Heather Watson’s latest Wimbledon campaign ended in a marathon three-set defeat to 23rd seed Clara Tauson.
The 33-year-old was among the first British players to take to the court on day two as they looked to add more home success following a record-breaking Monday.
British number five Watson needed a wild card to compete at her 15th Championships after slipping to 143 in the rankings.
Heather Watson is defeated by No.23 seed Clara Tauson in round one#BackTheBrits 🇬🇧 | #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/Oeu6It0IGk
— LTA (@the_LTA) July 1, 2025
She recovered from going a break down to win the first set by reeling off five consecutive games.
But Dane Tauson, who had never previously won a match at the All England Club, broke early in the second to draw level.
Watson had a break point for a 2-0 lead in the decider but could not convert it, and she appeared to be wilting in the 32 degree heat as the match ticked past two hours.
Tauson, 22, broke twice down the home straight to wrap up a 2-6 6-4 6-3 victory and condemn Watson to her ninth first-round defeat in SW19.
Hull-born Johannus Monday also exited the tournament in the first round after a straight-sets loss to the American Tommy Paul on Court Three.
The 22-year-old received a wild card for both the men’s singles and doubles, and faced a significantly more experienced rival in the 28-year-old Paul, who is ranked 13th in the world and reached the quarter-final of the Championships last year.
Paul’s passage through the first round was fairly straightforward, and it took him an hour and 43 minutes to defeat the 6ft 6in tall Briton 6-4 6-4 6-2.
“It was a very difficult match, he’s obviously a very good player,” said Monday.
“I felt a lot of pressure going into the match. Not the expectation to win, but it is a different feeling walking on to that court.
“It has always been a dream of mine to play singles at Wimbledon on a big court. There are only 12 players better than Tommy Paul at the moment so he’s a very good opponent. I just tried to savour the moment as much as I could.
Monday saw seven British players record victories at the All England Club, the best tally on any day of the Championships in the open era.
But at 4.20pm on Tuesday, the wait for an eighth home winner went on.
Jodie Burrage’s bid to kick-start her comeback from injury was swiftly ended by world number 208 Caty McNally.
The 26-year-old missed much of last year, including the entire grass-court season.
She had beaten American McNally on her SW19 debut in 2023 but was unable to repeat the feat and was comfortably dispatched 6-3 6-1 in an hour and four minutes
Fellow British wild card George Loffhagen lost 2-6 6-2 6-4 6-2 to Spain’s Pedro Martinez.
The wait for an eighth home player to reach the second round was ended at 4.48pm when Dan Evans beat fellow Briton Jay Clarke 6-1 7-5 6-2.
Fran Jones was beaten in her first-round tie on Court 17 against the Ukrainian Yuliia Starodubtseva.
Jones was a wild card entrant who has appeared at the tournament twice before when exiting after her opening match in both 2021 and 2024.
The Bradford-born 24-year-old started confidently and was able to ease to a 6-1 triumph in the first set, but her 68th-ranked opponent took charge in the second set to win 6-3 and further built on that momentum to take the third 6-1.
Jones said: “I’m really deflated, to be honest. There’s not much else I can say.
“I played a really good set and a half, and then I think momentum switched. She got the better of me there.
“As we’ve seen a lot recently in tennis, the momentum shifts are just stronger than ever. They kind of jolt you more than you may have seen in previous years because of how the game has developed.”
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