Day one: Watson and Appleton kick-start campaigns with a win

The main draw action is fully underway at the Shrewsbury tennis tournament, with Heather Watson and Emily Appleton both recorded straight set victories on the first day of the W100 event at the Shrewsbury Lawn Tennis Club.

Watson made a strong opening statement as she secured a comprehensive 6-1, 6-1 win over world No.108 Anna Karolina Schmiedlova. The Brit broke Schmiedlova five times across the match to eventually book her spot in the second round in an hour and nine minutes.

World No.393 Appleton also got off to a winning start against Czech star Aneta Laboutkova after she clinched a 6-4, 7-6(5) victory. The 25-year-old Brit found the only breakthrough to seal the opening set, before Laboutkova raised her level in the second to force a tie-break. After consecutive breaks of serve, it was Appleton who held firm to see out the match victory.

However, it wasn’t to be for Amelia Rajecki and Ella McDonald who fell short in their opening round matches. Rajecki was defeated by Chloe Paquet 6-4, 6-2, meanwhile 441-ranked McDonald was defeated by Daria Snigur 6-0, 6-1.