Daria Kasatkina has got Australia's faltering tennis show rolling on Wimbledon's grass courts, defying her own low expectations to finally dismantle a plucky challenge from a local British teen wildcard.
The 29-year-old came to the rescue after the 13-strong Aussie contingent's grass-court invasion began on a warm opening day with an injury-hit defeat for Aleksandar Vukic and a four-set loss for Roland Garros giant-killer Adam Walton.
Former quarter-finalist Kasatkina, the high-profile import who'd been the last Australian standing in Paris, had entered her ninth Wimbledon on the back of a winless grass-court campaign, admitting she had no great expectations of enjoying a deep run.
