Wimbledon: Seven British stars break Grand Slam record as Raducanu, Boulter kickstart campaigns

Seven British stars made Wimbledon history on Monday, as more home favourites achieved opening-day victories than ever before.

Thousands of spectators braved the unprecedented heat to witness the third Grand Slam of the year commence, as the tournament saw its highest-ever temperature for an opening day on record.

However, amid the 32.3C heat, a septet of Britons brought the heat on the grass courts to reach the second round, including women's number one and number two Emma Raducanu and Katie Boulter.

Raducanu was paired with fellow Brit Mingge Xu for a headline first-round encounter, but the former's experience won out as she conquered her teenage foe 6-3 6-3 to set up a daunting second-round tie with 2023 champion Marketa Vondrousova.

Recent doubles partner Boulter subsequently raised the centre court roof with a statement success over ninth seed Paula Badosa, getting the job done 6-2 3-6 6-4; next up for her is Argentinian lucky loser Solana Sierra.

Earlier in the day, Sonay Kartal started the string of shocks with a sensational 7-5 2-6 6-2, and a couple of the men emulated their female counterparts by springing their own surprises.

Wild card Arthur Fery defied the rankings to take down 20th seed Alexei Popyrin 6-4 6-1 4-6 6-4, while qualifier Oliver Tarvet bested Leandro Riedi to set up a gargantuan battle with defending champion Carlos Alcaraz next up; the Spaniard fought off inspired Italian veteran Fabio Fognini in a five-set spectacular.

Billy Harris and Cameron Norrie completed a record-breaking seven singles wins for the Brits, as the former beat Dusan Lajovic 6-3 6-2 6-4, while Norrie slayed Roberto Bautista Agut 6-3 3-6 6-4 7-6[3].

Not all brilliant for the Brits on Wimbledon day one

However, while there was plenty for the natives to cheer on Monday, not every Brit left the court with a win under their belts.

Jacob Fearnley faced a tough opening tie against highly-rated Brazilian teenager Joao Fonseca, who survived a last-gasp surge from the British number two to win 6-4 6-1 7-6[5].

On the same side of the draw, Oliver Crawford could not build on an opening-set win over Mattia Bellucci, suffering a 7-6[2] 3-6 4-6 4-6 loss, while Henry Searle - the 2023 boys' champion - was beaten in four sets by Ethan Quinn.

On the women's side, 16-year-old Hannah Klugman's debut ended in a 1-6 3-6 defeat to Leylah Fernandez, and Harriet Dart's opening tie with Hungary's Dalma Galfi ended in a 6-3 3-6 5-7 reverse.

Klugman's fellow youngster Mika Stojsavljevic was also overwhelmed by a seeded foe, as the USA's Ashlyn Krueger stormed to a 6-3 6-2 victory.

Written by
Ben Knapton