Jan Choinski leads the British charge at Wimbledon as son of a ballerina dances into second round

It was a little-known son of a ballerina from Germany leading the charge of the British men at Wimbledon as Jan Choinski danced into the second round.

It was his biggest victory just a year after suffering a bout of Covid and glandular fever. The wildcard world No 164 beat Serbian Dusan Lajovic in four sets to record his first win on the ATP Tour, after his compatriot Liam Broady said he was inspired to victory against Constant Lestienne by reading a book about Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.

Choinski’s mother was born in Southampton but moved to Germany after a stint at the Royal Ballet School in London, while the 27-year-old’s father is from Poland, the nation of his second-round opponent, Hubert Hurkacz.

‘My mum’s side of her family is fully British, my dad is from Poland,’ said Choinski (right). ‘I said to the LTA, “Look, guys, I’ve been thinking about this for a long period of time — my will to change and play for Great Britain is pretty high”.

‘They said they’d be happy for me to change. We had a great connection from the start. I want to finish my career playing for Great Britain.’

Choinski’s illness saw his ranking plummet to the level where he was barely getting any points.

‘I was 26 at that time and had almost dropped all my ranking points,’ he added. ‘I never wanted to leave tennis, I just thought I’ve got more in myself and I want to show it.

‘My love and the passion for the sport is just so big. After my second surgery, I basically locked myself into the National Tennis Centre at Roehampton — we worked all day, sometimes I slept there.’

Broady, 29, recorded his first straight-sets win at SW19 by beating Lestienne in a rain-affected match, and thanked Manchester City for the inspiration.

The Stockport-born fan of the Treble winners said: ‘I read a book recently, called Pep: The Evolution and I find that stuff fascinating. Elite sport and business, there are interchangeable things that you can take from anything.

‘I can say it now, City are the best team in the world. So I learn from them, they’re amazing. The club is so supportive of me, they tweeted me today. I’m grateful they keep a track of my career the way I keep a track of the football club.’

Liam Broady is also safely through to the second round of The Championships 

Broady’s City love-in did not stop there, with him later comparing his second-round opponent, the powerful Norwegian world No 4 Casper Ruud, to Erling Haaland.

‘Norway are good at producing great athletes,’ said Broady, who seemed more focused than ever, especially after a hour-long rain interruption. ‘Both are beasts. Erling, physically a beast, Casper has a beast of a game. He absolutely rips the ball.

‘This is the reason I play tennis, is to get these opportunities. I’m proud of the fact that I played Andy Murray on Centre Court at Wimbledon (in 2016). He might have slapped me around for a few hours, but that’s a fantastic thing in my eyes.

‘Look, everybody wants to play Centre Court at Wimbledon. It’s like playing a Champions League final. I’m playing the No 4 in the world second round of Wimbledon. I’ll play him back up in Stockport if I have to.’

Dan Evans was perhaps saved by bad light as his match with Frenchman Quentin Halys was suspended with the Brit two sets down.

Evans, 33, who has admitted his season has been dreadful, seemed agitated and angry with himself, so the fresh start this morning may do him some good.