Ask most anyone and they’ll tell you that Wimbledon starts on Monday. However, 128 men have been battling it out this week in the Wimbledon Qualifying in hopes of winning three matches to earn one of 16 spots at the big green table next week.

If a player is not within the top 100 or so in the world, pro tennis is a tough row to hoe. Consider that the 134th best baseball player in the world earns a few million each year in a guaranteed contract that will be paid even if he injures himself in April and misses the season. In tennis, Sam Warburg, the American ranked 134th in the world, this year has earned $59,956 and has a career earnings of only $222,962. What’s worse, Warbug, a 25-year-old from Sacramento, lost in the first round of the Wimbledon qualifying this week and won’t have a chance to earn a big check or ranking points there.

The 16 American men in this year’s Wimbledon qualies range in rankings from 126 to 334 in the ATP Rankings. Four survived to reach the final round of the qualies: Hugo Armando (248), Robert Kendrick (126), Kevin Kim (185) and Jesse Levine (138). They are all one win away from making the tournament.

Second round American losers in the qualies draw were Alberto Francis, Brendan Evans, Alex Bogomolov Jr. and Ryan Sweeting. First round losers were Scoville Jenkins (the only American to qualify for the French Open last month), Warburg, Rajeev Ram, Nicholas Monroe, Alex Kuznetsov, Todd Widom, K.J. Hippensteel (who I hope succeeds one day just to hear his name announced) and Jesse Witten.

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