Wimbledon: Katy Boulter progresses on tough day for Britain’s women
Katy Boulter was the only British woman to win on the opening day of Wimbledon.
The world number 219 beat qualifier Danielle Lao in three sets and will now play second seed Aryna Sabalenka in the second round.
Boulter lost the first-set tie-break but bounced back to win 6-7 6-3 6-4.
Heather Watson exited the tournament earlier than expected at the hands of Kristie Ahn.
Ahn had only earned a place in the draw as a lucky loser but came from behind to beat Watson 2-6 7-6 8-6.
Katie Swan’s match up against Madison Keys saw her coming up against a player 265 places above her in the rankings and could only manage to win seven games on the way to a 6-3 6-4 loss.
Jodie Burrage was also coming up against an American who sat a long way above her in the rankings and her Wimbledon campaign lasted just 56 minutes as she went down to Lauren Davis 6-2 6-1.
Harriet Dart meets Elise Mertens tomorrow and Francesca Jones plays Coco Gauff, but British number one Johanna Konta’s match against Katerina Siniakova was cancelled after Konta needed to withdraw when one of her team tested positive for coronavirus.
Cover Photo: IMG_9006 by Marianne Bevis under license by CC BY-ND 2.0.
