Wimbledon 2019: Johanna Konta, Dan Evans, Cameron Norrie, Jay Clarke & Harriet Dart advance
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Wimbledon 2019 on the BBC |
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Venue: All England Club Dates: 1-14 July |
Coverage: Live across BBC TV, radio and online with extensive coverage on BBC iPlayer, Red Button, Connected TVs and mobile app. Full details |
Johanna Konta continued the British charge into the Wimbledon second round on a bumper day for home players.
The British number one beat Romanian Ana Bogdan 7-5 6-2 after compatriots Harriet Dart, Dan Evans and Cameron Norrie also progressed.
Jay Clarke won to set up a meeting with Swiss great Roger Federer, but Katie Swan, James Ward and Paul Jubb lost.
There were 10 Britons in the singles draws here, with seven progressing to the second round.
Kyle Edmund and Heather Watson booked their places on Monday.
And that is all without former world number one Andy Murray, who makes his Grand Slam comeback from hip surgery in the men's doubles alongside Pierre-Hugues Herbert this week.
"I think that's great," Konta said on the brilliant day for British tennis. "I think there's every reason for us to be able to do that. I mean, we've got such great players. Yeah, that's really a good position for us."
Konta & Dart gets royal seal of approval
Konta, 28, who comes into Wimbledon on the back of a fantastic clay-court season where she reached the French Open semi-finals and two WTA Tour finals, controlled her match against Bogdan.
Neither player faced a break point until Konta converted the first one to take the first set.
While Konta never looked in danger, she was erratic at times. She made 17 unforced errors in the first set and was at times lucky to get away with her drop shots, which Bogdan got to but failed to put away when she had time to do so.
She improved in the second set, winning more of her first-serve points and cutting back on her errors to set up a second-round encounter with Czech world number 38 Katerina Siniakova.
"It was very tough out there. I don't think either of us felt quite comfortable, we were both trying to find our feet," Konta told BBC TV.
"First rounds are never easy and I'm really pleased to have competed throughout. So far in the season I feel like I'm building in every match I'm playing."
Konta, like Dart earlier in the day, was watched by the Duchess of Cambridge during her first set.
Dart lost her first set in front of the royal guest, before triumphing 4-6 6-4 6-4 against American Christina McHale.
Whether it was the pressure of the extra attention - from both the royal eyes on her and the many extra photographers' lenses on the court - or simply first-match nerves, Dart endured a frustrating opening set.
The 22-year-old failed to convert all five of her break points and produced 21 unforced errors to hand the first set to the 27-year-old American and leave herself shaking her head at the changeover.
The VIPs left court 14 at the end of the set and from then on Dart seemed to settle into her stride more, cutting out her mistakes and coming to the net more often and winning points from there.
There were seven breaks of serve in the final set, with Dart eventually sealing victory when McHale fired into the net.
"It's pretty cool to have royalty watching you," said Dart. "Such a privilege for me for her to get to see me play. It's pretty surreal."
Dart, who had never been past the first round at Wimbledon, will play world number 121 Beatriz Haddad Maia next after the Brazilian stunned 2017 champion Garbine Muguruza 6-4 6-4.
Dart's compatriot Katie Swan could not follow her into the second round though, losing 6-2 6-4 to Germany's Laura Siegemund.
Evans' grass-court form continues
Dan Evans continued his fine form on grass with a 6-3 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 win over Argentina's Federico Delbonis.
Evans, who won at Surbiton and Nottingham last month, cruised through the opening set, breaking his opponent's serve at the first time of asking.
The second set proved a much tighter affair with both holding serve throughout, resulting in a tie-break in which Evans went 6-1 up but needed six set points to wrap it up.
In the final set, it went with serve until Evans broke Delbonis to go 5-3 ahead, taking victory on his first match point in two hours and 16 minutes.
"I didn't think I played so good, but got the win," Evans said.
"It's a difficult match today, obviously he played a lot different to anyone I've come across on the grass. I'm just pretty happy to just come through."
Later, British number two Cameron Norrie booked his spot in the second round, beating Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin 6-2 6-4 6-4.
He will play eighth seed Kei Nishikori next, while Evans will face 18th seed Nikoloz Basilashvili after the Georgian beat Briton James Ward in five sets.
Briton Ward led by two sets, but he allowed the world number 16 back into the match, growing frustrated as it swung away from his favour.
Basilashvili's 2-6 4-6 6-4 6-4 8-6 win means Ward has now failed to progress past the first round at SW19 since 2015.
Meanwhile, 20-year-old wildcard Clarke's reward for a 4-6 7-5 6-4 6-4 victory over American qualifier Noah Rubin is a second-round match against 20-time Grand Slam champion Federer.
But wildcard Paul Jubb, 19, was unable to follow his compatriots through to the next round, falling to a 6-0 6-3 6-7 (8-10) 6-1 defeat by Portugal's Joao Sousa.
Jubb, the first Briton to land the US colleges' prestigious NCAA men's singles title, previously won by Grand Slam winners Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe and Bob Bryan, attracted a big crowd on court 17 but could not build on winning the third set on a tie-break.