Five British juniors progress after opening day wins at Wimbledon
Ecstatic duo Will Jansen and Ella McDonald led the home charge on day one of the Junior Championships, Wimbledon as five British wildcards confirmed their place in the second round.
A total of 11 Britons were on show today, while a further six will be in singles action tomorrow, as the quest to find the latest SW19 junior champions began with a flourish and no little quality.
While they will all have woken this morning with the expectation of making a name for themselves and taking the first step towards topping the podium on home soil, fewer than half live to fight another day.
Henley’s Jasmine Conway was the first to advance to the second round following a 6-4 7-5 triumph over Slovakia’s Renata Jamrichova before Jansen defeated Bolivia’s Juan Carlos Prado Angelo 7-5 7-6(2).
McDonald, who pushed former world No. 9 CoCo Vandeweghe to the brink before succumbing in a final-set tiebreak during Wimbledon qualifying, joined the party by dispatching Julie Struplova 7-5 6-1.
Isabelle Lacy and Talia Neilson Gatenby then added to the jubilation by overcoming Germany’s Joelle Steur and Slovakia’s Nina Vargova respectively. Lacy, whose mother contested the Junior Championships in 1990, will face Czech Linda Klimovicova next, while Neilson Gatenby will draw swords with No. 10 seed Annabelle Xu.
Seconds after sealing his maiden Junior Grand Slam victory, Jansen described the moment of victory as a “dream come true”, while in the immediate aftermath of his press conference he was keen to source tickets to watch family friend Stefanos Tsitsipas play Nick Kyrgios.
“It feels absolutely amazing,” Jansen, who will face the winner of the showdown between Belgium’s Gilles Arnaud Bailly and American Nicholas Godsick in round two, told itftennis.com.
“After coming here as a kid and watching great players, winning a match here is something I have dreamed of. It is great to be here, surrounded by the greats. I was walking to practice earlier and Rafa Nadal was there practising – it’s just so cool.
“This really is a dream come true and nobody can take it away from me. It is also something I have worked very hard for. Quite honestly, I didn’t get much sleep last night, I was that excited.”
Jansen made his Junior Grand Slam debut at last year’s Junior Championships and failed to convert set points against Bruno Kuzuhara before succumbing to the American in three sets. Jansen has wrestled with the disappointment ever since.
“After having set points last year and getting very close to beating one of the top players, not doing so was tough to take,” added the junior world No. 72. “I learned from that experience and came back stronger.
“That said, it had been preying on my mind for a while, so I am delighted to have exorcised that ghost.”
Should a British player triumph at the All England Club this year, it will be the first time since 2008, when Laura Robson conquered all before her, that Great Britain has been able to celebrate a home champion.
The wait for a British boy to top the Wimbledon podium, meanwhile, stretches back far longer, with Stanley Matthews – the son of the former footballer by the same name – the most recent to triumph back in 1962.
In with a shout in the girls’ draw is Preston-born McDonald, who confirmed she took a sizeable amount of confidence from performing so well against Vandeweghe during qualifying.
“I feel amazing,” McDonald, who is ranked No. 77 in the junior world rankings, told itftennis.com.
“This is my first time playing the Junior Championships at Wimbledon and it is a great feeling to get a first-round win. I’m also slightly relieved as Wimbledon has always been the Grand Slam I wanted to play. Now I want to get as far as I can.
“I came off the court after playing CoCo feeling really happy with my performance. It also gave me a lot of confidence for this tournament because she has got to such a high level and is such a great player. To come that close to beating her was really great.”
Elsewhere, there were wins in the boys’ draw for Croatia’s Mili Poljicak, Gonzalo Bueno of Peru, American Nishesh Basavareddy and Lithuania’s Edas Butvilas, who are all among the top seeded players.
In the girls’ draw, No. 2 seed Celine Naef of Switzerland, who this year received a Grand Slam Player Grant, financed through the Grand Slam Player Development Programme, advanced at the expense of Great Britain’s Sarah Tatu.
No. 3 seed Nikola Bartunkova, meanwhile, who was part of the victorious Czech Republic team that triumped at the 2021 Junior Billie Jean King Cup by BNP Paribas Finals in Antalya, also advanced to the second round after defeating Turkey's Aysegul Mert.