Stefanos Tsitsipas has denied comments he made about Nick Kyrgios following last year’s heated Wimbledon battle were racist in nature.

The Greek has been criticised on social media for saying during the Netflix documentary series Break Point that Kyrgios’ approach to tennis was “uneducated” and that he brought an “NBA basketball attitude” to the sport.

Writing on his Facebook page, Tsitsipas said: “Today, I want to address a matter that has been weighing heavily on my heart; an unfortunate misunderstanding that has a distorted picture of my intentions.

“It has come to my attention that some individuals have misinterpreted my comments regarding Nick Kyrgios, labelling him as uneducated and accusing him of bringing a basketball mentality into tennis, insinuating racism where none exists.

“Let me take this opportunity to provide clarity and rectify any misconceptions that may have arisen.

“Firstly, I want to emphasise that I harbour no prejudice towards anyone based on their background, ethnicity, or interests. I deeply regret if my words were misinterpreted or caused offence, as that was never my intention.

“My previous remarks regarding Nick Kyrgios were not meant to undermine his intelligence or abilities. Instead, I simply intended to express my perspective on certain aspects of his playing style, drawing comparisons to the passion and intensity often associated with basketball.

“It was an attempt to highlight the dynamic and captivating nature of his approach to the game, not a criticism of his character or capabilities.”

The pair clashed in the third round at the All England Club, with Kyrgios engaged in a running dialogue with the umpire and calling for Tsitsipas to be defaulted after he swiped a ball into the crowd.

The Greek lost his cool and received a point penalty for recklessly hitting the ball before appearing to aim a shot straight at Kyrgios, who eventually won in four sets.

Kyrgios accepted Tsitsipas’ apology, writing on Twitter: “It was a very heated battle sometimes as players we go into these press conferences without digesting the match…. We’ve had some crazy battles and I know deep down you like my brand of tennis we are all good @steftsitsipas”

Harriet Dart is confident her game is heading in the right direction after her run at the Rothesay Classic in Birmingham was ended by a narrow quarter-final loss to Anastasia Potapova.

Dart defeated top-30 player Anhelina Kalinina for the second week in a row to reach the last eight but was unable to capitalise on a good start against fourth seed Potapova, losing out 4-6 6-3 6-4.

It has been a difficult season for Dart, who has plummeted out of the top 100 after a breakthrough year in 2022, but the 26-year-old has found her form on grass and this was a second consecutive quarter-final appearance following on from Nottingham last week.

“I thought it was a really high-level match,” said Dart, who has been awarded a wild card for Eastbourne next week.

“I don’t think I served particularly very well but managed to find a way to get ahead with the first set. I definitely had a lot of chances. But overall a positive week.

“Of course I wanted to do better today and to keep going but it’s important just to keep building week in, week out to be able to compete with the best players in the world.

“And to also be realistic. This is grass, it’s a unique surface. I really enjoy these couple of weeks and just to try and use this momentum for the rest of the season.

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“Today I played someone who’s 21 in the world and lost 6-4 in the third, and I think there’s a lot of areas I can improve on, so it’s heading in the right direction.”

Dart struggled with her serve throughout the match but managed to win the opening set despite five double faults, producing some fine shots from the back of the court, and she made the first move in the second set with a break for 2-1.

But Potapova, ranked 21st, began to punish Dart’s second serve and the Russian turned the match around with a run of four games in a row, cutting down on the errors that had blighted her game.

Dart recovered from 3-1 down in the deciding set to level at 3-3 but Potapova’s heavy groundstrokes were taking their toll and the Russian broke again before serving out the victory.

Potapova next faces second seed Jelena Ostapenko, who mounted an impressive comeback from a set and 4-0 down to defeat Magdalena Frech 4-6 7-5 6-2.

The Latvian played until after 8pm on Thursday night in her victory over Venus Williams and was back on court on Friday lunchtime to take on Pole Frech.

Ostapenko needed treatment for a left calf problem and at one stage looked like she might not finish the match but she managed to turn things around in the second set before taking the decider.

“It was very little time to recover from yesterday because we finished very late,” she said.

“I was struggling as well with my left calf. I was thinking at some point maybe I should not continue but there is a fighter inside of me so I want to play until I cannot walk or something.

