Britain’s Harriet Dart battled past Marie Bouzkova at the Rothesay International at Devonshire Park, in sunny Eastbourne, with the mind-set that she would play Elena Rybakina in round 2, but the World No 4 and top seed has withdrawn from the WTA 500 event, reportedly due to illness.
It was an incredible match, so many ups and downs. Marie’s an incredible fighter, and always makes it tough. I’m very happy that it turned my way this time. Harriet Dart
The top 4 seeds at Eastbourne were all given byes into the 2nd round, but Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion, withdrew from the event following what the WTA said was a ‘change of schedule’, but her withdrawal also in Berlin due to illness gives rise to concerns over her Wimbledon participation.
Dart, the British No 2, now faces Sofia Kenin, a former Australian champion, who enters the draw as a lucky loser.
The Brit, now ranked 105, fought back from a double break down in the opening two sets, later revealing she was struggling with pain due to a wisdom tooth, but she fought back to take the first set before narrowly losing a second-set tiebreak.
Dart maintained her composure in the decider on her way to an impressive 7-5 6-7(7) 6-4 win over Bouzkova, the Czech World No 22.
She moved ahead for good by breaking for 2-1 in the deciding set, and never relinquished her advantage, saving a break point at 4-3 on her way to the win.
A wildcard entry, Dart delighted the home crowd by outlasting the former Wimbledon quarter-finalist in the marathon encounter that lasted a gruelling 3 hours and 29 minutes, the 3rd-longest match on tour this year.
“It was an incredible match, so many ups and downs,” Dart said afterwards. “Marie’s an incredible fighter, and always makes it tough. I’m very happy that it turned my way this time.”
Dart’s compatriots, Katie Boulter, Emma Raducanu and Lily Miyazaki are all in action on Tuesday.
Jeļena Ostapenko, the Eastbourne champion in 2021, defeated Greet Minnen to open her campaign at Devonshire Park
© Charlie Crowhurst/Getty Images for LTA
Meanwhile, Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko launched her bid for a 2nd Eastbourne title with a gritty straight sets win over Greet Minnen, the 2017 French Open champion defeating the Belgian qualifier, 7-6(3) 6-1 in just under 90 minutes on court.
There was a worrying moment when Ostapenko slipped on the grass midway through the second set, but the World No 13 recovered to close out the match.
Ostapenko won 9 straight matches at Eastbourne, taking the 2021 title and reaching the 2022 final before her successful run was ended by Czech Petra Kvitova.
“I think the surface suits me really well,” Ostapenko said after Monday’s match. “The first time I played on grass, I was like, ‘how can we play tennis on this surface? I don’t understand what’s happening here’, but then, every year, was better and better.”
Ostapenko came into Monday’s match knowing she had routed Minnen on grass in their lone previous encounter, 6-1 6-2, in the 1st round of Wimbledon just last year.
Minnen’s sole prior Top 20 win, though, also came on grass, when she shocked former champion Garbiñe Muguruza at Wimbledon in 2022, and she brought that kind of form into Monday’s opening set, where she led by a break on 3 separate occasions, and served for the set at 5-4 and 6-5.
Each time Ostapenko fell behind, the Latvian unleashed her big-hitting game to immediately pull back on serve, and, in the breaker, the 5th seed fired a backhand crosscourt winner to reach triple set point at 6-3.
She only needed one, slamming a forehand return winner to squeak out the one-set lead.
A slip and fall at 3-1 in the second led Ostapenko to take an off-court medical time-out, but the tumble seemingly did not halt her momentum as she easily closed out the win.
“Grass is a great surface, but sometimes it can be really slippery and really tricky,” 27-year old Ostapenko said in her on-court interview. “So I took the medical time-out just to make sure I’m fine.”
Qualifier Magda Linette came from behind to upset 8th-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in her opening round at Eastbourne on Monday
© Glyn Kirk/AFP via Getty Images
Elsewhere, Poland’s Magda Linette, who came through qualifying, managed to upset Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova from a set and 3-5 down, to bag her first win over the 8th-seeded Russian on her 3rd attempt, advancing to the 2nd round, 1-6 7-6(4) 6-4, after 2 hours and 16 minutes.
Another qualifier, Anhelina Kalinina from Ukraine, took down Romania’s Sorana Cirstea, 6-3 6-2, while Yuan Yue advanced to round 2 when Anastasia Potapova from Russia retired with the score standing at 6-3, 6-6 in favour of the Chinese.
As light fell on Day 1, Leylah Fernandez, ranked No 30, earned her first win over Barbora Krejcikova, the Czech 7th seed and former French Open champion, after the Canadian notched up a 6-2 3-6 6-2 upset in a match that finished at 9.27pm.
In the last match of Day that finished at 9.27pm, Leylah Fernandez upset Barbora Krejcikova, the No 7 seed, in 3 sets
© Charlie Crowhurst/Getty Images for LTA
