NOTTINGHAM, England -- Former champion Donna Vekic defeated Dalila Jakupovic of Slovenia 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-0 on Wednesday as the Nottingham Open finally got underway after two days were completely washed out by rain.
The players attempted their warm-up outdoors during a brief break in the rain at the grass-court tournament, but all the first-round matches were moved indoors.
The second-seeded Vekic, who won the tournament in 2017, next faces Chloe Paquet of France. Paquet defeated Ankita Raina 5-7, 6-4, 6-2.
Top-seeded Caroline Garcia eased past Naiktha Bains 6-1, 6-2, fourth-seeded Maria Sakkari beat Heather Watson 6-4, 6-3 and American Bernarda Pera defeated another Briton, Katie Swan, 7-6 (5), 6-1.
Harriet Dart gave the home fans some reason to cheer with a 7-6 (7), 3-6, 6-3 win over Vera Lapko.
Sixth-seeded Ajla Tomljanovic defeated American Danielle Lao 6-2, 6-3, while Elena-Gabriela Ruse and Viktorija Golubic also advance.
