Katie Boulter struggled to locate her best form on Tuesday as she fell to a surprise defeat against world number 172 Tyra Grant.
Grant, 18, comfortably defeated the British player 6-4, 6-2 on Court Three.
Boulter joined many other British players in exiting Wimbledon at the first hurdle.
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The likes of Cameron Norrie, Harriet Dart, and Jack Pinnington Jones also lost in the first round.
In fact, not a single British player emerged victorious on Monday.
Boulter, the world number 60, offered her take on the metaphorical purge of British players at Wimbledon.
Katie Boulter says British struggles at Wimbledon have been ‘really difficult’ to witness
Boulter, who is set to fall two places to world number 62 following her defeat, began her post-match press conference by analysing her own performance.
“I think that’s a question, if you ask me in a few hours, it may be different to now,” Boulter said when asked how she was feeling about her tennis.
“I think I’m pretty disappointed with today. I really am. I’m not overly happy with the way that I played the match today, but I have to remind myself that I have come a long way this year already. I ended my year outside 100.
“I have to be slightly kinder to myself and my own thoughts as well where I try not to expect as much of myself as I should.
“I think this year I have been building extremely well. I think it’s one of the only weeks in my whole calendar so far, I have had a really tough week.
“Of course it hurts because it’s Wimbledon. It just hurts more and it makes it harder for me to deal with and to accept the fact that I didn’t bring my best game out there.
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“But ultimately, this year so far has been a step in the right direction, and maybe over the next few days, weeks, I can remind myself of that.”
As mentioned already, a total of 10 British players were defeated on the first day of Wimbledon.
Only Jack Pinnington Jones was not defeated. The Briton trailed Brandon Nakashima by two sets when play was halted due to poor lighting.
Their match resumed on Tuesday, and Nakashima ultimately defeated Pinnington Jones in straight sets.
Boulter, the highest-ranked British player competing across the men’s and women’s singles events at Wimbledon, was asked if Monday’s struggles had increased the pressure on her heading into Tuesday’s contest.
No, not necessarily,” she replied. “No. I think I have always just focused on myself.
“I’m always very supportive of every British player that plays. I want them all to do extremely well. At the same time, I have to take care of my own backyard. I have to focus on myself and not get too involved with other people.
“I think the moment that I do that, I start to get a little distracted. I don’t think I really was too aware of what was happening yesterday. I was trying really hard to get myself and my body ready to play today.
“So yeah, I mean, of course it’s really difficult to see a lot of British players going out, but I know how hard they work all year round as well to get themselves in a position to play here.
“It’s disappointing, but, you know, I think the best thing about tennis is it’s all year round. You know, it’s not just one week. I love Wimbledon with everything that I’ve got, but I’ll be telling myself to kind of move past it this week, as well.
“Yeah, it’s difficult for all of us.”
Boulter was then asked: “Obviously it’s been a really difficult few days for the Brits. Why do you think that’s been the case, and what do you think sort of needs to change going forward to improve that?”
“Look, I mean, for British players in general, I think it’s a case-by-case,” the British star responded. “Honestly, I’m not sure.
“I’m here just trying to look after myself and what I’m trying to do, and, you know, I know what I need to do to improve and to get better.
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“I think it would be difficult for me to go in and kind of name names. I think everyone is very different. I think some of the youngsters, some of the girls, they had some tough draws.
“I mean, for me, for them it’s more about experience and gaining time under these courts for the future of their game and the way that they can move forward.
“I know how good they are, they are all unbelievably good. You know, I think a lot of experience is going to be great for them.
“I have watched some of the men. But as I said, I haven’t really had too much chance to focus on them. As I said, there is so much going on.
“There is so much in general in my life that’s going on. So I’m just trying to keep my head down and keep focusing on what I can do.
“Of course, I give all my support and my love to the British players. And yeah, I don’t think it’s in my remit to tell them what to do.
Katie Boulter praises Katie Swan after her Wimbledon victory
After 11 consecutive defeats at the Championships, Katie Swan ended Britain’s barren run and became the first British player to win a match in the main draw.
Swan, the world number 196, defeated Irina-Camelia Begu 6-4, 6-4 on Tuesday afternoon.
It was a monumental victory for the 27-year-old, who secured only her second main draw win at a Grand Slam.
Swan won her first main draw match at a major when she again defeated Irina-Camelia Begu at the 2018 Wimbledon Championships.
“I love that positivity. She’s a close friend of mine,” Boulter said of Swan, who has fought through persistent back injuries over the past few years.
” I have known her my whole entire life. I know the struggle she’s been through. She’s a great girl. She deserves every minute of today.
British women in the Wimbledon first round
- 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
- Tyra Grant defeated Katie Boulter 6-4, 6-2
- Katie Swan defeated Irina-Camelia Begu 6-4, 6-4
“It’s great to see her back on the court where she belongs, winning matches.
“Yeah, just a great human on and off the court. I wish her the best of luck. She’s got a big game. She can disrupt anyone.
“She’s got big weapons. Yeah, it’s only been a matter of time before, you know, I personally believe she will be winning a lot of matches here.
“Yeah, it’s great to see her out there. Very happy for her. Yeah, I hope she can continue.”
Swan will compete against 28th seed Madison Keys for a spot in the Wimbledon third round.
Arthur Fery advances at Wimbledon, Toby Samuel suffers heartbreaking defeat
Arthur Fery became the second British player to advance to the Wimbledon second round after defeating Bosnia’s Damir Dzumhur on Tuesday.
The young star, who also defeated Flavio Cobolli at the Australian Open earlier this year, triumphed 3-6, 6-2, 6-2, 6-1.
Fery will play Otto Virtanen in the second round.
Virtanen, the world number 140, stunned world number five Ben Shelton to advance on Tuesday.
Toby Samuel, the world number 123, suffered a crushing blow on Tuesday afternoon as he lost a tight five-set match against top-15 star Jakub Mensik.
Samuel played superbly throughout the contest, and even led Mensik by 3-2 and a break in the final set.
Mensik used all of his experience to fight back from the brink of defeat, eventually triumphing 5-7, 6-3, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6.
British men in the Wimbledon first round
- 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
- Karen Khachanov defeated Billy Harris 6-3, 5-7, 6-3, 6-3
- Arthur Fery defeated Damir Dzumhur 3-6, 6-2, 6-2, 6-1
- Jakub Mensik defeated Toby Samuel 5-7, 6-3, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6.
Billy Harris, who won three matches to qualify for the main draw, was also defeated on Tuesday.
Karen Khachanov, the 19th seed, beat Harris 6-3, 5-7, 6-3, 6-3.
