Youngster is first lucky loser to reach women’s singles fourth round at Wimbledon
©Cédric Lecocq / FFTThere have been many surprises at Wimbledon so far and the remarkable run of lucky loser Solana Sierra is definitely one of the most inspiring and least expected ones.
On Friday, the 21-year-old Argentine became the first lucky loser in the Open Era to reach the fourth round in women’s singles at Wimbledon with a 7-5, 1-6, 6-1 victory over Spain’s Cristina Bucsa. Ahead of her last-16 clash with Germany’s Laura Siegemund, here’s what you need to know about her.
Not only is Sierra the first women’s lucky loser to make the fourth round at SW19, she’s also the first Argentinian woman to make it this far at Wimbledon since Paola Suarez reached the quarter-finals in 2004.
Upon completing her win over Cristina Bucsa, Sierra fell to the ground, lay on her back before she got up and looked towards her box, her palms facing upwards, like she was shrugging in disbelief.
“I just felt a lot of happiness, to do it with my team. My mom was there also, so it was very emotional,” said Sierra.
“I always dream to do good in the Grand Slams. My dream, of course, is to win one, so I will just keep training and fighting for that dream.”
In her final round of Wimbledon qualifying in Roehampton, Sierra led her opponent Talia Gibson 5-3 in the deciding set, and held match point, before she dropped four games in a row and lost the match.
As a candidate for a lucky loser spot, Sierra stuck around, hoping to still make her way into the main draw, but she never expected to get the call-up just 15 minutes before her first match against Olivia Gadecki on Monday.
“I was eating in the restaurant when I found out. I just changed, we talked five minutes and then I entered to the court. But it was good because I didn't think too much,” said Sierra.
The rest, as they say, is history.
Sierra knocked out world No.43 Katie Boulter in the second round to claim the second top-50 victory of her career – her first was over a then 32-ranked Emma Navarro at a WTA 125 in Florianopolis in 2023.
Her unexpected run to the Wimbledon last 16 meant she had to change her accommodation in London four different times. She has surprised herself with every round and this time has an apartment booked until Thursday, just to be safe.
Sierra was born and raised in Mar del Plata but moved to Mallorca, Spain last March to train at the Rafa Nadal Academy.
Since she relocated, Sierra has won a W75 title in Switzerland, successfully qualified for the main draw at Roland-Garros, and is now into the second week at the All England Club.
“I think the academy is super, super good,” said Sierra, who hasn’t had much interaction with Nadal yet, except for saying hello to him once.
“They are really professional and they are helping me a lot with my game and also with some other stuff on the court. So it's really good.”
Sierra is an only child but has 12 cousins who have all been following her progress from afar.
“I am super close to them, they are super proud and they cannot believe, honestly,” she said.
In 2022, Sierra reached the championship match at Roland-Garros in girls’ singles before losing to Czech Republic’s Lucie Havlickova.
She competed in the qualifying rounds at all four Grand Slams last season and made her major main draw debut in women’s singles at the US Open last summer.
Prior to her Wimbledon exploits this fortnight, Sierra had never competed on grass at tour level in any main draw.
But while her experience on the surface is limited, she says she enjoyed playing on grass the first time she set foot on it.
“Last year I played just one match in the qualies, but I really liked it. And this year we came one week before the qualies, and I was really liking the grass. I think it suits my game really well. So day by day, I like the surface more,” she explained.
©Loic Wacziak / FFTSierra cites Gabriela Sabatini, Juan Martin del Potro and Diego Schwartzman as compatriots she looks up to and she says she watched many videos of them on YouTube growing up.
Of the many congratulatory messages she has received so far, she says the ones from Sabatini and David Nalbandian have meant so much to her.
“They are my idols,” she added.
©Marcello Zambrano / FFTSierra cracked the top 100 for the first time last month and will rise to at least 65 when the new rankings are released after Wimbledon.
That’s over 100 spots higher than where she was this time last year.
Sierra will pocket at least GBP240,000 ($327,000) for making the last 16 at these Championships. Her entire career prize money prior to this fortnight was $450,000.
Will she treat herself to something special after Wimbledon?
“I wanted to buy a necklace for my birthday, which was 17th of June, and I didn't because it was too expensive, but now maybe I can think about it,” she says with a smile.
ROLAND-GARROS
18 May - 7 June 2026
