Jodie Burrage adding to the momentum behind Brits ahead of Wimbledon

When Jodie Burrage steps on court against Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko at Wimbledon next week, she’ll be riding a wave of confidence.

Few would have predicted that the 23-year-old from Kingston, who is on the LTA’s Pro Scholarship Programme – the highest level of support for players aged 16-24 – would have made quite the impact she has ahead of her second appearance at the All England Club.

Most notably, she beat world No.4 Paula Badosa – an opponent 165 spots above her in the rankings – in straight sets at the LTA’s Rothesay International Eastbourne.

However, her success started when she reached the biggest semi-final of her career at the LTA’s Surbiton Trophy at the beginning of June, backing that up the following week with a maiden WTA-level win over Lin Zhu at the LTA’s Rothesay Open in Nottingham.

Then came a run to the biggest final of her career to date at the LTA’s Ilkley Trophy, where she beat two seeds and fellow Brit Sonay Kartal before being beaten by top seed Dalma Galfi in a three-set final.

That was followed by career-best wins over Petra Martic and Badosa in Eastbourne – not that Burrage was too preoccupied with Badosa’s pedigree.

“To be honest I took her name and who I was playing out of the equation,” said Burrage. “I just played the ball, I didn’t play anything else, and that’s what I’ve been doing the last few matches, that’s how I got through those tight moments.

“It was the biggest win of my career. I’m just taking the confidence from the last three weeks into these matches and that’s what’s been getting me through, along with the mental and physical work the last few months. It’s all paying off now.”

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