THE All England Club will play host to a baby Battle of Britain.
Only two Brits remain in the boys' singles at SW19, and as luck would have it they are fated to meet in the third round today.
Arbroath's Jonny O'Mara and Kyle Edmund, the No.5 seed, are close friends who practise together at the National Tennis Centre each day and have been sharing a car in since the start of the tournament.
O'Mara, who booked his place with a 7-6 (3), 6-2 win against No.11 seed Pedro Cachin of Argentina, will go in as an underdog against Edmund, who gained a wild card into the main draw of the men's singles, but whatever happens would definitely be a winner in the pre-match banter.
"We have met before and I am one-nil up actually, I took him out when we were 12!" said O'Mara. "I won 7-5, 7-6 in Corby. We have not played often but we train in the same place and we hit a lot and we play a few sets. I have earned my spot in the draw, he has earned his spot in the draw, we are both playing good stuff. So it will be a good fight.
"For sure, there will be banter," the 18-year-old added. "He will probably drive me in during the morning, we have been doing that for the last few days. Maybe we will do it again – there will be a lot of banter going – but as soon as we get on the court we will be respectful. I will definitely be one-nil up in the banter but it could change on the court, who knows."
That O'Mara is here at all is remarkable enough. The Scot, who like Edmund, benefits from the coaching assistance of Greg Rusedski, actually forgot to enter the competition via the conventional channels, but was granted a wild card into qualifying when he submitted a begging letter to the All England Club committee. He hasn't let them down, having now worked his way past qualifying and got through two rounds.
"I made a mistake," he said. "I was in Milan and I do all my entering on my own, and I didn't enter for Roehampton or Wimbledon. Fortunately, I wrote to Wimbledon and they were kind enough to give me a wild card into quallies, which I am very grateful for. From then on I have qualified and won two matches so it has been rewarding."
Edmund – a Liverpool fan to O'Mara's Manchester United – joked last night that the lift this morning might not be forthcoming. "I used to live a little bit in Liverpool, so I can say why I support them but I'm not sure why he is a Man U fan," he said. "I see him a lot, we're good friends and it will be interesting playing him. I'm going to drive out the A3 and drop him off outside London!"
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