Aussie Sweeny battles through to Wimbledon main draw

Ian Chadband | June 26, 2026

Dane Sweeny has kept a fond Australian tradition going by battling through qualifying to reach the Wimbledon main draw after a brutal four-hour slog in searing heat.

The diminutive Penrith-born, Queensland-raised player with the big heart roared back after getting whitewashed in the fourth set against tough Tomas Barrios Vera, handing the Chilean a ‘bagel’ of his own in the decider in a 4-6 6-4 7-6 (7-5) 0-6 6-2 triumph in the final qualifying round.

Sweeny’s victory ensured that Australia’s proud recent tradition of always having at least one player make it through all three rounds of qualifying at Roehampton to nail down a coveted Wimbledon place has continued for a 14th-straight edition.

Things had looked grim when, earlier, Tristan Schoolkate and Chris O’Connell had both been beaten in straight sets in their qualifying deciders, leaving 25-year-old Sweeny as the last player standing of the 11 Aussie men and women who had entered qualifying.

But Sweeny, who’d been just two points away from losing in his second-round match against Darwin Blanch on Wednesday, again showed real spirit in stifling conditions, with temperatures hitting the mid-thirties, as he entered new territory with his first ever fifth-set decider.

He proved far the stronger of the pair in that final set, as the Chilean’s game began to unravel in the furnace with 15 unforced errors.   

It meant Sweeny has qualified for his first overseas grand slam after two Australian Open appearances this year and 2024, and has continued a breakthrough 2026 in which he beat Gael Monfils in Melbourne for his first grand slam win and has since gone on to his current career-high ranking of 126.

O’Connell’s great run, which had seen him win seven matches on the trot and lift the Nottingham Open crown at the weekend, came to an end at exactly the wrong moment as experienced Californian Mackenzie McDonald proved too strong in a 6-3 6-4 6-4 win.

Schoolkate, who had ended the singles career of British favourite Dan Evans the day earlier, went down 6-4 6-4 6-4 to Colombian Nicolas Mejia.