Will Britain's final four lift Wimbledon gloom?

Published1 hour agoThere is no denying it was not a dream start for the British singles players at Wimbledon. On Monday, all 10 home players lost their first-round matches and you could definitely feel the doom and gloom starting to creep in. But Tuesday gave everyone a real lift, with four British wins giving the home crowd something to celebrate. Katie Swan, Jacob Fearnley, Arthur Fery and Jan Choinski play their second-round matches on Thursday - can they keep the home interest going a little longer? Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Katie Swan was the first British player to win at this year's Wimbledon with a 6-4 6-4 victory over Romania's Irina-Camelia Begu Who does she play? Madison Keys, United States, world number 22 and 2025 Australian Open champion Katie was a very promising player in her early 20s - she had a lot of hopes pinned on her and was also signed up to Andy Murray's management agency. But injuries always seemed to get in her way and, in 2024, she decided she had had enough after a persistent back injury. She was coaching in the United States and didn't think she would be able to return to professional tennis, but found a new doctor and managed to play again. I love how she has gone off quietly and worked her way back to the top level. Away from the spotlight, she’s got matches under her belt, worked extremely hard and won two Futures tournaments in Japan in May. Five or six months ago she wasn’t in the conversation of getting Wimbledon main-draw wildcard, let alone winning her first round match. Playing 2025 Australian Open champion Madison Keys is going to be a real test but Katie has nothing to lose. For me, Maddy is one of the favourites for the title - she won Eastbourne for a third time last week and loves the grass. If she's playing well there's not much you can do with her ball-strike. But Katie isn't a complete write-off. When you're able to go out there and swing free, that's when you're at your most dangerous. Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Fery battled back to secure an impressive 3-6 6-2 6-2 6-1 victory over Bosnia's Damir Dzumhur Who does he play? Finland's Otto Virtanen, ranked 140th I think the grass could perhaps be Arthur's best surface. To be good on grass, you traditionally have needed to be super tall and a 'servebot', or you need a lower centre of gravity to be able to move around and get under the ball when it comes through low. Arthur, who is well under 6ft, falls into the latter category. His movement is second to none and his hand skills are great. I love how fast he gets forward inside the baseline on a grass court. He quickly gets up to the net to finish a rally. He's got great volleys but it also helps he is so close to the net by the time he is making contact. Arthur played really well at Queen's and reached the quarter-finals, but I think he ran out of steam at Eastbourne, where he lost in the second round. I don't think he will mind now that he went out a bit earlier. He's had an extra few days to prepare for Wimbledon and Otto, who caused the biggest shock of the men's draw by beating American fourth seed Ben Shelton in five sets, will be knackered. That's not only physically, but more so mentally and emotionally. Sometimes following up a big win is harder than getting the first victory itself, so Arthur has to back himself to push Virtanen. Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Jan Choinski claimed a dominant 6-3 7-5 6-2 win over Czech opponent Vit Kopriva Who does he play? World number 19 Frances Tiafoe, a two-time US Open semi-finalist Jan is the British men's number two after cracking the world's top 100 for the first time in his career - but he flies under the radar. That's largely because he didn't start representing Britain until 2019 and had only won one Grand Slam main-draw match - at Wimbledon in 2023 - before Tuesday. His mum is from Southampton, his dad is Polish and he grew up in Germany. The thing that is always mentioned about him is that he used to do ballet. Both of his parents were ballet dancers. He did it until he was 12 and then turned his hand to tennis full-time. His dad did a really interesting interview about how he feels ballet helped Jan with his balance, flexibility, strength and explosiveness. Jan is an incredible athlete, built like a swimmer with broad shoulders and uses that to his advantage on court. He snuck into the main draw on ranking after going away and winning Challenger matches out of the limelight - just like Katie Swan did. It meant he came into the grass court season already feeling confident and match tight. On the grass it is all about his big serve. But it won't be easy because Frances has been playing fantastic of late and won the title in Halle last week. Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Fearnley produced a superb comeback to win 3-6 4-6 6-2 6-3 6-2 against American opponent Alex Michelsen Who does he play? Spain's world number 44 Jaume Muna

Will Britain's final four lift Wimbledon gloom?

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