Is this the worst-ever start to Wimbledon for Britons?

The opening round of men’s and women’s singles at Wimbledon 2026 has seen the worst results for British players for more than a decade.

Of the 19 Brits in action, just four won their opening round matches. That means 15 have been eliminated – which is a rate of 78.95% making first-round exits.

That is the highest rate since 2013, and the sixth-highest since the tournament became an 128-player knockout competition in 1983.

Cameron Norrie was one of 10 Britons to be eliminated on the opening day of the tournament, with every other British representative also losing on home soil.

Katie Boulter was among those to lose their opening match as the first round continued on Tuesday, but wins for Jacob Fearnley, Katie Swan, Jan Choinski and Arthur Fery on the same day prevented it from being Britain’s worst start in Wimbledon history.

That low point came in 2010. Only eight British players had earned a spot in round one, but by the time round two began, only Andy Murray remained in the competition.

It meant that 87.5% of British players that year exited after their first match.

An exit rate of 80% or higher has only happened on four other occasions, with 2003, 2007, 2009 and 2013 being particularly poor years for British players.

While only at an exit rate of 72.73%, the record for highest number of British players to exit in the first round of the men’s and women’s competitions combined was in 1988, where 16 of the 22 British players lost their opening matches – meaning the 2026 tournament has avoided equalling that record by one player.

The UK’s chances of having players make deep runs at this year’s tournament suffered two major setbacks in the hours leading up to its opening matches.

First, 2021 US Open champion and British number one Emma Raducanu withdrew from the tournament on Sunday night as the result of a stress fracture in her right leg.

On Monday, former world number four Jack Draper was also forced to withdraw due to a long-term arm injury.

This article is the latest from BBC Sport’s Ask Me Anything team.

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