“After winning the second set I felt like I was playing better and my footwork was there. I’m really glad to manage to win this match.”

Top seed Barbora Krejcikova is through to the last four for the first time at a grass-court event having beaten teenage compatriot Linda Fruhvirtova 6-3 6-2, and the Czech will take on China’s Zhu Lin, who was a 4-6 6-3 6-2 winner over Rebecca Marino.

Harriet Dart’s run at the Rothesay Classic in Birmingham ended in the quarter-finals with defeat by Anastasia Potapova.

Dart defeated top-30 player Anhelina Kalinina for the second week in a row to reach the last eight but was unable to capitalise on a good start against fourth seed Potapova, losing out 4-6 6-3 6-4.

Dart struggled with her serve throughout the match but managed to win the opening set despite five double faults, producing some fine shots from the back of the court.

The 26-year-old was bidding to reach a first WTA semi-final having lost three previous quarter-finals, all on the British grass, and she made the first move in the second set with a break for 2-1.

But Potapova, ranked 21st, began to punish Dart’s second serve and the Russian turned the match around with a run of four games in a row, cutting down on the errors that had blighted her game.

Dart recovered from 3-1 down in the deciding set to level at 3-3 but Potapova’s heavy groundstrokes were taking their toll and the Russian broke again before serving out the victory.

It has nevertheless been a strong tournament for Dart to back up last week’s run to the last eight in Nottingham, and she will have another chance to pick up more wins ahead of Wimbledon having been awarded a wild card for next week’s tournament in Eastbourne.

Potapova next faces second seed Jelena Ostapenko, who mounted an impressive comeback from a set and 4-0 down to defeat Magdalena Frech 4-6 7-5 6-2.

The Latvian played until after 8pm on Thursday night in her victory over Venus Williams and was back on court on Friday lunchtime to take on Pole Frech.

Ostapenko needed treatment for a left calf problem and at one stage looked like she might not finish the match but she managed to turn things around in the second set before taking the decider.

“It was very little time to recover from yesterday because we finished very late,” she said.

“I was struggling as well with my left calf. I was thinking at some point maybe I should not continue but there is a fighter inside of me so I want to play until I cannot walk or something.

“After winning the second set I felt like I was playing better and my footwork was there. I’m really glad to manage to win this match.”

Top seed Barbora Krejcikova is through to the last four for the first time at a grass-court event having beaten teenage compatriot Linda Fruhvirtova 6-3 6-2, and the Czech will take on China’s Zhu Lin, who was a 4-6 6-3 6-2 winner over Rebecca Marino.

Cameron Norrie’s bid for a first grass-court title was ended by Sebastian Korda in the quarter-finals of the cinch Championships.

The British number one and fifth seed was beaten 6-4 7-6 (1) by American Korda, the world number 32.

His defeat means there will be no British interest, in singles or doubles, going into the weekend at Queen’s Club for the first time since 2012.

Korda, who also accounted for British number two Dan Evans in the first round, broke Norrie for 3-2 and had another break point for 5-2 in the opening set.

Norrie wriggled out of that tight spot with a pair of aces, but he was unable to prevent Korda wrapping up the set in 37 minutes.

Norrie, runner-up here in 2021 and a Wimbledon semi-finalist last year, hauled a break back for 3-3 in the second, the first time he had got anywhere near the Korda serve.

But Korda, the son of former Australian Open winner Petr and brother of major champion golfer Nelly, raced away with the tie-break to reach the last four on his Queen’s debut.

The 22-year-old, who recently recovered from three months out with a wrist injury, said: “It’s massive. I’m playing really well on grass, I feel comfortable and I’m really enjoying myself here.

“As many matches as I can get, I’m always super happy. Everything is clicking right now.”

Saturday’s first semi-final will see Alex De Minaur face Danish second seed Holger Rune.

Australian De Minaur was watched by his girlfriend, Britain’s Katie Boulter, as he beat Frenchman Adrian Mannarino 6-4 4-6 6-4.

Rising star Rune, 20, got past Italian Lorenzo Musetti 6-4 7-5.

Venus Williams’ valiant efforts at the Rothesay Classic in Birmingham ended in a second-round defeat by Jelena Ostapenko.

