Under blue skies more redolent of her Gold Coast home than London, Kim Birrell has achieved the unenviable distinction of being the first player knocked out in a completed match at this year’s Wimbledon championships.
And on a dismal opening morning for the 17-strong Australian challenge, Chris O’Connell quickly followed her out the exit door as one of the first men’s victims at sunny SW19 with a straight-sets loss on Monday.
The 27-year-old Birrell, making her debut at the grass court slam, never recovered from a nervy start in which she surrendered the first set to No 22 seed and last year’s semi-finalist Donna Vekic without winning a game.
Any thoughts Birrell might benefit from a London heatwave that had spectators seeking any shade they could find had already evaporated.
But a much-improved battling second set prompted hope, at 4-4, of the Victorian forcing a decider, but the Croatian star then took the last two games to complete a 6-0 6-4 victory in 79 minutes.
Birrell, who saved one match point but then watched her forehand shoot long on the second, left the English capital with some hard-earned experience and $A138,500 as her reward for battling through qualifying.
O’Connell, one of eight Australians in action on the opening day, found the veteran Adrian Mannarino too much to handle, going down 6-2 6-4 6-3 in two-and-a-quarter one-sided hours.
Sydneysider O’Connell must have feared the worst when he saw the draw, as he had been similarly sliced up by the 37-year-old French left-hander on grass three weeks ago.
It represented a wretched start for the biggest contingent of Australian players at the grass-court slam in 30 years, with six more due in action later on Monday.
