Cameron Norrie suffered a rare Wimbledon first-round upset in a gruelling five-set loss to qualifier Michael Zheng as nine Britons fell on the opening day of their home Grand Slam.

Norrie was the only British seeded player left in either singles draw following Emma Raducanu’s withdrawal on the eve of the Championships.

But the world number 29, so often the last Briton standing at the Slams, was twice reeled back in by American Zheng after being a set up, eventually losing 6-7 (7-9) 6-2 6-7 (2-7) 6-3 7-6 (10-4) after four hours on court.

This was the first time Norrie – a semi-finalist in 2022 and quarter-finalist last year – has lost in the first round at Wimbledon since 2018.

It is also the most British singles players to have lost on the opening day of Wimbledon since 2005, when nine also suffered defeat.

Jack Pinnington Jones and Francesca Jones still have to play their first-round matches on Monday.

There was further disappointment when Jack Draper announced his withdrawal 24 hours before his opening match because of injury.

“It always stinks to lose, especially at Wimbledon, my favourite tournament in the world, a tournament I always play so well at,” Norrie, 30, said.

“It stinks. Especially tomorrow, everyone is still in the tournament, and you’re out. You’re just wanting to play so it’s tough.”

Norrie had played just one match on grass before this year’s Wimbledon after retiring injured in the French Open first round with a rib injury.

And the former world number eight looked rusty as he broke Zheng, ranked 144th, just once in the entire match.

Zheng hit 21 aces to Norrie’s four, while the 22-year-old committed just four double faults to Norrie’s 10.

Harriet Dart came close to completing a gritty comeback win but ultimately fell 6-3 3-6 6-4 to former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko.

The pair were scheduled to play on Court 17 on Monday, but Raducanu’s withdrawal saw their match moved to Court One.

Wildcard Dart made sure fans with tickets for the show court were not disappointed as she forced a deciding set against the world number 31 in an entertaining two-and-a-half hour display.

Ostapenko will face either Antonia Ruzic of Croatia or compatriot Darja Semenistaja – the lucky loser who replaced Raducanu in the draw.

Meanwhile, 17-year-old British wildcard Mika Stojsavljevic lost 6-2 6-1 to 2021 Olympic champion and 11th seed Belinda Bencic.

Felix Gill and Max Basing were beaten on their Grand Slam main-draw debuts, losing to 23rd seed Rafael Jodar and qualifier Shintaro Mochizuki respectively.

Alicia Dudeney, who was also making her main-draw major bow, lost 6-3 6-3 to American Alycia Parks.

Mimi Xu and Hannah Klugman, both navigating the step up to senior tennis, lost to Daria Kasatkina and 2024 Wimbledon singles champion Barbora Krejcikova respectively, while Oliver Tarvet was beaten by 25th seed Arthur Rinderknech in four sets.

There are 19 home players across the two singles draws – although 17 are playing opponents ranked inside the world’s top 55.