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Arina Rodionova prepares for the biggest match of her career in the Wimbledon women's singles while Ash Barty, Casey Dellacqua and John Peers kick off their doubles campaigns.

London, UK, 6 July 2017 | AAP/tennis.com.au

Australia’s last Wimbledon singles hope will take to the court for Wimbledon’s second round on Thursday in the biggest match of her life against Kazakh wildcard Zarina Diyas.

Rodionova’s focus is on reversing three previous straight-set losses this year to Diyas, including the past two on grass.

Her opponent is only ranked 36 places above the Melburnian, but is on the comeback from injury after reaching a career-high No.31 in 2015.

Daria Gavrilova was in a confessional mood in her post-match press conference as she attempted to process her heart-breaking loss to Petra Martic at Wimbledon.

London, UK, 5 July 2017 | AAP

Daria Gavrilova dubbed herself a Grand Slam choker after adding a despairing first-round Wimbledon defeat to her depressing run at the majors.

Little more than a month after also falling in the opening round at Roland Garros, the new Australian No.1 suffered a gut-wrenching 6-4 2-6 10-8 loss to Croatian qualifier Petra Martic.

Despite her steady rankings rise to 20th in the world, Gavrilova has won just four Grand Slam matches in her past five majors – and only one outside of Australia.

It was another tough Grand Slam main draw but Thanasi Kokkinakis pushed Juan Martin del Potro all the way before falling in a three-hour battle at Wimbledon on Tuesday.

London, UK, 5 July 2017 | Matt Trollope

Juan Martin del Potro has seen off Thanasi Kokkinakis in an entertaining four-set match to take his place in the second round at Wimbledon.

The Argentine, seeded 29th, overcame the 21-year-old Aussie 6-3 3-6 7-6(2) 6-4 to set up a meeting with Latvia’s Ernests Gulbis.

It was yet another rough Grand Slam draw for Kokkinakis, who just a few weeks ago at Roland Garros faced world No.9 Kei Nishikori in his opener and pushed the Japanese star to four sets.

An emotional Arina Rodionova has won her first ever Grand Slam main-draw match after saving seven match points to beat 16th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova at Wimbledon.

London, UK, 5 July 2017 | AAP

World No.166 Arina Rodionova has saved seven match points to emerge as an unlikely saviour on a forgettable day for Australia at Wimbledon.

In the biggest win of her career, Rodionova clawed her way into the second round with a heart-stopping 3-6 7-6(6) 9-7 win over 16th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, a quarterfinalist last year.

The Melbourne-based, Russian-born 27-year-old held her nerve through a desperate second-set tiebreaker before surviving an equally thrilling third set to post her first top-20 win since 2011.

Bernard Tomic has fallen in a disappointing straight-sets loss to Mischa Zverev in the first round of Wimbledon, his earliest exit from SW19 since 2012.

London, UK, 4 July 2017 | AAP

Bernard Tomic has bowed out of the Wimbledon singles draw with an insipid straight-sets loss to German Mischa Zverev.

Tomic complained of hurting his back in the warm-up but even his victorious opponent was left surprised by the ease of his passage through to the second round.

Australia’s former quarterfinalist had easily beaten Zverev only last week in Eastbourne, but slumped to a 6-4 6-3 6-4 defeat in just 84 minutes on Tuesday.

After Grand Slam disappointments away from Melbourne Park, Daria Gavrilova is refusing to look beyond her first-round match at Wimbledon.

London, UK, 4 July 2017 | AAP

Having learnt the hard way not to set lofty Grand Slam goals, Daria Gavrilova has modest hopes for Wimbledon.

Left shattered after suffering a first-round French Open exit last month, Australia’s new No.1 says winning one match on London’s hallowed lawns will be a pass mark.

The 23-year-old is up against dangerous Croatian qualifier Petra Martic on Tuesday and is refusing to take comfort in her first-time seeding at the All England Club.

Bernard Tomic will look to win for the second time win a week over Mischa Zverev when he takes on the 27th seed in the first round of Wimbledon on Tuesday.

London, UK, 4 July 2017 | AAP

At his best, Bernard Tomic considers himself one of Wimbledon’s top 10 contenders and knows he has the grasscourt game to prosper on The All England Club lawns.

But he also knows he must immediately find his A-game to survive a testing first-round encounter with wily 27th seed Mischa Zverev on Tuesday.

“My opinion, he’s top 10, top 15 player on grass: streaky, he plays the right game to play on this surface, he’s playing the best in his career, made the quarters of the Australian Open, beat Murray,” Tomic said.

Thanasi Kokkinakis - one of five Aussies taking to the courts at Wimbledon on Tuesday - will face Juan Martin del Potro in a first-round blockbuster.

