When world No.2 Alexander Zverev squeezed past Spanish qualifier Bernabe Zapata Miralles in the fourth round at Roland-Garros, he described him as “one of the fastest guys on tour”.

“He was driving me nuts, to be honest,” said Zverev of Zapata Miralles, who enjoyed a surprise run to the second week in Paris, knocking out the likes of Taylor Fritz and John Isner as a qualifier ranked No.130.

“I could barely hit a winner against him. He’s playing incredible tennis, so if he continues playing like this, I don’t see why his ranking is not going to go up even more.”

It was high praise from the US Open finalist and Zapata Miralles is keen to prove his exploits were not a one-off.

Three weeks later, the 25-year-old from Valencia is seeded No.1 in Wimbledon Qualifying, where he opened his campaign with a strong 7-5, 6-1 win over India’s Yuki Bhambri on Monday.

Bhambri served for the first set but Zapata Miralles struck back with an 81-minute victory that earned him a second round meeting with Frenchman Antoine Hoang.

“In the beginning it was tough, because it’s my first match of the year on grass. After winning a tough first set, I started to feel more comfortable on the grass and wasn’t making too many mistakes on the first serve and I finished the match with a very high level, so I’m very happy,” Zapata Miralles told wimbledon.com.

 

Winning six matches in a row on Parisian clay – through qualifying and main draw – en route to a maiden fourth round appearance at a Grand Slam earned Zapata Miralles a top-100 debut.

Ranked No.90 this week, the Spaniard admits it took him some time to recover from the emotional roller coaster that was Roland-Garros but he’s happy to get back to work and has high hopes for the rest of the season.

“The first week after Roland-Garros I had too many emotions, I didn’t rest too much. After the second week at home I started to practise, to keep focused for the next tournaments, and I think that’s my goal for the next months, to continue the season in the same line like Roland-Garros and stay focused for the next tournaments because we are still in the middle of the season,” he added.

Zapata Miralles’ win over Fritz in the second round in Paris was his first against a top-15 opponent and he takes confidence from how he performed against high-level players there.

He grew up admiring fellow Valencian David Ferrer, a former world No.3 now retired, and practised with him during the final stages of his professional career. Clearly Ferrer’s revered work ethic rubbed off.

When told of Zverev’s glowing assessment of his game, Zapata Miralles is grateful for the encouragement, but quickly acknowledges there are no guarantees.

“These are good words from him because this shows I’m on the good line to improve my game. But I think every week is different and every week you need to start from the beginning with your game and your mentality, because there are too many weeks during the year,” said Zapata Miralles.

“But, of course, these words bring me confidence to improve my game and to win more matches.”

 

Also looking to qualify for Wimbledon for a second time is No.2 seed Jason Kubler, who needed more than two hours to move past Turkey’s Cem Ilkel 3-6, 7-5, 6-2.

The 29-year-old Australian is in form, having won a Challenger in Arizona and placing runner-up in Orlando in his last two outings after reaching the second round at Roland-Garros as a qualifier.

Kubler is looking reach his first Wimbledon main draw since 2018.

“I still remember that best-of-five setter in the last round of qualies, just great memories. Walking into the All England Club, it’s obviously something I hadn’t experienced before, so that was really special. It was great playing there and hopefully this year I can do the same thing,” said Kubler, who next faces 21-year-old Argentine Thiago Agustin Tirante.

“Anytime you’re on grass, especially in London just in general, it’s got that special feeling, especially with all white, you don’t do this anywhere else.”

Meanwhile, 19-year-old British wildcard Arthur Fery swept past Italian veteran Thomas Fabbiano 6-4, 6-2 in just over an hour.

The world No.692 Stanford student is looking to make his Grand Slam main draw debut and next takes on American Nicolas Moreno De Alboran.