Andy Murray becomes last British man competing in Wimbledon

The pressure upon Andy Murray has only intensified as he becomes the last British man left competing in Wimbledon.

His victory over the unseeded American Robert Kendrick in four sets was the only relief in day of bloodletting for the nation’s tennis players.

Of the eight British men and women competing at SW19 on Tuesday, six crashed out of the tournament on the second day in one of the worst years for British tennis.

Alex Bogdanovic earned the dubious honour of becoming the first man in 50 years to lose in the first round of Wimbledon for eight years in a row.

Britain’s top female player, Anne Keovathong – who recently broke into the world top 50 – crashed out in straight sets, while Georgie Stoop and Katie O’Brien all succumbed to defeat.

However, Elena Baltacha has avoided Britain’s blushes by joining Andy Murray in the second round of Wimbledon as one of only two home-grown players to win their first round matches.

Cheering Murray, the number three seed, on in Centre Court last night was his 21-year-old girlfriend Kim Sears, dressed in denim hot pants, checked shirt and oversized sunglasses.

She sat next to Murray’s mother Judy and the pair cheered the player home.

But there was a moment of concern when Murray, 22, dropped a set in front of a cheering 15,000 capacity crowd in Centre Court.

In a tiebreak in the second set, the crowd roared their support only for the player to serve a double fault.

As he left court victorious, he was greeted with a standing ovation, while the hundreds packed onto Murray Mount whooped and cheered.

Afterwards, he said: “It was a tough match, I expected Kendrick to be difficult, he served great for the first two and a half sets, but I was happy with the way I served throughout.”

:: A lorry filled with Adidas sports kit bound for Wimbledon has been stolen. The vehicle, carrying 390 boxes of shirts, shorts and other clothing, was stolen from a car park overnight in east London last week

from: telegraph.co.uk