JAMIE DELGADO, the last surviving Briton in the tournament, today hopes to secure a place at Wimbledon with victory in the qualifying event at Roehampton. Delgado, 27, meets Julien Benneteau, the top seed from France, ranked No 80 in the world, knowing that a win would see him through by right for only the second time in his career as one of the 16 men’s qualifiers. If he makes it, he will be guaranteed prize-money of almost £10,000 next week.
Delgado, the British No 7 from Berkshire, who is ranked No 326 in the world, enjoyed a morale-boosting success in the last round by beating Federico Browne, of Argentina, in straight sets. “Things are going quite well at the moment but it’ll be tough,” Delgado, who with his shaven head bears more than a passing resemblance to Fabien Barthez, the France goalkeeper, said on Tuesday night.
Despite a promising career as a junior, Delgado has never managed to live up to ex- pectations or fulfil his potential. With Tim Henman, he was part of the squad established by David Lloyd to bring on young talent but was not always entirely focused. It is not an unfamiliar story for British tennis.
Jane O’Donoghue continued a miserable week for British hopes when she and Claire Curran, of Ireland, were knocked out in the first qualifying round of the women’s doubles.