University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Giron Earns Spot in Wimbledon Main Draw
June 27, 2019 | Men's Tennis
LONDON โ American Marcos Giron, who won the 2014 NCAA singles championship as a member of the UCLA men's tennis team, earned a spot in the singles main draw at Wimbledon Thursday with his third qualifying-round win in four days.
The 25-year-old dispatched of Croatian Viktor Galovic, 7-5, 6-2, 2-6, 6-4, securing his first berth in the world's oldest tennis tournament. Giron previously qualified for the US Open main draw in 2014, a result of his NCAA title.
"Qualifying here at Wimbledon is truly amazing," said Giron. "Growing up, Wimbledon was the tournament that I looked up to, seeing Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Roger (Federer) โฆ all play on Centre Court. And so for me to get through qualifying and to be able to compete at the All England Club is a dream come true and hopefully I'll be able to keep the momentum going. It was a tough match [today] and I'm happy to get through."
Giron got his week started by making quick work of German Arthur De Greef. The 6-2, 6-3 decision set up a second-round match against Frenchman Antoine Hoang, who had an eye on one of the 16 qualifying spots as the No. 10 seed. That did not faze Giron, though, as the Thousand Oaks, Calif. native took the first set by a 6-4 score. The match stayed on serve in the second, setting up a potential deciding tiebreaker for Giron. Sure enough, he captured the first three points en route to a 7-3 decision and the win.
Thursday's showdown proved evenly matched, as well, with Giron picking up the first break of serve at 5-5 in the first set. After holding to set the tone, he kept it rolling for a second-frame win fueled by back-to-back breaks. Galovic took the third, but Giron answered with a set-opening break that proved to be the difference.
It has been a big 2019 for Giron, who started the year by taking the first ATP Challenger Series singles championship of his career at the Orlando Open. He went on to collect his first Challenger doubles titles at tournaments in Dallas and Indian Wells, Calif. before posting a surprise run to the third round of the singles draw at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. He is currently ranked No. 158 by the ATP for his singles play. He is No. 200 on the doubles side.
Giron will look to follow in the footsteps of former UCLA teammate Mackenzie McDonald, who reached the Round of 16 of Wimbledon in 2018. McDonald, who is recovering from hamstring surgery, will not participate in this year's tournament. Former UCLA standout Jean-Julien Rojer of the Netherlands, who won the 2015 doubles title at the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club, is set to compete in this year's doubles main draw.
