Wimbledon.com's highlights from the second day of the WTA Aegon International at Devonshire Park and ATP Aegon Open at Nottingham Tennis Centre...

Rain and injury hit Wimbledon warm-ups

The biggest casualty of rain-hit days in both Eastbourne and Nottingham was the former event's No.1 seed, Petra Kvitova. The defending Wimbledon champion had been struck by a sore throat; her withdrawal allowed Russia's Daria Gavrilova, the conqueror of Laura Robson in the qualifying event, to take her place as a lucky loser in the main draw.

Elsewhere, just nine matches were completed on the south coast, where play did not begin until nearly 4pm. The biggest name in action was three-time Wimbledon quarter-finalist Svetlana Kuznetsova - who also played the best match of the day in avoiding the upset against grass-loving qualifier Magdalena Rybarikova, of Slovakia, 7-6(4), 6-4.

Rybarikova had beaten up-and-coming Spaniard Garbiñe Muguruza in the opening round of Edgbaston last week, and her guile and slice seemed as though it could be the undoing of Kuznetsova, whose topspin-heavy serve and forehand have less of an impact on grass than on her favoured clay.

But Kuznetsova is more proficient on the surface than many might think: indeed, she is a former champion here in Eastbourne, having beaten Daniela Hantuchova in the 2004 final for her first Tier II title. Her first Slam quarter-final had also come at Wimbledon the previous year, a result she repeated in 2005 and 2007. Today, she showed how even a crafty grass-courter such as Rybarikova could simply be overpowered, running around her massive forehand to slam clean return winners on set point in both sets.

Watson survives Lepchenko and the wind

Coming into their first round match, British No.1 Heather Watson and American left-hander Varvara Lepchenko were both in real need of wins: since her run to the fourth round of Indian Wells, Watson had won just three of her next 10 matches; while Lepchenko had won only three of 14 since the Australian swing in January. Eastbourne's traditional gusts of wind, in full effect on a typical British summer's day, didn't help either player's cause.

Both their torrid patches were evident from the up-and-down quality: "I think we both made a few unforced errors than we'd like," said Watson diplomatically afterwards. But in a repeat of their first round encounter here two years ago, won by Watson 6-3, 6-4, it was again the Brit who came out on top - this time by the score of 7-6(5), 6-2. Tougher and more willing to adapt the parts of her game that were misfiring, Watson eked out an unpredictable first set before easing through the second.

Dart makes fighting debut

18-year-old wild card Harriet Dart is one of the most improved British women over the past year, having raised her world ranking from No. 1019 at the start of 2014 to its present No.358 thanks to solid performances on the ITF circuit.

Her opponent, meanwhile, was something of an unknown quantity: Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova, the world No.49, is a former top 10 player and the 2014 Australian Open runner-up - but she had been off tour since February to undergo Achilles surgery.

The Hampstead teenager suffered a frustrating first set: though she frequently gained the upper hand first in rallies with her cleanly struck strokes, the killer shot proved all too elusive against Cibulkova's consistency. To her credit, she fought harder in the second set - but the diminutive Slovak's quality told in a 6-1, 6-3 comeback victory. A further disappointment for Dart is that, owing to the rain-delayed schedule, the match finished after the deadline for Wimbledon qualifying sign-in - and she was forced to forfeit the wild card she had been awarded for the event.

Giorgi continues grass form

Other winners included Italy's Camila Giorgi, whose aggressively struck flat strokes are ideal for the grass surface and won her a debut title two weeks ago in 's-Hertogenbosch. Giorgi overpowered American qualifier Christina McHale 6-2, 6-3. Last year's Wimbledon quarter-finalist Barbora Strycova avenged a defeat on the clay of Madrid in May to Romania's Irina-Camelia Begu: today, on Strycova's preferred turf, the Czech emerged victorious 6-4, 6-2. Meanwhile, former Wimbledon semi-finalist Tsvetana Pironkova, of Bulgaria, had a smooth 6-2, 6-2 passage over qualifier Marina Erakovic, of New Zealand

Disappointing return from injury for Edmund

British No.3 Kyle Edmund seemed to have broken through in a big way at last month's Roland Garros, qualifying and winning his first Slam main draw match with a five-set thriller over Frenchman Stéphane Robert.

It was a run that raised his ranking to the edge of the Top 100 - he currently sits at a career high of No.101 - but during the Robert match, he also suffered an abdominal injury that forced him out of both his third round match against Nick Kyrgios, and the grass season to date.

With a bit of rust to be expected, then, Edmund seemed to have caught a break when his initially scheduled opponent, the dangerous Luxembourgian Gilles Müller - who pushed Andy Murray to the brink in the Queen's quarter-finals last week - withdrew with a back injury. In his stead, Edmund took on the 31-year-old world No.83, Malek Jaziri of Tunisia.

Jaziri has had a somewhat torrid on-court season (off court, he got married three weeks ago): since reaching his first ever Slam third round at the Australian Open in January, he has won just two ATO main draw matches; and a knee injury sustained ahead of Roland Garros seemed to recur when Jaziri took a medical time-out just five games into the match today.

Edmund, showing few signs of being hampered, seemed the better player throughout most of the first set as Jaziri struggled physically. But his big forehand went suddenly and wildly errant at set point up, and thereafter Jaziri snuck out a tie-break.

The Tunisian has always been inconsistent - hence a modest career high of No.65 - but he is a player of great flair. This was showcased superbly in the second set: down a break at 1-3, Jaziri retrieved an Edmund lob with a flicked scoop behind him, trick shot style. He lost that point, but his confidence in his shotmaking abilities soared; breaking back seemed inevitable, and though Edmund battled to save five match points with powerful play, Jaziri's momentum was irresistible as he crossed the finish line 7-6(4), 7-6(5).

Bedene wins first match on new home soil

British No.2 Aljaz Bedene - whose UK citizenship was officially approved in March - had not played a match on his new home soil until today. It was a successful outing: grass has not historically been Bedene's happiest hunting ground, but he swept Argentina's Diego Schwartzman aside 6-1, 6-7(5), 6-2. Only a lapse in the second set tie-break from 5-0 up was cause for concern.

Elsewhere, Colombia's Santiago Giraldo won a topsy-turvy encounter with Austria's Andreas Haider-Maurer 6-1, 1-6, 6-1; Italy's Simone Bolelli eased past Japanese veteran qualifier Go Soeda 6-3, 6-2; and Israeli qualifier Dudi Sela, who reached the fourth round of Wimbledon in 2009, displayed his grass-court form against Spain's Daniel Gimeno Traver, 7-5, 6-4. Play was halted with British No.3 James Ward and Australian Sam Groth up a set against Tim Smyczek, of the USA, and German Mischa Zverev respectively.

Tweet of the day

GB girls team watching the Heather Watson and The Seagulls at Eastbourne. @BritishTennis pic.twitter.com/G0N8l4wzBJ

— judy murray (@judmoo) June 22, 2015