Heather Watson fights back to earn a first-round win

The British No.2, who reached the last 16 of the LTA Viking Open Nottingham last week before losing to fellow Brit Katie Boulter, was forced to work hard against Switzerland’s Golubic but eventually her class shone through against the world No.71.

In a game full of chances for both players it was Watson who took advantage, claiming six of the 17 break points on offer to her as she secured her fifth victory on the WTA Tour this season.

“It was a really good match for me,” Watson said. “Viktorija’s really tough to play.

“We’re the same age; I’ve known her for years and years, we’ve come up through our tennis careers together and she’s got a great game for grass so it was very tricky.

“We played doubles together last week and we’ve been practicing together.

“We were supposed to practice together and we had to text each other yesterday to say that we play each other so maybe not!

“I’m really happy to get through that. I was a little bit nervous at the end there closing it out but as expected I’m just really glad I held my nerve and came up with some of my biggest serves there.

“It’s just been so great to play in front of a crowd again. Thanks for everyone who came out here and supported us. It was great and I think that’s what got me through that match in the end.”

Watson will play China’s Zhang Shuai, who lost the Viking Open Nottingham final to Johanna Konta on Sunday, or Russian qualifier Vitalia Diatchenko in round two.

British No.3 Harriet Dart put in a spirited performance against French former world No.4 Caroline Garcia before losing 7-5, 4-6, 6-4.

Dart lost a tight first set despite having a set point and serving for a 1-0 lead a game later, but fought back to win the second.

Garcia raced into a 5-1 lead in the third set and served out the match at the second attempt to hold off Dart’s fight-back.

Elsewhere Fran Jones was beaten in straight sets by the No.3 seed Donna Vekic, who overcame the Brit 6-1, 6-3 in their first-round match.

Vekic is noted grass court player. She previously reached the 2013 final in Birmingham aged just 17 and was also champion in Nottingham in 2017.

Earlier, the first-round match between Elise Mertens and Ajla Tomljanovic was removed from the schedule because of coronavirus concerns.

The clash between Belgian Mertens, the top seed, and Australian Tomljanovic was replaced on the Ann Jones Centre Court by the Dart-Garcia oencounter.

A statement from tournament organisers read: “A player and coach were identified as a potential close contact on an arriving flight as part of UK’s NHS Track and Trace service and, while that case is being fully examined, the decision was taken to defer the first-round match between Elise Mertens and Ajla Tomljanovic from Monday’s order of play in the Viking Classic Birmingham, ensuring all policies and procedures are appropriately followed.”

There are tight protocols around all the grass-court events happening in the UK, with players required to stay in designated hotels and only allowed to leave to travel to tournament sites.

The match has been rescheduled for today.