sport

Konta clinging on at SW19

Johanna Konta's Wimbledon debut against Christina McHale was suspended due to fading light with the players locked at 7-7 in the third set.

Konta, who was born in Australia but now represents Britain after receiving citizenship last month, defied all expectations to win a first-set tie-break against McHale, who at 32nd in the world is ranked 180 places above her.

The 21-year-old British number five dropped the second set 6-2, and her American opponent looked set to ease to victory in the decider when she broke Konta in the first game.

Konta was on the verge of defeat after she initially failed to break back, leaving McHale serving for the match at 5-4.

McHale buckled under pressure, however, allowing Konta to smash home at the net to level the set.

The pre-match favourite soon rallied, however, breaking Konta immediately to give her another chance to serve for the match.

She buckled yet again, however, forcing McHale to find the net to leave the match at 6-6.

Both players then tentatively held serve until the umpire postponed the game until Tuesday as the light worsened on Court 17.

Update:

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