The sun has been shining, the Brits have been flying and Jack Draper is leading the charge amid a scintillating start to Wimbledon for the home favourites. 

Draper became one of seven British men and 10 British players in total to reach the second round as he advanced beyond Argentina’s Sebastian Baez, who retired injured while trailing 6-2 6-2 2-1 to the fourth seed.

It arrived in the wake of the most successful day for British players at Wimbledon in the Open era on Monday when seven players won in the first round.

Draper hailed the latest show of strength for British tennis following his win, pointing towards the catalyst impact of three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray.

“I think obviously Andy has had a huge effect on a lot of the younger generation and watching his success over the years,” said Draper.

“Major success on the big stage. When we were younger, we were watching that on Sky Sports and we were watching him lift those big trophies.

“It’s really exciting both on the men’s and the women’s side. There’s so many young guys who have done that college route because maybe they weren’t ready to fully go pro, and they’re coming out and they can play incredibly well and that’s just their journey. You know, they’re just coming out a bit later.”

Elsewhere on Tuesday, Dan Evans toppled fellow Brit Jay Clarke in three sets, while Jack Pinnington Jones stunned Tomas Martin Etcheverry on his main-draw debut to set up a meeting with 22nd seed Flavio Cobolli.

The Brits take centre stage again on Wednesday as Emma Raducanu clashes with 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova, while Oliver Tarvet faces defending champion Carlos Alcaraz.

“British tennis, we’re in a good spot,” Draper added. “Everyone’s got a really good work ethic.

“I think, again, Andy has shown the way for that and Dan (Evans) and Cam (Norrie).

“The work ethic, the desire to get better as a player. It’s really exciting what we’re going to have in the next 10 years for me. And it’s cool to be a part of that.”

Speaking after his first-round victory, Draper recalled how he used to drive Pinnington Jones to tennis training when both were younger, as the only one of the two to hold a licence at the time.

He joked how he would purposely arrive 45 minutes early to avoid sitting in traffic, much to the annoyance of his friend, who would not be on court hitting until hours after Draper.

Pinnington Jones was making his men’s singles bow at the All England Club on Tuesday having left TCU just a month ago after electing to turn professional before his final year at college.

“Jack’s a really good friend of mine to be honest,” said Draper. “We live pretty close to each other. I met him in 2019, spent a lot of time around him at his house chilling. We’re really good friends.

“Obviously he chose to go to uni, so I haven’t seen him in a really long time. So it’s nice to have him back.

“He’s someone who is incredibly talented. He’s, in my opinion, for sure going to be a top 100 player. What we’ve seen with Jacob (Fearnley), I’m sure that Jack’s going to be on his way as well to that because he’s that good, honestly.

“I think it’s really exciting for British tennis because there’s a lot of these players who are coming out of uni who have their level and they just need more time. They’re going to be coming on to the tour and Jack’s one of those, I think, to win today in his first five-set match ever against a really good player. That’s incredible.

“I’m really proud of him for sure and I wouldn’t be surprised if he has a good run this week or if he, at the end of the day, will finish the year at a high ranking.”

Draper takes on Croatian Marin Cilic in the second round later this week as he bids to reach the third round of Wimbledon for the first time.

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