She came within a whisker of winning on the famous grass courts of SW19 last year but now Katie Boulter is savouring the sweet taste of a maiden singles Wimbledon victory.
Boulter showed terrific character as she battled past Veronica Cepede Royg 6-4 5-7 6-4, bouncing back from a missed match point in the second to show maturity in the third and seal victory over the Paraguayan.
The 21-year-old fell at the first hurdle in 2017 against American Christina McHale, despite taking the opening set and the match being 5-5 in the second.
McHale went on to win 6-3 5-7 3-6 in that encounter, but Boulter was not giving up another golden opportunity so easily, and theyoungster could not hide her delight at her landmark success this time around.
“I’m ecstatic, honestly!” said Boulter. “It’s something I’ve dreamed of my whole life and I’m so happy that I’ve achieved one of the many goals I’ve been trying to pursue.
“I think it was really difficult, having a match point and not getting it, before finding a way.
“It’s something that’s built within me. I feel like I’m a great competitor on the court and I think that got me through today.
“I showed some guts and I’m pretty happy with it.
“Winning your first match at Wimbledon is always going to be extremely hard. At the end of the day I found a way to win and I’m really happy.
“Last year’s experiences built me into who I am today and it didn’t play any part – I tried to do the best I could in the moment and close out the match as quickly as I could.”
Boulter joins close friend Katie Swan in the second round, with Kyle Edmund and Johanna Konta also negotiating safe passage in Tuesday’s action. They play their next matches on Thursday while Swan will take on Romania's Mihaela Buzarnescu, the number 29 seed, in the first match on court 3 on Wednesday.
Heather Watson bowed out in a long and exhausting encounter with Kirsten Flipkens, which the Belgian eventually took 6-4 7-5.
Elsewhere, Naomi Broady battled valiantly but came up against a top-class opponent in the form of defending champion Garbine Muguruza.
The third-seed Spaniard oozed class as she defeated a gutsy Broady, who made her work hard for victory, 6-2 7-5.
Gabrielle Taylor recovered from a 6-0 whitewash in the first set against Canadian Eugenie Bouchard to level the encounter by claiming the second 6-4.
But despite a spirited effort in the decider, Bouchard’s experience told and proved to be enough for victory.
Katy Dunne was given a tough draw in the form of 12th seed Jelena Ostapenko and lost the first set 6-3 to the 2017 French Open champion.
But the youngster rallied and was within a whisker of levelling the match, only for the Latvian to dig deep and edge the second in a tie-break.
By Jimmy Booker at Wimbledon
Sportsbeat 2018