Daily Times

LONDON: Australia’s Ashleigh Barty overcame a mid-match wobble to reach the second round at Wimbledon as rain once again halted play on the outside courts on Tuesday. Barty came through 6-1, 6-7 (1/7), 6-1 against Carla Suarez Navarro in a match filled with emotion on Centre Court, whose roof ensured the match could be finished. Play was due to get underway again at 5:00pm local time (1600GMT) the same time as kick-off in the Euro 2020 last 16 tie between England and old foes Germany at Wembley. However, 18 first round matches were pushed back to Wednesday with men’s doubles matches cut to best-of-three sets in the first two rounds in an effort to make up the backlog. Barty’s Spanish opponent made sure her 11th and final appearance at The Championships went the distance just months after returning from a winning fight against cancer.

Barty is bidding to add the senior singles Wimbledon title to her 2011 junior crown on the 50th anniversary of her fellow indigenous Australian’s Evonne Goolagong Cawley’s first title. Goolagong Cawley was 29 when she won her second singles title in 1980 — 10 years younger than two legends due to commence their campaigns later on Tuesday Venus had some worrying moments in her match against Mihaela Buzarnescu of Romania. However, the five-time Wimbledon singles champion, playing in her 90th Grand Slam, eventually came through 7-5, 4-6, 6-3. Australian men’s number one Alex de Minaur lost in four sets to Sebastian Korda, two days after the victor’s sister Nelly won her first golf major.