LONDON: Top seed Aryna Sabalenka overcame Canadian qualifier Carson Branstine on a sweltering Court One to get her quest for a first Wimbledon title up and running with a 6-1, 7-5 win on Monday.
With the thermometer soaring above 30 degrees Celsius, the Belarusian turned up the heat early to win the opening five games.
But Branstine, who juggles her time between the tennis courts and working as a model, earned loud applause when she got on the scoreboard and although Sabalenka eased to the first set, the second was an intense duel of fierce baseline rallies.
Sabalenka, seeded one at Wimbledon for the first time, usually overpowers her opponents with the sheer force of her game, but Branstine had firepower of her own.
The Canadian powered down several big aces as she stayed ahead in the second set but Sabalenka sensed her chance at 5-5 and broke serve by forcing her opponent to net a forehand.
Sabalenka wrapped up the win with a solid hold.
The biggest British assault on Wimbledon for 41 years got off to a great start when Sonay Kartal upset 20th seed and former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko 7-5 2-6 6-2.
British tennis is enjoying a buoyant period, and although Jack Draper and Emma Raducanu are making most of the headlines, there are 23 Britons in the men's and women's singles this week, the most at Wimbledon since 1984.
Seven qualified directly through their top-100 world rankings, U.S.-based collegiate player Oliver Tarvet came through qualifying, and a further 15 players were handed wildcards.
British qualifier Oliver Tarvet enjoyed a dream Wimbledon debut with a 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 victory over Switzerland's Leandro Riedi.
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