The 43-year-old pulled off her best victory for nearly four years with a three-hour win over Camila Giorgi in the first round on Monday despite struggling with a right knee problem.

She had the joint strapped up again on Thursday and took a long medical timeout during the second set for treatment to her right thigh in what looked like being a straight-sets loss.

But Williams saved a match point at 3-5 in the second set and then reeled off three straight games as second seed Ostapenko lost her rhythm.

When she moved 2-0 ahead in the deciding set with evening drawing in, it appeared Williams might be on course for back-to-back wins for the first time since 2019.

But Ostapenko, a former Wimbledon semi-finalist, recomposed herself and eventually powered her way to a 6-3 5-7 6-3 victory.

The Latvian said: “Of course I could finish it a bit quicker. I got a little bit disappointed after the match point in the second set. But Venus is a great player, a great champion and it’s an honour to share the court with her.

“She’s a very dangerous player, especially on grass. She was serving really well. It was a little bit hard, but I’m really happy that I managed it and I was fighting until the very last point. She’s an idol for a lot of people so it was very special.”

Williams, who made her Wimbledon debut in 1997, will now hope to recover in time for another tilt at the All England Club, having been awarded a wild card.

Ostapenko will next play Pole Magdalena Frech, who battled past eighth seed Sorana Cirstea 6-3 6-7 (1) 6-4 in a match delayed for nearly two hours by rain.

Britain’s Harriet Dart will take on fourth seed Anastasia Potapova, who defeated American Caty McNally on a deciding tie-break.

Meanwhile, there will be an all-Czech quarter-final between top seed Barbora Krejcikova and 18-year-old Linda Fruhvirtova.

Fruhvirtova was already through to the last eight and former French Open champion Krejcikova joined her by seeing off another Czech player, Tereza Martincova, 6-4 6-4.

Camera-shy Cameron Norrie admits he is unlikely to become a Netflix star any time soon.

Documentary makers were shadowing top tennis players at tournaments throughout last year as they filmed the Netflix show Break Point.

Nick Kyrgios, Matteo Berrettini and Taylor Fritz were among the players the cameras were focused on, but British number one Norrie will not be following suit.

“I think for me it’s more important to keep training as hard as I can and to be known for being a tennis player and a good competitor,” he said. “I think it’s a big distraction having the cameraman there full time.

“I think it’s great what they’re doing for tennis, promoting tennis, and getting some new fans into the sport and people learning about tennis.

“But I’m not sure what I’d do. I think I probably wouldn’t do it, but that’s me right now. But I can understand why some players fancy it and why they are choosing the players that they are.

“But for me, I prefer Andy Murray’s documentary and I’d prefer to do something myself if I were to do something one day.”

Norrie does want to follow in Berrettini’s footsteps, however, by winning the title at Queen’s Club this week.

The Italian is absent this year, having won the previous two cinch Championships, the first against Norrie in the 2021 final.

“I think it would be unreal to do that, and especially here at Queen’s,” said Norrie.

“I came so close. I think I still had never won a title yet when I was in the final with Berrettini. I really thought that was going to be the one.

“It was a tough one. Yeah, a big goal of mine to get a title on the grass. It’s a long way away, but I’m still in it and still need to keep improving everything in my game.”

Norrie faces American Sebastian Korda, who knocked out Britain’s Dan Evans in the first round, in the quarter-finals on Friday.

Korda, the world number 32, said: “He’s probably one of the biggest fighters on tour. He doesn’t give you very many free points.

“I’m expecting a good battle. It’s going to be fun, for sure, and another good test for me. Yeah, another solid match coming up. I’m very happy for it.”

On Thursday world number two Carlos Alcaraz reached the last eight, brushing aside Czech Jiri Lehecka 6-2 6-3.

Much is expected of the 20-year-old Spanish sensation, although he is clearly still coming to terms with his timing and movement on the grass.

However, this was a vast improvement on his laboured first-round win over Arthur Rinderknech.

“I’m really happy with the level I played at today,” he said. “I think I had a solid match, I played my game and enjoyed playing here.

“Playing this kind of match I’m OK with this one. It’s more practice and I am happy getting experience on grass.

“After this match the expectation changes. I think I’m ready to get a good result on grass.”

