Boulter reveals key to overcoming Just Stop Oil protest at Wimbledon

Katie Boulter believes a cool head and laser-focused mentality helped her block out a Just Stop Oil protest and battle from behind to book her place in the second round at Wimbledon. The British No.1, 26, beat Australian Daria Saville 7-6(4) 6-2 on Wednesday afternoon in a dramatic, disturbance-delayed encounter on Court 18.

Ad Boulter trailed 4-2 in a first set tie-break against her lower-ranked opponent when a second Just Stop Oil protest of the day postponed play for several minutes. WimbledonTsitsipas: Murray bathroom row ‘forgotten’ ahead of Wimbledon clashAN HOUR AGO Mirroring their exploits on the same court during Grigor Dimitrov's triumph against Sho Shimabukuro two hours earlier, a protester invaded the premises and threw orange-coloured confetti and jigsaw pieces from a 'Centre Court View' puzzle box all over the playing surface.

After the protester was escorted off by police, Boulter and her opponent, 29, helped court stewards and ball boys clear the debris before the contest resumed around 10 minutes later. And the impromptu delay seemed to work wonders for Boulter, who stirringly turned the tables to win the next five points in the tie-break and storm into a one-set lead before breezing to a comfortable victory in the second.

The world No.89 admits the timing of the stoppage may have swayed the momentum and maintaining a level-headed mindset reaped major rewards. Boulter, who will take on Bulgarian and world No.99 Viktoriya Tomova in the second round, said: «There were a lot of emotions because I didn't really know what to do in that situation — it's not something I've been through before.

»Naturally, my first instinct would have been to try and help get everything off the court. «But at the same time, I