Having come so close in 2025, Joanna Garland would love nothing more than to qualify for the main draw of Wimbledon.
"It would mean the world to me,” Garland said on this week’s episode of The Sit-Down podcast. “This would be the moment of my life, if I did it.”
She took the first step toward that goal on Tuesday at Roehampton, recovering from a set down to beat Swiss Celine Naef in the opening round of Wimbledon qualifying.
She clubbed 32 winners and won 13 of her 14 points at the net in the two-and-a-half hour win, setting up a second-round meeting with Tyra Grant.
Despite developing her tennis in and representing Chinese Taipei – her mother’s homeland – Garland was born in the United Kingdom to a British father and has an affinity with grass courts and Wimbledon.
Plus, her win over Naef had greater significance given it was her first Slam qualifying victory since this time last year, when she reached the final round in Roehampton. She fell in her opening matches in qualifying at the US and Australian Opens, and missed Roland Garros in May.
“I qualified for Roland Garros last year, and that was just the best moment of my life so far. But I think this would top it,” Garland said of her 2026 Wimbledon campaign. “Especially falling short last year; I had set points in both sets and lost a really tight match.
"I'm half-British and I grew up in the UK, so I've grown up watching Wimbledon on telly and I've been a couple of times – [I was] lucky enough to go as a kid. So grasscourt season is a massive thing for me, as it is for all of the Brits.
“It's a very short part of the year, but it's exciting, and I mean my dream is to qualify [for] or play Wimbledon one day.”
Garland was flying prior to AO 2026. Ranked 175th before qualifying for Roland Garros, she peaked at world No.117 after closing her season with a semifinal finish at the WTA Chennai tournament and opening 2026 with the Canberra International title.
The Canberra trophy (at WTA 125 level) was the biggest of her career, and the very next week her profile soared when she made it to the final of the AO 1 Point Slam, beating Alexander Zverev, Nick Kyrgios, Maria Sakkari and Donna Vekic along the way.
Garland admits that losing the final point, and missing her shot at the $1 million prize, set her back in the weeks that followed.
"I was a bit sad for a while, and I kind of felt like I had to make up for losing through my own tennis results, so I kind of pushed quite hard on [a hip] injury that I had, when I maybe should have stopped playing,” said the 24-year-old, who after Indian Wells missed two months of competition.
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"A couple of times I felt things were going really well and that I could be playing again soon and then I had a setback again. I was a bit upset, and it was shortly after the 1 Point Slam, where I was feeling a bit down about that as well. So it kind of hit me a bit harder than most injuries would, I think.
“But I'm managing it now, and I've been OK for the past month, so hopefully it stays this way. I know if I keep putting in the work off the court physically, it will get better.”
There were more encouraging signs for Garland in the Netherlands, where she is now based, at the recent WTA event in s-Hertogenbosch. She reached the final round of qualifying and lost to eventual champion Robin Montgomery.
Now, with another win on grass under her belt in Roehampton, she appears to be rebuilding some momentum.
"At the end of last year I really thought I was going to smash this year. I really thought that I would qualify for the Slams, and break into that top 100 already,” she replied, when asked what a successful 2026 would look like.
“But now I just think, yes, I still want to make top 100 and I still want to qualify for Slams, which I believe I can do. Right now I think I just want to be healthy, I want to be able to play a full year, because I love playing tennis so much.
“The last few months have really emphasised how much I love it, and how much I do miss it when I can't play it. So I want to stay healthy and happy, and I think if I prioritise those two things, then the results will come themselves."
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