WTA • BIRMINGHAM TENNIS – KERBER AND KVITOVA FACE TOUGH OPENERS • Draw, Results, Order Of Play

Written by: Staff on 17th June 2017

WTA • BIRMINGHAM TENNIS - KERBER AND KVITOVA FACE TOUGH OPENERS • Draw, Results, Order Of Play |

World No.1 and former Aegon Classic Birmingham champion Angelique Kerber faces a tough draw after be pitted against former Roland Garros runner-up Lucie Safarova in the first round of the WTA Premier event, which got underway on Saturday.

Kerber is not the only player with a difficult opening match on their hands. Seventh seed and two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, playing only her second tournament since returning to competition after a knife attack, has a potentially tricky opener against Australian Daria Gavrilova.

British No.2 Heather Watson (Guernsey) plays Elina Svitolina and fellow Briton Noami Broady (Stockport) will be up against talented Frenchwoman Alize Cornet.

British No.1 and World No.8 Johanna Konta, who will be playing for the Aegon Trophy Nottingham title on Sunday, is seeded fourth in Birmingham, where she is set to take on Lesia Tsurenko.

Qualifying began on a hot and sunny Saturday at the Edgbaston Priory Club, where many spectators took advantage of the weather and the chance to watch live grasscourt tennis. Sunday is forecast to be another sun-drenched day of qualifying matches, with British interest centring around Leicestershire’s Katie Boulter, who plays American Sasha Vickery in the second qualifying round.

Saturday saw Boulter (from Woodhouse Eaves in Leicestershire) come through a gritty all-British encounter with Jodie Burridge (London) 61, 67(3) 64 in one of the most competitive matches of the day.

Full results from Saturday’s opening round of qualifying can be found below.

AEGON CLASSIC BIRMINGHAM – BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND

$885,040

June 19 – 25, 2017

Women’s Singles

First Round

[1] A. Kerber (GER) vs. L. Safarova (CZE)

L. Davis (USA) vs. N. Osaka (JPN)

N. Hibino (JPN) vs. K. Siniakova (CZE)

Qualifier vs. [5] K. Mladenovic (FRA)

[3] D. Cibulkova (SVK) vs. Y. Duan (CHN)

S. Zhang (CHN) vs. M. Linette (POL)

A. Cornet (FRA) vs. [WC] N. Broady (GBR)

D. Gavrilova (AUS) vs. [7] [WC] P. Kvitova (CZE)

[6] G. Muguruza (ESP) vs. Qualifier

D. Vekic (CRO) vs. A. Riske (USA)

C. Mchale (USA) vs. C. Vandeweghe (USA)

L. Tsurenko (UKR) vs. [4] J. Konta (GBR)

[8] B. Strycova (CZE) vs. Y. Putintseva (KAZ)

Qualifier vs. A. Barty (AUS)

Qualifier vs. N. Vikhlyantseva (RUS)

[WC] H. Watson (GBR) vs. [2] E. Svitolina (UKR)

ORDER OF PLAY – SUNDAY, JUNE 18, 2017

ANN JONES CENTRE COURT start 11:00 am

Qualifying – [2] C. Giorgi (ITA) vs G. Min (USA)

Qualifying – F. Stollar (HUN) vs [8] J. Fett (CRO)

Not Before 2:00 pm

Qualifying – [4] S. Vickery (USA) vs K. Boulter (GBR)

COURT 1 start 11:00 am

Qualifying – [3] S. Hsieh (TPE) vs M. Larcher de Brito (POR)

Qualifying – P. Krejsova (CZE) vs [5] E. Kulichkova (RUS)

Qualifying – [Alt] A. Rosolska (POL) or M. Kato (JPN) vs O. Savchuk (UKR) or [7] I. Soylu (TUR)

COURT 2 start 11:00 am

Qualifying – A. Raina (IND) vs [6] T. Smitkova (CZE)

Qualifying – [1] M. Vondrousova (CZE) vs A. Naydenova (BUL)

SATURDAY’S RESULTS
Qualifying Singles – First Round
Qualifying – [1] M. Vondrousova (CZE) d S. Aoyama (JPN) 61 61
Qualifying – [2] C. Giorgi (ITA) d [WC] E. Appleton (GBR) 75 64
Qualifying – [3] S. Hsieh (TPE) d C. Perrin (SUI) 16 76(5) 61
Qualifying – [4] S. Vickery (USA) d G. Dabrowski (CAN) 76(4) 26 75
Qualifying – [5] E. Kulichkova (RUS) d [WC] K. Swan (GBR) 76(1) 63
Qualifying – [6] T. Smitkova (CZE) d A. Rodionova (AUS) 75 61
Qualifying – [7] I. Soylu (TUR) d O. Savchuk (UKR) 64 64
Qualifying – [8] J. Fett (CRO) d D. Yastremska (UKR) 63 64
Qualifying – A. Naydenova (BUL) d I. Shinikova (BUL) 63 64
Qualifying – A. Raina (IND) d K. Dunne (GBR) 76(6) 64
Qualifying – G. Min (USA) d [WC] S. Murray (GBR) 57 63 64
Qualifying – F. Stollar (HUN) d L. Cabrera (AUS) 64 16 64
Qualifying – M. Larcher de Brito (POR) d J. Cako (USA) 63 64
Qualifying – M. Kato (JPN) d [Alt] A. Rosolska (POL) 62 46 61
Qualifying – K. Boulter (GBR) d [WC] J. Burrage (GBR) 61 67(3) 64
Qualifying – P. Krejsova (CZE) d T. Moore (GBR) 76(2) 63

Tickets to the Aegon Classic Birmingham, including qualifying are now on general sale viahttps://www.lta.org.uk/major-events/aegon-classic-birmingham/. Tickets are also available via the Box Office onsite at the tournament.
ABOUT AEGON CLASSIC BIRMINGHAM:

WTA Premier Tournament

Total Prize Money: $819,940

Surface: Grass

2016 Singles Champion: Madison Keys

2016 Doubles Champion : Barbora Strycova/Karolina Pliskova