Has anyone ever beaten the No.1 seed twice in the same year at Wimbledon? That’s the opportunity Carson Branstine has on Monday.
The Canadian’s run through Qualifying started with a win over top seed and Roland-Garros semi-finalist Lois Boisson, and now she plays world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka in the opening round of the main draw.
Maybe one day, Branstine says, she will get a good draw. This is the third time in a row she has been paired with the No.1 seed; the same happened this month in a grass court tournament in the Netherlands where she started in the main draw against Liudmila Samsonova. Branstine won that match too.
The 24-year-old’s “really big game” suits this surface. “I have a big serve and I’m comfortable on the grass,” she says.
“A cool little side hustle”, which has helped to pay for her travel on the tennis tour, is how the American-born 24-year-old describes her modelling.
Not wanting to ask her parents for any financial help, she signed to two modelling agencies and says they weren’t interested in her tennis but her “look”.
Sabalenka saw a video posted on social media of Branstine being interviewed at Roehampton – where the Qualifying is played – and her first thought was: “Oh my god, this girl is so beautiful.” Branstine would do more shoots but she is often away at tournaments.
Tennis and modelling are weirdly similar, Branstine says. “You’re an object a lot and people sometimes forget you’re a person too.”
Living in Hollywood might have contributed to her being “an animated person” on the tennis court, where she says her “demons” can come out (although off the court she is “chill”).
“This sport has given me everything,” she says. “It gave me a free college education. My best friends play tennis. I've gotten to see the world and travel the world, not just as a tourist, but with a purpose. And that's something I take to heart, a lot.
"I really enjoy this game. It's giving me everything and I think that's why in some of these big moments, I was able to pull through in the last few weeks because I really enjoy being out there. It's so much fun.”
Her Christian faith is also important to her. “I’m Christian and I play for God, and He’s the one that is the most important thing. And then after that, I know, I want my own family one day.
"So, I’m trying to milk out this tennis thing and see how well I can do and then look back and be like, ‘Wow, that's pretty cool that I did that, you know.’”
As much as she adores tennis, Branstine was “ready to hang it up”. If she hadn’t been ranked high enough to play in the Roland-Garros Qualifying this year, she would have stopped playing (she ended up losing in the second round of the Paris preliminaries).
“I told myself if I don't make Roland-Garros by this year, I'm quitting. And then I made Roland-Garros and I was like, ‘OK, what's the next ultimatum because apparently this works?’ Not healthy for everyone else but I think for me it works. I mean, it's fun.”
Her next goal is to break into the top 100 by next season.
Branstine studied philosophy and law in college and when she was injured – she has already been injured a lot during her career - she shadowed a lawyer for a year.
“I was dressing up. I was going to court, doing all the filings for cases and winning some cases. I was doing family law, so it was very emotional.”
Also emotional, no doubt, will be Branstine's Wimbledon debut, when she takes to the No.1 Court on Monday.