British number one Katie Boulter did not allow another Just Stop Oil protest to get in her way of a place in the second round at Wimbledon after a comfortable victory over Daria Saville.
Boulter was trailing 4-2 in the first-set tie-break when a protester ran on to Court 18 and threw orange confetti and jigsaw pieces just two hours after a first protest on the same court.
But after a small delay, Boulter won the following five points to claim the first set and then raced through the second set to claim a 7-6 (4) 6-2 win against her Australian opponent.
The 26-year-old is enjoying an impressive run, having won her maiden WTA Tour title in Nottingham at the start of the grass-court season, and as the highest ranked Briton she will have designs on a deep run at her home grand slam.
She had to do it the hard way, though, as she had to resume the match – that was suspended 28 hours earlier due to bad rain – serving to stay in the first set, but delivered a service hold to love.
But after just 10 points of the resumption, and trailing 4-2 in the tie-break, a protester ran onto court and play was suspended again.
Along with Saville, she helped the ground staff in the clean-up operation and the mini-break seemed to work wonders for her as she reeled off five successive points in the tie-break to claim the first set.
Four more followed as she won the first game of the second set to love and that set the tone for what turned out to be a comfortable afternoon.
She won four of the next six games before serving out an impressive victory.
A showcourt appearance will probably now lie in wait in her second round match against Bernarda Pera or Viktoriya Tomova.
