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Your essential guide to Wimbledon day two - GOAT returns but Brits face disaster

Express Published Jun 30, 2026 Reviewed Jul 2, 2026 ✓ Reviewed by citations.press editors
Citation-ready fact
All 10 British players who played on day one of Wimbledon lost in the opening round.
10 players · British players
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Jack Pinnington Jones' match was suspended on Monday evening when he was two sets down.
2 sets · sets down
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Serena Williams has 23 singles Grand Slam titles in the Open Era.
23 titles · singles Grand Slam titles
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Serena Williams returned to doubles play 21 days before the article date (June 30, 2026).
21 days · days since returning to doubles
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Serena Williams has not played a competitive singles match in four years.
4 years · time since last competitive singles match
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Katie Boulter is ranked 60th in the world and previously reached No. 23 in the WTA standings.
60 rank · current WTA singles ranking23 rank · highest WTA singles ranking
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Stan Wawrinka is 41 years old.
41 years · age
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Matteo Berrettini is 30 years old.
30 years · age
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The 2026 Wimbledon Championships began on Monday, June 30.
30 · start date of day two
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Serena Williams had until Monday to decide whether to take a wildcard entry for Wimbledon.
at least 1 wildcard entries · wildcard entry
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Katie Boulter's opponent, Tyra Caterina Grant, is ranked 172nd.
172 rank · WTA singles ranking
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Stan Wawrinka has reached the quarter-finals only once at Wimbledon despite winning the other three Grand Slams.
1 times · times reached quarter-finals at Wimbledon
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Wimbledon is underway and it was a dramatic first 24 hours of the iconic tournament on Monday. After British No.1 Emma Raducanu withdrew late on Sunday night, Jack Draper pulled out mid-afternoon yesterday - also with injury - shortly before the 26th seed in the men's draw, Cameron Norrie, crashed out in a five-setter.

It was an awful day for British tennis in truth with all 10 Brits who played on day one losing in the opening round. But what lies ahead on day two? Express Sport brings you all you need to know for Tuesday, June 30 at the All England Club...

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With Draper's withdrawal robbing us of a Centre Court thriller against sixth seed Taylor Fritz this afternoon, the highlight of day two is undoubtedly the return of the women's GOAT: Serena Williams.

The 44-year-old has the most singles Grand Slam titles of any woman in the Open Era with 23 plus four Olympic gold medals and another 14 Slam doubles titles alongside her sister Venus. And after four years away, she's back on court at Wimbledon against Maya Joint later today. The excitement comes from the fact that nobody knows what to expect.

She hasn't played a competitive singles match in four years. Since then, she's had a second daughter and only returned to the doubles 21 days ago.

She admitted in her pre-tournament press conference: "I had until Monday to decide [to take the wildcard]. I think it was like Sunday [that I decided to]. I just wasn't sure up until then. Honestly, I'm still not even sure, but we'll see." This is going to be fun!

In total, 10 British players crashed out of the Grand Slam on Monday. The only reason it wasn't 11 was because Jack Pinnington Jones' match was suspended on Monday evening when he was two sets down.

Raducanu and Draper's withdrawals were body blows, before Norrie - the only British player seeded this year - crashed out in a surprise defeat.

Oliver Tarvet, Felix Gill and Max Basing all fell in the men's draw. Harriet Dart, Hannah Klugman, Mingge Xu, Alicia Dudeney, Mika Stojsavljevic and Fran Jones crashed out of the women's.

That leaves eight remaining Brits - and don't back many of them to be in round two, either.

Only one of them is ranked lower than 100th in the world. That's No.60 Katie Boulter, who was previously as high as 23rd in the WTA standings. Boulter faces an Italian teenager ranked 172nd. Defeat would be another bitter blow for the LTA. Good luck, Katie!

Today could be Stan Wawrinka's last dance at Wimbledon. He's won all of the other three Grand Slams but has only ever reached the quarter-finals on the grass major. Now 41, wildcard Wawrinka is a bona fide legend embarking on his farewell tour.

But can he extend his farewells at SW19 by at least another couple of days? He faces Matteo Berrettini, the 2021 Wimbledon runner-up, in an absorbing contest set to conclude the day on Court 1.

Although Berrettini has been around on tour a long time, at 30, it's remarkably the first time ever the pair have gone head-to-head.

Just as yesterday, we'll have reporters on the ground to cover every moment of the 2026 Championships. Join our WhatsApp community below for all the headlines straight to your phone.

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