▲ Kwon Soon-woo
Kwon Soon-woo (ranked 202nd, Korea Armed Forces Athletic Corps) has advanced past the first round of the qualifying tournament at Wimbledon (total prize money of 64.2 million pounds), marking his return to the event after two years.
On June 22 (local time), the first day of the 2026 Wimbledon qualifying rounds, Kwon defeated Nikolas Sanchez Izquierdo (ranked 215th, Spain) 2-0 (7-6<9-7> 6-3) in one hour and 40 minutes.
Kwon's opponent in the second round of qualifying will be 21-year-old French rising star Arthur Gea (ranked 132nd). This will be their first career meeting.
Kwon, who is currently serving in the military, is competing at Wimbledon for the first time in two years since the 2024 tournament.
In April, he became the first Korean player to win the singles title at the ATP Gwangju Open Challenger, returning to the top 300 in the rankings for the first time in two years and three months since January 2024.
He subsequently won the Wuxi Open Challenger in China, securing his spot in the Wimbledon qualifying tournament.
Kwon, who is in his final month of military service, is set to be discharged next month.
This Wimbledon tournament marks his final competition as an active-duty soldier.
Kwon's best performance at Wimbledon to date is reaching the second round of the main draw in 2021.
(Photo: Courtesy of Korea Tennis Association, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.