Wimbledon: Yorkshire duo Johannus Monday and Fran Jones look to cause first-round upsets

Jack Draper will have the gaze of the home crowd on his every move as the world No 4 begins against unseeded Argentinian Sebastian Baez.

Over on one of the minor courts but with no less vociferous a following, Hull’s Johannus Monday makes his singles debut as a huge underdog against American No 13 seed Tommy Paul.

Draper is the latest standard-bearer of British tennis as the sport attempts to move on from the Andy Murray era. He reached the US Open semi-final last year and is a product of the LTA and junior system pathways.

Monday has taken a less conventional route, leaving East Yorkshire aged 13 to first go on a tennis scholarship to a school in Edinburgh and then onto the University of Tennessee. While the contrasting routes show there is more than one way to skin a cat, Monday has enjoyed a successful past year, just as Draper has, with six Challenger tournament wins out of six finals in his first season as a pro.

“My game hasn’t improved too much it’s just about being more solid with my game and being able to reproduce it week in, week out,” said Monday, who will also play doubles at SW19.

“I have a good team around me and I think that’s very important. I’m starting to understand my game more and what it takes to move up in the rankings.

"I’m an all-court player, I can come to the net but I like to play at the baseline. You can’t have any weaknesses, you’ve got to be good at everything to be a good tennis player; physicality, mentality, everything. I do set myself targets, but I’m trying to get away from that and concentrate on the process and the day-to-day work.”

Bradford’s Fran Jones gets her challenge under way today. The 24-year-old, who has twice fallen at the first hurdle, plays Ukraine’s Yuliia Starodubtseva.