Hove tennis star Alicia Dudeney was beaten in her first round ladies doubles match at Wimbledon today (Thursday 2 July).
Dudeney and her doubles partner 18-year-old fellow Briton Mimi Xu were beaten 6-3 6-4 by Hsieh Su-wei and Wang Xinyu who won the doubles crown at the French Open in 2023.
Hsieh Su-wei, 40, from Taiwan, is a former world No 1 in doubles with nine grand slam titles including four ladies wins at Wimbledon and a mixed doubles title two years ago.
She is regarded as one of the most successful and versatile doubles players in history.
Wang Xinyu, 24, from China, won a silver medal in the mixed doubles at the Paris Olympics in 2024 the year after her triumph in the French Open.
On Monday (29 June), Dudeney made her Wimbledon debut on court 4 but, despite a battling performance, lost in straight sets to Alycia Parks.
The 23-year-old Hove player earned a wild card after shooting up the rankings and showed her potential in a hard-fought match against the 25-year-old American.
But world No 81 Parks proved a class apart, taking an early lead in the first set before racing to a 4-0 lead in the second.
Dudeney showed good spirit to break back but she rallied too late and lost 6-3 6-3 after 77 minutes on her maiden appearance at the All England Club.
She entered the tournament as the British No 7. She has yet to break into the top 200 but has risen more than 800 places in the past year and earned £80,000 on her exit on Monday.
She started out at the Pav and Ave (Pavilion and Avenue Tennis Club), in Hove, and has trained alongside Sonay Kartal. The 24-year-old is missing Wimbledon this year because of injury.
Such a neg headline. Still a big achievement