Andy Murray’s conqueror Alex De Minaur swept past Diego Schwartzman 6-2 6-2 and will face France’s Adrian Mannarino, who beat Fritz 6-4 7-6 (7).

Harriet Dart continued to carry British hopes at the Rothesay Birmingham Classic as she beat Anhelina Kalinina for a second successive week to make the quarter-finals.

Dart was awarded a Wimbledon wild card earlier in the day and celebrated in style by earning a 6-3 3-6 6-1 victory over the Ukrainian fifth seed.

The British number four, who has been playing with tonsillitis, beat Kalinina in Nottingham last week on her way to the quarter-finals and this victory books her second successive last-eight spot.

She will face fourth seed Anastasia Potapova or Caty McNally in the last eight on Friday as she continues her impressive build-up for SW19, where she is now guaranteed a spot in the main draw.

“I was always expecting a battle, I played great last week and I knew she would raise her level. The courts are a little bit quicker here so I just had to adjust a little bit more,” she said in her on-court interview.

“I am just really pleased to be through.

“I am kind of used it, I played quite a lot of long matches, not out of choice, but it happens. I always love coming back to Birmingham, it is pretty awesome.

“I love playing on grass and I love playing in front of the home fans and I love these couple of weeks the most for sure.”

The world number 134, who beat fellow Brit Jodie Burrage in the first round, moved into a 3-0 lead but only after saving seven break points during her first two service games.

It took Kalinina 23 minutes to get off the mark but there was no stopping Dart who took the opening set 6-3.

A much closer second set occurred before Kalinina sensed her opportunity in the sixth service game to move 4-2 ahead and force a decider.

But Dart regrouped and raced clear in the deciding set, having match points at 5-0.

Kalinina did make her serve it out, but that proved no problem for the Brit, much to the delight of the Edgbaston Priory crowd.

Earlier in the day, Linda Fruhvirtova progressed into the quarter-finals after the highly-rated teenager defeated Bernarda Pera 6-1 7-6 (3).

China’s Zhu Lin, who beat Katie Boulter on day one, also continued her fine tournament with victory over third seed Magda Linette by a 6-3 6-0 score.

Top seed Barbora Krejcikova started her time in Birmingham with a 6-3 6-3 win over Cristina Bucsa in the first round.

British number one Cameron Norrie came from a set down to reach the quarter-finals of the cinch Championships.

Norrie, the fifth seed, dropped the opener against Australian Jordan Thompson but then lost just five more games in a 4-6 6-3 6-2 victory at Queen’s Club.

World number 76 Thompson was inspired in the first set, which he sealed with a stunning cross-court backhand winner.

But the 29-year-old’s forehand let him down badly as Norrie broke for 4-2 on his way to levelling the match.

Norrie broke in the first game of the decider, but he had to save three break points as he served for the match before completing the victory in just under two hours to reach a sixth quarter-final this year.

He said: “I think it was the perfect match. Jordan really likes the grass and in the first set he played a couple of good points to beat me.

“I thought I’d played great so I didn’t have to change too much. I came out with a lot of energy in the third set and that’s what got me through.

“It’s really good to be that consistent but you always want more as a tennis player. I want to keep pushing for more, especially in the bigger tournaments.

Norrie was due to play doubles with Andy Murray later on Wednesday evening but the two-time Wimbledon champion, who lost in the singles on Tuesday, withdrew through fatigue.

Andy Murray’s uncle and brother have questioned why the two-time Wimbledon champion is not on an official poster of past and present greats.

The All England Club posted on its social media channels an image of 15 famous players walking down a staircase.

Under the banner “here’s to the next generation of headline acts”, young duo Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz – neither of whom have made an impact at the Championships yet – stand in the foreground.

Behind them are a selection of “epic” rivalries including Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe, Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova and Serena and Venus Williams.

But Murray, who ended Britain’s 77-year wait for a men’s champion in 2013, is nowhere to be seen.

His uncle, Niall Erskine, tweeted underneath the image: “Appalling at every level, all about the men in the forefront and your own British history maker nowhere to be seen. You should be ashamed of yourselves.”

And Jamie Murray, who has been competing along with his brother at the cinch Championships this week, replied to Wimbledon’s Instagram post with “Where’s @andymurray?”

