Katie Swan secures maiden Grand Slam win at Wimbledon
Cameron Norrie, Liam Broady and Harriet Dart fall at first hurdle
Tuesday 3 July 2018 07:45, UK
Katie Swan recorded her maiden Grand Slam main-draw victory with a career-best performance to defeat world No 36 Irina-Camelia Begu.
The 19-year-old is one member of a record six British women to have been handed a wildcard for the tournament and she took full advantage of her opportunity to become the first Briton through to the second round.
Swan overcame a deficit of 168 world ranking places against her Romanian opponent to thrill the home crowds on Court 14 and win 6-2 6-2.
The world No 204 never faced a break point on serve and secured a memorable victory on her first match point after a double fault by her opponent to progress to a meeting with 29th seed Mihaela Buzarnescu, who defeated Eastbourne runner-up Aryna Sabalenka 6-7 [3-7] 6-1 6-4.
Liam Broady and Harriet Dart became the first Britons to exit this year's Wimbledon Championships after very different displays on day one.
Following Andy Murray's withdrawal on Sunday there are 12 British men and women in the single's events and it was 21-year-old Dart who was the first of the home favourites in action.
Dart has risen up the world rankings to a career high of 171 this year, including a first WTA-level victory against Kristyna Pliskova a couple of weeks ago, and it was world no 7 and Kristyna's twin sister Karolina who provided the opposition.
Competing in her first Grand Slam singles match, Londoner Dart rallied from losing the opening set on a tie-break to claim the second for the loss of just a couple of games, threatening a huge shock against the former world No 1.
Having also undergone treatment for a leg injury just before closing out the second set, Dart faltered in the decider allowing Pliskova to seal a 7-6 2-6 6-1 victory and a place in the second round where she has faltered in the last five years.
The first of the men in action was Broady, but he was no match for 2016 runner-up Milos Raonic, who powered his way to a three-set victory against the British No 4.
Broady kept pace with the Canadian in the first set until a crucial break and that was enough to set Raonic on his way, he lost just one game thereafter for a 7-5 6-0 6-1 victory.
One of the last matches to finish on the opening day saw former British player Aljaz Bedene overcome British No 2 Cameron Norrie in four tight sets.
Norrie, up to a career-high world No 75, began well against the Slovenian to take the opener but lost the next two sets on tiebreaks before a break in the fifth game of the fourth proved enough for Bedene to progress 4-6 7-6 [7-4] 7-6 [7-4] 6-4.
Kyle Edmund and Johanna Konta, the country's respective No 1s are in action on Tuesday, Edmund opens No 1 Court at 1pm against Australia's Alex Bolt while Konta begins her tournament against Natalia Vikhlyantseva on Court No 2.
Also in action is Naomi Broady, who has the honour of starting the second day's play on Centre Court against the defending women's champion Garbine Muguruza.
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