Wimbledon's first round turned brutal for British women's doubles hopes on Thursday, as all six pairings featuring home players, including Katie Boulter and Heather Watson, were knocked out, even as Arthur Fery kept the host nation's singles ambitions alive by becoming the only British player to reach the third round of either draw at the All England Club.
Boulter and Watson survive match points but still fall
Boulter, who had already gone out in the first round of the women's singles, teamed up with Watson for a doubles run that came agonisingly close to a first-round win. The pair saved four match points during a marathon 22-point tie-break in the second set, only to eventually lose 6-4 6-7 (12-10) 6-3 to Poland's Katarzyna Piter and the Czech Republic's Anna Siskova.
Five more British pairs go out
The defeats did not stop there. Olivia Nicholls, playing alongside Slovakian partner Tereza Mihalikova, went into the tournament as the 12th seeds but were beaten 6-2 7-6 (7-3) by Czech duo Miriam Skoch and Jesika Maleckova.
Jodie Burrage and Mika Stojsavljevic were beaten in straight sets 6-3 7-5 by 10th seeds Kristina Mladenovic of France and China's Hanyu Guo. Teenager Mimi Xu, playing with Alicia Dudeney, lost 6-3 6-4 against former French Open champion Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan and China's Wang Xinyu.
Harriet Dart and Maia Lumsden went down 6-3 6-4 to Indonesian pair Aldila Sutjiadi and Janice Tjen, while Madeleine Brooks and Amelia Rajecki lost 6-4 6-2 to seventh seeds Laura Siegemund of Germany and Russia's Vera Zvonareva. In total, every British women's doubles pairing in the draw was eliminated in the opening round.
Fery keeps British singles hopes alive
While the doubles results made for grim reading, Arthur Fery gave home fans something to cheer on Thursday. He became the only British player, man or woman, to reach the third round of either singles draw at the All England Club this year.
British men's doubles pairs move through
The picture was brighter for Britain in the men's doubles competition. Defending champions Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool advanced to the second round, as did top seeds Henry Patten and his Finnish partner Harri Heliovaara. Fifth seeds Neal Skupski and American partner Christian Harrison also progressed, along with the pairing of Marcus Willis and David Stevenson. All four British men's pairings are back in action on Friday.
