Top seed Jasmine Paolini suffered a blow to her Wimbledon preparations as she was knocked out by German veteran Tatjana Maria in the Eastbourne Championships first round on Tuesday.
In the ATP event her fellow Italian and French Open semi-finalist Matteo Arnaldi was also bundled out by British qualifier Giles Hussey.
Paolini, runner-up at Wimbledon in 2024, found Maria’s unique slice game too much on the grass as she went down 6-4 6-3. There was no such problem for second seed Madison Keys as she beat Australia’s Talia Gibson 6-4 6-4.
Arnaldi, who was forced to withdraw at Roland Garros ahead of his last-four clash with Flavio Cobolli because of a stomach illness, went down 6-4 6-2.
Hussey, 29, will face lucky loser from qualifying Quentin Halys in the second round.
Halys earned a spot in the draw after the withdrawal of second seed Joao Fonseca with a shoulder injury.