A day of sunshine and distracting sea breeze yesterday allowed officials to get the WTA Eastbourne event back on schedule, with top seed Agnieszka Radwanska doing her part to speed things along.
The top seed and 2015 finalist spent just 47 minutes in producing a 6-4, 2-1 win into the third round after a bye as veteran Croatian opponent Mirjana Lucic-Baroni retired ill in that contest.
The 2008 Eastbourne champion and 2012 Wimbledon finalist Radwanska was happy to get a somewhat easier start.
“It was very tough conditions today, the first day that it was really windy,” she said. “And with her powerful game, sometimes it’s hard to find a right rhythm from the beginning.
“It was not an easy match for the first round. I’m still happy that I could win that one-and-a-half sets and ready for the next one.
“I was really, really surprised that she was not 100 per cent today.”
Radwanska did not divulge if she and fellow player Caroline Wozniacki — also of Polish extraction — earned quick wins so they could get in front of a television for the Poland-Ukraine group match at Euro 2016.
Radwanska next plays 2014 Wimbledon runner-up Eugenie Bouchard, with the Canadian earning her place with a second victory in as many days.
Bouchard, whose ranking has sunk into the 40s after two poor seasons, beat Romanian 15th seed Irina Begu 6-3, 6-1.
“I’ve had some (recent) results that I wasn’t satisfied with, so coming into this week I really kicked myself in the butt,” she said. “I told myself to go after it and not have any regrets.”
France’s Kristina Mladenovic scored an upset with her defeat of fourth seed Timea Bacsinszky 6-1, 7-5. Former tournament winner Wozniacki knocked beat one-time grand slam champion Samantha Stosur, 6-2, 6-1.
Wozniacki said she is not bothered by the ankle injury from April which forced her to miss the entire clay season.
“The ankle is feeling good. As long as I’m stable and moving well, it feels good. I’m pleased with the way I have been playing.
“The first match I played quite well, but today I feel I played even better. Hopefully there is more tennis to come.”
Double Wimbledon winner and fifth seed Petra Kvitova defeated Timea Babos 6-4, 7-6 (7-5); Slovak 12th seed Dominika Cibulkova stopped Jelena Ostapenko 6-3, 6-3.