Tuesday at Eastbourne

Big win
In a big day of upsets, the tournament’s top seeds made a horror start to their grass-court campaigns. Australian qualifier Marinko Matosevic rebounded from dropping the first set 1-6 to edge the next two in tie-breakers, pulling off the biggest win of the day to account for top-seeded Frenchman Richard Gasquet. The women’s draw was thrown wide open with the top three seeds all crashing. Ekaterina Makarova was the first to play her part, winning a battle of the lefties against defending Wimbledon Champion Petra Kvitova. The Russian has tasted success here before, claiming the Eastbourne title two years ago, so her dismissal of the second seed wasn’t a complete surprise. Another player with serious grass-court credentials, former Wimbledon semi-finalist Tsvetana Pironkova took out top seed Agnieszka Radwanska in straight sets for only the second time in eight meetings. American Christina McHale, followed suit, taking care of third seed Caroline Wozniacki in a gruelling three-set affair. Qualifier Laura Robson and wild card Heather Watson gave British fans plenty to cheer about with their first-round wins.

Marathon matches
Matosevic’s fighting display against Gasquet nudged the two-and-a-half-hour mark, while Yen-Hsun Lu, of Taipei, followed up on a quarter-final run at Queen’s last week to end French fifth seed Julien Benneteau’s hopes in a third-set tie-breaker. In the women’s Czech lefty Lucie Safarova also scraped through in a tie-breaker decider, while Christina McHale held her nerve with brave ball striking to cut Caroline Wozniacki’s Wimbledon preparations short after two and a half hours.

Cruising through
Andy Roddick came out firing by his own admission but it was all over after seven games when his compatriot Sam Querrey called it quits with a back injury. Defending women’s champion Marion Bartoli dropped just four games against Romania’s Sorana Cirstea.

Stat of the day
0 – Brit Heather Watson never faced a break point in her first round victory.

Quote of the day
“It was seven games, but that’s the best seven games I’ve played in a while.” 

Andy Roddick reflects on his recent form after his opponent Sam Querrey retired while trailing 2-5.

Centre Court on Wednesday

Heather Watson v Lucie Safarova [7]
Former top 20 player Lucie Safarova will want to avoid the same fate as her fellow left-handed Czech compatriot, Kvitova, when she takes on the British wild card in the second round.

[4] Marion Bartoli v Aleksandra Wozniak
A proven performer on grass, Bartoli is now the highest remaining seed and favourite to defend her title. Canada’s top-ranked player is up next.

[4] Bernard Tomic v Fabio Fognini
The talented Australian will aim to join his countryman Matosevic on the winner’s list as he looks to gain vital grass court match-play after a virus ended his Halle campaign last week.

Jeremy Chardy v [6] Andy Roddick
Roddick will carry a 2-0 head-to-head into his clash with the Frenchman, including a win on grass at Wimbledon three years ago.