But the list is long and I’ve had a lot of support my entire career and I’m grateful to everyone who has helped me,” he said.
— IANS