Charlie Swaine blocked out the noise to stun 12th seed Marko Maksimovic and advance to the boys’ singles second round at Wimbledon.
The Bristol player, 17, toppled the highly-rated Serb 6-2 7-5 in a rain-affected clash on Court 5.
The players were forced off while Swaine had a comfortable lead and the British star admits he couldn’t resist the temptation of checking his phone during the delay.
But he regained his focus when the contest resumed to seize the second set and get his SW19 campaign up and running.
“I’m buzzing – it’s always been a dream to play at Wimbledon and it was incredible to be out there,” he said.
“I came out of the blocks well, the rain delay came and my legs were getting a bit tired.
“Then the break came, I had some food, came back, played well again and got the job done.
“It was definitely difficult to stay focused – my phone had so many messages from my friends trying to speak to me, and I had a little look at the stats as well.
“They were watching the football at the same time – I opened a few messages during the break and some of them had sent me a few photos of me playing.
“The crowd was unbelievable – it was a completely different atmosphere to what I’m used to, so it was great.”
Swaine joined fellow Bristol player Luke Hooper, 18, in the second round on a successful opening day for the home players on Saturday.
Hooper beat Daniil Sarksian on the court next door as many fans flocked to catch a glimpse of the stars of the future in action.
Swaine will now face either Timofei Derepasko or Swiss qualifier Flynn Thomas in the second round.
And he added: “I had so many more people than I expected supporting me – mum, dad, brother and three friends who got the train at 6am.
“It’s a good feeling – they’re people that care about you and want to see you win, so it’s nice.
“It’s got to be one game at a time – I’ve made the mistake of thinking too far ahead before so it’s just one game at a time, every point as it comes.”
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