Katie Boulter loses Birmingham opener to Lin Zhu as Ons Jabeur’s Berlin title defence ends in first round

Katie Boulter suffered an early exit at the Birmingham Open two days after clinching the Nottingham title, while there was a shock in Berlin as defending champion Ons Jabeur crashed out.

The British No. 1 lost 7-5 7-5 to the world No. 39, despite hinting at a comeback when she broke her Chinese opponent in the second set to edge ahead at 4-3.

Boulter was broken six times over two sets as any hopes of securing back-to-back titles came to a sudden halt.

The second seed in Birmingham, Jelena Ostapenko, battled through her opening clash with Linda Noskova by winning 6-2 5-7 6-1.

She will now face Venus Williams in a blockbuster second-round battle.

In Berlin, fourth seed and reigning champion Jabeur suffered a shock early exit to qualifier Jule Niemeier, losing 7-6(4) 6-4 in the first round.

The German, playing in front of a home crowd, edged a first set tie-break and earned three breaks to Jabeur’s two overall to earn her third career top-10 win.

Niemeier showed her grass-court credentials by reaching the Wimbledon quarter-finals last year, but hadn’t won a WTA main-draw match since Madrid in May ahead of her clash with Jabeur.

The world No. 120 saved two set points in the opener, coming back from 3-5 down to win a tie-break, before breaking the Tunisian in the opening game of the second to send herself on the path to a famous victory.

Top seed Aryna Sabalenka cruised to a 6-3 6-2 win over Vera Zvonareva in 66 minutes to reach the second round.

The world No. 2 will face Veronika Kudermetova or Zheng Qinwen next after a dominant performance where she landed 27 winners and didn’t face a single break point.

Her likeliest rival for the title, Wimbledon champion and second seed Elena Rybakina, also won, beating qualifier Polina Kudermetova 6-4 6-2 for her ninth consecutive victory.

There was an upset as eighth seed Daria Kasatkina squandered two match points in a 2-6 6-3 6-7(7) defeat to lucky loser Elina Avanesyan.