Heather Watson and Naomi Broady looking forward to Birmingham return
BySportsbeat
Updated 16/06/2017 at 17:33 GMT
British No.2 Heather Watson is relishing another opportunity to play in front of a home crowd after receiving a wild card for the Aegon Classic Birmingham.
Naomi Broady and Heather Watson of Great Britain celebrate a point in their first round doubles match against Karin Knapp and Mandy Minella on day three of the 2017 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 18, 2017 in Melbourne, Australia.
Image credit: Getty Images
The 25-year-old's doubles partner, Naomi Broady, was also awarded a wild card into the main draw and the pair will join fellow Brit and world No.8 Johanna Konta in Birmingham.
All eyes will be on Miami Open champion Konta to see whether she can become the first British woman to lift the Maud Watson Trophy.
But Watson has also enjoyed a successful start to the grass-court season, making it to the final of the Aegon Surbiton Trophy last Sunday, where she lost 6-4, 7-5 to Slovak Magdaléna Rybáriková.
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Heather Watson reacts
Image credit: Reuters
She said: "I can't wait to get back on the courts in Birmingham.
"The grass-court season is my favourite time of year and playing in front of home crowds means so much to me."
And Broady was further proof of the strength of British grass-court tennis when she beat first seed Kai-Chen Chang to advance to the semi-final of the Aegon Manchester Trophy.
The 27-year-old will play again in Manchester on Saturday and a win so close to her home town of Stockport would be special, but Broady is already looking ahead to a tough field in Birmingham.
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Britain's Naomi Broady hits a shot during her Women's singles first round match against Australia's Daria Gavrilova.
Image credit: Reuters
She said: "I love this time of year and I'm so happy to be given the opportunity to compete in Birmingham again this year.
"It's one of my favourite tournaments of the year and it gives me chance to compete against some great players at a really big event."
Having three British players in the tournament is all the more impressive now that the event has been upgraded to WTA Premier level.
As a result, eight of the world's top ten women will be in Birmingham, including 2015 winner Angelique Kerber, 2016 WTA Finals champion Dominika Cibulkova and French Open quarter-finalist Elina Svitolina.
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