Ash Barty advances to Wimbledon second round as rains suspends play

World No. 1 Ash Barty advanced to the second round after beating Carla Suarez Navarro 6-1 6-7 (1-7) 6-1 on Centre Court in an entertaining match on Tuesday as rain continued to affect proceedings at Wimbledon.

Play was postponed for 15 minutes and the players were forced off the court as the roof was closed. Several matches were postponed yesterday due to the wet weather and all outdoor play was suspended once again on Tuesday.

1hBill Connelly

4dESPN

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Inside Centre Court, however, the break in play didn’t seem to affect Barty who was 4-1 up when things were paused and didn’t drop another game.

Barty withdrew from the 2021 French Open in the second round after suffering a hip injury. However, she appeared to be moving around with ease apart from a slight slip in the second set.

Suarez Navarro was far more impressive in the second set and managed to keep pace with Barty.

There was strong support for the Spaniard in the Wimbledon crowd. She announced last year that she had been diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. In April, she said she had been declared cancer free and made her return at the French Open.

Previously, Suarez Navarro had said 2020 would be her last year but after her cancer diagnosis said she was eager to continue playing.

This support was clear in the second set where Barty was serving for the match. Suarez Navarro broke her serve to go 5-5 and cheers of “Carla, Carla” went around Centre Court.

It was a rare fault from Barty in her service which included 13 aces and 88% of first serve points won.

Suarez Navarro went on to win the second set after a tie-breaker.

She was no match for the Australian in the second set though as Barty sweeped to a 6-1 victory.

Barty, who was wearing an outfit inspired by the 50th anniversary of fellow Australian Evonne Goolagong’s first Wimbledon triumph, hasn’t always had the best luck at the Championship with her best result in 2019 when she went out in the fourth round.