Laura Robson secured her first win on the WTA Tour after Stefanie Voegele retired during their contest at the AEGON Classic.
British teenager handed victory after Voegele retirement
Laura Robson secured her first win on the WTA Tour after Stefanie Voegele was forced to retire during their first-round contest at the AEGON Classic.
The 2008 Wimbledon junior champion, who to come through the qualifiers to reach the main draw in Birmingham, took the first set 6-4.
Her Swiss opponent broke at the start of the second but sustained a back injury and was unable to continue.
Robson will now go on to face third-seeded Belgian Yanina Wickmayer in the second round of the tournament.
However, fellow British teenager Heather Watson was sent crashing out in straight sets by world number 86 Alla Kudryavtseva, losing 6-4 6-3.
Missed chance
Mel South was another British casualty after twice throwing away winning positions against Anna Chakvetadze.
South led by a set and 4-1 before losing five games in a row to the former top 10 player, who is now ranked outside the top 100.
The 24-year-old then led 4-1 again in the deciding set but gave up another five consecutive games to fall to a 3-6 6-4 6-4 defeat.
There was further British disappointment as Katie O'Brien and Naomi Broady were also handed disappointing defeats in the opening round.
British number three O'Brien was beaten 6-3 6-3 by Kazakhstan's Sesil Karantcheva while Broady exited the competition after losing 6-4 6-4 to American Shenay Perry.
New Zealander Marina Erakovic caused an upset by defeating eleventh seed Melinda Czink 7-5 6-4 but fellow seeded players Magdalena Rybarikova, Angelique Kerber and Tamarine Tanasugarn all progressed.
Other notable winners on the opening day of play included Indian Sania Mirza, who was making a return to competition after marrying cricketer Shoaib Malik, and former teenage star Mirjana Lucic.
