Johanna Konta kept her cool in frigid conditions to claim her first-ever Wimbledon singles victory yesterday.
The British number one has enjoyed a 12 months to remember and is the first British women to be seeded in the top 16 at the All England Club in 32 years.
It took her more than 24 hours to complete her rain delayed match with Puerto Rico’s Monica Puig, the conditions proving more stubborn that her opponent after a 6-1, 7-5 victory.
“I’m very happy with my performance,” said Konta.
”It was quite gusty out there and we had been waiting around for quite some time. I was happy with how I was able to get myself into the match.
“I think so far this grass season, I’ve been quite well‑prepared for conditions like these and I’m not too far outside of my comfort zone.
“I just wanted to go out there and perform the best that I could and deal with the situations that were at hand and try to do myself proud. I stayed calm and I fought well.”
Konta insists she is not surprised by her sudden rise up the rankings.
Since losing in Wimbledon’s first round last year for the fourth time, she has reached the fourth round at the US Open, the last four at the Australian Open, established herself in the world’s top 20 and earned her Olympic selection in Rio.
“I can’t really be surprised because I’ve worked my whole life, since I was eight years old, to become the best tennis player I could be,” she added.
“I’m a firm believer in accumulating experiences. I’m certain that if I hadn’t had those previous experiences, I wouldn’t have been able to deal with the last few days.”
Konta will now face Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard — who beat Slovakia’s Magdalena Rybarikova yesterday — in the second round.
While British number two Heather Watson will come back for a third day to complete her first round match.
Watson won the first set against Germany’s Annika Beck 6-3 but dropped the second without winning a game and was 1-0 down in the decider when the rain came.
Elsewhere, Dan Evans was heading into a first set tie-break against Ukraine’s Alexandr Dolgopolov before play was postponed, while the fairytale run of Marcus Willis – the world number 772 – ended as he lost 6-0, 6-3, 6-4 to seven-time champion Roger Federer on Centre Court.
