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Wimbledon 2015
SportTennis

Has-beens, the wannabes and those who never will be battle to qualify for Wimbledon

Only a handful of hopefuls will make it through the qualifying rounds to join main draw at the All England Club

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Austin Krajicek of the US during qualifying for Wimbledon. Krajicek lost to Yannick Mertens of Belgium in the first round. Photo: Reuters

Melzer beat Melzer, Zhang faced Zhang, a 44-year-old Japanese returned to a tournament she first played in 1989 while a British girl broke down in floods of tears mid-match.

And Wimbledon has not even started yet.

A stone's throw away from the All England Club, where the third grand slam of the year gets under way on Monday, is the Bank of England Sports Centre.

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It is where tennis has-beens, wannabes and probably those who never will be battle over four days for a place in the main draw at Wimbledon, desperate to get through three gruelling rounds of qualifying.

Juergen Melzer has to face his brother in the opening round of qualifying and his experience shone, beating   Gerald 6-1,6-4. Photo: EPA
Juergen Melzer has to face his brother in the opening round of qualifying and his experience shone, beating Gerald 6-1,6-4. Photo: EPA
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In the men's, 128 players went in search of 16 places in the draw, while there were 12 spots on offer for the 96 women who started out on the lawns of Roehampton.

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