Wimbledon 2017: How Does the World No. 1062 Get Into a 128-Player Draw?

Every year Wimbledon hosts some of the most thrilling tennis on the planet.

Every year, some seemingly random players get a shot at glory too.

The world's most famous grass-court tennis tournament announced its first batch of "wild cards" on Tuesday morning — players who haven't qualified for the main draw by their world rankings, but still merit a place at the event.

Among the dreamers this year: Brydan Klein, the world No. 161. Cameron Norrie, world No. 235. James Ward, world No. 1062.

There's a pattern among those three. Wimbledon's official website explains that wild cards are awarded " on the basis of past performance at Wimbledon or to increase British interest."

Denis Shapovalov, for instance, who has also been granted a wildcard is an 18-year-old Canadian who won Wimbledon's junior tournament in 2016. Tommy Haas, the 39-year-old German, reached the 2009 semifinal and is a former world No. 2.

Klein, Norrie and and Ward are all Britons. None of them has the slightest chance at getting to the quarterfinals, let alone winning the tournament. Even in the film 'Wimbledon,' hero Peter Colt had a backstory where he had previously gone quite deep in a U.S. Open once upon a time.

Wimbledon is by no means alone in promoting players from its own country. The 2016 U.S. Open gave wild cards to eight players, six of whom were American.

Partly because the U.S. talent pool is so much deeper, though, it all seems a bit more acceptable at Flushing Meadows. Only one of the 2016 U.S. Open wild card picks from America, Rajeev Ram, was older than 30.

Even with the presence of Haas, a player of enduring quality now saddled with age and injuries, don't expect a glorious run to the final like Goran Ivanisevic—incidentally, the inspiration for 'Wimbledon'—made in 2001. If the world No. 1062 wins Wimbledon we might as well all go home.