Wimbledon qualifying: British teenager beats world No. 42 in five sets
“I'll enjoy this for about an hour,” said 18-year-old Isla Rennard, after ousting the Belgian in three-and-a-half hours on Court 14.
Court 14 at Wimbledon is where careers begin, and where, on Tuesday afternoon, an eighteen-year-old from Sheffield began hers in earnest. Isla Rennard, ranked 231 in the world and playing in the qualifying draw for the first time, beat Belgium's 42nd-ranked Iris Vandenberg 4–6, 7–5, 3–6, 6–4, 8–6.
It took three hours and thirty-two minutes. Rennard, asked afterwards how she planned to celebrate, laughed. “I'll enjoy this for about an hour,” she said, “and then I'll go and warm up for the next round.”
She meets an unseeded American on Thursday for a place in the main draw.