He added: “Didn’t they talk about the big 4 for 10 years until he smashed his hip to pieces when he was world No 1?”

Illustrator Grant Gruenhaupt responded by saying more paintings are planned.

Meanwhile, Jamie Murray and partner Michael Venus lost their first-round doubles match at Queen’s Club against Matthew Hebden and Rohan Bopanna in two tie-breaks.

Andy Murray was due to play in the doubles alongside Cameron Norrie later on Wednesday but the Scot, knocked out of the singles on Tuesday, has withdrawn from the event.

Five-time Wimbledon singles champion Venus Williams has been awarded a wild card for next month’s championships.

Williams, who played mixed doubles at the All England Club last year, has not played in the singles event since 2021 but rolled back the years on Monday to beat Camila Giorgi at the Rothesay Classic in Birmingham days after her 43rd birthday.

Williams competes sparingly these days and only played her first tournament since January at a grass-court event in the Netherlands last week before heading to Birmingham.

Her gutsy 7-6 (5), 4-6 7-6 (6) victory over Giorgi in more than three hours on Monday represented a first win over a top-50 opponent since 2019.

Ten singles wild cards have been handed to British male and female players, including Liam Broady and Katie Boulter, while Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina will be involved in Wimbledon after she missed last year’s tournament due to her pregnancy.

Former world number three Svitolina gave birth in October but made the quarter-finals at Roland Garros last month in her first grand-slam since becoming a mother.

Svitolina made the last four at Wimbledon in 2021 and could encounter more Russian and Belarussian players in SW19.

She was booed at the French Open after not shaking hands with Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka following her quarter-final exit.

British hopefuls Jodie Burrage, Harriet Dart, Katie Swan, Heather Watson have also been given wild cards.

In the men’s singles Ryan Peniston has received a wild card, along with fellow Britons Arthur Fery, Jan Choinski and George Loffhagen, with the trio set to make their main draw debuts at Wimbledon.

Belgian David Goffin, the world number 124, has been handed a wild card following his run to the quarter-finals in 2022, where he lost in five sets to British number one Cameron Norrie.

The All England Club has one more women’s singles and two more men’s singles wild cards to hand out.

Andy Murray suffered a major blow to his Wimbledon hopes after falling to a first-round defeat at the cinch Championships.

The five-time Queen’s Club winner paid for an error-strewn, irritable performance as he slipped to a 6-3 6-1 loss against Alex De Minaur.

Murray had won 10 matches in a row in claiming back-to-back grass-court titles in Surbiton and Nottingham.

But Australian seventh seed De Minaur – the world number 18 – was a major step up in class and probably one of the trickiest first-round opponents Murray could have drawn.

The 24-year-old certainly knew his way around a grass court; he is a former Eastbourne champion and reached the fourth round at Wimbledon last year.

He was simply too strong for 36-year-old Murray, sending him spinning to a defeat which means, barring an unlikely raft of withdrawals, that he will not be seeded at Wimbledon next month.

Murray probably needed to reach the quarter-finals at least to have a chance of being one of the top 32 players at SW19, but now the two-time champion – currently ranked 38 – is at risk of facing one of the big guns in the early rounds.

Murray’s appearance in the singles may have been fleeting, but tournament organisers will at least be relieved he has opted to play doubles with British number one Cameron Norrie; they face Joe Salisbury and Rajeev Ram on Wednesday evening.

They were breathing a sigh of relief earlier on Tuesday when Carlos Alcaraz survived a scare.

The top seed and world number two insisted he can challenge on the grass this summer despite needing a third-set tie-break to beat French journeyman Arthur Rinderknech.

The 20-year-old was playing only his seventh match on the surface, and his first outside of Wimbledon.

Lucky loser Rinderknech only found out he was playing the Spaniard shortly before midday after fellow Frenchman Arthur Fils, Alcaraz’s scheduled opponent, withdrew from the tournament.

But the 27-year-old almost knocked the headline act out, taking the first set and giving Alcaraz an uncomfortable afternoon before going down 4-6 7-5 7-6 (3) in just over two-and-a-half hours.

