Thais' Wimbledon hopes fade
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Second seeded Sonchat and Sanchai Ratiwatana will miss Wimbledon for the first time in nine years after they were knocked out of qualifying on Monday.
The twins went down to Americans Denis Kudla and Tim Smyczek 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 7-9 in the opening round, which means they lose the chance to enter the main draw as lucky-losers. Over the past eight years, they have entered the tournament either on their ranking, qualifying wins or as reserves (lucky-losers).
Thai No 2 and world No 215 Noppawan Lertcheewagarn was unfortunate to miss the cut for Wimbledon, which was set at No 206.
Thailand’s last hope of seeing a player in the main draw rests with Luksika Kumkhum, who was due to take on Ukrainian Olga Savchuk in the women’s first qualifying round last night. Luksika will be hoping to improve on her performance in a WTA event in Eastbourne on Monday, where she lost in the final qualifying round to rising Swiss star Belinda Bencic 0-6 2-6.
