Katie Boulter believes a cool head and laser-focused mentality helped her block out a Just Stop Oil protest and battle from behind to book her place in the second round at Wimbledon. The British No.1, 26, beat Australian Daria Saville 7-6(4) 6-2 on Wednesday afternoon in a dramatic, disturbance-delayed encounter on Court 18.
Boulter trailed 4-2 in a first set tie-break against her lower-ranked opponent when a second Just Stop Oil protest of the day postponed play for several minutes. Mirroring their exploits on the same court during Grigor Dimitrov’s triumph against Sho Shimabukuro two hours earlier, a protester invaded the premises and threw orange-coloured confetti and jigsaw pieces from a 'Centre Court View' puzzle box all over the playing surface.
After the protester was escorted off by police, Boulter and her opponent, 29, helped court stewards and ball boys clear the debris before the contest resumed around 10 minutes later.
