A matter of weeks ago Dan Cox was on a court coaching nine hours a day to help make ends meet. On Monday the 25-year-old booked his place in the second round of qualifying for Wimbledon with an emphatic 6-1, 6-2 victory over former Wimbledon junior champion Thiemo de Bakker.
It was just reward for world No.554 Cox, who earned his wildcard into the draw with victory in last week’s pre-qualifying tournament, transferring the confidence of that run of form to the vast space of Court 12 at the Bank of England complex in Roehampton.
“It’s been a difficult time, if I’m honest,” said Cox, bidding to reach the main draw at Wimbledon for the third time. “I had a break from the game this past year to do some coaching, for financial reasons, so this means the world to me.
“If you’d told me a couple of weeks ago I would be in this position I wouldn’t have believed you,” he added. “I was on court coaching nine hours a day, so to play like that today was pretty special.
“Wimbledon is my most favourite tournament in the world, and to play again, in qualifying, is amazing for me.”
Sharp from the outset, Cox quickly set about neutralising the explosive De Bakker, who saw three backhands arrow past him for clean winners in the second game of the match – two off booming serves.
It set the tone for a match played under sunny skies – a far cry from the persistent rain that met the players on their arrival that morning – with De Bakker’s scattergun approach steadily gifting points to Cox, who was surgical by comparison.
“I’m over the moon with this performance,” said Cox, who faces Austria’s Dennis Novak in the second round. “Obviously, playing against him – a former junior Wimbledon champion, former No.40 in the world – it was always going to be tough.
“It was a little bit windy, too, but to be honest I felt like I played like there was no wind. I feel confident in my shots now, and I feel good."
It was a special day for fellow Briton Lloyd Glasspool as he made his Grand Slam qualifying debut against Dennis Novikov of the United States, who secured a 6-2, 7-5 victory.
After a nervy start, 22-year-old Glasspool drew plenty of appreciative applause from the crowd gathered on the bank above Court 10 with some fine touch play around the net, but Novikov proved too steady when it mattered most. The American will face Belarus’ Uladzimir Ignatik in the second round, a 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 winner over Argentina’s Renzo Olivo.
Novikov’s win, coupled with Tim Smyczek’s 7-6 (3), 6-3 victory over Ilya Ivashka moved the prospect of an all-American showdown for a place in the main draw moved one step closer.
For his part, Smyczek was relieved to have buried some early nerves before easing past his Belarussian opponent, having known little about the world No.235 before stepping out on court for one of the day’s final matches.
Ranking his performance out of 10, Smyczek gave himself “A good six-and-a-half” after weathering a wobble on serve late in the first set before surging to victory.
“The end was better than the beginning,” said the world No.125. “I didn’t know a whole lot about his game. I guess he played like I expected – he was a big guy, so he had a big game, served well.
“It’s tricky having to wait around, but the courts were in pretty good shape by the time I played – they weren’t slippery or anything like that.”
From here, Smyczek said, the plan is to do his game justice on the grass by reaching the Wimbledon main draw for a second successive year.
“I quite like grass,” said Smyczek, who faces Japan’s Hiroki Moriya in the secon round. “I feel comfortable on it, but I haven’t necessarily had that many great results the last few years – I’ve run into some tricky players. I’m enjoying it.
“I think, as an American, we always have the hard court season in the back of our minds, but I’m hoping to get a few wins here because I like grass a lot, and I think it suits my game.”