After a rain-hit Tuesday, Wednesday was absolutely dry, so the first round managed to complete at the Nature Valley Classic and a handful of players progressed into the quarterfinals.
Reigning French Open champion Ashleigh Barty got her grasscourt season off to a winning start and there was hardly a better way to do it than to defeat Donna Vekic, who has recently played a final on the English lawns, finishing runner-up in Nottingham just a few of days ago. Playing her first Wimbledon warm-up tournament since 2011, Venus Williams advanced to the second round with a victory over Aliaksanda Sasnovich. Both these matches finished with a 6-3 6-4 scoreline.
Besides the completion of the first round, Wednesday hosted four second-round matches, the all-Pliskova encounter being the most talked about one, as Kristyna upset her twin Karolina in just under two hours.
Our Jimmie48 is bringing us photos from these three standout matches in Birmingham.
MORE PHOTOS FROM THE 2019 NATURE VALLEY CLASSIC:
- Tuesday: Osaka, Goerges, Ostapenko advance on rain-affected day
- Monday: Pliskova & Konta advance, Vekic arrives, Venus plays doubles
- Sunday: No.1 Osaka arrives as second round of qualifying wraps up
