Dutch success fails to materialise on Monday

Unfortunately, there was little to cheer for Orange fans on the first day of the main tournament. Arianne Hartono, Anouck Vrancken Peeters, Mees Röttgering and Thijs Boogaard lost their matches. Although for most of the quartet, this was not without missed opportunities.

Botic van de Zandschulp was also supposed to play his first round match, but struggled with a persistent injury to his upper arm, forcing him to drop out in disappointment at the last minute.

Hartono played the opening match on centre court against Elisabetta Cocciaretto. After a good start, which resulted in a 5-2 lead, the set still slipped through the fingers of the world number 177. This happened in a nail-biter of a tiebreak, in which Hartono still had four set points, but still lost by no less than 13-11. In the second set, Cocciaretto again made the difference in the final phase: 7-5.

Anouck Vrancken Peeters, like Hartono, was allowed to enter with a wildcard, but did not get a chance against Lulu Sun. The New Zealand player was not only seeded seventh at the Libéma Open, but also reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon last year. Sun made the sun go down for Vrancken Peeters 6-1 6-3.

Röttgering and Boogaard battled in front of packed stands on the outdoor courts for a place in the main draw. In doing so, Röttgering gave the cunning veteran Dan Evans an excellent match, to eventually fall in a three-setter: 6-3 6-7(5) 6-2.