Maja Chwalinska Falls to Thai Qualifier Mananchaya Sawangkaew as Cameron Norrie Exits Wimbledon

Upsets defined opening day at Wimbledon on Monday as No. 20 seed Maja Chwalinska of Poland lost to Thai qualifier and current World No. 164 Mananchaya Sawangkaew after slipping on the baseline and appearing to roll her ankle.

“- Published Cameron Norrie suffered a rare Wimbledon first-round upset in a gruelling five-set loss to qualifier Michael Zheng as 10 of the 11 Britons in action on the opening day of their home Grand Slam fell to defeat”

BBC

The match ended with Sawangkaew taking the second set 7-5 and then securing a 2-6, 7-5, 6-2 victory for her first ever main draw win at a major.

BBC

In the men’s draw, No. 26 seed Cameron Norrie was eliminated in a five-set match by American qualifier Michael Zheng, with Zheng winning 6-7(7) 6-2 6-7(2) 6-3 7-6(10-4) on Court 2.

The BBC also described the day as brutal for Britain, saying 10 of the 11 Britons in action on the opening day fell to defeat, with Norrie the only British seeded player to feature in either singles draw.

Norrie’s loss came after he was twice reeled back in by Zheng after being a set up, and the BBC said it was the first time he had lost in the first round at Wimbledon since 2018.

After the defeat, Norrie said: "It always stinks to lose, especially at Wimbledon, my favourite tournament in the world, a tournament I always play so well at."

Devdiscourse

The Wimbledon match narrative also highlighted Zheng’s performance, with the Wimbledon site noting he sent down 21 aces and that he won the match tie-break 10-4.

In the same upset, ESPN reported that Zheng, 22, won 6-7 (7-9), 6-2, 6-7 (2-7), 6-3, 7-6 (10-4) to oust Norrie, who reached the quarterfinals last year.

The BBC said the catalogue of defeats amounted to the most British singles players to have lost on Wimbledon's opening day since daily records began in 2000, with the record of 16 first-round British singles defeats at Wimbledon potentially exceeded when remaining players take to the court on Tuesday.

“Devdiscourse News Desk | Highlights Of The First Day At Wimbledon On Monday Times Gmt Sabalenka Beats Kostovic World Number One Aryna Sabalenka Secured A Comfortable Victory Over Yearold Teodora Kostovic On Centre Court As She Began Her Bid For Her First Grand Slam Title Of The Year Medvedev Takes Down Cilic Twotime Semifinalist Daniil Medvedev Cruised Past Former Us Open Champion And Wimbledon Finalist Marin Cilic The Russian Eighth Seed Advanced Comfortably After Suffering A Shock Firstround Exit At Wimbledon Last Year Sinner And Osaka Advance Top Seed And World Number One Jannik Sinner Survived A Stern Firstround Test Against Miomir Kecmanovic The first day of Wimbledon 2026 was filled with excitement as several top seeds made their debuts”

Devdiscourse

It also reported that Jack Draper announced his withdrawal 24 hours before his opening match because of injury, following Emma Raducanu's withdrawal on the eve of the Championships.

In the women’s draw, the London Evening Standard described Harriet Dart’s match against Jelena Ostapenko being moved to No 1 Court due to Raducanu’s withdrawal, with Dart losing 6-3 3-6 6-4.

Meanwhile, Devdiscourse said the first day included top-seed Aryna Sabalenka’s win over Teodora Kostovic on Centre Court and Daniil Medvedev’s win over Marin Cilic, setting up a tournament that combined seeded debuts with early exits.