GB's Kartal wins as women return to Queen's

Britain's Sonay Kartal secured the biggest win of her career as women's tennis returned to Queen's Club for the first time since 1973.

The 23-year-old secured a superb 6-1 3-6 6-3 win over world number 16 Daria Kasatkina of Australia to start her grass-court season on a high.

It is the first time a women's tournament has been held at the iconic venue since 1973, when Olga Morozova lifted the trophy.

Queen's has been a mainstay on the men's calendar and a WTA 500 event has been added this year in an attempt to raise the profile of the women's game and increase the visibility of the sport.

Come Sunday, the trophy will finally have a new name on it, with world number seven Zheng Qinwen, Australian Open champion Madison Keys and 2022 Wimbledon winner Elena Rybakina among the top seeds competing in the capital.

Fellow Briton Jodie Burrage missed the chance to set up a meeting with doubles partner Kartal in the second round as she lost 6-4 3-6 6-4 to eighth seed Amanda Anisimova.

World number 162 Burrage started well but struggled in an error-strewn second set, before battling back from 3-0 down in the decider.

However, mistakes at crucial moments allowed world number 15 Anisimova to regain her advantage and and ultimately serve out the match.

Meanwhile, British pair Katie Boulter and Emma Raducanu overcame China's Jiang Zinyu and Wu Fang-hsien 6-4 6-2 on their maiden outing as a doubles partnership on a packed Court One.

It could be an all-British affair in the quarter-finals should Britons Burrage and Kartal overcome top seeds Lyudmyla Kichenok and Erin Routliffe on Tuesday.

Britain's Kartal has enjoyed a remarkable rise in the past 12 months, moving from outside the top 250 to a career-high of 50 in the world.

Cheered on by a packed partisan crowd, Kartal dominated the opening set against Kasatkina before the Australian bounced back in the second set to level proceedings.

But it was an impressive response from the Briton, who beamed after slamming down a forehand winner to seal victory.

"The nerves hit me a little but to be able to play on this court with you guys cheering me on it was a super special moment," said Kartal.

"The last few months I've played bigger tournaments so I'm handling the bigger occasions better.

"But I'm going at my own pace in this crazy sport."

'Scrap that, we're going for the Wimbledon title'

Fans were treated to an appearance from Sir Andy Murray before the action kicked off, with the club's main court renamed the Andy Murray Arena in honour of the five-time champion.

Murray spoke on court before hitting a few balls - later apologising for his "diabolical" tennis.

The Briton also delivered the coin toss for the first match of the tournament between two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova and Brazil's Beatriz Haddad Maia.

Murray did the coin toss before the opening match- between Petra Kvitova and Beatriz Haddad Maia - on the Andy Murray Arena

But while crowds had gathered early to see three-time Grand Slam champion Murray, it was the more intimate court one where fans queued for over an hour to see Boulter and Raducanu team up.

The pair were full of smiles as they comfortably came through their opening-round match thanks to some powerful baseline shots from Boulter and clever put-aways from Raducanu, who was playing only her second WTA Tour doubles match.

Asked if they would pair up again for Wimbledon, Raducanu gave a diplomatic answer, saying: "We haven't spoken about it.

"It kind of happened spontaneously but it went pretty well. We're just going to keep trying to do as best as we can this week and take it from there."

Boulter joked: "Scrap what she said - we're going for the Wimbledon title."

That friendly rapport between the two translated on court, with the pair laughing and high-fiving between points.

Raducanu even had a chat with the crowd while filling up her water bottle, such is the closeness of the stand to the players' chairs.

Backed by a capacity crowd of 1,000, the British number one and two complimented each other well.

"Sometimes on the smaller courts you get a bigger feel for the match because it's more intimate and you hear the support more. I think it puts a really nice feel to it," Raducanu added.

It also gave the two a chance to play on the grass before they begin their singles campaigns on Tuesday.

Raducanu faces Spain's Cristina Bucsa before Boulter takes on Australian qualifier Ajla Tomljanovic.

Elsewhere, Britain's Jacob Fearnley lost 4-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-1 to American Brandon Nakashima at the ATP event in Stuttgart.