Young British players give local hope at Wimbledon for another local champion

British players, apart from Andy Murray, have struggled to make a lasting impression at the All England Club in recent years, but there are glimmers of hope these days.

There are all sorts of local delicacies on the programme for Thursday, when there is also a major contest off-site in the UK national election. The all-British second round will see Katie Boulter take on Harriet Dart before Jack Draper takes on Cameron Norrie.

The first opponent on Centre Court is Jacob Fearnley, a 22-year-old wildcard player from Scotland. He will face seven-time champion Novak Djokovic.

Speaking of Scotland, Murray will also be on Centre Court as he plays doubles with his brother Jamie, ahead of a mixed doubles match with Raducanu later in the tournament. The two-time Wimbledon champion withdrew from the singles competition.

“There is a good atmosphere around British tennis at the moment,” said Anne Keothavong, a former Great Britain player who now captains her country’s team in the Billie Jean King Cup.

Part of the current momentum comes from Wimbledon handing out a raft of wildcard invitations to local players, as it does at other Grand Slams.

Of the 12 British men’s singles players at Wimbledon this year — the highest number since 14 in 1978 — eight were wildcard entries.

Only one of those eight — Fearnley — got out of the first round. Fearnley now moves from Alejandro Moro Canas — he beat the 188th-ranked Spaniard 7-5, 6-4, 7-6 (12) on Tuesday — to Djokovic.

He was asked how he could beat Djokovic, who has won a record 24 Grand Slam trophies.

“I have no idea,” said Fearnley, who just finished playing college tennis at TCU. “I don’t think there’s a lot of tactics in the match.”

Murray’s impending retirement could create a leadership gap, but Liam Broady is optimistic about the younger generation, as he expects them to learn lessons about life on tour at an earlier age.

“Jack (Draper) is a great example of that. He’s taken all the advice from Dan Evans and Andy Murray from a young age,” said the 30-year-old Broady, who lost his first-round match on Monday.

Normalizing big profits is the next step, he said.

“Not getting too excited about winning against good players, understanding that you’re a good player yourself, and that’s totally normal,” Broady said. “To be a good player, consistency is the biggest thing, especially off the field. I think that’s what a lot of these guys have really learned.”

The hard-serving Draper, 22 and ranked No. 28 at the All England Club, was coming off a big win over Carlos Alcaraz at Queen’s Club in the run-up to Wimbledon. He also won the Stuttgart Open last month to earn his first tour-level title.

Draper, who overtook Norrie as the highest-ranked British player, said Norrie is a friend but he “won’t like the fact that I’m now the British No.1.”

The 27-year-old Boulter, who has struggled with injuries in recent years, defeated Dart last month on her way to defending her Nottingham Open title.

Fans Dan Golding and Alex Tresadern wore red-and-white England bucket hats during the match against Raducanu and said players like Raducanu – the 2021 US Open champion who has been slowed by injuries over the past year – and Draper are a big boost for local tennis fans.

“It’s exciting. They’re drawing crowds,” Golding said. “It’s a really exciting time to see something new.”

Also on Wednesday, 22-year-old Sonay Kartal became the first British female qualifier to reach the third round since 1997. She will now face Coco Gauff.

There is also a good influx of young talent, Keothavong said, pointing to 15-year-old Hannah Klugman who reached the final round of Wimbledon qualifying.

“You need the power of numbers,” Keothavong said. “You look at any kind of strong tennis nation, that’s what they have, and the players, they push each other — they see what the others are doing.”

Perhaps all the positive energy will continue on Saturday when the England men’s team take on Switzerland in the quarter-finals of the European Championship.

Raducanu compared her first-round victory to the England team’s comeback win over Slovakia in the previous round.

“It was like winning ugly,” Raducanu said. “Everything counts.”

AP Tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis