Heather Watson progresses at a rain-soaked Edgbaston

After wet conditions delayed the start of play, Watson saw off Giorgi - who, at 66, is 11 places below her in the world rankings - 6-4 7-5, surviving six break points for her opponent in the second set.

Watson was beaten in the first round of last week's Aegon Open in Nottingham.

And, quoted by www.lta.org.uk, the 24-year-old said on Monday: "I'm pleased with my performance today, especially from last week.

"I didn't play well at all last week. I didn't feel my game had adapted to the grass yet.

"I was just really pleased with how positive I was, especially in the second set when I was break points down. I thought those games in the end turned out to be very crucial.

"I think mentally, it was the biggest difference. I was a bit up and down in Nottingham and was getting a bit frustrated with myself. Today I thought I kept my cool very well."

Watson's compatriot Naomi Broady was also scheduled to be in first-round action on Monday, taking on Australia's Daria Gavrilova, but with the rain seeing play suspended for the day around 7pm, the pair are now set to go head-to-head on Tuesday instead.

Two other Britons are also scheduled to get their campaigns under way on Tuesday - national number one Johanna Konta and Tara Moore, who face Misaki Doi of Japan and Austrian Tamira Paszek respectively.

Heather Watson (Britain) beat Camila Giorgi (Italy) 6-4 7-5

Jelena Ostapenko (Latvia) beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (Russia) 7-6(2) 6-1

7-Madison Keys (U.S.) beat Timea Babos (Hungary) 7-6(3) 6-4