EASTBOURNE: Top seed Barbora Krejcikova saved two match points on the way to a 6-3, 6-7(4) 7-5 victory over Briton Harriet Dart at the Eastbourne Open on Tuesday, only her second singles win of the grass season before her Wimbledon title defence begins.

Czech Krejcikova, who returned to action last month after a back injury had kept her out of action since November, needed two hours and 40 minutes to secure the win at a breezy Devonshire Park.

Having taken a scrappy opening set, Krejcikova continued to struggle with the wind and was involved in a heated exchange with the umpire after earning a time violation for taking too long on serve, with Dart taking advantage.

The 124th-ranked Dart broke to level the set at 6-6 and sailed through the tiebreaker as Krejcikova’s second serve faltered.

Dart looked poised for victory when leading 5-3 in the decider and had two match points at 5-4 but her game disintegrated as Krejcikova dug deep.

A deflated Dart let out a frustrated scream after losing her advantage and crumbled in her final service game as she was broken to love.

Krejcikova faces another Briton next in Jodie Burrage who beat Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima.

Meanwhile, British number one Emma Raducanu looked like following Dart out as she struggled against American Ann Li but the former US Open champion recovered to win 6-7(5) 6-3 6-1. Raducanu next faces Australia’s Maya Joint.

Former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin of the United States was beaten 6-4, 6-4 by Kimberly Birrell.

On Monday, Brazilian teenager Joao Fonseca claimed his first tour-level win on grass with a 6-7(8), 6-0, 6-3 victory over Zizou Bergs while on the women’s side New Zealand’s Lulu Sun defeated top seed Daria Kasatkina 7-5, 2-6, 6-3.

Published in Dawn, June 25th, 2025