THORNBURY’S Emily Webley-Smith has been handed a tough draw for the first round of Wimbledon.
The 26-year-old will face Czech No3 Klara Zakopalova, who reached the last 16 at the All England Club last year, on Tuesday.
If Weley-Smith can cause an upset, she would face another Czech in the second round, with No31 seed Lucie Safarova or Lucie Hradecka lying in wait.
Although unseeded, 29-year-old Zakopalova has a fine pedigree with two WTA singles titles and seven ITF titles under her belt.
Her biggest win came at the 2009 Andalucia Tennis Experience in Marbella when she defeated then World No1 Serena Williams 6-4, 3-6, 6-1.
In 2010, she reached the e-Boks Danish Open Final, beating newly crowned French Open champion on her way before losing to current No1 Caroline Wozniacki in the final.
Her best performance in a Grand Slam came in last year’s Wimbledon Championships, when she upset 18th seed Aravane Rezai and 10th seed Flavia Pennetta, before losing to qualifier Kaia Kanepi in the fourth round.
Zakopalova has a career high ranking of 27 and is currently ranked 38th – 209 places above Webley-Smith – while she has racked up $1,819,158 in prize money during her career compared to her opponent’s $124,959.
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