London, UK, 4 July 2017 | tennis.com.au

MEN’S SINGLES – FIRST ROUND

[29] Juan Martin del Potro (ARG) v Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS)
No.2 Court, first match

Thanasi Kokkinakis has had a well-documented struggle with injuries in recent years and if any of his fellow players could relate, it would be the 198-centimetre Argentinean who he faces at Wimbledon tonight.

Both have lost years out of their careers – and are keen to make up for lost opportunities with a strong showing at the All England Club. It is one of many similarities between the powerful big-hitting players, who both like to use their forehands to dictate play.

John Millman was no match for a rampaging Rafael Nadal on Monday at Wimbledon while qualifier Andrew Whittington's fairytale run came to an end.

London, UK, 4 July 2017 | AAP

Australian John Millman has played a bit-part role in Rafael Nadal’s rampant return to Wimbledon.

After missing last year’s edition with a career-threatening wrist injury, Nadal brutally brushed aside Millman 6-1 6-3 6-2 on Monday to swiftly showcase his credentials for a third crown at The All England Club.

Earlier on Monday, qualifier Andrew Whittington went down in four sets to Brazilian Thiago Monteiro.

Ash Barty pushed No.4 seed Elina Svitolina all the way in the first round at Wimbledon but despite saving five match points, she couldn't win the most important points.

London, UK, 4 July 2017 | Matt Trollope

Ash Barty fought for nearly two hours before going down in the first round of Wimbledon to fourth seed Elina Svitolina.

Barty served for the first set and saved five match points in the second but ultimately couldn’t stop the Ukrainian running out a 7-5 7-6(8) winner.

This match had been pegged as a potential upset in the women’s draw; Svitolina came in under an injury cloud – having struggled with a heel injury in an early loss in Birmingham – on her least-preferred surface.

Hampered by a hip injury, Nick Kyrgios was forced to retire from his first-round Wimbledon match when trailing Pierre-Hugues Herbert by two sets to love.

London, UK, 3 July 2017 | Matt Trollope

Injury has cruelled Nick Kyrgios’s 2017 campaign, forcing the Aussie to retire from his first-round match on Monday.

The No.20 seed was trailing Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-3 6-4 when he called for the trainer to examine his troublesome hip.

After a short consultation and some perfunctory treatment, he made the decision he couldn’t continue.

Alicia Molik, Todd Woodbridge and Nicole Pratt spoke with tennis.com.au ahead of Wimbledon about Nick Kyrgios and Ash Barty, perhaps our two most natural grasscourt talents.

London, UK, 3 July 2017 | Matt Trollope

When Nick Kyrgios and Ash Barty play back-to-back on No.3 Court on Monday at Wimbledon, Aussie tennis fans are seeing arguably the nation’s two most promising grasscourt talents in action.

Six years ago at the All England Club, a 15-year-old Barty stormed to the girls’ singles title and in 2013 reached the women’s doubles final with Casey Dellacqua. That same year, Kyrgios hoisted the boys’ doubles title with Thanasi Kokkinakis – having done so with Andrew Harris at the same event 12 months earlier – and in 2014 announced himself as a superstar with a stunning Centre Court defeat of world No.1 Rafael Nadal en route to the men’s singles quarterfinals.

At 22 and 21 respectively, Kyrgios and Barty are among the world’s brightest young talents and stand to make an impact at Wimbledon, where the grass rewards their weapons and style and boosts their confidence.

Former Wimbledon finalist Mark Philippoussis has come on as a consultant coach for Thanasi Kokkinakis - and he's imploring the young South Australian to be more aggressive on grass.

London, UK, 3 July 2017 | Darren Walton (AAP)

Thanasi Kokkinakis has turned to Mark Philippoussis for added inspiration and grasscourt intellect in his concerted attempt to make a Wimbledon impact.

Australia’s one-time teenage prodigy returns to the All England Club – where he won the junior doubles crown in 2013 with Nick Kyrgios – as the world No.498 after a depressing near-two-year battle with injury.

But after taking down Milos Raonic, last year’s runner-up and world No.6 at the Queen’s Club lead-up event, Kokkinakis has suddenly re-emerged as a dangerous young talent to avoid, ahead of his first-round blockbuster with Juan Martin del Potro on Tuesday.

Into the Wimbledon main draw after three impressive comeback wins in qualifying, Victorian Andrew Whittington is looking to continue his improbable run.

London, UK, 2 July 2017 | AAP

He grew up idolising Mark Philippoussis and now Andrew Whittington is following in his one-time neighbour’s footsteps after gatecrashing Wimbledon with an improbable march through qualifying.

Unheard of outside tennis circles, Whittington’s succession of victories over higher-ranked rivals has propelled the 23-year-old into his second Grand Slam main draw of the year after reaching the second round in front of home fans at Melbourne Park.

“Everyone was ecstatic back home,” the world No.209 said ahead of his first-round date with Brazilian Thiago Monteiro on Monday.