It has been a British bloodbath at Wimbledon this year. The mood was set on Sunday evening with Emma Raducanu’s withdrawal due to injury, and it got worse from there. Jack Draper was also forced to pull out before a ball was hit in SW19, also citing injury, and then those who did get on the court were unable to produce a single positive result.
Record-Breaking Bad First Day
Of the 10 British players who did manage to raise a racquet, all 10 lost as British tennis suffered its worst day at Wimbledon this century. Only bad light prevented Jack Pinnington Jones from adding to that tally, as he remains three sets down against no. 28 seed Brandon Nakashima. Across 31 completed sets, British players won just five. Cameron Norrie, Britain’s leading light in the men’s draw after Draper’s last-minute withdrawal, was shocked by American qualifier Michael Zheng on Court No. 2. Katie Boulter made it 11 on Tuesday, lasting a little over an hour on Court No. 3 against 18-year-old qualifier Tyra Caterina Grant.
Glimmer of Hope: Katie Swan
But, finally, 15 minutes later, over on Court 16, a glimmer of hope as Katie Swan beat Irina-Camelia Begu in straight sets, needing five match points to see off her Romanian opponent.
British Players Still in the Draw
- Brandon Nakashima vs Jack Pinnington Jones (suspended)
- Valentin Royer vs Harry Wendelken
- Jakub Mensik vs Toby Samuel
- Karen Khachanov vs Billy Harris
- Alex Michelsen vs Jacob Fearnley
- Damir Dzumhur vs Arthur Fery
- Vit Kopriva vs Jan Choinski
- Katie Swan
British Players Knocked Out
- Max Basing
- Katie Boulter
- Alicia Dudeney
- Felix Gill
- Fran Jones
- Hannah Klugman
- Cameron Norrie
- Mika Stojsavljevic
- Oliver Tarvet
- Mimi Xu
- Emma Raducanu (withdrew)
- Jack Draper (withdrew)
