World No 31 Jelena Ostapenko lapped up the boos on Wimbledon’s second show-court No 1 as she broke British hearts with her defeat of wildcard Harriet Dart. The former French Open champion represented a fearsome opponent for Dart, but after cruising through the first set, a second riddled with unforced errors allowed the world No 93 to sneak back into the match. Going for the break at 4-2 in the third, Dart watched Ostapenko double fault to hand her the game, and was duly applauded by the home crowd. But rather than chalking it up to the expectations of Brits in the stands, Ostapenko chose to interpret their support as a personal attack – and responded by sarcastically applauding them with her racquet. Ostapenko, who is sponsored by Tesco for the tournament, also gave the crowd a thumbs up, which prompted a wave of boos as British excitement turned. The 29-year-old star is one of the biggest hitters on the tour and one of its most combustible stars, with Dart often unable to deal with her raw and aggressive power. Jelena Ostapenko cut a disruptive figure on No 1 Court as she downed Harriet Dart on day one The world No 93 picked up a wildcard to make it into the main draw but only caught a glimpse of the storied tournamentBut as troubling to the Briton was Ostapenko’s ability to disrupt her and play the match on her own terms. One of the ways in which she aimed to break up the flow of the game came with an extended service game, and the repeated catching of her ball toss as she stood on the baseline. So noticeable was her repeated delaying of the start of serve that tennis legend Martina Navratilova – on commentary duty – even said ‘Jesus’ under her breath during one long-running motion. Despite clawing her way back to parity at 4-4 in the third set, Dart found herself overpowered as Ostapenko cleaned up her game to snatch the match at the last, winning 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. After the pair shook hands, there appeared to be a small dispute between Dart and Ostapenko, as the latter collected a number of the souvenir towels on the court – in the vein of Iga Swiatek last year – to stuff into her racquet bag. But the Latvian star was all smiles in her on-court interview, determined to win the crowd on to her side. ‘I know guys, I’m probably not the one you wanted to win, but thanks guys for a very nice atmosphere,’ Ostapenko said. ‘Sorry if I was a little bit emotional, but I feel like first rounds are so tough, especially when the opponent is from here.’ ‘It’s funny, I feel like when I play somebody local or somebody the crowd supports, I feel like I’m angry inside in a good way, and I want to prove wrong that you’re not supporting the right person,’ she continued, before adding that she understood why ‘of course’ the crowd would support one of their own. ‘I feel like I want you guys to support me in the next match!’ Ostapenko finished, with the roar of the crowd suggesting that she had won at least some of them over. Dart’s first-round exit came against the backdrop of a challenging day for British women following Emma Raducanu’s late withdrawal through injury on Sunday night. Talented British teenager and 2024 Girls US Open winner Mika Stojsavljevic was the first of the promising hopefuls extinguished as she was taken to task in straight sets by No 11 seed Belinda Bencic. Alicia Dudeney, 23, who came through Qualifying at Roehampton last week, was similarly despatched by big-hitting Alycia Parks.