The 24-year-old is yet to win a singles match at the All England Club but she was involved in one of the most popular stories of the tournament last year when she offered the Marks and Spencer treat to a ball boy who was feeling unwell.
“I don’t really know why it was such a big story,” she said. “He just wasn’t feeling great, I tried to help him out a little bit. I feel like anyone would have done the same thing. For some reason it kicked off. Hopefully no one feels ill on court this year. It was a bit mad.”
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Burrage’s act of kindness earned the attention of Marks and Spencer, and the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton had an unusual visitor last month when Percy Pig turned up for a hit.
“We had a two-hour session,” said Burrage. “It was good fun. We tried to play, actually Percy was better than I thought he was going to be.”
So could the British number two be Percy Pig’s official representative at Wimbledon in the future?
“I’d love that,” she said gleefully. “My mum is a massive fan of Percy Pigs as well, and my physio. My physio is probably Percy Pig’s biggest fan. So, if they ever do something like that, I’d love to be.”
Burrage will not be able to help out any similarly stricken ball kids this year, though, adding: “I’ve had them the last few weeks, they are one of my favourite sweets, but they’re not in my bag. My nutritionist had a firm ‘no’ on that.”
The Percy Pig incident meant a disappointing first-round loss for Burrage was rather forgotten, and she is hoping it can be third-time lucky on Monday when she takes on American Caty McNally.
“I played her at the US Open last year,” said Burrage. “I’ll be watching that match back. She’s a tough opponent and actually on the grass she’s going to be really dangerous. I’ll enjoy the challenge.”
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Burrage has enjoyed a strong grass-court campaign, reaching her first WTA Tour final in Nottingham and climbing to 108 in the rankings, and she will try not to put too much pressure on herself.
“It comes with experience,” she said. “It would be great if I could go on, play my best, win, everything be happy.
“There’s going to be some ups and downs in the match like there always is. All I can do is go out there, fight and give my all.
“If it’s my day, it’s my day, and if it’s not, it’s not. I’ll try and come back next year.”
Schedulers have had their work cut out devising an order of play for Wednesday, combining unplayed first-round matches with some second-round contests.
Here, the PA news agency takes a look at what promises to be an exciting day’s action.
Jodie’s Centre stage
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Jodie Burrage’s reward for registering her first win at Wimbledon is opening up Centre Court’s schedule on Wednesday.
The 24-year-old was best known for her affiliation with the Percy Pig sweets after offering some to a stricken ball boy at last year’s event but it is her tennis that is attracting attention this year.
She will have it tough in the second round against 11th seed Daria Kasatkina, but she is playing with confidence after an excellent grass-court season and a partisan home crowd could help deliver one of her best career wins.
Brit watch
Burrage is one of seven home players in action in a packed schedule around the grounds. Youngster Arthur Fery gets the honour of opening Court One against Daniil Medvedev and Heather Watson follows in a tough assignment against 10th seed Barbora Krejcikova.
George Loffhagen will finish his match against Holger Rune, finding himself a set down after Tuesday’s play, while Katie Boulter completes her contest with Daria Saville that began 24 hours previously.
Jan Choinski is also scheduled to play his former doubles partner Hubert Hurkacz.
Clearing the backlog
It will have been a nightmare for tournament officials to plan, but punters will get value for money as the schedule is packed following Tuesday’s effective washout.
There are a host of first-round matches that have yet to even start, while all of Tuesday’s outside court matches need to be finished.
With 18 second-round clashes also due to get under way, some courts are set to host five matches should the weather stay fair.
Iga and Novak hoping for calm
Amid all the chaos of matches elsewhere, big hitters Novak Djokovic and Iga Swiatek will be hoping to go about their business in serene fashion on Centre Court.
Women’s world number one Swiatek, in search of her first title at SW19, follows Burrage against Spaniard Sara Sorribes Tormo, against whom she should have few problems.
Djokovic is seemingly invincible on Centre Court, unbeaten in the arena since the 2013 final against Andy Murray, and Australian Jordan Thompson seems unlikely to be the man who is going to end that record.
Match of the day
The rain robbed fans of a potential classic clash between fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas and Dominic Thiem on Tuesday as the heavens opened midway through the second set.
They will return to finish on Wednesday and it is even more intriguing given Thiem won the opening set on his first outing at SW19 since 2019.
Tsitsipas is hardly rich in pedigree on the grass having never gone past the fourth round.
Murray will be among those looking on with interest as he will face the winner in the second round.
Order of playWeather
Former England captain Beckham watched from the Royal Box as Britain’s Burrage was routed 6-0 6-2 by Russian 11th seed Daria Kasatkina.
“It was a good experience. Obviously not the result that I wanted. The first set was pretty brutal,” said Burrage, 24.
“But all in all, you dream to be out on Centre Court. When I found out yesterday, it’s so exciting.
“In the same breath, you’ve got to deal with those nerves as well. I wish I could have settled a little bit earlier today. But you’ve got to go through these experiences to feel more comfortable in the next ones.
“So, yeah, it was a tough day, but also one of my dreams come true.”
Burrage arrived on court with high hopes after reaching the Nottingham final last month and then knocking out Caty McNally on Monday for her first win at a grand slam and a likely place in the top 100.
But she found herself staring down the barrel of a humiliating ‘double-bagel’ in the second round after dropping the first set without winning a game in 19 chastening minutes.
Kasatkina held again at the start of the second before Burrage finally got on the board, raising her arms in mock celebration in front of the Royal Box.
Bear Grylls, also watching from the posh seats, would have enjoyed the survival skills on display as Burrage went on to clinch a break of serve to lead 2-1.
But she was unable to hold serve before a rain delay and, despite some admirable resistance upon the resumption, Kasatkina clinically closed out the match in exactly one hour.
“I mean, having the people who were in that box out there watching you. I actually didn’t see who was in there,” added Burrage.
“When you’re on the court, it’s hard to see who is in there. You don’t want to really look and stare.
“Then during the rain delay, they obviously had the cameras around, and in the room we’re in I obviously saw David Beckham was announced. ‘Oh my God, David Beckham is watching me play tennis right now’. And I was at 6-0, 2-2.”
Boulter, who is from Leicester and considers this her home tournament, beat Burrage 6-3 6-3 in the first all-British final at this level since 1977.
She had only reached a quarter-final before but now follows Johanna Konta as a British winner here, cementing her position as British number one and surging up the rankings to inside the top 80.
It also completed a British double as Andy Murray won the men’s Challenger Tour event.
Despite defeat, it was also a breakout week for Burrage in reaching her first final, and with three Britons making the last four, it was a strong response to the criticism for the lack of British women in the French Open singles last month.
Indeed, it is their best showing in a tournament since Virginia Wade and Sue Barker were at the top of the women’s game in the 1970s.
Playing at Nottingham has always meant a lot to Boulter, with her mum and granddad able to watch, and she made sure this was going to be her moment from the off as she surged into a 3-0 lead in the first set thanks to an early break.
Burrage has had some long matches this week and after a recent injury said she was “hanging by a thread” physically, and she struggled to match her compatriot throughout.
Boulter broke again but she missed her first chance to serve out the set only to quickly settle any nerves by breaking Burrage for a third time to take the opening set.
Another early break in the second set tightened her grip on the match and it never loosened, claiming victory and her maiden title on her second championship point.
There was a warm embrace between the British pair at the end as Boulter enjoyed her moment.
