'My body's feeling good and the level is better' - Jodie Burrage handed main draw Wimbledon wildcard
BySportsbeat
Updated 17/06/2022 at 16:33 GMT
Having made her singles debut last year, in-form Jodie Burrage will be back at SW19 for a second time. She said: "All of it is an opportunity so you take what you can get. They girls are doing really well at the moment which is why it's so hard to give the wildcards out because there's a lot of us around."
Jodie Burrage plays a shot, Surbiton Trophy at Surbiton Racket & Fitness Club on June 03, 2022 in Surbiton, England
Image credit: Getty Images
Kingston's Jodie Burrage will enter the main draw at Wimbledon after being awarded a wildcard for the second year running.
Burrage, who is on the LTA's Pro Scholarship Programme - the highest level of support for players aged 16-24 - made her main-draw Grand Slam debut at Wimbledon in 2021 courtesy of a wildcard, will be hoping to make it through to the second round at the All England Club for the first time.
Burrage was delighted with receiving the wildcard, especially in the face of tough competition.
She said: "All of it is an opportunity so you take what you can get. They girls are doing really well at the moment which is why it's so hard to give the wildcards out because there's a lot of us around.
"All in all, it's a good problem to have for us.
"That [Wimbledon] is one thing I've tried to put to the back of my mind, and I think I've done that pretty well the last two weeks, just thinking about my next match, not thinking too far ahead."
Burrage, who knows Wimbledon well having grown up in nearby Kingston, took a lot of positives from her most recent match at the LTA's Rothesay Open Nottingham.
A battling performance saw her knocked out in the last 16 by world No. 41 and 2021 Nottingham finalist Shuai Zhang 6-2 7-6 (4).
"I'm happy with how I'm playing. I'm just happy to get through the past two weeks. My body's feeling good and the level is better than what I have been doing in the months before," Burrage commented.
"It was a good level match against a very experienced opponent - and I held my own out there."
This year has seen Burrage reach the highest singles world ranking of her career, climbing to No. 204 in March when she made her third successive ITF Tour quarter-final at the W25 Joue les Tours.
And back in January she made her Australian Open debut, losing in the first qualifying round to Seone Mendez 5-7 6-1 6-4.
The four-time ITF singles title winner has undergone numerous ankle surgeries earlier in her career but looks to be firmly back on track and playing her best tennis to date.
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