New British No.9 Oliver Crawford insisted he did not change nationality for a Wimbledon wildcard as he kept the Union Jack flying in Australian Open qualifying. The world No.213 from South Carolina, whose parents are from Birmingham, switched to represent Great Britain earlier this month.
And Crawford, 24, has won both his matches since to reach the final round of qualifying at Melbourne Park. Fellow Brits Billy Harris, Ryan Peniston, Harriet Dart and Fran Jones – who retired in the final set – all went out in the second round today.
But former University of Florida star Crawford beat Italian world No. 195 Francesco Passaro 6-4 6-7 6-4 to move with one win of reaching his first Grand Slam main draw. “It felt good to come through in the third,” he said.
Crawford will now be able to use the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton as a training base – and be eligible for wildcards during the British grasscourt season. But he denied that was the motivation for his switch as he targeted reaching the world’s top 100.
“It’s not the case whatsoever,” he said. “I’ve always believed in backing myself and one tournament a year is not going to it’s not going to make your career. So for me, this is me backing myself and putting myself in front of a couple extra eyes that have been at that level played at that level.
“And then players that I can learn from that have been at that level that have made the jump from my ranking to the top 100. And so that’s not the case whatsoever. And it’s more so me just feeling that it’s the best way to develop my game and get the most out of it.”
Crawford, who has a strong American accent, added: “My parents are from Birmingham, born and raised. My whole family is over there. It’s only my parents and my immediate family that’s in the States.
“The reception I have had from the other players has been unbelievable. I think that was the main reason we switched, to build to build my team and back myself and think that that’s what I needed to get to the next level and we all It’s been unbelievable.
“The other boys have been unbelievable. I’ve more so got to know them in these few days. I knew them prior but just them accepting me and the camaraderie and and the culture that they’ve built is infectious and something I wanted to be a part of.”
