British number one Johanna Konta beat American Victoria Duval 6-3 6-0 in the first round of the Nottingham Open.
Konta was beaten by German Julia Goerges in the first round of the French Open but has risen to a best-ever ranking of 18.
The 25-year-old will play either fellow Briton Freya Christie or China’s Zheng Saisai in the next round.
“I am very happy to come through. She started off very well so I had to dig deep,” Konta told BBC Sport.
“It was my first match on grass so I am glad to get another opportunity to play this week.”
Konta is seeded second for the grass-court event, behind the Czech Republic’s Karolina Pliskova.
There was also some British success earlier in the day as Tara Moore booked her place in the main draw with a 6-2 6-2 qualifying win over Shuko Aoyama.
British stars Heather Watson, Laura Robson and Naomi Broady are also all in the first-round draw, as is former world number one Caroline Wozniacki.
You can listen to BBC radio commentary of the event, which runs until 12 June, by clicking this link.
Meanwhile, British number two Aljaz Bedene beat American qualifier Ernesto Escobedo in the first round of the Ricoh Open in s’Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, 7-6 (7-5) 6-2.
It was the 26-year-old’s first match since being knocked out of the French Open by eventual champion Novak Djokovic and the world number 58 will play second seed Bernard Tomic in the next round.
[Source BBC]
