British Players Face Early Wimbledon Exits, Swan and Fery Advance

Another three British players fell to first-round defeats at Wimbledon - but Katie Swan and Arthur Fery ensured there will be home players in the second round of the singles competitions.

Ten Britons lost on the opening day of their home Grand Slam - the most at SW19 since daily records began in 2000.

Further defeats for Katie Boulter, Jack Pinnington Jones and debutant Harry Wendelken on Tuesday took the total number of first-round losses for home players to 13, equalling last year's total.

But Swan, who considered retiring from tennis in 2024 because of a persistent back injury, avoided the same fate in her first Grand Slam appearance for three years as she became the first British player to progress this year with a 6-4 6-4 victory over Romania's Irina-Camelia Begu.

The 27-year-old threw herself to the ground as she celebrated the win - her first in the main draw of a major since she beat the same opponent at Wimbledon in 2018.

Fery then battled back from a set down to secure an impressive victory over Bosnian Damir Dzumhur, losing just five of the final 23 games in completing a 3-6 6-2 6-2 6-1 win.

In an abysmal opening day for home hopes, Cameron Norrie, the highest-ranked Briton, was among 10 British players who quickly toppled out of the tournament.

There was further disappointment when Jack Draper announced his withdrawal 24 hours before his opening match because of injury.

That followed Emma Raducanu's withdrawal on the eve of the Championships with a stress fracture in her right leg.

But Swan offered a glimmer of hope for British interest with a clinical serving performance on Court 16 that helped her win 88% of first-serve points.

She did not face a break point until she was serving for the match, but held her nerve and eventually sealed a hard-fought win on her fifth match point.

Her reward is a second-round meeting with either 2025 Australian Open champion Madison Keys or American qualifier Kayla Day.

Boulter was among the British hopes to fall at the first hurdle on day two as she lost 6-2 6-4 to Italian teenager Tyra Caterina Grant.

It is the first time since 2017 that Boulter has lost in the opening round at Wimbledon in what is her first loss to a qualifier at a Grand Slam tournament.

It comes just 18 days after she achieved the biggest win of her career by ranking, when she defeated world number two Elena Rybakina in a stunning performance at Queen's.

Seeking to push back against unwanted British history on court three, Boulter got off to the worst possible start as the 18-year-old Grant, who had never contested a singles match on grass at any level prior to Wimbledon qualifying this year, went an early break up.

Boulter could not respond as the opening set slipped away and she was unable to recover from another setback early in the second.

The Briton did not force a single break point in the match, with Grant, making her Grand Slam main-draw debut, dropping just three points across her final four service games as she comfortably served out victory.

Last year, 13 British players went out in round one. Not since 1994 have as many as 14 fallen at the first hurdle.

Pinnington Jones played just five games after returning to complete his match against American 28th seed Brandon Nakashima, losing 6-3 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 after trailing 4-3 in the third set when play was suspended late on Monday.

Wendelken, ranked 202nd in the world, took the first set against French world number 75 Valentin Royer but eventually lost 4-6 6-3 6-3 6-3.

Nine British players are in action in total on Tuesday, with Eastbourne semi-finalist Toby Samuel still to face 15th seed Jakub Mensik while British number two Jan Choinski will take on Vit Kopriva.

Jacob Fearnley meets American Alex Michelsen while Billy Harris is up against 19th seed Karen Khachanov.