American Brian Baker powers to Wimbledon 3rd round

American comeback kid Brian Baker made another career milestone for making it to the Wimbledon third round after beating 44th-ranked Jarkko Nieminen of Finland 6-0, 6-2, 6-4 on Thursday. The fact that he won the match in straight sets means that he could be a force to reckon with at this Grand Slam event and might make it to the second week.

Baker made waves when he reached his first ATP final in Nice, France and earned a wildcard entry to the French Open, where he reached the second round. This coming from a player who had to step away from the game for several years in order to recuperate from a series of surgeries that he had to undergo.

“I knew it would be a year and a half before I got back. It actually took longer than that,” Baker said.

“Sitting in the operating room, I told myself I’m not going to keep on coming back, having surgery, prolong my `career,’ if I can call it that,” he said.

The Tennessee-native was given a wildcard in Wimbledon but through qualifying, which means he had to win three matches before getting his place in the main draw. This was something that he did and now he’s won a total of five matches so far in this tournament.