Pinnington Jones narrowly missed out on a place in the second round

The 23-year-old Londoner battled valiantly for 138 minutes on the Andy Murray Arena to take the World No. 41 to a decider, but the Canadian held his nerve in the third-set tiebreaker to win the first meeting between the pair 6-4 4-6 7-6.

“It really stings not being able to get over the line, but overall, I’m happy with my performance today and will look to build on it for the rest of the grass-court season and into the rest of the year,” said Pinnington Jones.

“I want to thank the LTA and the tournament for the opportunity. It was a dream to play on such a special court with the home crowd behind me.”

Fellow Brit Harry Wendelken also performed well in defeat as he pushed Botic van de Zandschulp hard at the Queen’s Club.

But having won twice to qualify, Wendelken, on his ATP Tour debut, failed to keep his winning streak in West Kensington alive as the Dutchman prevailed 6-4 7-6 after an early rain delay.

But, despite the loss, Wendelken was proud of the way he handled himself on the biggest stage of his career to date.

He said: “It was a little bit nerve-racking. It was quite nice that we had a bit of a rain delay, because it meant I was able to walk back on court knowing what it was like before. I thought I handled things pretty well.”

Elsewhere, Tommy Paul, singles champion in 2024, won his all-American clash with Zachary Svajda 7-5 6-3.

“It felt great to be back,” said Paul. “I absolutely love this club, and I love the courts here.

“Obviously, a first match on grass is always a little bit tricky. With Svajda, especially, he's so dangerous off the backhand wing and on returns. I knew I had to take care of my service games today, and I thought I did a decent job of that.”

Cameron Norrie fell at the first hurdle in the doubles as he and partner Alex de Minaur lost 6-4 7-5 to Yuki Bhambri and Michael Venus, but defending champions Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool conquered Francisco Cerúndolo and Brandon Nakashima 7-5 6-4 and made serene progress to the second round 7-5 6-4.

Glasspool, who won the Wimbledon doubles title alongside Cash last year, said: “We're big servers, so we're going to have to do that all throughout the week pretty consistently if we want to have any chance of retaining the title.”

Monday’s action at the Lexus Nottingham Open saw Derby’s Jay Clarke progress to the second round after he came out on top 7-6 6-3 over American Tristan Boyer. "I had to stay focussed and I backed myself,” said Clarke. “It was never going to be easy, but it was great to get through.”

Bradford’s Fran Jones lost a three-set epic against Australian Talia Gibson, eventually going down 6-3 5-7 7-6 after more than three hours of play.

There was also first-round disappointment for Oliver Tarvet, who lost 4-6 6-3 6-2 to Roman Safiullin, while Alastair Gray was dispatched in straight sets by August Holmgren.

For the latest updates on the British summer grass court season, visit the LTA website, lta.org.uk