Norrie beaten on dreadful first day for British players at Wimbledon 2026

[p]Ten of the 11 home players in action ‌lost their first-round matches on Monday, with 26th seed and British number one [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/norrie-cameron/pvzhJGY8/"]Norrie[/a] dumped out [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/tennis/norrie-c-pvzhJGY8/zheng-m-tjS5ZIzl/?mid=Svoy2beR"]7-6(7) 2-6 7-6(2) ‌3-6 6-7(4-10)[/a] by American qualifier [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/zheng-michael/tjS5ZIzl/"]Michael Zheng[/a].[/p][p]Zheng had five match points in the ‌final tiebreak, after a gruelling four hours on court, but needed only one.[/p][p][b]"It always stinks to ‌lose, especially at Wimbledon, my favourite tournament in the world, a tournament I always ‌play so well at,"[/b] said Norrie, a quarter-finalist last year.[/p][p]With now-retired Grand Slam winner [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/murray-andy/tYvP6939/"]Andy Murray[/a] no longer a saviour in waiting, Britain licked its wounds after losing the most players ‌on an opening day in more than 20 years.[/p][embed guid="aed35f02-ccef-44b7-afca-1a26cf9d684c" url="https://x.com/the_LTA/status/2071622666989994337" social-type="twitter" /][p]Former world ⁠number four [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/draper-jack/SWxNhpmK/"]Draper[/a] had earlier announced his ‌no-show due to an arm injury while fans queuing at the gates knew that [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/raducanu-emma/YmIZde1B/"]Raducanu[/a] would not ​be appearing after she posted an explanatory message on social media on Sunday.[/p][p][b]"There have been a lot of painful moments in the last 12 months but ​this one is definitely the absolute worst,"[/b] said Draper, who had been due to play big-serving American world number seven [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/fritz-taylor/UH09iaZ6/"]Taylor Fritz[/a] on Tuesday.[/p][p]The Briton had told reporters on Sunday ⁠that the number of injuries ​in men's tennis was a concern and tournaments would suffer if something was not done about it.[/p][p]Former U.S. Open champion Raducanu, 23, withdrew on medical advice as a result of a stress fracture in her right leg.[/p][embed guid="872284d9-41c9-4d66-97a1-03fe89084c67" url="https://x.com/the_LTA/status/2071603478716088551" social-type="twitter" /][p]In her absence, compatriot [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/dart-harriet/h6Lq4OGA/"]Harriet Dart[/a] opened the play on Court ‌One against Latvia's 2017 French Open champion [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ostapenko-jelena/Gloq9MUN/"]Jelena Ostapenko[/a].[/p][p][b]Dart put up a brave fight over 2-1/2 hours before going down 6-3 3-6 6-4 to an opponent who served more double faults than aces in the first set.[/b][/p][p][b]"I'm probably not the one who you wanted to win but anyway thank you, it was a really nice atmosphere,"[/b] said Ostapenko, whose scowls and grimaces during the match were replaced with smiles of relief after having to work for every point.[/p][p]Other early British casualties were 17-year-old [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/stojsavljevic-mika/YyyT3fOe/"]Mika Stojsavljevic[/a], who lost 6-2 6-1 to Swiss 11th seed and 2025 semi-finalist [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bencic-belinda/ObGlDvu0/"]Belinda Bencic[/a], and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/basing-max/CpNtcwr9/"]Max Basing[/a] who ‌went out 6-3 6-0 6-0 to Japanese fellow qualifier [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mochizuki-shintaro/KrwvlzXb/"]Shintaro Mochizuki[/a].[/p][p]Wildcard [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gill-felix/4Q5fNOq4/"]Felix Gill[/a] lost 6-3 ​6-3 7-5 to 19-year-old Spanish debutant [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/jodar-rafael/OdngshVK/"]Rafa Jodar[/a], the 23rd seed, while wildcard [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/dudeney-alicia/pvD0US2f/"]‌Alicia Dudeney[/a] was beaten 6-3 6-3 by American [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/parks-alycia/Uwhd6a1e/"]Alycia Parks[/a].[/p][embed guid="3f511d3e-632c-46d7-9445-b546c61b5104" url="https://x.com/Wimbledon/status/2071348234627231786" social-type="twitter" /][p]They were followed out by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/jones-francesca/OU6w8nNa/"]Francesca Jones[/a], beaten 6-4 6-4 by Frenchwoman [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/parry-diane/hQQLzcNT/"]Diane Parry[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/xu-yi-fan/IwPdnSrL/"]Mimi Xu[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/klugman-hannah/UBK4SRuM/"]Hannah Klugman[/a] -- losing to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kasatkina-daria/GU42elks/"]Daria Kasatkina[/a] and 2024 women's singles champion [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/krejcikova-barbora/2FyACZYi/"]Barbora Krejcikova[/a] respectively.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/tarvet-oliver/lYUiygo1/"]Oliver Tarvet[/a] lost to France's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rinderknech-arthur/pIxZZsof/"]Arthur Rinderknech[/a] in four sets but [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/pinnington-jones-jack/jRDvhb4q/"]Jack Pinnington Jones[/a] hung on for another ⁠day when bad light ended play with ⁠the Briton two sets down and ‌4-3 behind in the third to American [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/nakashima-brandon/ETGnbrpH/"]Brandon Nakashima[/a].[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/tennis/atp-singles/wimbledon/"]Follow Wimbledon 2026 on Flashscore.[/a][/b][/p]