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Even as their countrymen and women prepare for the main draw, there are two Canadians in the qualifying for Wimbedon, which begins Monday.

(The women start on Tuesday. Three Canadians are entered: Ilkley champion Rebecca Marino, debutant Marinan Stakusic, and Carol Zhao).

It could have been three, but Milos Raonic, a former Wimbledon finalist who wasn’t awarded one of the main-draw wild cards, opted to take a pass on the qualifying.

Raonic snubbed for Wimbledon wild card

And it could have shaken out worse for Quebecers Gabriel Diallo and Alexis Galarneau, both of whom are unseeded.

For Galarneau, somewhat surprisingly, it’s the first grass-court match of his professional career – actually, his first grass-court match ever as he never played on it in juniors.

A year ago, he would have made it into the qualifying, but he opted to stay in North American and play hard-court challengers. It paid off, eventually, when he won the Granby Challenger the week after Wimbledon.

His first round will be against Manuel Guinard. Guinard, a 6-6, 28-year-old Frenchman, will be playing only his second career grass-court match, after losing in the first round of qualifying at Roehampton a year ago.

If he can get through that, Galarneau would have a tough one against No. 20 seed Richard Gasquet, who has played the Wimbledon main draw 17 times – every year from 2004 through 2008, and the last 12 editions in a row.

Gasquet was a semifinalist as a 21-year-old in 2007, beating Andy Roddick in five sets in the quarters and losing to Federer and jumping into the top 10 for the first time. He made the semis again in 2015 when he beat Grigor Dimitrov, Nick Kyrgios, and then Stan Wawrinka (11-9 in the fifth) before losing to Novak Djokovic. And he’s made the second week four other times – but not lately.

If Galarneau could pull that one off, his potential final round – whoever it is – will be short on experience or light on grass-court expertise.

Excellent draw for Diallo

For Gabriel Diallo, who dealt with some things including illness during the lead-up tournaments, it is a darn good draw. Especially for a player with a big serve who is willing to come to the net.

It will be Diallo’s second kick at the qualifying can, after he lost in the second round to No. 256 Matteo Gigante of Italy last year.

Diallo’s first-round opponent will be Tunisia’s Aziz Dougaz, who has played ONE grass-court match in his entire life – last year at Wimbledon qualifying, where he got four games from Jurij Rodionov of Austria.

The second round could be No. 8 seed Daniel Elahi Galan, who is seeded that high mostly because of his clay-court craft, not his grass-court expertise. And yet, he’s had good results at Wimbledon

The Colombian was at a career high No. 56 just less than a year ago, after getting a fairly nice draw and making the second week of Wimbledon with a fourth-round effort. In 2022, he made the third round and in 2021, the second round.

And if Diallo gets through that, his final round opponent (whoever it turns out to be) also would be a winnable match.

So there’s certainly hope.

Murray withdrawal news premature

There were – at least as of 6 p.m. in London, no late withdrawals from the main draw.

Not even Andy Murray, who had a procedure on his back a couple of days ago and who was prematurely ruled out by the ATP Tour based on a media report that he was out for six weeks.

The facts appear to be that no decision has yet been made, and won’t be until later in the week. Which doesn’t sound too promising.

But while Murray earned his main-draw spot with his ranking and can choose what to do, or not do, with it, the delay in that decision certainly affects other players who are currently in the qualifying draw.

That could change before start of play Monday at Roehampton, which is 10 a.m. London time.

Seven top 100s in the qualies

Beyond all of the protected ranking entries which put the initial main draw cutoff inside the top 100, there are also a number of players who broke into the top 100 just a little too late to make the entry deadline.

As of Sunday evening in London, the last direct entry into the big show is No. 100 Botic Van de Zandschulp, who squeezed in when the Czech Jiri Lehecka withdrew.

As a result, the dangerous Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard (currently No. 67) still has to get through three rounds to make the main draw. He’s the No. 1 seed.

Also in qualies are No. 2 seed Hugo Gaston (at No. 69), No. 3 seed Zizou Bergs (No. 77), No. 4 James Duckworth (No. 88 – up to No. 78 on Monday) and No. 5 seed Lloyd Harris (No. 95, up to No. 91 on Monday).

David Goffin, who rises to No. 82 on Monday after winning the Ilkley Challenger but not earning the main draw wild card that – until a few days ago – had been given to the winner of that Challenger event. That makes six.

Camilo Ugo Caraballi of Argentina jumped up to No. 100 on Monday. That makes seven.

Those rankings don’t quite correlate with the list of main-draw alternates, because the main-draw deadline is a few weeks earlier than the qualifying deadline.

So … sitting in the hot seat hoping/not hoping that Andy Murray will pull out on Sunday night is France’s Luca Van Assche. He would be next in if there’s a withdrawal, and he’s seeded No. 6 in the qualifying.

After that comes Bergs, and then Duckworth.

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