Cameron Norrie suffered a rare Wimbledon first-round upset in a gruelling five-set loss to qualifier Michael Zheng as 10 of the 11 Britons in action on the opening day of their home Grand Slam fell to defeat.<\/p>\n
Norrie was the only British seeded player to feature in either singles draw, but the world number 29 – so often the last Briton standing at the Slams – was twice reeled back in by American Zheng after being a set up, eventually losing 6-7 (7-9) 6-2 6-7 (2-7) 6-3 7-6 (10-4) after four hours on court.<\/p>\n
This was the first time Norrie – a semi-finalist in 2022 and quarter-finalist last year – has lost in the first round at Wimbledon since 2018.<\/p>\n
The catalogue of defeats amounted to the most British singles players to have lost on Wimbledon’s opening day since daily records began in 2000.<\/p>\n
The record of 16 first-round British singles defeats at Wimbledon could be exceeded when the remaining nine players take to the court on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Six of the 10 players to bow out were beaten in straight sets.<\/p>\n
Only Jack Pinnington Jones saw out Monday – and he was two sets down against American Brandon Nakashima when bad light ended their match early.<\/p>\n
There was further disappointment when Jack Draper announced his withdrawal<\/a> 24 hours before his opening match because of injury.<\/p>\n