Alexander Marino-Hume has qualified for his maiden British Open main draw, narrowly defeating Ben Hudson in the second round of qualifying at the Queen’s Club on Thursday. Meanwhile, James Medlow and Will Flynn ensured their main draw qualification streaks continued with straight-sets wins, while Jamie Giddins will also return to the main draw having missed out in recent years.
The second qualifying round kicked off with the match between the local Queen’s Club pro James Medlow and the Petworth pro Thomas Durack. Medlow was in command early, hitting at a pace too quick for Durack’s reactions. He took the first three games before taking his foot off the pedal slightly. A few mistakes here and there saw Durack able to bring back two of the three-game deficit. Medlow shook it off, re-establishing control by picking off dedans at will. He wrapped up the first set then found it increasingly straightforward to make progress in the second set. Although the restes were often long, Medlow was comfortable playing them out and waiting for the error from Durack. He won the second set without dropping a game, securing his place in the main draw to play Nino Merola.
Next was an Australian affair, with Sydney’s Alexander Marino-Hume taking on Melbourne’s Ben Hudson. Hudson opened the match predominantly serving demi-piques, getting the ball to kick off the infamous Queen’s ski slope and forcing Marino-Hume to back-pedal and chip the ball down the backhand side. Hudson pushed out to a 3/1 lead in the first set, before Marino-Hume pulled it back to 3-all. Marino-Hume was urged on by the sizeable MCC contingent that had travelled across town to support him. When he had the service end, he was able to pressure Hudson under the grille in the long rallies. They evenly shared the next four games, sending the set to a deciding game. A series of errors from Hudson saw Marino-Hume go ahead 40-0 with a chase 2 to defend. Hudson fought all the way back to deuce, but Marino-Hume was able to convert his fourth set point with a ball onto the base of the tambour.
At first, Hudson responded well to the loss of the first set, winning the first two games of the second with some clean grille hitting. But he could not sustain it, finding himself tied down by the tambour play from Marino-Hume. Chases were hard to come by for Hudson, as Marino-Hume had everything covered. Under pressure, Hudson made some odd shot choices as Marino-Hume put on three straight games. Though Hudson picked up a game against the run of play, he soon found himself 3/5 down. Marino-Hume had two short chases to defend to win the match, but his nerves got the better of him on the second as he framed the ball. Hudson breezed the next game to go to a second deciding game. A pair of targets each and a pair of chases put Marino-Hume at the service end. Hudson netted both returns of serve, sending Marino-Hume through to the main draw for the first time in his career.
Into the evening, the quarter-finalist from the previous edition, Will Flynn, continued his qualification quest against Holyport’s Alex Machin. Flynn led throughout the first set, backed by his clean power strokes. However, Machin had an uncanny knack of being able to find the middle of his strings out of nowhere, sending a missile at Flynn that he couldn’t hunt down. His best shot of the set was a grille struck off the high service wall. Machin stayed within touching distance of Flynn throughout the set, but Flynn could always find a shot to act as a release valve for the pressure. After Flynn took the first set, Machin’s resistance started to fade. He kept up with Flynn through the first games of the second set, but couldn’t hold on for long. Flynn ran away with the second set to secure his qualification to the main draw to play Vaughan Hamilton.
The last of the singles qualifying matches was between the Royal Tennis Court’s Jack Josephs and the Queen’s Club’s Jamie Giddins. Josephs often got into the rally with a slow cut-volley or back foot cut down the backhand side, but it never troubled Giddins. Giddins was content to play out the long rallies, seeing off whatever threat Josephs could generate before striking at the grille or hitting a winner. Giddins won the opening four games before Josephs registered a notch on the scorecard. Over the next three games, Josephs started to find cracks in Giddins’s defensive game, winning more of the long rallies and clawing back game after game through long deuce exchanges. Josephs brought it back to 3/4, before Giddins finally had an easy game, going 5/3 ahead. Though Josephs brought back one more, it was not enough to prevent Giddins taking the first set.
Into the second set, and there was little to separate the pair. Nothing stopped the large number of long rallies, as both were defensively sound but unable to generate outright winners. After Josephs took the first game, they spent the next part of the set swapping the lead between them. Josephs had a chance for a 4/2 lead, but instead it was Giddins who went ahead. Giddins could sense the finish line approaching, throwing fist pumps after each of the key points. Yet Josephs refused to give in, battling to 3-all then 4-all. Every time Giddins looked like breaking away, Josephs fought his way back. The set went to a deciding game. At 15-all another long rally with both players missing openings ended with a Giddins dedans, leading to his biggest fist pump of the match. Two gallery chases later and Giddins had the service end — using it to see out the match and ensure his qualification.
The qualifying continues on Friday with the doubles qualifying, while the women’s qualifying takes place on Monday. The main draw begins on Sunday.
Match results:
2:00 PM: Thomas Durack lost to James Medlow 3/6 0/6
3:30 PM: Ben Hudson lost to Alexander Marino-Hume 5/6 5/6
5:00 PM: Will Flynn def Alex Machin 6/3 6/2
6:30 PM: Jack Josephs lost to Jamie Giddins 4/6 5/6
Order of play for Friday (all times GMT):
1:00 PM: Charlie Braham & James Medlow vs Alexander Marino-Hume & Benedict Yorston
2:30 PM: Jack Josephs & Rhys Williams vs Jack Carter & Will Burns
4:30 PM: Neil Mackenzie & Nick James vs Winner Friday 1:00 PM
6:00 PM: Zak Eadle & Claire Fahey vs Winner Friday 2:30 PM