On Tuesday, 96 women will start their bids for just 12 places, with the potential rewards life-changing. Just two years ago, Istomin stunned Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open second round, but on the Parisian clay he fell to Brown — the camper-van driving, shock Wimbledon conqueror of Rafael Nadal in 2015. The 37-year-old Tommy Robredo, a five-time French Open quarter-finalist who has accrued over $13 million in career prize money, saw his hopes of qualifying ended for another year with defeat by Germany’s Rudolf Molleker — 19 years his junior. Although the majority of qualifiers would jump at the chance of a possible run to the second round and a big payday like Trungelliti, some do go on to create shockwaves deep into the big tournaments. Timea Bacsinszky could be one to watch this time around when she starts her campaign on Tuesday — the 29-year-old Swiss is a two-time French Open semi-finalist.

Source: The Express Tribune May 21, 2019 11:37 UTC