Katie Boulter booked her place in the second round of Wimbledon, but fellow Brit Jodie Burrage endured a tough Centre Court debut as she crashed out.
Rain had halted Boutler’s match against Daria Saville yesterday, before Just Stop Oil protesters threw confetti and jigsaw pieces onto Court 18 this afternoon to enforce yet another delay.
Boulter responded well to the second of those disruptions, taking a first-set tie-break as she won five straight points from 4-2 down.
From there things became significantly more routine for the British number one, avoiding any second-set drama and any further unwanted visitors to the court as she eased to a 7-6 6-2 win over Seville.
Just Stop Oil interrupts Katie Boulter's first-set tiebreak. Disruptor was dragged off and is still being detained. Confetti and jigsaw pieces which had been bought from Wimbledon club shop were used. Not being sold anymore. Follow action on @EveningStandard. #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/9OZ71XkU23
— Dom Smith (@MrDomSmith) July 5, 2023
The second set stayed on serve for the opening three games, but Boulter broke to take a 3-1 lead, made it a double break at the next opportunity and, while she was broken when serving for the match, she sealed victory on the Saville serve.
After a dominant victory over Caty McNally on Monday, Burrage was in high spirits and spoke of her excitement at the possibility of a spot on one of Wimbledon’s show courts for her second-round encounter.
That’s exactly what the British number two was given but the emotions were likely rather more negative for much of a match that lasted exactly an hour, as 11th seed Daria Kasatkina cruised to a 6-0 6-2 victory.
It was a nervy start from Burrage on the big stage, the 24-year-old producing two double faults in her opening service game as she was broken. Just seven minutes had been played as she sat at the changeover 3-0 down.
The double break came for Kasatkina in the very next game, and the Brit was soon serving to avoid a bagel. Afifth double fault was an unfortunately fitting way to gift Kasatkina the set inside 20 minutes, Burrage winning just seven points across a forgettable first six games.
A first game for Burrage came at the eighth attempt and that noticeably freed her up, the Brit breaking to love in the following game as she found some much-needed consistency with the forehand. Kasatkina got it back on serve immediately though, before the strange reluctance to use the Centre Court roof appeared even more bemusing as rain halted play.
That delay just over 20 minutes, and on the players’ return Kasatkina wasted little time in motoring towards victory. The Russian broke Burrage’s serve to take a 4-2 lead and from there the path to the third round was a smooth one.
Heather Watson saw her Wimbledon campaign end at the first hurdle, as tenth seed Barbora Krejcikova picked up a 6-2 7-5 win over the Brit.
Twelve months ago, Watson enjoyed her best SW19 run as she reached the fourth round, but a repeat of that always looked difficult after she was handed a tough first-round test. After a one-sided first set, Watson kept the second on serve until the 12th game, when she saved three match points but could not make it four.
Madison Keys meanwhile strolled to victory over Britain’s Sonay Kartal, the world number 266 much improved in the second set but it was not enough as Keys wrapped up a 6-0 6-3 win on Court 3.
