Kendrick To Face Tsonga In Wimbledon 1st Round

Former Husky All-American Robert Kendrick has once again qualified for the main draw at Wimbledon, the fifth main draw appearance of his career. Kendrick will open on Tuesday at 5 a.m. Pacific time against 10th-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in what will be the first match of the day on Court No. 1. Expect this match to get a lot of air time on ESPN2 or watch online on ESPN3.com.

Kendrick has also reached the main draw of the most storied tournament in tennis in 2003, 2006, 2007, and 2009. Last year he faced Brit Andy Murray in the first round and took a set before falling in four sets. Kendrick has been notoriously pesky on the grass against several top-ranked players. In 2004 he made the second round then lost a five-set marathon to Rafael Nadal as Nadal went on to reach the final. He also went five sets with 7th-seed Tommy Robredo in 2007.

To reach the main draw Kendrick had to win three qualifying matches, as his world ranking has dropped to 161. He defeated Filip Krajinovic of Serbia, Josselin Ouanna of France, and Ryan Sweeting of the U.S. to make the main draw.

Kendrick was an All-American in singles and doubles for the Huskies in 1999 under current head coach Matt Anger. He made the National Indoor Championship final, losing to fellow future pro James Blake.