Eastbourne International: Britain’s Harriet Dart and Jodie Burrage record big wins

Harriet Dart and Jodie Burrage both gained excellent victories as the British duo reached the last 16 of the Eastbourne International.

Burrage, 24, lost the opening set in her match with world number 44 Lauren Davis before winning 4-6 6-4 6-3.

Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina has withdrawn from the tournament.

Dart recovered from a poor start and a mid-match dip in blustery conditions to set up a last-16 tie with either two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova or former French Open winner Jelena Ostapenko. Kvitova and Ostapenko won titles on Sunday in Berlin and Birmingham, respectively.

“That was a rollercoaster and I’m happy to close it out,” said Dart.

“I was not just playing my opponent, but playing myself at times. The conditions were really tough, the wind was going everywhere and it took a while to adapt to it.”

Dart, ranked 142nd in the world, reached the quarter-finals of the Nottingham Open and Birmingham Classic earlier this month to get a wildcard for Wimbledon and also for this week’s Eastbourne event.

Zhang, ranked 37th, burst into an early lead but Dart won five of the next seven games to reach 5-5, saving three break points in the eighth game.

The decisive break for Dart came in the 11th game before she served out the opening set.

She was twice serving for the second set but had her serve broken at 5-4 and again at 6-5 before losing the tie-break.

Dart received a warning after hitting her racquet on the ground at the end of that tie-break, but quickly regained her composure as she swept through the decisive set.

Kasatkina ‘worried’ for family in Russia

Russia’s Daria Kasatkina was one of a number of players banned from competing at Wimbledon last year due to the country’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

With the ban overturned this year, she registered a 6-3 6-1 victory over Ukrainian Anhelina Kalinina in her first match on the UK grass-courts.

Kasatkina has been one of the most outspoken players against Russia’s war in Ukraine, previously describing it as a “full-blown nightmare”.

She spoke after the match of her worries for friends who could have been caught up in the recent rebellion by the Wagner mercenary group, but was quick to acknowledge the situation is “way worse” for Ukrainians.

“My family, my parents are still in Russia,” she said. “As you can see, the last few days it’s been a big mess also there.

“My best friends they actually live in Voronezh, where the guy with the private army [Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of Wagner] entered.

“I was pretty worried about that because they were very scared.

“It’s been a tough year, and we don’t know how long it’s going to be. Honestly, so far I don’t see the end [of the war].”

Burrage advances but Peniston loses

Earlier this month, Burrage reached the final of the Nottingham Open – her first WTA Tour title match – before losing to fellow Briton Katie Boulter.

British number two Burrage then lost to Dart in the opening round of the Birmingham Classic and on Sunday was beaten 7-5 6-4 in the second round of Eastbourne qualifying by Italian Jasmine Paolini.

However, tournament withdrawals gave Burrage another chance as a lucky loser, and the world number 128 capitalised with a win over qualifier Davis.

Burrage will play another American in the last 16 – either world number seven Coco Gauff or Bernarda Pera.

British number one Boulter faces Croatian lucky loser Petra Martic in their first-round match on Tuesday.

In the Eastbourne men’s singles, there were first-round losses for Britain’s Ryan Peniston and George Loffhagen, who have both been handed wildcards to play at Wimbledon next week.

Loffhagen, 22, is the world number 367 and took the opening set against France’s 79th-ranked Luca van Assche, but he then lost two tie-breaks to be eliminated 2-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-4).

Peniston, aged 27 and 267th in the rankings, was beaten 6-3 6-2 by Switzerland’s Marc-Andrea Huesler, the world number 83.