Britain’s Jodie Burrage fought back tears after reaching the Wimbledon second round for the first time in an injury-ravaged career.
Burrage, 24, who nearly quit the sport, beat American Caty McNally 6-1 6-4.
“I’ve been waiting for my run to happen and hopefully this is the start of it,” an emotional Burrage said in her on-court interview.
Fellow Briton Jan Choinski progressed in his first Grand Slam tournament, while Liam Broady also advanced.
But Harriet Dart lost 6-7 (4-7) 6-0 6-4 to France’s Diane Parry and Katie Swan was beaten 7-5 6-2 by Swiss 14th seed Belinda Bencic.
Dan Evans was also in action on day one in the men’s draw against France’s Quentin Halys but play was suspended because of bad light with the Briton trailing 6-2 6-3.
Following a rain delay at the All England Club, conditions were tricky with the wind swirling around the courts and world number 108 Burrage coped well with the challenging circumstances.
The British number two reeled off her long list of injuries after the victory, her first ever in a Grand Slam.
“Three ankle surgeries, a fractured knee and stress fractures to the arm and ribs – I can keep going and going,” she said.
“After my third ankle operation, my mind had decided that that was it.
“I was going to go to an American university, get a degree there, have a great life. Would have really enjoyed it and loved it. But that was my tennis career done.
“Somehow [I] got back on the horse with help from family and friends, and my boyfriend as well, really helped push through that not-so-nice time.”
Burrage, who had suffered first-round exits in the previous two years at SW19, put her troubles behind her to secure an impressive win over McNally, who appeared to be struggling with a knee injury of her own through the match.
Having prepared well on grass with a run to the final of the Nottingham Open, Burrage got off to a flying start, dropping only one game on her way to wrapping up the first set in just 22 minutes.
McNally, ranked number 67 in the world and also going for a maiden appearance in the second round of Wimbledon, came back in the second but Burrage stood her ground to secure the victory on her sixth match point with a forehand winner.
Crowd ‘carried’ Choinski to first ever win at a Grand Slam
German-born Choinski sealed a shock 5-7 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 6-2 win in his Wimbledon debut over Serb Dusan Lajovic, ranked 108 places above him.
The victory is the British number six’s first in a Grand Slam tournament after he was handed a Wimbledon wildcard for the first time this year.
“I feel absolutely amazing,” he said. “And the crowd was electric tonight at my court. Even though it was one of the smaller courts, I felt carried by the crowd. An amazing day.”
Earlier, Broady reached the second round just minutes after Burrage’s win with an impressive 6-3 6-1 7-5 victory over France’s world number 74 Constant Lestienne.
The 29-year-old will hope to improve on his run to the third round of last year’s tournament but faces a tough challenge in Norwegian French Open finalist Casper Ruud as his next opponent.
Burrage set to join Boulter in top 100
No British women had earned direct entry into Wimbledon because their rankings were not high enough and they relied on wildcards to compete here.
There were no British players in the women’s singles at last month’s French Open, which led Evans to say Emma Raducanu’s 2021 US Open victory had “papered over the cracks” in British tennis.
But Burrage’s opening-round victory is the latest in a good bit of form for British women.
Boulter replaced the injured Raducanu at the top of the British rankings with her win at the Nottingham Open, where she beat Burrage in the final, and she has also risen to 89th in the rankings.
Victories on the big stage will only help to breed confidence within the British camp.
Burrage’s victory could also put her inside the top 100 for the first time in her career and a win in the next round, where she will meet 11th seed Daria Kasatkina, would seal that.
“I’ll have bigger things to worry about [during that match]. It would be a pretty cool thing to say I’m in the top 100. Hopefully it does happen. I’ll work to make sure it does, take the question mark out of it.”
Source – BBC Sport
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