It has been a horrendous 48 hours for British tennis.
The bad news began last night when Emma Raducanu’s injury-induced withdrawal from Wimbledon was confirmed.
Jack Draper, the great British hope on the men’s side, dropped out of the event on Monday morning following the re-emergence of a troublesome arm injury.
How bad is the state of British tennis right now?
The British woes continued throughout the day, as a collection of talented players exited the event.
10 British players lose on Wimbledon day one
A total of 11 British players contested first-round matches on day one of Wimbledon.
Upon the conclusion of the day’s play, 10 of those players had lost their first-round contests.
Consequently, day one of the 2026 Wimbledon Championships now represents the worst performance by British players across the men’s and women’s singles draws over the course of this century.
In the men’s singles event, Cameron Norrie, Oliver Tarvet, Max Basing, and Felix Gill were all defeated.
Norrie came the closest to victory, but eventually lost in five sets to American youngster Michael Zheng.
“Yeah, it’s a tough one,” Norrie told reporters during his post-match press conference. “I played point for point throughout the whole match.
“Yeah, he played better than me at the end. Really aggressive. I was really surprised with his level. So well done to him.
“But yeah, 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. So, yeah, credit to him.”
British men on Wimbledon day one
- Arthur Rinderknech defeated Oliver Tarvet 7-6, 7-6, 4-6, 7-5
- Michael Zheng defeated Cameron Norrie 6-7, 6-2, 6-7, 6-3, 7-6
- Rafael Jodar defeated Felix Gill 6-3, 6-3, 7-5
- Shintaro Mochizuki defeated Max Basing 6-3, 6-0, 6-0
On the women’s side, six British players were defeated on Monday.
Those players were Mingge Xu, Alicia Dudeney, Harriet Dart, Mika Stojsavljevic, Hannah Klugman and Francesca Jones.
Of those six players, only Xu and Dart won a set against their opponents.
Jack Pinnington Jones was the only British player who did not lose on day one.
The Briton trailed 28th seed Brandon Nakashima 3-6, 6-7, 3-4 when play was halted due to poor light, and his contest will resume on Tuesday.
British women on Wimbledon day one
- Daria Kasatkina defeated Mingge Xu 6-2, 3-6, 6-2
- Alycia Parks defeated Alicia Dudeney 6-3, 6-3
- Jelena Ostapenko defeated Harriet Dart 6-3, 3-6, 6-4
- Belinda Bencic defeated Mika Stojsavljevic 6-2, 6-1
- Barbora Krejcikova defeated Hannah Klugman 6-1, 6-4
- Diane Parry defeated Francesca Jones 6-4, 6-4
Which British players are yet to play?
A further eight British players are set to compete in the Wimbledon main draws on Tuesday.
On the women’s side, Katie Swan and Katie Boulter are the British representatives.
Jacob Fearnley, Arthur Fery, Harry Wendelken, Billy Harris, Jan Choinski and Toby Samuel are the men representing Great Britain on day two of Wimbledon.
Fery, Choinski and Harris advanced to the main draw via qualifying.
British representatives on Wimbledon day two
- Harry Wendelken vs Valentin Royer
- Jacob Fearnley vs Alex Michelsen
- Arthur Fery vs Damir Dzumhur
- Billy Harris vs Karen Khachanov [19th seed]
- Toby Samuel vs Jakub Mensik [15th seed]
- Katie Boulter vs Tyra Grant
- Katie Swan vs Irina-Camelia Begu
Fearnley, Fery, Wendelken, Samuel, and Swan all received wildcards for the main draw.
Boulter, ranked 60th in the world, qualified for the main draw automatically.
