Eugenie Bouchard of Canada reaches for a forehand. Photograph: Former Wimbledon runner-up Eugenie Bouchard successfully negotiated the qualifying draw on Thursday, beating Colombian Mariana Duque-Marino 6-3, 6-2 to secure a spot in next week's main draw.
Ranked 191, the Canadian had to run the gauntlet of Roehampton and after winning two rounds held her nerve against Duque-Marino, who had narrowly missed automatic Wimbledon entry.
"I was a really solid today, I was a little nervous before," 24-year-old Bouchard, labelled the new golden girl of tennis after reaching the 2014 Wimbledon final, told the BBC.
"I feel like I've earned (my main draw place) more than just being in by ranking so I'm proud of it and I got matches this week which is what I wanted because I've not played a lot, I've been injured, so that was the goal."
Roehampton's wide expanses of playing fields are a far cry from the glamorous All England Club, where Bouchard played Petra Kvitova in a Centre Court final in 2014.
Bouchard, who also reached the Australian and French semis that year, rising to number five in the world, will now head to Wimbledon with confidence restored.
Australian Bernard Tomic, a quarter-finalist at Wimbledon in 2011, will not feature this year after he lost 6-3, 6-1, 6-2 in the final round of qualifying to Belgium's Ruben Bemelmans.
Russia's Vera Zvonareva, runner-up to Serena Williams in 2010, was also one match away from qualifying on Thursday as she took on American Caroline Dolehide.
Holder Pliskova beaten by Sabalenka at Eastbourne
Defending champion Karolina Pliskova squandered a 4-1 lead in the deciding set as she was knocked out of the pre-Wimbledon Eastbourne grasscourt championships by Belarussian Aryna Sabalenka on Thursday.
The Czech seemed to have everything under control after recovering from the loss of the first set but her game went off the boil and Sabalenka stormed back to win 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(5).
Sabalenka's first victory over a top-10 opponent means that in the last eight she will face former champion Agnieszka Radwanska, who got the better of Latvian Jelena Ostapenko.
Later on Thursday, top seed Caroline Wozniacki is up against Australian Ashleigh Barty.
In the men's event, surprise French Open semi-finalist Marco Cecchinato of Italy reached the last four with a 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 defeat of Australian John Millman.
He will face Slovakia's Lukas Lacko, who ended the hopes of British wildcard Cameron Norrie.
