Australian teenager Ashleigh Barty has closed in on a Wimbledon start after reaching the final stage of qualifying.
Barty beat Ukrainian Lyudmyla Kichenok 6-3 7-5 at Roehampton on Tuesday to move within one win of her second main draw appearance at the grass court grand slam.
The 18-year-old will face either Estonian Anett Kontaveit or Kazakhstan’s Sesil Karatantcheva for a chance to join compatriots Samantha Stosur, Casey Dellacqua and Jarmila Gajdosova at Wimbledon, starting on Monday.
Australia could have a large singles contingent at the All England Club with James Duckworth, Sam Groth, Luke Saville and Alex Bolt all bidding to join the men’s draw in final-round qualifying matches on Thursday.