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Seven Canadians began the Wimbledon qualifying journey at Roehampton on Monday.

On Thursday, for the final round, two remain.

No. 6 seed Victoria Mboko, who doesn’t have much grass-court experience in the pros but had a great Wimbledon as a junior three years ago, is probably not a huge surprise.

But unseeded Carson Branstine, in her Wimbledon debut and drawn in a cruelly difficult little section of the women’s draw, is a pretty big surprise.

Branstine: Court 12, 1st match at 6 a.m. EDT
Mboko: Show Court 1, 2nd match, approx. 9:30 a.m. EDT)

If you didn’t know her as a player, and didn’t know that the grass plays to her strengths. But even then.

Branstine came onto a lot of peoples’ radar because she drew the No. 1 seed, Loïs Boisson, in the first round. And as a result, they were scheduled on the main court – the only one that’s readily available for fans to watch.

Boisson, a Frenchwoman whose current ranking is No. 67, was a Cinderella story at Roland Garros just a few weeks ago after her completely out-of-the-blue run to the semifinals.

But the 22-year-old, who hadn’t played any matches between that Paris run and this first-round qualifying match, is a literal grass neophyte. Never played a pro match on it. Never even played a junior match on it.

And it showed. The things that worked well on clay did not translate to the grass; her weapons were neutralized and, to be kind, she mostly looked like a fish out of water.

Which didn’t mean Branstine, in her first Wimbledon qualifying effort, didn’t have shaky moments of her own. But her big serve, her willingness to finish points at the net and her crisp, hard, flat groundstrokes are made for modern grass-court tennis. She posted a 6-2, 6-7 (1), 6-4 victory that put her in round two.

Round 2 worse than Round 1

The draw gods continued to be unkind to Branstine in the second round on Wednesday. She found herself on the other side of the net from a friend, a former junior doubles partner, and a fellow Canadian: Bianca Andreescu.

The two had some great moments together back in 2017, when they played two Grand Slam junior doubles events – and won both.

Life took them in different directions for years. Andreescu was more precocious and two years later, she was on the top of the tennis world.

2017 Wimbledon flashback: Andreescu and Branstine

Branstine had four surgeries, went through three universities as she couldn’t even step on court as she was rehabbing, and went right through the pandemic and beyond before a standout final year at Texas A&M – a short fifth “season” that came after a stint on the ITF circuit – just in time to help the Aggies win the NCAA tournament.

The two reunited just two weeks ago in ‘S-Hertogenbosch, and got the doubles band back together.

And while Branstine, 24, is on the comeup, Andreescu is struggling to rekindle those great moments from six years ago. Both paths ended up in Roehampton on Wednesday.

And in a high-quality match, it was Branstine who dashed Andreescu’s Grand Slam hopes with a 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-1 victory. It’s the second time in a month that Andreescu has gone out in the second round of Grand Slam qualifying, and she’ll end up barely in the top 200 at the end of Wimbledon.

“It wasn’t easy on any level. I’m almost emotional right now because Bianca is an inspiration to me – really to Canadian tennis and to all women’s tennis. She’s an amazing person, and I hate to share a court with her at all,” Branstine said in an on-court interview after the win. “Yeah, of course, I’m happy I got the win, but I wish all the best to Bianca. I love her so much.”

Mboko eases past Hibino and Ryser

Mboko, 18, had a someone more routine path to the final round than Branstine did – at least in the second round.

First she faced Nao Hibino of Japan who – as it happens – was the player who shuttled Andreescu out of Roland Garros. It wasn’t easy, she was a point or two away from going out in the second-set tiebreak before pulling it out 9-7, and rolling in the third set.

And then came Valentina Ryser, a 24-year-old who wasn’t even on the original qualifying entry list at No. 229, but who squeezed in with late withdrawals. She was the lowest-ranked player in the 128-woman draw at the entry deadline, although she’s moved up a few spots since then.

That win was rather more routine.

She’ll play the competent Aussie veteran Priscilla Hon, the No. 30 seed, in the final round on Thursday – with a slot on Show Court 1 as well.

(The stream for that match will be available on the Wimbledon.com website).

Branstine to face Serban

Branstine’s final-round match, the one that will get her an official invitation to the All-England Club, should be the easiest – on paper.

Raluca Serban, a 28-year-old whose career high of No. 152 came two years ago, is ranked No. 231 this week (only Canadian Kayla Cross, at No. 232, was ranked lower among the players in the qualifying). She has been out there grinding since 2013, but she has never made a Grand Slam main draw.

In 15 previous Grand Slam qualifying attempts going back to 2019, she has only made the final round once.

Serban has, however, put together good wins this week. The first against Polish lefty Maja Chwalinska, who has a great slice on any surface. And then against Wang Xiyu, a former No. 1 junior and the 2018 Wimbledon junior champion in doubles. Wang jumped into the top 50 at the start of 2023, but has been battling injury since then. Serban won in straight sets.

Branstine and Serban have history

If Serban and Branstine come from different parts of the world and have had vastly different journeys, their paths have also crossed.

Back in 2018, when Branstine was still a junior-aged player but starting to play more pro events, the two met – twice – on the lower-level ITF circuit.

Back then, the Romanian-born Serban still represented Romania; she began representing Cyprus in 2019, having moved there as a young teenager.

They met in the second round of a $15,000 in Antalya, Turkey on a hard court. And they met again later that year at the Santa Margherita di Pula Futures factory in Sardinia, in the quarterfinals of a $25,000 event. That one was on clay.

Serban won both; the latter meeting went 3-6, 7-6 (1), 7-6 (3).

Whoever wins will be making their Wimbledon debut. You get the sense, with what she’s shown this week, that this won’t be Branstine’s last kick at that particular can.

For Serban, it might feel like now or never.

Either way, plenty of nerves.

Mboko v Hon

Mboko will be a strong favorite as well against the 27-year-old Hon, whose career high is No. 118 and who is currently ranked No. 137.

But Hon is a tidy player – a good mover, a consistent ball striker without a big weapon. She has qualified for the US Open twice and for Roland Garros once, back in 2019. She has played the Australian Open, her “home” Slam, multiple times.

“I’m always looking ahead to the next thing. As of now it was a really great run for me and it really opened my eyes to what I’m capable of and what my current limits are,” Mboko told Wimbledon.com, when asked about the Roland Garros run she’s already put in the rear-view mirror. “It feels great to still be here. Qualifying for a Grand Slam is such a mental battle. I’m very excited for tomorrow.”

Mboko didn’t play anything after Paris, after an extremely busy first five months. She practiced for a week on the grass before heading to Roehampton.

So, as with Branstine and Serban, the winner of Hon vs. Mboko also will be making her Wimbledon main-draw debut.

With so much at stake, it’s no wonder the final day of Grand Slam qualifying is a day like no other.

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