Wimbledon 2016: Kyle Edmund loses in first round to Adrian Mannarino
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Venue: All-England Club Dates: 27 June-10 July |
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Kyle Edmund was the first Briton to be knocked out on day one of Wimbledon after a straight-sets defeat by France’s Adrian Mannarino.
The British number three, 21, lost 6-2 7-5 6-4 in two hours and two minutes to the world number 55.
Defeat means the Yorkshireman is still searching for his maiden win in the men’s singles at Wimbledon.
Eight other Britons – including former British number one Laura Robson – are also playing on the opening day.
Edmund had the honour of being the first home player to walk out on to court, but was unable to provide a winning start for a partisan crowd on Court Two.
Ranked 13 places below his opponent, he lost his serve early in the first set and never recovered in an edgy display.
Mannarino, who reached the last 16 here in 2013, broke again in the opening game of the second set, before Edmund finally started to cause the French number nine some problems with his crunching forehands.
There was a brief glimmer of hope for Edmund when he broke back for 5-5, only to instantly lose the next game and allow Mannarino to serve out for the second.
That meant Edmund had to do something that he had never previously done – to fight back from two sets down and win in five.
But another slow start in the third set left him scrambling.
Mannarino, 27, broke in the opening game and, although Edmund recovered that three games later, the Briton slipped up again to go 5-4 down.
And the left-handed Frenchman clinched a place in the second round for the fifth time with a clinical hold to love.
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