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By Kieran Jackson | Monday, June 19, 2017

 
Elina Svitolina

Elina Svitolina made a successful start to her 2017 grass-court campaign.

Photo credit: Christopher Levy

Grass demands quick decisions and fast strikes.

Elina Svitolina and Naomi Osaka put those assets to use prevailing in tight tests today.

More: Vekic Wins Nottingham

While the famed Queen’s Club hosts the Aegon Championships for the men in London, on the ladies’ side, the Edgbaston Priory Club in Birmingham plays hosts to the Aegon Classic, a WTA Premier event with a number of top players in action.




The second-seeded Svitolina held off British wild card Heather Watson, 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 in her Birmingham opener.

It was Svitolina’s first match since she failed to convert a match point falling to Simona Halep in a dispiriting 3-6, 7-6 (6), 6-0 defeat in the Roland Garros quarterfinals.

Osaka edged American Lauren Davis in a thriller, 6-1, 2-6, 7-6 (4).

The 19-year-old Osaka, the youngest woman in the field, hit 11 aces toppling the world No. 27. Davis was one of four Americans in the field.

Despite the unfortunate withdrawal of world number one Angelique Kerber with a left hamstring injury, and world No. 2 Halep with a right ankle injury, the draw still boasts three Top 10 players: Svitlona, Dominika Cibulkova and home favorite Johanna Konta, who’ll be looking to go one further after her run to the title in Nottingham last week was halted with a surprise loss to Donna Vekic in the final.

Vekic, a former runner-up at Birmingham in 2013, is in Konta’s quarter this week and faces American Alison Riske in the first round.




Elsewhere in the 32-player draw, the tournament sees two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova play her first match on grass since being stabbed in her left hand by a burglar at her home just before Christmas, leaving her with nerve and tendon injuries to her dominant left hand.

Kvitova will play a qualifier in the first round, her third appearance at the event.

The only other former Grand Slam champion in the draw (following the withdrawals of Kerber, newly-crowned French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko, and five-time major winner Maria Sharapova) is Spaniard Garbiñe Muguruza. The 2016 French Open Champion will be hoping for a good run in Birmingham ahead of Wimbledon – she reached the final at the All England Club in 2015.




Some interesting first-round encounters include Americans Christina McHale and CoCo Vandeweghe facing off.

With 470 ranking points on offer for the winner, (and a mere $153,515), the entire draw will hope to get some matches on the grass under their belts, with just two weeks to go till The Championships at Wimbledon.

Freelance journalist Kieran Jackson is covering the British grass court summer in the lead up to Wimbledon for Tennis Now.

 

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