"The goal of getting closer to the top 100 is becoming more and more realistic," says Mannarino after qualifying for the 3rd round of Wimbledon

Adrian Mannarino has reached the third round of Wimbledon. After making it through the qualifiers, the 37-year-old Frenchman then defeated Christopher O’Connell (6-2, 6-4, 6-3) and his compatriot Valentin Royer (6-4, 6-4, 5-7, 7-6) to advance to the round of 16, where he will face Andrey Rublev.

After several difficult months, Mannarino, currently ranked 123rd in the world this week, is getting closer to his goal of returning to the top 100, as he hopes to avoid having to play the US Open qualifiers this summer.

"It definitely feels good mentally. It’s been complicated for months. There was a bit of tension when I felt the match was going well in my favor, with some hesitation at the end of the third set when I had break points.

But I managed not to let it get to me too much. At 5-1 in the fourth-set tiebreak, I thought about Giovanni’s (Mpetshi Perricard against Fritz in the fourth set) tiebreak, and I told myself: 'Try not to do the same thing!'

There are always distracting thoughts in the back of your mind. My goal is to avoid playing Grand Slam qualifiers again. I knew before the grass season that I needed to win a certain number of points if I wanted to be directly in the main draw of the US Open.

And I knew that by winning this match, I’d get closer (102nd in the live rankings). Just in case, I’m still registered for a Challenger in Newport. The goal of getting closer to the top 100 is becoming more and more real," he concluded for L’Équipe.