Wimbledon: Defending champion Barbora Krejcikova survives scare in first round

    Defending champion Barbora Krejcikova survived a scare in the first round at Wimbledon before beating promising youngster Alexandra Eala 3-6 6-2 6-1 Centre Court.

    Barbora Krejcikova celebration Barbora Krejcikova celebration

    Krejcikova has been hampered by injury problems this year, enduring a long lay-off with a back problem before pulling out of Eastbourne last week because of a thigh issue.

    The 17th seed certainly seemed rusty in the opening stages and Eala took the first set after showing impressive range of shots.

    Krejcikova came back in the second set and, while she still looked uncomfortable on serve - frequently redoing her ball toss - she raced to a 5-0 lead.

    The 20-year-old Eala rallied to hold her serve, then overturned one of the breaks, but could not prevent Krejcikova levelling the match.

    A more comfortable third set followed as Krejcikova tidied up the errors and finally showed her emotion when closing out the match letting out a huge roar.