Alcaraz, the US Open champion who was playing his first match since losing to Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals at Roland Garros, said: “It has been a really tough match, he has played four or five matches on the grass and this was my first one.

“It was really difficult to adapt my game to the grass. For me it’s tough to play here, but Queen’s is a tournament I really wanted to play.

“I couldn’t play tennis on grass at home but I practised the movement on grass. I practised here a little bit before the tournament and I felt really good, even though it was the first match.

“I would say I’m going to be better in the next round.”

Britain’s Liam Broady was denied a notable win after world number 46 Adrian Mannarino came from a set down to win in three.

Broady, ranked 97 places behind the Frenchman at 143, raced away with the first set but was pegged back in a 1-6 6-4 6-3 defeat.

Fellow Brit Ryan Peniston – who beat Ugo Humbert on Monday – will face second seed Holger Rune in round two after the Danish youngster won 7-6 (4) 7-6 (3) against Maxime Cressy for his first career victory on grass.

Katie Boulter’s winning run ended with defeat by China’s Zhu Lin in the first round of the Rothesay Classic in Birmingham.

Boulter celebrated the best achievement of her career in Nottingham on Sunday when she won her first WTA Tour title to reach a new highest ranking of 77.

It cemented her position as British number one in the absence of the injured Emma Raducanu, but Boulter was unable to back it up at Egbaston Priory, where she made the quarter-finals last year.

Boulter certainly had her chances against Zhu, ranked 39, but she was unable to convert enough of them in a 7-5 7-5 defeat.

Boulter began well, opening up a 3-1 lead, but Zhu responded strongly and took her second set point in the 12th game.

The second set was a rollercoaster featuring seven breaks of serve and 17 break points.

Boulter was only able to take three of her 10 opportunities, though, and – after saving two match points at 4-5 – she sent a backhand long on the third, two games later.

Play did not get under way until 1.30pm because of rain, with second seed Jelena Ostapenko battling to a three-set win over Czech teenager Linda Noskova in the opening match.

Carlos Alcaraz insisted he can challenge on the grass this summer despite needing a third-set tie-break to beat French journeyman Arthur Rinderknech at the cinch Championships.

The 20-year-old top seed and world number two was playing only his seventh match on the surface – and his first outside of Wimbledon – at Queen’s Club.

Lucky loser Rinderknech only found out he was playing the Spaniard shortly before midday after fellow Frenchman Arthur Fils, Alcaraz’s scheduled opponent, withdrew from the tournament.

But the 27-year-old almost knocked the headline act out, taking the first set and giving Alcaraz an uncomfortable afternoon before going down 4-6 7-5 7-6 (3) in just over two-and-a-half hours.

Alcaraz, the US Open champion who was playing his first match since losing to Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals at Roland Garros, said: “It has been a really tough match, he has played four or five matches on the grass and this was my first one.

“It was really difficult to adapt my game to the grass. For me it’s tough to play here, but Queen’s is a tournament I really wanted to play.

“I’ve never played a tournament except Wimbledon on grass and I wanted to play here. I watched this tournament on TV and I always thought it’s a really beautiful place to be. The crowd was amazing and the court is unbelievable.

“I couldn’t play tennis on grass at home but I practised the movement on grass. I practised here a little bit before the tournament and I felt really good, even though it was the first match.

“I would say I’m going to be better in the next round.”

Britain’s Liam Broady was denied a notable win after world number 46 Adrian Mannarino came from a set down to win in three.

Broady, ranked 97 places behind the Frenchman at 143, raced away with the first set but was pegged back in a 1-6 6-4 6-3 defeat.

Fellow Brit Ryan Peniston – who beat Ugo Humbert on Monday – will face second seed Holger Rune in round two after the Danish youngster won 7-6 (4) 7-6 (3) against Maxime Cressy for his first career victory on grass.

“It’s going to be fun,” said Rune, who lost to Peniston at Eastbourne last year.

“It’s always a challenge to play a home player. Hopefully the support will be good for both players.”

A delighted Venus Williams fought for more than three hours to defeat Camila Giorgi at the Rothesay Classic in Birmingham and post her best victory for nearly four years.

Two days after her 43rd birthday and with a right knee problem restricting her  movement, the former world number one showed that her competitive spirit has not diminished as she ground out a 7-6 (5) 4-6 7-6 (6) win.

