Tennis world going nuts over Aussie star’s extraordinary drama
An unlikely Aussie star is the talk of the tennis world after an extraordinary moment with his girlfriend at Wimbledon.
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If it’s not Alex Bolt’s biggest win, it is certainly his most memorable.
The Australian veteran on Friday came from nowhere to win through to Wimbledon’s men’s singles main draw.
There were extraordinary scenes as emotions got the better of the 31-year-old after he came from match point down to defeat Switzerland’s Leandro Riedi in five rollercoaster sets.
He wasn’t even supposed to be there.
Bolt is the talk of the tennis world after his fairy tale run as a player not ranked high enough to get a spot in the qualifying draw who now finds himself in the first round of Wimbledon for the first time since 2021 — which is the last time he won a match in the main draw of a grand slam.
Bolt’s career has been troubled by serious injuries — and it was easy to see how much this 6-7(2) 2-6 7-6(7) 7-5 6-4 win meant to him.
Heartwarming photos of Bolt and girlfriend Katie Swan have spread across cyberspace after the match — and he is the talk of the town at the All England club right now.
Bolt was ready to pack his bags before the start of qualifying after being listed as an “alternate” that would only have a chance to compete if another player was forced to withdraw.
He was given just 10 minutes notice before he rushed onto court for his opening qualifying match.
“You couldn’t write a better script for the journey I’ve had this week,” he told Tennis Australia.
“Two sets to love down, match point down, you are not usually coming back after that.
“I was actually about to go get a feed at the restaurant when my name got called over the loudspeaker saying someone had pulled out.
“So I had 10 minutes to get my whites on and get on court.”
He told tennis.com.au it is one of the “top two” wins in his career, ranking it alongside a second round win at the 2019 Aussie Open where he came back to defeat Gilles Simon.
“I don’t know if it has sunk in yet,” he said.
“I’m just super proud of my efforts to hang around in the match. I had opportunities in the first and let that slip. I kind of let that take control of my mind for the next hour and a bit. He got the second as well and started playing really good tennis. I just kept hanging around, hanging around and managed to turn the tide. It’s unreal.”
Swan, a popular British tennis player with 100,000 Instagram followers, was beyond proud of her partner.
“You did that,” Swan wrote alongside a photo of Bolt wiping away tears.
A swarm of Aussie stars were quick to congratulate Bolt, including Alex de Minaur, Max Purcell, Storm Hunter and Aussie great Nicole Pratt.
De Minaur wrote: “You are my idol.” In a separate post de Minaur wrote “This guy” in a message that included a heart emoji.
Thanasi Kokkinakis wrote: “Attaaaaa boyyyyy”.
The main draw of Wimbledon begins on Monday night AEDT, where de Minaur will lead a Aussie army of 10 players in the men’s draw — the most Australia has had since 2018.
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Originally published as Tennis world going nuts over Aussie star’s extraordinary drama
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