Monday, June 29, 2026, will go down as the worst day in Wimbledon history for British tennis, as all 10 home players who completed their matches were sent packing. The carnage was compounded by Jack Draper's withdrawal around 24 hours before his scheduled first-round match against sixth seed Taylor Fritz on Centre Court, where coach Andy Murray was set to be in his corner.
Cameron Norrie Falls in Five-Set Thriller
British No.1 Cameron Norrie, who became the nation's best hope for a deep run after Draper and Emma Raducanu pulled out, suffered a five-set defeat to American qualifier Michael Zheng. The world No.144 needed four hours to dispatch the home favourite 6-7, 6-2, 6-7, 6-3, 7-6. Norrie, 30, admitted: "He played better than me. If I could have had a few more matches kind of leading in, I think I can win this match. There were so many small moments in the match that he did really well to go on his side." The No.26 seed added that he "wasn't thinking about" being Britain's best hope, saying: "I just wanted to beat Michael. I was preparing for that."
Nine Other Brits Crash Out
Of the 11 Brits in action on Monday, only Jack Pinnington Jones's clash with Brandon Nakashima was suspended in the third set due to bad light. The remaining nine who finished their matches all lost: Max Basing, Oliver Tarvet, Felix Gill, Harriet Dart, Mika Stojsavljevic, Alicia Dudeney, Hannah Klugman, Mimi Xu, and Francesca Jones. Outside of Norrie, who was seeded, the average rankings gap between the other nine Brits and their opponents was 215 places.
Klugman, 17, a former junior No.1, faced 2024 champion Barbora Krejcikova and said: "I think that's probably the best player I have played so far in my career. I've never really felt that, her forehand, the jump on her forehand. So much to take to the practice court now."
Jack Draper Withdraws with Recurring Arm Injury
Draper, 24, pulled out after reaggravating the bone bruising in his left arm, an issue that had forced him to cut his 2025 season short. The former world No.4 said: "Devastated to share that I have had to withdraw from my first round match due to a recurrence of my arm injury. There have been a lot of painful moments in the last 12 months but this one is definitely the absolute worst as there is no greater honour for a British player than playing at Wimbledon. I will continue to persevere through this."
Two-time former champion Murray joined Draper's team for the grass season, but the world No.131 played just one tournament under the Scot's tutelage, reaching the Eastbourne semi-finals. However, Draper remains hopeful that Murray will join him at the US Open later this summer. Before his withdrawal, he said: "This is the start of me and Andy's relationship. I think that will carry on and I think we both hope that's going to carry on. I'm not guaranteeing that but I would say that [I'm open to it]. I think we have to have those discussions. He absolutely seems like he has loved being around me and my team and really wants to help me to fulfil my potential."
World No.1 Sinner Comments on British Woes
Britain's struggles even caught the attention of world No.1 Jannik Sinner, who said: "It's tough for the UK. Emma out, Jack out, it's tough."
