The latest British hope for Wimbledon will appear this afternoon as Jodie Burrage takes on Daria Kasatkina on Centre Court.
Burrage is fresh off her first ever win at the showpiece event after she advanced into the second round of Wimbledon on day one with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over American Caty McNally.
She faces a tough ask to reach the third round as she comes up against Russian No 1 Kasatkina, who is ranked No 11 in the world.
The action will get underway at around 1:30pm and the British No 2 will hope to not follow in the fate of fellow Brits Harriet Dart and Katie Swan in being knocked out of the tournament at SW19.
In light of Burrage’s huge clash, Mail Sport provides everything you need to know about her.
British No 2 Jodie Burrage will take on Daria Kasatkina in round two of Wimbledon today
Who is Jodie Burrage?
Burrage was born on May 28, 1999 in Kingston upon Thames and spent her formative years living around London and Surrey.
She secured a scholarship to the prestigious Talbot Heath School in Bournemouth which helped develop her tennis even further.
Burrage has three younger brothers – Zach, Ben and Seb – and credits her mum, Yvonne, for getting her into the sport.
When she was still in her teens, she was mentored by former British tennis players Colin Beecher and Lucie Ahl.
However, the 24-year-old’s rise to the second round at Wimbledon has not been without trouble as she struggled with injury.
Burrage was forced to undergo a third ankle operation aged just 21 in 2020 which made her contemplate retirement.
She battled through and made her WTA Tour main-draw debut in doubles back in 2020 at the Austrian Open, before Burrage had her singles bow at the Abu Dhabi Open in January 2021.
Her first Grand Slam was at Wimbledon later that year when she received a wildcard entry.
Burrage made her Wimbledon bow in 2021 as a wildcard and has played in 2022 and 2023
What is her ranking?
Heading into Wimbeldon, Burrage was ranked as world No 108.
Her high watermark came in May when she rose to No 106, but she has gradually progressed over the past few years.
In the summer of 2022, she entered the top 150 for the first time and has been steadily improving ever since.
Burrage has risen to world No 108 after first entering the top 150 back in the summer of 2022
Does Burrage have a boyfriend?
The 24-year-old is in a relationship with professional rugby player Ben White.
The scrum-half – who played for London Irish in the Gallagher Premiership last season before they entered administration – is a 14-cap Scotland international, despite representing England at youth level.
Burrage and White have been dating since 2019 and live together in Richmond where they share a black Labrador dog called Otto.
Speaking last month after the collapse of London Irish due to financial difficulties, Burrage said: ‘Definitely not an easy situation at all. It’s really sad what’s happened to the club and not just the players but staff and everyone else.
‘It all happened last night and nobody had any idea so I don’t actually think it hit him (White) until this morning really. It does affect where he’s going to be. I’m lucky enough to be living with him in Richmond.
Burrage is dating former London Irish scrum-half and Scotland international Ben White (right)
‘We’ve been like that for two years so it’s going to be an adjustment for us wherever he goes, so that’s tough and that played on my mind a little bit today.
‘It’s been quite stressful the last few weeks and it’s really not nice for him either. It’s not nice for anyone at the club because I know quite a few people at the club.’
White once admitted that before he got together with Burrage, he had never watched a game of tennis.
History
Burrage’s career record encompasses 209 wins to 104 defeats while she has won five International Tennis Federation tournaments.
Her second round tie at Wimbledon is the furthest she has been at a Grand Slam, with her two previous appearances in SW19 resulting in first round defeats in 2021 and 2022.
Unfortunately, Burrage has never made it past the qualifying stage at the Australian, French or US Open.
Burrage reached the Nottingham Open final before losing to fellow Brit Katie Boulter (left)
She has been in impressive form heading into this year’s tournament, reaching the Nottingham Open final last month – the first time she has gone past the round of 16 in a WTA Tour event.
However, Burrage unfortunately went down in straight sets to British No 1 Katie Boulter.
What did she do at Wimbledon last year?
Burrage was beaten 6-2, 6-3 by Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko in the first round in 2022, but the bigger story was the Brit and her unorthodox medical assistant for a stricken ball boy.
Burrage came to the aid of a ball boy during her first-round Wimbledon exit last year
She grabbed plenty of headlines following the quick-thinking to grab Percy Pigs from her bag
There was immediate concern when a young ball boy had to be led to a chair and tended to by the match umpire.
Quick-thinking Burrage could see the boy was light-headed and so she ran to her bagto grab some Percy Pigs, a staple of her mum’s sweets drawer at home, to feed him.
A few minutes later, having received treatment from paramedics, the ailing ball bowas led away from Court 18 in a wheelchair as Tsurenko closed Burrage out. For everyone but the disappointed Brit the result was inconsequential. She was departing the SW19 draw as something of a hero.