Record 10 British players lose at Wimbledon on chastening opening day

[p]11 home players contested first-round matches in SW19 and all but one experienced defeat, with six of the losses coming in straight sets.[/p][p]The number could have been worse, but [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/pinnington-jones-jack/jRDvhb4q/"]Jack Pinnington Jones[/a]' match against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/nakashima-brandon/ETGnbrpH/"]Brandon Nakashima[/a] was halted due to bad light while he was two sets down.[/p][p][b]It is the worst return for British players in the men's and women's singles draws at Wimbledon this century.[/b][/p][p]Britain's hopes were immediately soured after the withdrawals of top stars [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/raducanu-emma/YmIZde1B/"]Emma Raducanu[/a] and then [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/draper-jack/SWxNhpmK/"]Jack Draper[/a] through injury.[/p][p]British men's number one [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/norrie-cameron/pvzhJGY8/"]Cameron Norrie[/a] was tasked with flying the flag, but the 26th seed lost a five-setter [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/tennis/norrie-c-pvzhJGY8/zheng-m-tjS5ZIzl/?mid=Svoy2beR"]6-7(7), 6-2, 6-7(2), 6-3, 7-6(4)[/a] to qualifier [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/zheng-michael/tjS5ZIzl/"]Michael Zheng[/a].[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/dart-harriet/h6Lq4OGA/"]Harriet Dart[/a] pushed former French Open champion [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ostapenko-jelena/Gloq9MUN/"]Jelena Ostapenko[/a] in a [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/tennis/dart-h-h6Lq4OGA/ostapenko-j-Gloq9MUN/?mid=UuoT70nJ"]6-3, 3-6, 6-4[/a] loss and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/tarvet-oliver/lYUiygo1/"]Oliver Tarvet[/a] was beaten in four hours by France's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rinderknech-arthur/pIxZZsof/"]Arthur Rinderknech[/a].[/p][embed guid="82ce8a86-afdd-4f0f-a4f4-178bf2347655" url="https://x.com/Rob_Maul/status/2071681573347275113?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/jones-francesca/OU6w8nNa/"]Fran Jones[/a] was the final loser, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/tennis/jones-f-OU6w8nNa/parry-d-hQQLzcNT/?mid=jkOpQs2m"]6-4, 6-4[/a] against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/parry-diane/hQQLzcNT/"]Diane Parry[/a] and pointed to the difficulty of the draws as one factor behind the nation's struggles.[/p][p][b]"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," [/b]Jones said.[/p][p]Jones' claim holds some weight, however, with Norrie the only British player to face an opponent ranked lower than him.[/p][p]Teenagers [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/xu-mingge/bPomvGIu/"]Mimi Xu[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/klugman-hannah/UBK4SRuM/"]Hannah Klugman[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/stojsavljevic-mika/YyyT3fOe/"]Mika Stojsavljevic[/a] also fell as they were dealt tough draws against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kasatkina-daria/GU42elks/"]Daria Kasatkina[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/krejcikova-barbora/2FyACZYi/"]Barbora Krejcikova[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bencic-belinda/ObGlDvu0/"]Belinda Bencic[/a] respectively.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gill-felix/4Q5fNOq4/"]Felix Gill[/a] was seen off by rising Spanish star [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/jodar-rafael/OdngshVK/"]Rafael Jodar[/a] and debutants [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/basing-max/CpNtcwr9/"]Max Basing[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/dudeney-alicia/pvD0US2f/"]Alicia Dudeney[/a] were also sent packing.[/p]