Lucy Brown has been handed a final chance to make the main draw at Wimbledon after receiving a last-minute wildcard into qualifying.

The 22-year-old, from Elsfield, near Oxford, was informed yesterday that the Lawn Tennis Association had granted her a place into the 96-player draw at Roehampton this week.

After losing 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 to Naomi Cavaday in the final round of the Wimbledon wildcard play-offs at Aorangi Park on Friday, she thought her hopes of playing at the Championships were over.

However, she faces Maria Sanchez, ranked 167 in the world, today and, after coming through two three-setters in the play-offs last week, heads into qualifying in a confident mood.

She said: “I’m just excited to play now and I’m looking forward to the challenge – it should be good.

“The play-offs were good, I had some really tough matches. I thought I was playing well and I was pretty gutted to lose.

“I am now very clear on court about the way I want to play and I need to stick to my game plan and give myself the best chance of winning.”

Brown will need to win three matches to qualify for Wimbledon, which begins on June 29, and if she reaches the latter stages of qualifying she will be forced to miss this week’s Aegon British Tour event at North Oxford Lawn Tennis Club.

She added: “It will be my next tournament depending on how I get on.

"I would be quite happy if I missed that one.”

Brown is third on Court 16.