Day one: Clarke & Harris win as Jones, Gray and Tarvet bow out in opener<\/p>\n
The first day of the 2026 Lexus Nottingham Open is here, with a jam-packed schedule full of British talent set to contest their first round matches.<\/p>\n
Women’s\u00a0<\/p>\n
Francesca Jones<\/a> came within one point of a place in the second round but couldn’t get over the line as Talia Gibson edged the wild card 6-3, 5-7, 7-6(4) in a three hour and six minute epic.<\/p>\n Despite taking two medical time outs in the second set, Jones went on break in the 12th game to force a decider.\u00a0<\/p>\n There, she recovered from an early break to go 4-1 up before stepping up to serve for the match at 5-4. The Brit set up two match points but the Australian fought her way back to level terms to force the decider where she once again came back from a mini-break down to seal the win.\u00a0<\/p>\n Elsewhere, third seed Emma Navarro fought back from a set down to beat Hungary’s Anna Bondar 6-7(6), 6-3, 6-2 to reach the second round, while sixth seed Maria Sakkari was beaten by Paris Olympic champion Qinwen Zheng 4-6, 7-6(1), 6-4.<\/p>\n Former HSBC Championships champion Tatjana Maria moved into the next round after beating ninth seed Janice Tjen 6-3, 6-2, while Ukraine’s Yuliia Starodubtseva came out on top in a marathon match against last year’s Lexus Eastbourne Open champion Maya Joint, winning 6-7(8), 7-5, 6-4 in three hours and 21 minutes.<\/p>\n Men’s\u00a0<\/p>\n In the men’s draw, Jay Clarke<\/a> has become the first Brit to punch his ticket to the second round after beating America’s Tristan Boyer, 7-6(3), 6-3.<\/p>\n Clarke let a 4-0 lead slip in the opening set but recovered well in the tie-break – reeling off six of the last seven points to take a one set lead before finding the decisive break in the second to progress to the next round.<\/p>\n