It was always asking a lot for there to be a repeat of the heroics of the opening day at Wimbledon but thanks to Jack Draper, Dan Evans and Jack Pinnington Jones, the world No 281, Britain has 10 players through to the second round, the joint-best tally since 12 won through in 1976. What’s more, the total of seven British men into round two is the best at any grand slam event since Wimbledon 1997.
Another searingly hot day began with a check through the history books to find out the highest number of British first-round winners in the Open era, which was 13, in 1968. That always looked out of reach but Pinnington Jones’s brilliant 7-6 (4), 6-3, 7-5 win over Tomás Martín Etcheverry, the world No 53 from Argentina, took the tally into double figures.
