Qualifying concludes with ladies' thrillers

Earlier in the day she had qualified for one Wimbledon main draw place in the form of Ladies' Singles, but later on Thursday Mariana Duque-Marino was back on court looking to add a second to her tally.

The Colombian returned to the Roehampton lawns at 4pm with Brazilian partner Teliana Pereira to do battle against top seeds Stephanie Foretz Gacon and Eva Hrdinova in the late afternoon sunshine.

The encounter was perhaps a fitting way to end to the tournament. The pairings were equally matched in both skill and hunger for victory, but it was eventually the French/Czech players who triumphed in the fiercely contested duel winning 6-4, 3-6, 9-7.

Elsewhere, British duo Naomi Broady and Anna Smith gave Maria Irigoyen and Paula Ormaechea a scare in the opener by holding two set points on Irigoyen’s serve. But when the British pairing failed to convert, their heads dipped and there was a distinct sense this was the beginning of the end. It was.

A disastrous tie-break followed in which the home grown team only managed to scrape together two points, and when Smith netted a forehand volley the set went the way of the Argentines. By the latter stages of the match the Britons’ game had entirely fallen apart - Irigoyen and Ormaechea sealed a 7-6 (2), 6-1 victory in 1 hour and 18 minutes. The win will serve as some consolation for Ormaechea who, as top seed in the ladies' singles, exited the tournament at the hands of Australian Casey Dellacqua on Wednesday.

Jill Craybas, the 38-year-old American who reached the fourth round of the Wimbledon Ladies' Singles in 2005 when she defeated Serena Williams, partnered vocal Ukrainian Elina Svitolina. The 19-year-old appeared visibly frustrated by her own performance during the encounter with No.5 seeds Olga Savchuk and Raluca Olaru but the encouraging words of her experienced opponent did little to change the outcome of the match – the Ukrainian/ Romanian duo prevailed 6-3, 6-2.

Israeli and American team Julia Glushko and Asia Muhammed also guaranteed an outing on the SW19 lawns securing a 6-4, 5-7, 7-5 victory over France’s Julie Coin and Italy’s Karin Knapp.

Follow the latest news and scores from Wimbledon 2013 on Wimbledon.com or download the official iPad,  iPhone and Android apps