World No.1 Ash Barty survived a second-set fightback against Carla Suarez Navarro to reach the second round at Wimbledon.
Barty served for the match at 6-1 5-4 before the Spaniard, playing in her final tournament at the All England Club, rallied to force a third.
But the Aussie dominated that to post a 6-1 6-7(1) 6-1 win and joined Venus Williams, Karolina Pliskova, Maria Sakkari and Ons Jabeur in the second round.
Williams, playing in an Open Era record 90th Grand Slam main draw, defeated Mihaela Buzarnescu 7-5 4-6 6-3 to win her first match at Wimbledon since 2018, and will next face Jabeur.
41 years old and she's still out here fighting ?@venuseswilliams gets her first #Wimbledon singles victory since 2018 to reach the second round pic.twitter.com/hNidu4FYGO
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) June 29, 2021
Barty's fellow Australians Alex de Minaur and Sam Stosur bowed out, while men's seeds Alex Zverev, Diego Schwartzman, Fabio Fognini and Dan Evans all won on Tuesday in straight sets.
Barty beats Suarez Navarro in emotional encounter
It was a poignant occasion all round for Barty, who was seeking her first grass-court win since her third-round victory over Harriet Dart at Wimbledon 2019.
Firstly, she was opening Tuesday’s Centre Court schedule in place of her friend Simona Halep, the defending champion who was unable to return to Wimbledon due to a calf injury.
Secondly, she was facing the beloved Suarez Navarro, a player embarking on a retirement lap of the tour after successfully coming through treatment for Hodgkin lymphoma.
And finally, Barty was wearing a dress designed to pay tribute to fellow Indigenous Australian Evonne Goolagong on the 50th anniversary of Goolagong’s 1971 women’s singles triumph at SW19.
Barty showing no sign of the injury that forced her withdrawal from Roland Garros; the Australian seemed to move freely and execute her shots with their trademark heaviness and whip.
She took an early 2-1 lead before rain fell, forcing players off court as the Centre Court roof closed; when they resumed play 17 minutes later, Barty immediately broke for a 3-1 lead.
She would go on to take the next three games, finishing the set with 13 winners to Suarez Navarro’s two.
DRAW: Wimbledon women's singles
But the Spaniard, a former world No.6, by this point seemed to have adjusted to the conditions, the setting and her opponent.
She made Barty work harder during rallies, and what unfolded was a succession of delightful points during which both players showcased their backhands – slice by Barty, topspin by Suarez Navarro – and used all areas of the court.
The match always felt like it was on Barty’s racquet, however, and when she forced two errors from Suarez Navarro, she earned a chance to serve for the match at 6-1 5-4.
She came within two points of victory, but Suarez Navarro’s increasingly impenetrable game seemed to make Barty edgy, and errors saw her drop serve.
Suarez Navarro had all the momentum now, racing through the subsequent tiebreak against a mistake-prone Barty, who finished the set with 26 unforced errors.
But rather than panic, the Australian apparently erased the previous 15 minutes from her mind, winning 12 unanswered points to storm ahead 3-0 in the third.
A forehand winner made the score 4-0, and an overhead winner stretched it to 5-0.
The effort of the second set seemed to have drained Suarez Navarro, who nevertheless managed three forehand winners to get on the board at 1-5.
But Barty did not falter when given a second chance to serve out victory.
"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," said Barty, who next faces either Timea Babos or Anna Blinkova.
"I know she's got a little bit longer to go, but to be able to share this moment with her was really special.
"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.
"I wish that both of us could have been able to win and kind of experience this, but she's a genuine champion and she's going to be very sorely missed."