Danish second seed Clara Tauson is safely through to the second round of the Nottingham Open after a 7-5 6-2 win over Australian Kimberly Birrell on Monday, while ninth seed Olga Danilovic’s tournament ended with defeat by Dayana Yastremska.
Tauson, who reached her first WTA 1000 final in Dubai earlier this year where she knocked out world number one Aryna Sabalenka along the way, made a winning start to her grass season and will face Russia’s Anna Blinkova next.
Blinkova had a comfortable 6-2 6-3 win over compatriot Kamilla Rakhimova. Ukrainian Yastremska won a second set tiebreak to down Danilovic 6-4 7-6(4) and now meets Croatian qualifier Antonia Ruzic who beat Lucia Bronzetti 6-0 6-4.
The only Briton in action on the opening day, wildcard Hannah Klugman, lost 6-2 6-2 to fourth seed Yulia Putintseva while Canadian fifth seed Leylah Fernandez beat Suzan Lamens 6-3 4-6 7-5.
Czech seventh seed Linda Noskova beat Romanian lucky loser Anca Todoni 6-4 3-6 7-6(6), and will face a British wildcard next, meeting the winner between Francesca Jones and Harriet Dart.
