Argentine tennis player Solana Sierra (101 in the WTA singles ranking) made Wimbledon history once again on Friday. She beat Spain’s Cristina Bucsa (102) 7-5, 1-6, 6-1 to reach the fourth round, the first player to do so having entered the draw as a Lucky Loser.

It wasn’t an easy task for Sierra. The first set proved a hard-fought battle, with five breaks of serve between the two. Having missed out on the chance to wrap it up at 5-4, the Argentine broke Bucsa’s serve again the next change she got and sealed it 7-5.

The Spanish player raced to a lead in the second set. The early disadvantage nearly spelled doom for Sierra as she hurled her racket to the floor and hurt her middle finger after going down 3-1. She required medical attention and played with a bandage, but was unable to mount a comeback in the second set, which she lost 6-1.

That left it all to play for in the third. Despite struggling with the injury, Sierra powered through and took an early lead to wrap it up 6-1. As the final point went in, she dropped her racket and fell flat on the grass, a sign of the joy of this unexpected run.

Sierra’s historic run in Wimbledon

Sierra entered the qualifiers to access the singles main draw but fell at the final hurdle, losing to Australian Talia Gibson in three sets. Players who lost at the last round of qualifiers are encouraged to remain in the country, as they’re the first to access the draw if any qualified players drop out. 

With just an hour remaining until the start of the tournament, German Greet Minnen dropped out, and Sierra was selected as the “lucky loser.”

Friday’s win will also catapult Sierra in the WTA singles’ rankings. She’s bound to rake up at least 235 points, leaving her around the 65th spot. This will be her best-ever ranking and the best for an Argentine since Nadia Podoroska reached 36th in July 2021. Sierra will now face the winner of the match between U.S. player Madison Keys (8) and German Laura Siegemund (104).

After wins against Olivia Gadecki, Katie Boulter, and now Bucsa, Sierra became the first-ever woman to make the fourth round at Wimbledon as a Lucky Loser. She’s also the first Argentine woman to reach that stage of the tournament since Paola Suárez did it in 2004 — who went on to reach the quarterfinals.

The best result ever by an Argentinian player at the Wimbledon women’s singles was the runner-up by Gabriela Sabatini in 1991, who lost in the final 6-4, 3-6, 8-6 to Steffi Graff.