Jodie Burrage will have wept rivers during six torturous months of rehab but here at last were some happy tears at the happy Slam, with her first ever win at the Australian Open.
She beat French qualifier Leolia Jeanjean 6-2, 6-4 and will face the mighty Coco Gauff in the next round on Wednesday.
With £34,000 and, more importantly, 60 precious ranking points on offer against a very beatable opponent, this was a massive opportunity for Burrage and she knew it. In fact, the 25-year-old said friends and family were guilty of taking it for granted.
‘I had to send some messages to my uncle saying, “Still got to win the match!”,’ said Burrage, who lives in the south of France with her rugby union star boyfriend Ben White, the scrum-half for Top14 side Toulon.
‘I knew what a good opportunity today was. Throughout playing the (lower-tier) ITFs and everything I did, all I was saying is I want to get to Australia, I know I’ll be good in Australia.
‘I didn’t really want to let the opportunity go to waste today.
‘All of those emotions from the last nine months I think, yeah, were bottled up in there and at the end… it was always going to come out at some point. Just very, very happy. One of the best wins of my career.’
Jodie Burrage (above) earned her first ever win at the Australian Open, beating Leolia Jeanjean
The Brit No 7 has booked her place in the second round and will face the mighty Coco Gauff
Victorious Burrage could not hide her emotion, prevailing after six torturous months of rehab
Last February, Burrage snapped a tendon in her right wrist and after completing her rehab well ahead of schedule she ruptured an ankle ligament with training with Katie Boulter.
She was out for six months in total and the most unkindest cut of all was that the initial injury occurred just after she had reached a career-high ranking of 86.
During the darkest moments of rehab Burrage considered quitting the sport but she is driven by a desire to prove that she can be consistently a top-100 player. From 173rd she should move up to around 150 in the world with this win.
Those difficult times have given her a bucket-load of perspective, which can be a potent force in professional sport. Despite nerves – ‘I can’t eat this, this is not going down’ she said over breakfast to fellow Brit Olivia Nicholls – Burrage swung with the freedom of someone who is happy to be here.
‘It was definitely up there with one of the best wins of my career,’ she said. ‘It’s also just the start. I have more belief and confidence in myself and that showed today. I feel like it’s the start of a good year for me.’
No 3 seed Gauff looms, their second meeting after the American beat Burrage 6-1, 6-1 in Eastbourne in 2023.
‘To be honest, I kind of know what I want to do,’ said Burrage. ‘I learned a lot from my last match. It’s just about execution. But I just want to go out there and enjoy it and put her under pressure.’
After six months of rehab and four months grinding through lower-tier events, one gets the sense that Burrage is enjoying every moment back in the promised land of Grand Slam tennis.
Burrage, 25, triumphed over French qualifier Leolia Jeanjean (above) 6-2, 6-4 in Melbourne
Brit No 4 Harriet Dart battled through injury and cramp to book her spot in the second round
Meanwhile, Brit No 4 Harriet Dart battled through injury and cramp to book her spot in the second round of the Australian Open in gruelling fashion.
Dart lost in the final round of qualifying, but was given a lucky loser spot on Monday morning after former Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova withdrew.
She was thrust virtually straight into a clash with Croatian qualifier Jana Fett and, after three hours and 14 minutes, she hobbled her way to a 7-5 2-6 7-6 (10/7) victory.
Dart had her left calf taped early in the second set and fought back tears during the deciding tie-break, with cramp also setting in.
But she made it across the line for just her second main draw victory at Melbourne Park and first in five years.
Dart came from 3-5 down to win the opening set in a match that featured 19 breaks of serve and saw each woman win 118 points.
But her physical problems became apparent when she called the trainer for lengthy treatment to her calf and neck trailing 2-3 in the second set.
Fett looked in control at that point, but Dart kept fighting and broke serve twice to stay in the match, the second time saving two match points – one of them with an ill-timed double fault from the Croatian.
Despite clearly struggling, Dart hobbled to victory, narrowly winning 7-5 2-6 7-6 (10/7)
Dart came from 3-5 down to win the opening set against Croatian qualifier Jana Fett (above)
Dart opened up a 7-1 lead in the tie-break and, although things became increasingly complicated, she refused to let it slip away despite her obvious physical distress.
She will now try to recover in time for a second-round clash with 18th seed Donna Vekic on Wednesday.
