World No.1 Ash Barty overcame a wobbly stretch to reach the second round at Wimbledon.
Playing on grass for the first time in two years, Barty defeated Carla Suárez Navarro 6-1 6-7 (1) 6-1.
Barty let the second set get away when she was two points from victory but regained command by winning the first 13 points and five games of the third set. The Australian hit 13 aces and converted all five of her break-point chances.
Suárez Navarro was appearing in only her second tournament since announcing her recovery from Hodgkin lymphoma. It was an emotional moment and Barty stood with the crowd to applaud Suarez Navarro after the match. The Spanish veteran, 32, is retiring from tennis.
MORE: SERENA IN TEARS OVER FIRST-ROUND RETIREMENT
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"It was just incredible to be able to share the court with Carla, to be able to share this experience with her after her incredible career," Barty said.
"She's a fighter, she's an incredible competitor. She's a lovely person and genuinely you can't find one bad word to say about her.
"She's a genuine champion and she's going to be very sorely missed."
Barty said that she'd been untroubled by the hip injury that forced her to retire from Roland Garros.
"Good, great," Barty said on-court, when asked about her physical condition.
"It's a lot better on the grass … it's a little bit more forgiving on the body."
Barty was on court for one hour and 43 minutes in beating Suarez Navarro.
DE MINAUR, STOSUR OUT IN ROUND ONE
Sebastian Korda is looking good on grass, just like his sister.
The 20-year-old American made his Wimbledon debut and upset No.15-seeded Alex de Minaur 6-3 6-4 6-7 (5) 7-6 (5).
Korda's sister, golfer Nelly Korda, won her first major title last week and is the first American in seven years to reach No.1 in the women's world rankings.
Sebastian Korda is ranked a career-high 50th, and added momentum to his breakout year by beating a top 20 player at a Grand Slam for the first time.
De Minaur, the 22-year-old Australian, was coming off his first tour-level grass title at Eastbourne.
Sam Stosur was another Australian casualty on day two of the championships, losing 6-1 5-7 6-3, to American Shelby Rogers.
Two other Aussies fared better. Marc Polmans beat Taiwan's Yen-hsun Lu 6-2 7-5 4-6, 6-1, while Alex Bolt defeated Serbian Filip Krajinovic 7-6 (5) 6-4 7-5.
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