Britain’s Laura Robson struggled to contain her excitement after setting up a second-round clash with Maria Sharapova at Wimbledon following her first victory at a Grand Slam.
The 17-year-old, who won the junior title at the All England Club in 2008, battled past the 77th-ranked German Angelique Kerber 4-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 to set up a clash with the former SW19 champion on No1 Court on Thursday.
“I felt I really played well on the big points and that’s what made the difference,” said Robson after her victory.
“I always knew I could play really well but this year I’ve been injured quite a lot. Now I’m feeling good and really looking forward to playing Sharapova.
“I’m going to be on Court One playing against Sharapova so I think that’s pretty special. Hopefully I can play as well as I know I can.”
A clearly delighted Robson, whose first-round match was moved to Wednesday as a result of bad weather, even found time to try on Bethanie Mattek-Sands’ Alex Noble jacket in the locker room after her win (pictured, right).
“Another bonus from today – @bmattek (Mattek-Sands) let me try on her jacket. I mean, am I rocking it or am I rocking it??!” she wrote on Twitter.
Meanwhile, a tearful Heather Watson admitted her three-set defeat by France’s Mathilde Johansson was the hardest to take of her career.
The world No106 won the first set and was a break up in the second before an untimely elbow injury turned the match in her opponent’s favour, eventually losing 2-6 6-4 6-4.
“I’m just asking myself now, ‘Why me?’. Why couldn’t it have happened in another tournament? Why this one?,” she said afterwards.
“This was the hardest defeat of my professional career because it was a great opportunity for me. I feel like I’ve had some experience now and I’ve won a match in a grand slam so I felt like I had no excuses.
“I know how to play tennis. This is what I prepare for. This is why I play tennis every day, so I should be ready. I feel like I should be winning these matches. That’s why I’m so annoyed.”
The 19-year-old added: “I am a fighter. I’m never going to give up. It happens to all players. It happens all the time, every week.”
Elsewhere, Anne Keothavong lost 6-2 6-1 to Czech eighth seed and 2010 semi-finalist Petra Kvitova in round two.
“Petra was on fire today. Tried my best but it wasn’t good enough. Thanks for the support, still some dubs action with @laurarobson5 (Laura Robson) to go,” she wrote on Twitter after her defeat.