Wimbledon 2016: Tara Moore makes headlines for the right reasons after first round win

Heading to round two: Moore earned her first Grand Slam win on Tuesday
Adam Pretty/Getty Images

The last time Tara Moore grabbed the limelight was with a tweet about Serena Williams that ruffled some feathers.

Williams, who was ill at the time, struggled past Timea Bacsinszky at the French Open semi-final last year, leading Moore to tweet: “Not only is Serena one of the best women players of all time, she’s also one of the best actresses. #suckitup #learnhowtolose #pathetic.”

It led to some angry rebukes, even death threats, for Moore, who later tried to explain her comments.

Yesterday, the British No4 was in the spotlight for the right reasons following her first victory at a Grand Slam.

The 23-year-old has had a reputation for feistiness but older and wiser from the events of more than a year ago — and having linked up with sports psychologist Tony Lekic — she believes she is a changed person and played like one in beating Alison Van Uytvanck, 100 places and about half a foot higher than her.

“It’s been a great benefit working with Tony,” she said after the 6-3, 6-2 victory. “He doesn’t just help me with on-court stuff. There’s a lot of off-court stuff that people don’t see, things that are tough to handle for a tennis player.

“We travel a lot. We’re away from loved ones and friends a lot. That’s really difficult. Tennis is so difficult without all the little things. He’s definitely there to help with the little things. That’s been monumental for me.”

Wimbledon 2016 - In pictures

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On the home page of Lekic’s website, Excellent Effects, he asks the question “Want to Become a Champion?”

At 227th in the world before this win, Moore is not quite that yet but the Hong Kong-born player has been riding a crest of a wave this season reaching an ITF final as well as the quarter-finals at Nottingham. What has changed? “I’ve grown up a lot,” she explained. “Maturity definitely comes with age. I’ve been around for a while now and I do think everything is falling into place. I’ve put in a lot of graft and I think it’s paying off finally.”

With her past Wimbledon wildcards, Moore has opened with tough first-round matches. This was her first realistic chance of the right result despite that 100-place gap among the world’s elite. Watched by her father among others, she celebrated becoming the first British woman into the second round and a guaranteed cheque of £50,000 by buying dinner for him and the rest of her team last night.

There was to be no celebration for 17-year-old Katie Swan in her 6-2, 6-3 defeat to Timea Babos.

“It was a really tough match but first time playing here I thought it was pretty good,” said Swan. “It was such a good experience for me. It was great to have the crowd supporting me.”

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