Williams plays sparingly these days, returning at a grass-court event in the Netherlands last week for her first tournament since January, and this was only her second victory since Wimbledon 2021, and her first over a top-50 opponent since 2019.

Giorgi is a former Wimbledon quarter-finalist and a player very much at home on grass but Williams still possesses a fearsome strike, while her serve touched 120mph.

A heavy fall in the first set did not help her knee and she noticeably limped but she kept her nose in front, putting aside the disappointment of failing to serve out the match at 5-3 in the decider to take her second match point in the tie-break.

Williams held her arms aloft and repeatedly pumped her fist as the crowd, who had been drowned out at times by the support from the Ashes Test down the road, cheered.

“This one is especially sweet because I have been away from the tour for so long,” she said. “The last couple of years I’ve had little to no matches and long stretches between matches and that’s very challenging.

“I almost feel like when I’m on the court I’m reminded of things I used to do that worked really well, so there’s a lot of memories and deja vu – I’ve never had that experience before. I felt like I played well the whole match and that felt great.

“Tennis is awesome. There’s so many people that would love to do what I’m doing right now so I don’t take it for granted. I faced some huge challenges in the match. I thought I didn’t do much wrong and I found myself still not winning. I think that brought the emotion out.”

There were different emotions for another former top-10 player returning to grass, with Elina Svitolina beaten 6-2 6-0 by Czech 18-year-old Linda Fruhvirtova in less than an hour.

Svitolina made a brilliant comeback on clay following the birth of daughter Skai last October, reaching the quarter-finals of the French Open, but was unable to find her feet on the grass.

Wearing the colours of her native Ukraine, the 28-year-old quickly lost the first four games and made far too many errors against a much steadier opponent.

“Linda played really well today, from the start until the end,” said Svitolina. “I don’t think she did anything wrong at any point.

“I was struggling at the beginning and obviously on the grass you have no time to adjust. For me, it didn’t happen today but I’ll go on the practice court and try to do better next time.”

Svitolina chose not to use her protected ranking from before her pregnancy to enter Wimbledon so must wait to find out whether she will receive a wild card.

Third seed Magda Linette had to battle her way into round two, coming from a set down to defeat Italy’s Jasmine Paolini 3-6 7-5 6-4.

Nottingham champion Katie Boulter begins her campaign on Tuesday against China’s Lin Zhu while Jodie Burrage and Harriet Dart play each other.

Jeremy Miller is the Men’s Open champion of the Inaugural Innovative Invitational Amateur Tennis Classic after a hard-fought three set win over David Goldsmith in the final at the Liguanea Club on Saturday.

Miller won the toss and chose to serve before dominating early proceedings to take the first set 6-2.

Goldsmith, however, refused to go quietly. He increased his level of aggression significantly in the second to take it by six games to three, setting up a decisive third set.

The pair traded breaks of serve until, eventually, they were knotted at 4-4 in the final set before Miller played an exceptional game to break Goldsmith’s serve to make it 5-4, giving him an opportunity to serve for the title and the $100,000 prize.

Miller then held his nerve and served it out to become the inaugural champion of the open.

“It feels great,” Miller told SportsMax.tv after the match.

“I came out here with an objective to basically show everybody that I can be a winner,” he added.

Miller also spoke about adjustments he had to make after losing the second set.

“I just had to re-focus, dig in, stay with it and not let the games get away from me too much. When I got my chances, I just had to try to take them. Sometimes it got a little bit rocky but I just had to keep pushing,” he said before giving credit to the excellent crowd that showed up to witness the Tennis.

“It was fantastic. I love the crowd support. I was looking for some energy at the start of the third set and I got it. That really made a big difference for me,” he added.

The other category finals that were contested on Saturday were the Men’s Class 2, Men’s Class 3 and Women’s B finals.

The Men’s Class 2 final saw Rudi Jackson come from a set down to defeat Seth Grennell 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.

Lavois Cruikshank secured a comfortable 6-4, 6-1 victory over Jeffrey Leckie in the Class 3 final while Maureen Williams beat Raquel Nevins 6-7, 7-5, 6-3 in the Women’s B final which lasted almost four hours.