British players did not cover themselves in glory on day one of Wimbledon.
A total of 10 Britons lost on the first day, including the likes of Cameron Norrie, Harriet Dart, Oliver Tarvet, and Hannah Klugman.
The only player who did not fall flat was Jack Pinnington Jones; who found himself trailing Brandon Nakashima by two sets when poor lighting halted play.
How bad is the state of British tennis right now?
It was a historically bad collection of results for the Brits – the worst day one of Wimbledon this century.
Francesca Jones, who was one of the 10 defeated, has attempted to explain why British players struggled so severely on Monday.
Francesca Jones says there were some ‘tough draws’ as 10 British players lose at Wimbledon
“I think it’s fair to say there were some bloody tough draws,” Jones said after losing 6-4, 6-4 to French player Diane Parry on Monday evening.
“I really do. Obviously Harriet playing Ostapenko, and then Emma pulling out last minute. I actually didn’t understand why Jelena didn’t go into Emma’s spot. I thought she was the next seed.
“You’ve have had some tough opponents there. You know, Hannah played ex-champion [Barbora Krejcikova]. I’m playing someone that’s just come on a run of, like, very good wins. Made third, fourth round here before.
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
“I think couple of the boys had a lot of seeds. You know, I think it’s really tough to — it will create bad headlines probably slightly unfairly.
“I think with some of the draws that people are handed. It was always going to be difficult.
“But yeah, no one can hide from the heaviness of Wimbledon. It’s important to everyone, and I’m sure it played a factor being at the home slam, but I’m pretty sure it happened to the French as well at Roland Garros.
“They didn’t have a great one either.”
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
Another collection of British talent is set to compete at the major event on Tuesday.
Katie Boulter and Katie Swan are competing in the women’s draw.
Jacob Fearnley, Jan Choinski, Billy Harris, Toby Samuel, and Arthur Fery are competing in the men’s singles event.
The doubles events, which will feature the likes of Henry Patten, Lloyd Glasspool and Olivia Nicholls, are scheduled to begin on Wednesday.
Francesca Jones reacts to Jack Draper and Emma Raducanu’s Wimbledon withdrawals
British hopes at Wimbledon received a jab and an uppercut mere hours before the event was due to start.
Emma Raducanu, the British number one, withdrew from Wimbledon on Sunday evening after suffering a stress fracture in her right leg.
Jack Draper, the former world number four, withdrew from the event on Monday morning, citing the recurrence of a worrisome left arm injury.
Some have pointed to the intense tennis scheduled as a possible reason for these injuries.
However, this simply cannot be the case, as neither Draper nor Raducanu have played enough tennis over the past few years for the schedule to have had a serious effect.
Francesca Jones has since reacted to their withdrawals, before revealing her concern about the tennis balls being used on the professional circuit.
“I’m not sure about the too much tennis,” the Briton said when asked if players are playing too much tennis. “I’m one of the people that probably shies away from it a little bit.
“I would say mostly if we could just periodize the calendar a bit more. So I don’t think there is an issue with amount of tournaments.
“I think I explained in Roland Garros, for me the difference would be could we just have a break in the middle of the season like F1 do where they have, like, a three-week break. That would be my first point.
“My second point would be too many changes of balls.
If you were in charge of tennis, what is the first rule you would change?
“I mean, the Slazenger balls are ridiculously heavy. My first week of training on grass I’ve got (indiscernible) in my arms, and yet my grip isn’t the same as everyone else’s.
“But my coach who lifts a lot in the gym, the first week he feels it as well.
“I would say the biggest thing across the board is the change of balls, and then the balls that we are using, they have become heavier and heavier.”
