Alastair Gray beaten by 11th seed Taylor Fritz in Wimbledon second round

British wild card Alastair Gray bowed out of Wimbledon with a straight-sets defeat to American hot shot Taylor Fritz.

The Twickenham ace, who beat world number 95 Tseng Chun-hsin in the first round, faced a huge step up in class against 11th seed Fritz.

He pushed Fritz hard, especially in the second set, but ultimately slipped to a 6-3 7-6 (3) 6-3 defeat.

Nevertheless, the 24-year-old will pick up a £78,000 pay cheque for his efforts on his debut at SW19.

Gray created a break point in the opening game against the Eastbourne champion, but he was unable to convert it and promptly dropped his serve to love in the next.

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Gray, who somehow hit a drop shot winner despite slipping on the baseline, forced another two break points as Fritz served for the set, but the world number 14 saved both before moving 1-0 ahead.

The British number nine did take one of his opportunities and served for the second set but Fritz, also 24, struck back and took the tie-break.

With friend and doubles partner Ryan Peniston – another second-round casualty on Wednesday – watching from the stands, Gray broke again at the start of the third.

But Fritz was unfazed and hit straight back, winning five games in a row to ultimately send the new home favourite packing.

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