Petra Kvitova defeats Ashleigh Barty to win Aegon Classic title in Birmingham

Kvitova saw off Australia's Ashleigh Barty 4-6 6-3 6-2 in only her second tournament since she returned at the French Open last month.

Two-time Wimbledon winner Kvitova was stabbed in the Czech Republic in December and could have lost her career, escaping instead with hand injuries.

But she produced a strong performance in the second half of the decisive set to claim victory after Barty had started stronger.

A single early break was enough for the world number 77 to win the opener but Kvitova cruised through the second set as she broke her opponent twice.

Kvitova seized control of the decider as she broke immediately then pressured the Barty serve again, only for the momentum to swing again as Barty broke back to level at 2-2.

But a fired-up Kvitova responded immediately as she blasted back from 40-0 down to reel off a series of winners and once again take control of the set.

Building on her advantage, Kvitova followed up with a second break before serving out strongly with an ace to wrap up her comeback success.

Anastasija Sevastova won her first WTA title in seven years as she overcame Julia Goerges in three sets at the Mallorca Open.

Beaten in the final last year, the Latvian went one better this time with a 6-4 3-6 6-3 victory on the Spanish island.

Breaks of serve were exchanged in the middle of the opening set, which Sevastova took, but Goerges fought back and broke in the sixth game of the second set before holding her service games to level up the match.

Sevastova got the all-important decisive break in the decider and the 27-year-old needed just one match point to serve it out and win the title after two hours and 14 minutes on court.

Britain's Heather Watson is through to the second round of the Aegon International at Eastbourne after overcoming Lesia Tsurenko in three sets.

The 25-year-old beat an opponent ranked 92 places above her 6-3 4-6 6-4 and will now face Dominika Cibulkova.

Monica Niculescu earned a hard-fought 6-4 5-7 7-5 win against Mirjana Lucic-Baroni while Alison Riske saw off Alize Cornet 6-4 7-5.

Elise Mertens was a 6-1 6-1 winner against Timea Babos and Carla Suarez Navarro earned a 6-3 6-1 success over Ekaterina Makarova.

Lara Arruabarrena and Mona Barthel both secured progress to round two after their opponents retired hurt.