After 11 British ducks at Wimbledon stood one Katie Swan – with the 27-year-old wildcard’s victory ending the SW19 home exodus and kickstarting something of a fightback from the Brits.Swan described defeating Irina-Camelia Begu 6-4, 6-4 on Court 16 as the most special moment of her career, having so nearly called time on playing tennis altogether amid chronic back problems.All 11 of the Brits who played before Swan had lost in the absence of injured duo Emma Raducanu and Jack Draper, each of them taking home £80,000 in prize money.Yet Swan stopped that losing streak, with Arthur Fery, Jacob Fearnley and Jan Choinski joining her in the second round to ensure Britain have representatives in both the men’s and women’s draw. Katie Swan became the first British winner at Wimbledon so far this year It was between this winning quartet that they made sure not to equal or worsen the record of 16 British first-round eliminations in 1988.While we have seen a total of 15 disappear over two days, Swan is now Britain’s leading lady, despite previously not knowing whether she would ever play at Wimbledon again, let alone win.In December 2024, she accepted a coaching job in the United States in order to make money as her back continued to plague her, only to find it unfulfilling. She sought medical help while State-side to try to return to playing professionally, and that included undergoing painful treatment on her nerves, which she says regularly reduced her to tears.That forced her to start again from scratch. Swan is now ranked 196th in the world amid her rebuild, but as she explained in the All England Club’s press auditorium after beating Begu, this moment made it worth it.When asked whether she ever thought she would be celebrating a win here again, Swan said: ‘If I’m honest, no. It was a really hard time to imagine getting out of. Katie Boulter became the latest British player to be knocked out at Wimbledon – suffering defeat by Caterina Grant (left)‘It was around August, September, 2024. I took about eight months out and it took me a really long time to get back to a place where I felt like physically I could compete at all at a professional level.‘Having to start in April last year with no ranking and playing 15Ks in Sharm El-Sheikh, it’s a long way off being able to play in Slams. I had to accept that that’s where I was and if I wanted to get back here, I’d have to take it one step at a time.‘I’m very fortunate to be from a Grand Slam nation where we have the opportunity to be awarded wildcards. I’m extremely grateful to the All England Club for giving me this opportunity. I would also say I’m proud of myself for putting myself in a position to get back to this point.’ British wildcard Arthur Fery (left) resorted to wearing earplugs to drown out his opponents’ repeated bleating to the umpireThis is Swan’s first time competing at Wimbledon since 2023, and she will face 26th seed Madison Keys, who won the 2025 Australian Open and conquered Eastbourne last week, next.After Swan became the first British woman to win, wildcards Fery and Fearnley followed for the men. Fery, 23, beat Damir Dzumhur 3-6, 6-2, 6-2, 6-1, though had to resort to wearing earplugs to drown out his opponents’ repeated bleating to the umpire on Court 16. BRITS FIGHT BACK BRITISH MEN ON TUESDAYLOST 6-3, 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 – Billy Harris vs Karen Khachanov – third match on Court 18LOST 5-7, 6-3, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 – Toby Samuel vs Jakub Mensik – third match on No 3 CourtWON 3-6, 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 – Arthur Fery vs Damir Dzumhur – second match on Court 16WON 6-3, 7-5, 6-2 – Jan Choinski vs Vit Kopriva – fourth match on Court 16WON 3-6, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 – Jacob Fearnley vs Alex Michelsen – second match on Court 15LOST 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 – Harry Wendelken vs Valentin Royer – first match on Court 14LOST 6-3, 7-6, 7-5 – Jack Pinnington Jones vs Brandon Nakashima – second match on Court 18BRITISH WOMEN ON TUESDAYWON 6-4, 6-4 – Katie Swan vs Irina-Camelia Begu – first match on Court 16LOST 6-4, 6-2 – Katie Boulter vs Tyra Caterina Grant – first match on No 3 CourtWON 6-4, 6-4 – Katie Swan vs Irina-Camelia Begu – first match on Court 16LOST 6-4, 6-2 – Katie Boulter vs Tyra Caterina Grant – first match on No 3 Court <!- – ad: https://mads.dailymail.co.uk/v8/us/sport/tennis/article/other/mpu_factbox.html?id=mpu_factbox_1 – ->
‘It helps me,’ Fery said. ‘Not just for the opponent, but just in general for the crowd, and keeps me in my zone.’Fery’s reward for beating Dzumhur is a second-round clash with a qualifier in Otto Virtanen, the Fin ranked 140th in the world. Virtanen caused one of Wimbledon’s biggest shocks by overcoming Ben Shelton, beating the American fourth seed in five sets.Fearnley, 24, was involved in his own marathon match with Alex Michelsen on Court 15. After losing the opening two sets, Fearnley mounted a comeback to win 3-6, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-2. ‘Obviously I wasn’t playing on the biggest court, but I often feel on those smaller courts, you really get to feel the atmosphere more,’ said Fearnley, who will face Spanish world No 44 Jaume Munar next. ‘It was really cool.’Later in the day, Choinski beat Czech world No 64 Vit Kopriva 6-4, 7-5, 6-2 on Court 16 as the light faded.Toby Samuel came desperately close to claiming a scalp in 15th seed Jakub Mensik, but succumbed in a fifth-set 10-point tie-break, the Czech winning 5-7, 6-3, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6.All this came after Katie Boulter had become the 11th losing Brit in succession at Wimbledon. British No 1 in Raducanu’s absence, she was beaten 6-4, 6-2 in just over an hour by 18-year-old world No 172 and Grand Slam debutant Tyra Caterina Grant. Boulter teared up in front of the media afterwards, saying how ‘tough’ she found her dreadfully-disappointing defeat.