Britons Appleton, Tarvet & Stewart within one win of Wimbledon

Britons Emily Appleton, Oliver Tarvet and Hamish Stewart are each within one victory of securing a first appearance in the Wimbledon main draw.

World number 403 Appleton, 25, came through a 10-point match tie-break against Czech player Barbora Palicova to win 6-2 6-7 (6-8) 7-6 (10-7) and set up a meeting with Slovenia’s Veronika Erjavec in Thursday’s third and final qualifying round.

The 719th-ranked Tarvet, 21, defeated Canada’s Alexis Galarneau 6-3 6-2 to set up a meeting with Belgium’s Alexander Blockx.

Stewart, 25, will face Swiss player Leandro Riedi after the Scottish world number 550 overcame France’s Luca van Assche 7-6 (7-3) 4-6 7-6 (11-9).

But Ryan Peniston, Paul Jubb, Oliver Bonding and Amarni Banks all had their Wimbledon hopes ended in Roehampton on Wednesday.

Peniston lost 3-6 6-4 6-4 to Spain’s Martin Landaluce, while Jubb was defeated by Giulio Zeppieri 6-3 6-2, and Bonding beaten 7-5 6-4 by Argentine Juan Pablo Ficovich.

In the women’s draw, Banks lost out 6-2 6-4 to Poland’s Katarzyna Kawa.

Players must come through three qualifying rounds to reach Wimbledon, the draw for which takes place on Friday at 10:00 BST – before the action begins on Monday.

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Cornet closes in on slam return

Also on Wednesday, Alize Cornet moved within one win of earning a Wimbledon return.

The 35-year-old Frenchwoman, who came out of retirement earlier this year, fought back to defeat Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva 3-6 6-3 6-3.

Cornet, who set an Open era record of contesting 69 consecutive slams between 2007 and 2024, called time on her career after last year’s French Open.

She has twice reached the Wimbledon fourth round, including in 2014 when she knocked out top seed Serena Williams, and faces compatriot Elsa Jacquemot for a place in the main draw.

Canada’s Carson Branstine followed up her victory over France’s breakout Roland Garros star Lois Boisson by defeating compatriot and long-time friend Bianca Andreescu.

Branstine outlasted the former US Open champion over three sets, winning 7-6 (7-3) 4-6 6-1 to reach the final qualifying round, where she will face Raluca Serban, of Cyprus.

The 24-year-old, who beat French Open semi-finalist Boisson in three sets on Tuesday, won the Australian Open and French Open girls’ doubles titles alongside Andreescu, who has fallen down the rankings amid struggles with injury and illness.

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