Laura Robson buoyed home fans at Wimbledon this afternoon as world number 10 Maria Kirilenko became Tuesday’s first major casualty.
Seven Britons had failed to progress beyond the first round heading into the 19-year-old’s match, which she took 6-3 6-4 on Court One.
The home hope won the girls’ title on the same court five years ago and will now face Colombia’s Mariana Duque-Marino.
“I am still so nervous, even on the last point I didn’t know whether my forehand was good or not,” she told the BBC.
“I think that was a big one for me because of all the nerves and playing in front of your home crowd at Wimbledon. It is a big one.
“I could have gone 5-1 up in the second and lost my focus a little bit. I started to think about winning and I got back to focusing point by point. I thought I served pretty well today.
“[Winning silver at the Olympics in the mixed doubles] definitely boosted my confidence. Any big win gives you loads of confidence so I am going to go into the next match with a good focus, I think.”
