Only one of eight Australians in opening day action at Wimbledon win through to second round

The most Australians in 30 years started in the main draw at Wimbledon, but that huge number was almost halved on a dismal opening day.

After entering Wimbledon under an injury cloud, Jordan Thompson showed all his fight in a comeback five-set win to be the only one of eight Australians in action to get a victory on day one in London.

A massive 17 Australians made the main draw for the year’s third grand slam, the biggest number in 30 years, but it’s down to just 10 already after an opening day wipe-out.

Alexei Popyrin and Ajla Tomljanovic were both among the losers and Talia Gibson tested Naomi Osaka in her Wimbledon debut before going down in two tight sets.

But for the third year in a row, on court 9 at Wimbledon, Thompson, the world No.44, came back from two sets down to advance to the second round.

Jordan Thompson flew the flag for Australia on day one of Wimbledon. Picture: Julian Finney/Getty Images

Having been forced to withdraw from Queen’s due to a back injury, Thompson was on the brink of defeat against Czech player Vit Kopriva and struggling to move freely around the court.

But he battled through the pain and clawed his way back to secure a dramatic 3-6 4-6 6-3 7-6(7-1) 6-1 victory before declaring he’d need more time off after Wimbledon, no matter how deep he goes.

“I’m probably on the sidelines after Wimbledon, so I’m just doing everything I can to play at this great place,” Thompson said.

“I just told myself when I was down two sets of love, ‘just keep thinking that you’ve got no chance to win’,” he said.

“It’s better that way. And obviously I still believed I could win, but I just kept telling myself, ‘Forget it. You’re not going to win’.

“That takes the pressure off. I mean, I can’t put too much pressure on myself, even though I do a lot of the times, (because) this year’s just been a disaster.”

Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt was in the stands watching, and Thompson put on a Hewitt-like performance.

“He’s always there for me, Rusty (Hewitt), so I thought I had to acknowledge that he was there. Gave him his own celebration and turned the hat backwards,” he said.

“I can’t appreciate what he does enough.”

Alexei Popyrin was among the Australian losers. Picture: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

James Duckworth lost in a five-set thriller after pushing 25th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime before falling just short of an upset.

The biggest shock loser was 20th seed Alexei Popyrin, who was upstaged in four sets by local wildcard Arthur Fery, while Chris O’Connell was unable to overcome French qualifier Adrian Mannarino

On the women’s side, two-time quarter-finalist Ajla Tomljanovic went down in three gripping sets to Anastasia Pavlyuchenckova, while another Wimbledon debutant, Kim Birrell, wasn’t up to the task of taking down last year’s semi-finalist Donna Vekic, and Olivia Gadecki fell to Argentine lucky loser Solana Sierra.

AUSSIES IN ACTION: WIMBLEDON

DAY 1 RESULTS

Men’s singles, first round

Jordan Thompson (AUS) d Vit Kopriva (CZE) 3-6 4-6 6-3 7-6(7-1) 6-1

(Q) Adrian Mannarino (FRA) d Chris O’Connell (AUS) 6-2 6-4 6-3

(25) Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN) d James Duckworth (AUS) 6-2 3-6 6-7(7-2) 6-4 6-4

(WC) Arthur Fery (GBR) d (20) Alexei Popyrin (AUS) 6-4 6-1 4-6 6-4

Women’s singles, first round

(22) Donna Vekic (CRO) d Kimberly Birrell (AUS) 6-0 6-4

(LL) Solana Sierra (ARG) d Olivia Gadecki (AUS) 6-2 7-6(10-8)

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova d Ajla Tomljanovic (AUS) 4-6 6-3 6-2

Naomi Osaka (JPN) d (Q) Talia Gibson (AUS) 6-4 7-6(7-4)

Originally published as Only one of eight Australians in opening day action at Wimbledon win through to second round