Jodie Burrage’s adventure in this year’s Wimbledon has met a swift end after crashing out in straight sets to Daria Kasatkina.
The latest fan favourite at SW19 was the talk of Monday’s action after upsetting American Caty McNally, who was ranked 41 places ahead of her. Burrage was visibly emotional after her 6-1, 6-3 victory, which took her into the second round for the first time in her fledgling career following two previous attempts.
The 24-year-old wildcard, who hails from Kingston upon Thames, was eliminated in the opening round last year, but hit headlines after coming to the aid of an ill ball boy at courtside armed with Percy Pig sweets. Awaiting her in the second round this time was 11th seed Kasatkina, 26, who had sailed through her own opening round clash against an American, Caroline Dolehide, 6-1, 6-4.
Burrage was welcomed onto Centre Court to huge applause and a warm reception, in front of a packed crowd - including former England captain David Beckham and mum Sandra - though had difficulty finding her groove, overhitting several shots whilst struggling to deal with the accuracy of Kasatkina, who made full use of the court to race into a commanding lead.
With every point the crowd got behind their home player, who overturned a love-30 deficit to take it to deuce in game five. Sadly she was unable to break her opponent, who recovered to take a 5-0 head start after some clever work at the net gave her advantage, before Burrage failed to clear the net with her own shot after a fierce rally.
As Burrage double faulted her serve to hand the first set to Kasatkina 6-0, the tie was only going one way. A frustrated gesture to her team in the stands suggested Burrage may have felt the same way, while scattered cries of ‘come on, Jodie,’ offered scant encouragement.
It was always evident this would be a tall order for the British No.2, who came into the tournament a career-high ranking of 108 after reaching the final of the Nottingham Open last month, while Kasatkina sits inside the world's top 10.
But Burrage rallied in the second set, winning the second game and prompting encouraged cheers from the crowd, before breaking Kasatkina’s serve in the third to rapturous applause. With renewed momentum, a buoyed Burrage looked to take the game to Kasatkina, attempting several teasing drop shots, though her rival was unflinching and broke back to tie the set at 2-2 before rain sent both players back to the dressing room.
Emerging from the brief break, Kasatkina showed little signs of buckling as she took her first service game on their return to the court before breaking her rival to take a 4-2 lead. Burrage played some excellent tennis, but as she began to tire and Kasatkina stepped on the gas, the end was in sight.
Burrage then missed Kasatkina's serve when tied at deuce to trail 5-2, before her opponent sewed things up to progress into round three and likely beyond. For Burrage, she has taken plenty away to build on for next year, and Wimbledon will be waiting for their latest hero with open arms.
