Lily Miyazaki spearheaded the British charge as women’s singles action got underway at Wimbledon Qualifying on Tuesday afternoon.
British No.7 Miyazaki began her campaign with a confident 6-2 6-4 victory over South Korea’s Han Na-Lae, setting up a second round meeting against 11th seed Yuan Yue.
It was a commanding performance from the Surrey player, who believed she executed her gameplan to near-perfection.
She said: “I’m really happy with my performance today. I’d played her once before and I lost, so I had a clear gameplan coming in. I think I executed it pretty well.
“She’s quite a tricky player because she’s left-handed and then double-handed both sides, so she didn’t give me too much pace. I had to go and try and be aggressive, make her move, and when I got her on the stretch I tried to finish some points at the net.”
Elsewhere there were fantastic wins for Naiktha Bains over Ukraine’s Katarina Zavatska, while Anna Brogan beat former junior world No.1 Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva.
Bains rallied from a set down to beat Zavatska 4-6 6-2 6-3 and set up a second round meeting against Viktorija Golubic.
“In the first I feel like I had a couple of chances earlier on to break. I feel like I could have, and who knows what would have happened if I had broken there,” commented Bains.
“At the end of the first set I was a bit disappointed with losing my serve fairly easily, but then I did well to refocus and get a decent lead in the second set. It was all about keeping that momentum for me, so I’m glad I managed to do that.”
In one of the last matches of the day, Brogan impressed as she also came from a set down to triumph 4-6 7-5 6-3 in her opening match, with fifth seed Diana Shnaider waiting on Wednesday.
“I’m just really delighted to have played a good match today and come through in three sets,” she said.
“I just kept trying to create opportunities out there and I just kept working. It was really nice to finish well today.
“I think I was playing well, and it was a case of just continuing to create opportunities, and with time on the court it was going to swing my way if I kept a good attitude and kept positive out there.”
Meanwhile, Emily Appleton’s Wimbledon debut ended in defeat, being beaten 4-6 7-6(4) 6-4 by Canada’s Carol Zhao in their opening round encounter.
U18 LTA Junior National champion Isabelle Lacy was beaten 7-5 6-2 by Elena-Gabriela Ruse on her Wimbledon qualifying debut, while 2022 champion Mimi Xu performed well in a 7-5 6-2 loss to the experienced Storm Hunter
And also in action was U16 LTA Junior National champion Hannah Klugman, who lost 6-1 7-6(6) to Reka Luca Jani.
For the latest action on the British summer grass court season, check out the LTA website
