‘She was my rock’: grandmas inspired Britain’s new generation of tennis stars

Katie Boulter defeated Tatjana Maria on day two of Wimbledon 2024. Photograph: Zac Goodwin/PA

Britain’s female tennis stars have enjoyed a record-breaking start to Wimbledon, with five players through to the second round for the first time in 37 years.

Katie Boulter, the British No 1, and Harriet Dart, 27, were triumphant in their first-round matches on Tuesday. They joined former US Open champion Emma Raducanu, the 28-year-old wildcard Yuriko Lily Miyazaki, and London-born Sonay Kartal, 22, who won on Monday.

The last time five women made it through to the second round of the championships was in 1987.

Three British men also won on Tuesday. Jack Draper, the British No 1, overcame Sweden’s Elias Ymer in five sets, Cameron Norrie defeated Argentina’s Facundo Diaz Acosta in straight sets, and Jacob Fearnley secured a victory over Spain’s Alejandro Moro Canas.

Boulter defeated Germany’s Tatjana Maria 7-6 (8-6) 7-5 on Court 3 on Tuesday watched by her grandfather, Brian, and her mother, Sue.

The Leicester-born 27-year-old, who faces British No 2 Dart in the second round, said: “Playing a Brit in the UK on the grass is never an easy draw. I’m expecting an absolute battle.

“We’ve played quite a few times before, so I’ll be looking at those and thinking about what I’m going to do going into it. But honestly, for me, it’s about playing the tennis ball, it’s not about playing the person.”

Boulter is the third generation in her family to embrace the sport after following in the footsteps of her mother and maternal grandmother Jill Gartshore – both talented players.

In 2022, Boulter broke down in tears on court after pulling off a remarkable win against a former world No 1 just two days after her grandmother died.

She dedicated her second-round victory to the regional tennis champion, saying: “[Jill’s] favourite tournament was Wimbledon. That’s why it’s a special one for me. She’d watch every single match that was on the TV.

“She’s always someone who’s been right into tennis from stage one. She lives just down the road from the tennis club. That’s the tennis club that I started playing tennis at – Leicestershire is very close to my heart.”

She is among a handful of Britain’s new generation of tennis stars who have credited their Wimbledon successes to their grandmothers.

Draper, the British No 1 who beat Sweden’s Ymer on Centre Court on Tuesday, has said his grandmother, Brenda, was vital to his success. He said she introduced him to the sport and would travel across the country with his grandfather, Chris, to watch him on the court.

Brenda, who was a tennis player herself and later coached some of the top players in the country, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s 12 years ago when she was in her 60s. “It was devastating for me and my family to see my grandmother’s condition deteriorate,” the 22-year-old told the BBC in December.

“Nana was one of my biggest supporters growing up and I have always been very close to her, but this is a disease which completely takes away the person you knew.”

Draper said Brenda still watches him train, but “she doesn’t know who I am”. “If my tennis matches are on TV, [my grandfather] will tell Nana it’s me, but it doesn’t register with her any more,” he said. “I wish she could see and appreciate all the things I’ve achieved so far as I know she would be very proud of me.”

On Tuesday afternoon, Paul Jubb was a whisker away from achieving his first Wimbledon victory against Brazil’s Thiago Seyboth Wild, who sits 127 places above the Briton in the rankings, but was ultimately defeated.

The 24-year-old wildcard was raised by his grandmother from the age of four on a Hull council estate after the death of both his parents. His father, Sean, a former soldier, took his own life in January 2000 when Jubb was just a year old, and his mother, Jacinta, died in hospital in 2008.

Jubb was introduced to racket sports when he played swingball in his grandmother’s garden. In an Instagram tribute to her in December, Jubb described her death as the “worst/toughest” year of his life.

“It was a tough year with the injuries and then losing my grandma, but I’ve always tried to have a positive outlook, and it was always instilled into me to not dwell on the past and focus on the future,” he told Beyond magazine last month.

“My grandma was my rock and took on the role of both my mum and dad, so her loss is huge, but she would want me to carry on, do my best and make her proud, and that is what I’m determined to do.”

Fellow Britons Fran Jones, Billy Harris, Jan Choinski and Henry Searle were also defeated in their first-round matches on Tuesday.