Lucky loser Sierras Wimbledon fairytale continues

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LONDON - Solana Sierra continued to make the most of her good fortune at Wimbledon as the Argentine on Friday became the first lucky loser to move into the fourth round of the grasscourt Grand Slam since tennis turned professional in 1968.

The 21-year-old squandered a match point and crashed in the final round of qualifying to Australias Talia Gibson, but went into the main draw at the very last moment when Belgiums Greet Minnen pulled out and she has not looked back since.

After seeing off Australias Olivia Gadecki and stunning local favourite Katie Boulter, she came through a challenging test against Spains Cristina Bucsa to win 7-5 1-6 6-1 and dropped to the ground in celebration.

Sierra, who looked at her team in disbelief for several moments as she sat on the turf after match point, will pick up a cheque worth at least 240,000 pounds ($327,336) for her surprise run.

She meets Laura Siegemund or Australian Open champion Madison Keys in the next round. REUTERS