Wozniacki wins Eastbourne opener, Dart goes through but Watson goes out
| 2018 Nature Valley International on the BBC |
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| Venue: Devonshire Park, Eastbourne Dates: 24-30 June |
| Coverage: Watch the women’s tournament live on BBC Two, BBC iPlayer, BBC Red Button, Connected TVs, the BBC Sport website and app. |
Caroline Wozniacki eased to a straight-set victory over Camila Giorgi in her first match at the Nature Valley International in Eastbourne.
The top-seeded Dane, 27, beat Giorgi of Italy 6-2 6-3 in the second round and will now face either Briton Johanna Konta or Aleksandra Kruni of Serbia.
British wildcard Harriet Dart, 21, claimed a shock 7-5 3-6 6-3 win over Czech 11th seed Kristyna Pliskova.
Heather Watson suffered a 7-6 5-7 3-6 loss to France’s Kristina Mladenovic.
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Watson, also a wildcard for the tournament, raced to a 5-2 lead in the first set before eventually winning it on a tie-break.
A tight second set followed but at 5-5 Mladenovic broke 26-year-old Watson’s serve to close out the set.
Mladenovic, 25, had the momentum and claimed the only break of the final set to clinch the match.
British number five Dart, ranked 181 in the world, clinched the biggest win of her career against a player 103 places higher.
Elsewhere, reigning champion Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic required three sets to clinch a 6-4 2-6 6-3 win over Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.