Johanna Konta recovers from second-set wobble to beat Lesia Tsurenko in Aegon Classic first round
Elsewhere, Petra Kvitova marked her return to her beloved grass with a 6-2 6-3 win over fellow Czech Tereza Smitkova
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Johanna Konta recovered from a second-set wobble to beat Lesia Tsurenko in the opening round of the Aegon Classic in Birmingham.
The British No 1 had little time to adjust to the courts at the Edgbaston Priory Club after reaching the final of the Nottingham Open on Sunday.
There she suffered a shock loss to Donna Vekic, and the world No 7 was in trouble again when she trailed 5-2 against Ukraine's Tsurenko in the second set.
But Konta, who called the doctor early in the second set, won three games in a row and then took her third match point in the tie-break to win 6-3 7-6 (8/6).
Earlier, Petra Kvitova marked her return to her beloved grass with a 6-2 6-3 win over fellow Czech Tereza Smitkova.
The two-time Wimbledon champion took a wild card into the tournament after making a quicker-than-expected recovery from the serious hand injuries she suffered when she was stabbed by an intruder in December.
Kvitova made her comeback at the French Open, partly so she could focus solely on tennis when the grass season came around.
"It feels different," she said. "I'm happy that I have everything done with the media and the pressure and everything with the comeback in Paris.
"So I'm glad that now I can focus on tennis, especially on the grass. And that's important that I am back in reality and just playing the matches."
Kvitova, who next meets Britain's Naomi Broady, was content with both her performance and the condition of her hand.
The 27-year-old suffered wounds to all five fingers, with nerve damage in two of them, and is still treading carefully.
She said: "I think this first match on the grass was pretty good. I think that I served well and I played good shots from the baseline.
"I think that she served very well, especially first serve. I had good timing on the court today and I'm happy with the way I played.
"We are still worried about the hand, so we are not practising that much. We still have days off to work on my hand, and it was very good today. So I'm happy with that the most."
PA
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments