Anett Kontaveit provides ray of sunshine in winning Wimbledon opener at farewell event

WATCH: Jabeur talks Kontaveit after R1 win

Amid the doom and gloom of rain impacting play yet again at Wimbledon on Wednesday, a warm ray of sunshine emerged on Court 6.

Patiently navigating multiple starts and stops to the opening round of her farewell tournament, Anett Kontaveit defeated Lucrezia Stefanini, 6-4, 6-4. The win sent the former world No. 2 through to a second-round meeting with No. 32 seed Marie Bouzkova, a 2022 quarterfinalist at the London major.

"Super pleased that I managed to win this," Kontaveit told press. "Difficult for both of us, for all the players, waiting for two days is not easy. But there is nothing we can do about rain."

There were plenty of hurdles for Kontaveit to clear along the way. Among them:

• The match started 90 minutes late
• The contest was first interrupted with Kontaveit serving at 3-2, 30-15
• Play was suspended again, only after the Estonian dropped serve to see Stefanini level for 4-4

Kontaveit regained her break advantage upon returning. Seeing a 40-15 lead on serve erased, the 27-year-old got some help when facing break point, as her forehand clipped the tape and dribbled over out of Stefanini’s reach. On her fourth set point, Kontaveit struck a more convincing forehand blow to even her winners to unforced errors tally at 18 apiece.

More of the same played out in set two, minus the inclement weather. Kontaveit initially built a 4-2 lead, but the 111th-ranked qualifier dug in to even up the score. The Tallinn native regrouped with a break at love to put the match on her racquet and clinched the win when Stefanini’s challenge confirmed her shot was out.

"It definitely is emotional, and yeah, it feels a little different. But really excited that I get to play a few more matches here hopefully," said Kontaveit, who is also entered in mixed doubles with Finland's Emil Ruusuvuori. "Just do my best every time I walk on the court, and that's what I have been doing my whole career. Really want to do that for the one last time."

In June, Kontaveit revealed that lumbar disc degeneration in her back meant she could no longer compete at the highest level and that she would hang up her racquet following Wimbledon. On Tuesday, good friend Ons Jabeur said, “I believe the weather is sad that she's leaving, so they don't want her to play.”

Here's to the clouds parting and the sun shining over Kontaveit for a little longer at SW19.