The bad news for British tennis arrived before Wimbledon even started and it kept coming.
One by one a local hope was cheered onto the lawns of London SW19 and one by one they slunk away after defeat. That is if they even got on court.
Emma Raducanu, the darling of Middle England ever since she won the 2021 US Open as a qualifier, withdrew on the eve on the opening day with a stress fracture.