• Wimbledon

Teen Edmund gets Wimbledon wild-card

Kylie Edmund's French Open boys' doubles title has propelled him to main draw appearances at Queens and Wimbledon © Getty Images

Enlarge

Related Links

• News: Simon made to sweat by sparkling Edmund
  
• News: Bogdanovic's Wimbledon slump continues
  
• News: 'Ordinary' Murray reveals sweet tooth
  
• News: Djokovic: Nadal loss to inspire Wimbledon win
  
• News: Robson and Watson crash out in Edgbaston
  
• News: Edmund crashes while Murray gets Mahut rematch
  
• Features: Serena rules over Sharapova, Edmund British joy
  
• Profile: Gael Monfils | Andrea Petkovic

World No. 444 Kyle Edmund is among seven British players to receive wild-cards for the main draw at Wimbledon, leaving Dan Evans hoping for one of the six remaining invitations from the All England Club.

But Frenchman Gael Monfils has withdrawn his request for a wild-card as he plans to skip the tournament, citing personal reasons for his absence.

James Ward, Elena Baltacha, Anne Keothavong, Johanna Konta, Tara Moore and Samantha Murray will join Edmund as the British players with a guaranteed place in the main draw at SW19.

Edmund, 18, became the first British player to claim a French Open title since 1982 with his victory in the boys' doubles, and made his ATP Tour debut at the Aegon Championships where he lost to 16th seed Grega Zemlja.

But Edmund's breakthrough success, on the back of his boys doubles title at last year's US Open, looks to have overshadowed Evans' performance at Queen's.

The Birmingham native, who helped Great Britain beat Russia in the Davis Cup back in February, arrived at the Aegon Championships having just missed out on a place inside the world's top 250, the traditional cut-off point for British wild-card entrants.

But Evans has enjoyed a breakthrough week of his own in West London, winning back-to-back tour matches for the first time in his career. After knocking out world No. 75 Guido Pella in the first round, the British No. 5 upset world number 37 Jarkko Nieminen - his highest-ranked scalp to date - to set up a third-round showdown with former US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro.

There are four men's and two women's wildcard spots yet to be announced. Evans, who can expect to better his career-best ranking of No. 248 on Monday, currently has a wild-card for the qualifying draw but could yet be awarded a place in the main draw.

"I'm grateful that I got a wild-card into qualies, to be honest," said Evans. "All the other guys have to sign in tonight and play qualies. That happened to me last year, so I wasn't expecting a main draw [wild-card] anyway - I wasn't inside the criteria. You're either inside 250 or you're not.

"I think it's good that they're being strong with it, because then there's no grey area," added the world No. 277. "I think it's good that we have to play qualies to get a chance to earn our way in."

Australia's Matthew Ebden and Nicolas Mahut, the Frenchman who came off second-best against John Isner in the longest tennis match in history back in 2010, have also been granted direct entry to the men's draw, while Germany's Andrea Petkovic, coming back from her latest injury setback, will feature in the women's draw.

Edmund has also been granted a wildcard for the men's doubles, where he will play with compatriot Jamie Baker.

Monfils was widely anticipated to receive a wild-card, but the Frenchman today confirmed that he will skip Wimbledon for personal reasons. Speaking at the Gerry Weber Open, he did not elaborate on his explanation.

Once ranked at No. 7 in the world, Monfils missed several months last year because of a knee injury. He was ranked at No. 119 in May before improving to No. 67 this week after reaching the third round of the French Open. Earlier on Wednesday he booked a place in the quarter-finals in Halle, defeating qualifier Jan Hernych 6-2 6-3.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.