BBC pundit rages at controversial Wimbledon star as match brought to halt

Martina Navratilova was fuming with Jelena Ostapenko during her first round clash with Britain's Harriet Dart on Monday afternoon. The controversial Latvian star was firmly in control of the tie in the first set.

Dart saved two set points and was serving to stay alive at 2-5 40-40 when Ostapenko asked for the match to be halted.

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Dart had tossed the ball into the air and started her serving motion when Ostapenko, on the other side of the net, held her racket high above her head.

"Why is Ostapenko holding up her racket? Why is she holding it up? [Huge groan]. Seriously!?" Navratilova fumed.

"The umpire should have called her up on that. There is no reason for Ostapenko to be holding up her racket."

After a brief pause, Dart's serve was returned into the net by Ostapenko, handing the Brit advantage.

The umpire then spoke to the crowd and said: "If you have your mobile phone with you can you please make sure it is switched off. Thank you."

Navratilova then took a slight step back on her comments, adding: "Oh it's a mobile phone, that is so annoying. You rarely get that happening these days.

Dart served an ace will the following delivery to clinch the game but still lost the first set 6-3.

Ostapenko arrived at Wimbledon in decent form having reached the Eastbourne final, where she retired injured when a set down against Tatjana Maria.

Meanwhile, Dart crashed out of that British event with a three-set loss to Zeynep Sonmez.