Patience for Raducanu – relief for Boulter – defeat for Norrie: Tuesday’s Eastbourne round-up

The 21-year-old wild card took the first set 6-4 against another former US Open champion, Sloane Stephens, before securing an emphatic victory with a 6-0 win in the second.

Headlines

British No.1 Katie Boulter beats Croatia's Petra Martic 61 76(8) to set up a second round match against No.5 seed Jelena Ostapenko on Wednesday.

Emma Raducanu serves up an impressive performance on her debut in Eastbourne to beat 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens 64 60. She will now play No.2 seed Jessica Pegula in the next round tomorrow.

Britain's Giles Hussey secures his first ATP Tour level win with a 64 62 victory over Argentina's world No.32 Mariano Navone.

British No.2 Cameron Norrie is beaten 76(9) 63 by Finland's Emil Ruusuvuori in one hour and 35 minutes.

Former British No.1 Raducanu is currently ranked 168th in the world following time off court through wrist and ankle operations last year.

The Bromley ace enjoyed an encouraging run to the semi-finals of the LTA’s Rothesay Open Nottingham and insists she has found her spark on the surface.

She said: “For me, it was a case of adapting to the court, I’ve never played in Eastbourne, I've never played on this Centre Court. Every court plays a little bit differently and, in the beginning, I was just figuring out which is the best way for me to play and use my game.

“It was a very close first set and I was down quite a bit and managed to break but it was difficult because Sloane is super athletic and in the first set especially she was making a lot of balls. It took a lot to try and hit through her and I think I managed to figure it out in the second set.”

Boulter upbeat on Eastbourne downgrading.

Raducanu ‘sad’ at plans to change Eastbourne line-up.

Elsewhere, British No.1 Katie Boulter felt a sense of relief as she got the better of her 2023 conqueror in the opening round.

Boulter pushed past Petra Martic in straight sets although the Croatian, who knocked the Brit out in the same stage last year, did not make it easy for the Leicester player. The 27-year-old took a 6-1 7-6 (8) win after digging deep in the tie-break to motor through to the second round.

British No.4 Lily Miyazaki fell to a first-round defeat at the hands of Belgium’s Elise Mertens, dropping out of the draw following a 6-1 6-2 loss.

Picture special from Devonshire Park.

Last week, Miyazaki was awarded a Wimbledon doubles wild card alongside Emily Appleton after the pair teamed up together for the first time in more than a year this season.

Fine margins cost Cameron Norrie after the Brit was knocked out in the opening round.

Facing Finland's Emil Ruusuvuori in his opener, the 28-year-old narrowly lost the first set which went to a tie-break before falling again in the second for an overall 7-6 (9) 6-3 defeat.

Following a first-round exit at the Queen’s Club last week against big-serving Milos Raonic, Norrie was looking to bounce back on the south coast.

Last week, he was confirmed for the Wimbledon main draw alongside Jack Draper, who won his first ATP Tour event in Stuttgart the previous week and knocked Norrie off his No. 1 perch.

After fashioning an Atalanta football shirt for morning practice, Liam Broady lost out to Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka, 6-3 6-4.

Broady was back on the grass court following a concussion which saw him miss the LTA’s Rothesay Open Nottingham earlier in the month.

The Eastbourne wild card also lost in doubles alongside Billy Harris to USA pair Austin Krajicek and Mackenzie McDonald in straight sets.

Fresh from a marathon win on Monday, Harriet Dart joined Maia Lumsden for the first round of women’s doubles.

The pair advanced with a 7-5 6-4 win against third seeds Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani which provided perfect Wimbledon preparation after the duo also received a wild card for SW19.

And Giles Hussey revelled in the biggest win of his career on the south coast after downing No.6 seed and world No.32 Mariano Navone in straight sets, 6-4 6-2, after entering the main draw as a lucky loser.

The Dorset player found out he was in the first round less than an hour before he took to the court.

Hussey will face Italian Flavio Cobolli in the second round and joins Harris and Charles Broom who meet each other in the last 16.

In the late matches, lucky loser and last year’s Wimbledon boy’s winner Henry Searle was denied a shot at the last 16 while Queen’s men's doubles champions Neal Skupski and Michael Venus bolted through to the quarter-final.

For the latest action on the British summer grass court season, check out the LTA website