Gracheva advances, Krejcikova saves two match points: Day 1 results at WTA 250 Eastbourne

This Tuesday, the first round of the WTA 250 in Eastbourne continued, featuring several top players. As Wimbledon—the tournament where she is the reigning champion—draws closer, Barbora Krejcikova secured her first grass-court win of the year.

After an early exit at Queen’s against Rebecca Sramkova, the Czech player, ranked 17th in the world and seeded No. 2 in Eastbourne, kicked off her campaign with a victory over Harriet Dart.

Trailing 5-4, 40-15 on the Brit’s serve in the final set, Krejcikova fought back mentally before clinching the win (6-3, 6-7, 7-5) after saving two match points. She will face another British player in the next round, Jodie Burrage.

Meanwhile, Emma Raducanu also advanced to the round of 16. The world No. 38, initially troubled by Ann Li, managed to turn the match around (6-7, 6-3, 6-1).

To reach the quarterfinals, she will need to overcome Maya Joint, who stunned Ons Jabeur on Monday. A quarterfinalist at Queen’s two weeks ago, Raducanu aims to build momentum ahead of Wimbledon, where she reached the round of 16 in 2024.

For the French contingent, the good news of the day was Varvara Gracheva’s qualification for the second round. Against Colombian player Camila Osorio, the Frenchwoman had to work hard but ultimately prevailed in a tense battle (6-4, 4-6, 7-5).

Coming through qualifying, Gracheva—who was down 0-40 on her final service game at 6-5—managed to win without needing a tiebreak. She will now face No. 8 seed Rebecca Sramkova for a spot in the quarterfinals.

Other players advancing include Jelena Ostapenko and Dayana Yastremska. The Latvian defeated Sonay Kartal (6-3, 7-6), while the Ukrainian benefited from Magda Linette’s retirement (6-4, 4-2 ret.) to reach the round of 16.

The Pole, who had already lost to Yastremska in the Nottingham semifinals a few days ago, threw in the towel after suffering a left knee injury in the second set.

The day’s biggest upset was the elimination of No. 4 seed Sofia Kenin by Kimberly Birrell (6-4, 6-4). The Australian, ranked 77th and a qualifier, continues her run and will face Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova for a quarterfinal spot. The round of 16 matches will take place this Wednesday in Eastbourne.