Katie Boulter shines as British stars make Wimbledon progress

British wild card Katie Boulter secured a first Wimbledon victory to join Kyle Edmund and Johanna Konta in reaching round two on Tuesday.

The 21-year-old from Leicester battled past Paraguayan Veronica Cepede Royg in three sets on a packed Court 14.

Boulter won the first set and after securing an early break served for the match, only to be pegged back.

But she showed impressive resilience in the decisive third set, clinching the all-important break for 5-4 before serving out for a 6-4 5-7 6-4 win.

“I’m ecstatic, honestly,” she said. “It’s something I’ve dreamed of my whole life. I’m so happy that I could finally achieve one of my many goals I’ve been trying to pursue.”

Edmund, the British number one and 21st seed, was in complete control during the opening two sets of his match, when he did not drop a point on his first serve while breaking Australian qualifier Alex Bolt four times.

The third set was trickier, with Bolt breaking Edmund for the first time and serving for it. He forced a set point but Edmund saved it and reeled off four games in a row to win 6-2 6-3 7-5.

Edmund has been used to questions about inheriting the top domestic ranking from Andy Murray since reaching the Australian Open semi-finals in January, but this is the first time he has experienced the extra pressure at Wimbledon.

He said: “The Australian Open run, that probably helps. I felt a little bit
more attention. Regardless of how many Brits are there or if Andy (Murray) is around, there’s probably been a bit more attention. I’ve had heaps more off-court stuff to do.”

“It was a great match for me to have,” Konta said. “It was a great match for me to battle through and fight through until literally the very last point.

“I think it’s the tough matches, the ones where there’s quite a bit of ebb and flow, when you save set points or you save break points, those are the matches where you come away feeling quite tough.”

However, the rest of Britain’s contingent did not fare so well despite some positive performances.

Derby teenager Jay Clarke was narrowly beaten in a five-set tussle on his Wimbledon debut against experienced Latvian Ernests Gulbis.

The 19-year-old took the first set against the former world number 10, and hauled himself level after losing the second and third.

However, Clarke was left still waiting for a first grand slam event win after Gulbis wrapped up a 4-6 6-3 7-6 (7/3) 3-6 6-4 victory.

British number four Naomi Broady was unable to stop Garbine Muguruza’s march into the second round.

Gabi Taylor put up a brave fight but her maiden senior Wimbledon outing ended in a three-set defeat to Eugenie Bouchard.

The 20-year-old, who was handed a wild card into the main draw, went down 6-0 4-6 6-3 to the 2014 runner-up.

Katy Dunne had a set point to level her match against 12th seed Jelena Ostapenko but could not convert it and lost 6-3 7-6 (7/5) on Centre Court.