BIRMINGHAM, England — A finalist at the Birmingham Classic last year, Zhang Shuai of China was eliminated in the first round of the grass-court tournament Wednesday as one of four seeded players to go out.
The seventh-seeded Zhang was beaten 6-4, 6-3 by 150th-ranked Emina Bektas of the United States in a little more than an hour in a big surprise at the WTA event.
Zhang reached the 2022 final, only to retire because of injury in the first set to hand Beatriz Haddad Maia the title.
In second-round play, third-seeded Magda Linette of Poland was beaten 6-3, 6-0 by Zhu Lin of China, fifth-seeded Anhelina Kalinina of Ukraine lost 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 to Britain’s Harriet Dart, and sixth-seeded Bernarda Pera of the United States was ousted by Linda Fruhvirtova of the Czech Republic, 6-1, 7-6 (3).
Playing a delayed first-round match, top-seeded Barbora Krejcikova beat Cristina Bucsa 6-3, 6-3.