Katie Boulter the first Briton through to second round at Wimbledon

Battler: Katie Boulter celebrates after recovering from a set down to beat Danielle Lao. Picture: Adam Davy/PA Wire.

Katie Boulter got Britain on the board at Wimbledon with victory over Danielle Lao, while Jack Draper showed his potential by taking a set off Novak Djokovic.

Boulter is ranked down at 219 but she is undoubtedly a better player than that and has shown on many occasions that big stages bring the best out of her.

She had a kind draw against American qualifier Lao, making her Wimbledon debut at the age of 30, but had to battle from a set down and 1-3 in the deciding set to win 6-7 (6) 6-3 6-4.

Brave effort: Britain's Jack Draper took the first set but eventually lost out by three sets to one against defending champion Novak Djokovic. Picture: Simon Bruty/AELTC/PA Wire

Boulter, who next faces second seed Aryna Sabalenka, said: “Obviously, having been absent for a couple years, it really means so much. Ultimately it wasn’t pretty out there. I knew it wasn’t going to be. But I fought so hard, found a way. I feel like that’s what tennis is really about.”

Nineteen-year-old Draper found himself making his Wimbledon debut on Centre Court against the man going for a 20th grand slam title and third in a row at the All England Club.

He said he would embrace the occasion and certainly did, demonstrating what makes him such an exciting talent by clinching the opening set before Djokovic fought back to win 4-6 6-1 6-2 6-2.

He said: “I didn’t want to give him too much respect. I wanted to win the match today. I wasn’t looking to put in a good performance and lose.

“To win a set against Novak Djokovic on my Wimbledon debut is something I won’t forget. Hopefully in years to come I can improve on that.”

Katie Swan was the first British woman to come through Wimbledon qualifying in 20 years.

But her stay at the Championships was a short one after a straight-sets defeat against experienced American Madison Keys.

Keys, a former US Open finalist and seeded 23rd, won 6-3 6-4.

Jodie Burrage’s Wimbledon debut was short-lived, the 22-year-old losing 6-2 6-1 to American Lauren Davis.

Johanna Konta has thanked fans for their messages of support after she was ruled out of Wimbledon by a member of her team testing positive for Covid-19.

The British number one was forced to withdraw on the eve of the tournament.