British ace Heather Watson to face Olympic star Anna Karolina Schmiedlova at Lexus W100 Shrewsbury
British star Heather Watson will face Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, who recently impressed at the Olympics in Paris, in the DMOS People Arena opener as the main draw matches in the Lexus W100 Shrewsbury start today.
Watson is a regular member of Great Britain’s Billie Jean King Cup team, while Schmiedlova, from Slovakia, is this week’s fifth seed and lost to world number one Iga Swiatek in the bronze medal match at Roland Garros.
Three more British players also play in the first round today, with Ella McDonald and Amelia Rajecki, who have both received wild cards, drawn against Daria Snigur, the sixth seed from Ukraine, and Chloe Paquet, the French fourth seed, respectively.
British qualifier Emily Appleton takes on fellow qualifier, Czech player Aneta Laboutkova, with a number of other Brits playing their first round singles matches at The Shrewsbury Club tomorrow.
This week’s number one seed, Nuria Parrizas-Diaz, from Spain, currently ranked 80 in the world, will face Swiss player Simona Waltert today.
Ranah Akua Stoiber impressed yesterday as she booked a place in the main draw - with two more British players, Appleton and Beth Grey, also winning their second qualifying round matches.
Stoiber, 19, who reached the semi-finals of the girls’ singles at the Junior Australian Open last year, beat Austrian player Tamira Paszek 6-1, 6-2.
Paszek, 33, twice reached the Wimbledon singles quarter-finals earlier in her career, but Stoiber delivered a fine display to get the better of her higher ranked opponent.
Stoiber, from London, said: "It was a really good atmosphere out there - I really enjoyed playing in front of the crowd.
"I feel like I played a very good game. I was pretty focused and I really enjoyed myself.”
Reflecting on beating a player who has been ranked as high as 26 in the world, Stoiber added: “I think it was a really good win for me to play against someone very experienced like that, so, yes, I’m glad I got the job done.”
Stoiber, currently ranked just outside the world’s top 600, is now looking forward to taking her place in the main draw.
“This is my first time playing in the main draw here, so I’m very excited for it,” she said.
Appleton, the British number 10, was a 7-6, 6-4 winner over Italian Deborah Chiesa, while Grey beat fellow Brit Ava Williamson 6-3, 6-3.
Of the other British players involved in the second qualifying round, Alice Gillan lost 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 against Croatian Iva Primorac, Emma Wilson was edged out 6-3, 6-7, 7-5 by Laboutkova, while 16-year-old Hephzibah Oluwadare lost 6-0, 6-1 against Croatian Petra Marcinko, the top seed in qualifying, who was ranked 132 in the world last October.
The other second qualifying round winners were German Nastasja Schunk and Estonian Elena Malygina.
Today's first round action, with both singles and doubles matches scheduled, starts at 10am, with admission for spectators to watch the matches from court-side stands £17.50, which includes a 40-page tournament programme.
This is the first time the Lexus W100 Shrewsbury has been held since David Lloyd Clubs, Europe’s largest health, fitness and wellness group, recently acquired The Shrewsbury Club.
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Jake Foulger keeps us up to date this Tuesday with all the Lexus W100 Shrewsbury action.
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