Harriet Dart won the Battle of the Brits with a hard-fought three-set battle over Jodie Burrage at the LTA’s Rothesay Classic Birmingham. 

Dart fought back from a set down to beat her compatriot in over two hours, eventually winning 4-6 6-2 7-5 to book her place in the second round. 

Earlier, new British No.1 Katie Boulter was unable to continue the momentum from her first ever WTA Tour title at the LTA's Rothesay Open Nottingham last week, as she lost 7-5 7-5 to China’s Lin Zhu. 

Boulter, a recent graduate of the LTA’s Pro Scholarship Programme, broke early in the first set but the world No.39 bounced back to narrowly edge a close fought contest. 

But Boulter remained positive despite defeat following her first WTA Tour win in Nottingham last weekend.  

“It was obviously a tough match today. I knew coming in here I would be on the backfoot body-wise which is a place that I actually want to be because it means I am testing myself and pushing myself,” said Boulter. 

“I didn’t want to skip a week and I am proud of myself for going out there, I gave it everything I had and unfortunately, I was on the losing side but that is fine, we pick ourselves up and go again for the next two tournaments. 

“It has been a great couple of weeks, I lost a close one today. I expect myself to fight, to get stronger and the more I have these situations the stronger I will get.” 

Elsewhere, former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko battled her way past Linda Noskova 6-2 5-7 6-1, while eighth seed Sorana Cirstea beat her fellow Romanian Ana Bogdan 6-4 2-6 6-3 and qualifier Magdalena Frech beat 2019 Wimbledon semi-finalist Barbora Strycova 7-6(3) 6-1. 

There was also safe passage for fourth seed Anastasia Potapova, who got past Marta Kostyuk 6-7(6) 7-5 6-4. 

In the doubles, British wildcard pairing Alicia Barnett and Olivia Nicholls tasted defeat to Norwegian duo Ulrikke Eikeri and Alexandra Panova after a mammoth deciding set, finally going down 2-6 6-2 10-5, while Magda Linette and Bernarda Pera eased past Alicja Rosolska and Nadiia Kichenok 6-2 6-3.

For the latest action on the British summer grass court season, check out the LTA website