Wimbledon 2026: Rising stars Mimi Xu & Oliver Tarvet lose close matches in opening round
• 2 minute read
British rising stars Mimi Xu and Oliver Tarvet put in impressive performances but exited in close first round matches against higher-ranked opponents on the first day of The Championships.
In only her second main draw appearance at Wimbledon, Xu took a set off former world No.8 and 2024 Eastbourne champion Daria Kasatkina before bowing out 6-2, 3-6, 6-2.
Meanwhile, British qualifier Tarvet went toe-to-toe with 25th seed Arthur Rinderknech for over four hours but ended up on the losing side of a 7-6(4), 7-6(4), 4-6, 7-5 battle.
Despite the losses, there were plenty of positives to take for both British stars, who are still both at the beginning of their tennis careers.
18-year-old Xu only made the transition from juniors to the professional game last summer and has spent a lot of this season returning from injury.
A former junior National Champion and Wimbledon girls’ doubles runner-up, Xu is part of a cohort of up-and-coming British players, including Mika Stojsavljevic and Hannah Klugman – who also lost out to 11th seed Belinda Bencic and former champion Barbora Krejcikova, respectively.
Xu responded well having been broken on three of her four service games in the opening set. The young British star won 88% (14/16) of points on her first serve to clinch the second and force a decider.
The Briton had chances to break back in the third and the seventh game, but the Australian had the extra quality and experience to get over the line in an hour and 43 minutes.
Tarvet broke onto the British tennis scene last year as a qualifier, before winning his opening round match and facing then two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in the second round.
The 22-year-old went back to college in San Diego for another year, before returning to the pro tour during the grass court season.
Having qualified again for The Championships this year, Tarvet was always going to be a dangerous opponent in the first round, and so it proved for France’s Rinderknech.
It was a battle of the serves out on Court 12, with neither player surrendering a break in the first two sets. However, on both occasions, Rinderknech had the edge in the defining points to win both in a tie-break.
Despite the setback, and a fall in the third set that forced him to take an off-court medical time out – Tarvet rallied back and whipped the crowd into a frenzy with the first break of the match at 3-3.
He went on to serve out the set and had break points at 2-2 and 5-5 in the fourth. The Frenchman held his nerve, and with Tarvet serving to force another tie-break, the Briton conceded his first break, and with it, the match.
These were both promising performances from two players who are certainly ones to watch for the future, but both will feel they had their opportunities in the match.
It was a similar story for Cam Norrie, who led by a set twice against another NCAA star in Michael Zheng, and Harriet Dart, having led Jelena Ostapenko by a break on two occasions in a deciding third set.
All eyes will be on Francesca Jones and Jack Pinnington Jones this evening, before Katie Boulter, Arthur Fery, Jan Choinski and more heading into day two.
