Gille opens play at Wimbledon on Thursday
Published 12:03 pm Wednesday, July 5, 2023
- Contributed Photo ETSU men’s tennis alum Sander Gille opens doubles play at Wimbledon on Thursday.
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Gille/Vliegen took to build off success at French Open
London, England – Coming off a finals appearance at last month’s French Open, ETSU men’s tennis alum Sander Gille opens doubles play at Wimbledon on Thursday.
Gille and doubles partner Joran Vliegen are the No. 12 seed in the tournament as they take on Laslo Djere (Serbia) and Christopher O’Connell (Australia) in their opening round match, which was delayed by one day due to weather in London. Djere is ranked No. 60 as a singles player and has been ranked as high as No. 27 back in June 2019. O’Connell is ranked No. 73 in singles.
Gille/Vliegen, who advanced to the championship match at last month’s French Open, are looking for another deep run at a Grand Slam event. This marks the third time the Belgian duo are playing in Wimbledon as they reached the second round in 2019 and lost their first round match in 2021.
The winner of Thursday’s opening round match will advance to take on the winner of Romain Arneodo/Sam Weissborn vs. Hugo Dellien/Juan Pablo Varillas in round two.
The run to the French Open Championship marked the first-ever finals appearance for Gille/Vliegen at a Grand Slam event. The duo knocked off four seeded teams in their run at Roland Garros.
Following the run at the French Open, Gille moved to No. 23 in the ATP Doubles Ranking – the highest of his career.
Gille helped guide ETSU to four straight NCAA Tournament appearances from 2009-12 and was a three-time first team all-ASUN selection. Gille was named ASUN Player of the Year and Tournament MVP in 2010. Gille finished his collegiate career with 72 wins in the Blue & Gold.
