The main draw of the 2017 Aegon Classic in Birmingham got underway on Monday, with home-crowd favorites Heather Watson and Naomi Broady taking the court after getting wildcards for the event.
Watson played a competitive match, but fell to Elina Svitolina in three sets. While a loss of a local favorite is never desirable for a tournament, Watson’s loss has an upside, since Svitolina’s win makes sure that a top seed is through to the second round of the tournament a bit short of big names following a very unfortunate string of withdrawals.
The local fans got plenty to be happy about later in the day, as Naomi Broady upset Alize Cornet to make round two, joining namesake Naomi Osaka who had beaten American Lauren Davis earlier and spent some time with local kids during a tennis clinic.
First-round play at the 2017 Aegon Classic will continue on Tuesday as Petra Kvitova is due to play her first match at the tournament, facing off with fellow Czech Tereza Smitkova. For all that and more, keep checking back to Women’s Tennis Blog!
MORE PHOTOS FROM BIRMINGHAM:
- Sunday: Draw ceremony, Kerber’s withdrawal and qualifying action
- Saturday: WTA qualifying + Petra Kvitova’s practice session
Too bad Laura Robson played Ikley instead. I think Naomi Broady played well.