In the shade, yes, but there was still plenty of psychological heat, as well as emotion and drama, on Centre Court as the unseeded Katie Boulter defeated Paula Badosa, the No. 9 seed from Spain, in the opening round.

By the time the Briton and Badosa walked on to Centre Court, it was the early evening and only one corner of the lawn, at the Royal Box end, was still exposed to the London sun that had been torching bodies and minds all afternoon.

As this match continued, the sunshine retreated until all the grass was in the shade. But even in conditions that were far cooler than the afternoon, there was still no escaping the other kind of heat – what people call the white heat of playing on the grandest stage of all.

Boulter says every British child dreams of playing on Centre Court and she felt like a little girl again when she saw she had been scheduled to play here on the opening day of The Championships. But there’s no doubt that being on Centre Court adds to the intensity of the occasion.

“I was completely bricking it (concerned),” Boulter said of the closing stages of her 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 win over her friend.

Even in the shade, it was still warm enough for Boulter to be wearing an ice towel during the changeovers. But it was nothing like as hot as it had been earlier on the same stage for Carlos Alcaraz and Fabio Fognini during their five-set match, which had lasted for more than four-and-a-half hours (there were three protagonists in that epic – the Spaniard, the Italian and the sun).

Alcaraz’s long match meant that Boulter and Badosa started much later than they would have been expecting and so avoided the full heat of the day. When it’s that hot on Centre Court, it can warp your brain as well as your body.

Never mind running straight and hitting straight. You can struggle to even think straight. Would there have been a different winner here had this been played earlier in the day, which would possibly have been easier for a Spaniard to deal with than someone from Leicestershire? We will never know.

Boulter and Badosa like each other. They are friendly off the court. But there was no holding back on the grass.

In the opening set, Boulter was doing what she had said she was going to do, which was swinging freely on the grass. As the unseeded player, she felt as though she had nothing to lose. All was going well for the Briton.

The second set turned in the fourth game. Having looked as though she was in control, Boulter served three double-faults to give Badosa a soft break. The Spaniard went on to level the match at a set apiece and then broke in the opening game of the third set.

In that moment, it appeared as though Badosa was going to repeat what she had done in their only previous Grand Slam meeting, in the first round of Roland-Garros last year, when she came from a set down to win.

But it was Boulter who raised her game when it mattered.

“I didn't have any nerve there. I was completely bricking it. I’ve played a lot of matches recently where I’ve started out great and then kind of let it slip,” Boulter said in her on-court interview.

“I played a game like that at Queen’s which hurt me a lot so I just tried to compete, fight and hope for the best today.

“I had to hope that she missed and keep pushing myself to be positive. I had to keep going after the ball and hoping that it would happen and today it actually did happen, so I’m thrilled.”