Harriet Dart became the first British casualty at Wimbledon after she lost in three sets to Frenchwoman Diane Parry.
The British number four had an impressive build-up to her home grand slam, reaching the quarter-finals in Nottingham and Birmingham, but fell 6-7 (4) 6-0 6-4 to Parry.
Dart, who reached the third round here in 2019, was up against it from the start in tricky conditions on Court 12, where the wind was causing issues, as she fell 3-0 down in the opening set.
But she found her feet and levelled at 5-5 after an impressive long rally ended in her firing a superb cross-court backhand winner.
That seemed to turn the tide as Dart went on take the set in a tie-break and the Briton would have been eyeing a straight-sets win.
But the wheels soon came off as Parry raised her level with some heavy forehand hitting and breezed to the second set in just 33 minutes without letting Dart win a game.
The writing was on the wall when Parry broke early in the decider to take a 3-1 lead, but to Dart’s credit she immediately hit back to stay in the match.
However, the world number 96 struck again at 5-4 to clinch her place in the second round and send the first home hope packing.
Published: by Radio NewsHub
