Heather Watson says she has sacrificed her singles career for the past 12 months in order to focus on doubles in a bid to qualify for a fourth Olympics.

The 32-year-old will find out in the next few days whether she has done enough to be part of Team GB in Paris later this summer.

Watson would play with British number one Katie Boulter in the women’s doubles and then most likely Joe Salisbury in the mixed doubles.

Emma Raducanu faces Japan’s Ena Shibahara in the Nottingham first round today and says she is ‘really healthy, really strong’.

“Body-wise, physical-wise, I feel really healthy. I feel really strong,” said Raducanu, who played her first WTA match at Nottingham in 2021 before going on to win the US Open later that year.

“I’ve done amazing work with my trainer over the last few months, since surgery. I’m in a really fit place. I think my wrists are actually in a better position than they ever were.

“So there’s zero doubt or apprehension whether I’m hitting the ball or designing my schedule. It’s more about being proactive and not wanting to put yourself in any unnecessary situations.”

Murray and Dan Evans’ scratch pairing was shortlived after they were beaten in the first round of the French Open.

But the two-time Wimbledon champion fancies another crack at SW19 this summer and might reprise his Davis Cup-winning partnership with his elder sibling.

Andy Murray opted not to defend his title in Surbiton, but is set to play both Queen’s and Eastbourne ahead of the year’s third grand slam, which starts on July 1.

Jack Draper triumphed in a tight contest against the big-serving Sebastian Ofner, winning two tiebreaks to take a 7-6 (4) 7-6 (5) victory in Germany.

“When it came down to it, I’m glad I competed really hard & got over the line. It’s good to be back on the grass,” Draper said during his on-court interview.

“I played point by point and I gave myself the best chance to win the game.”

Draper will face Andy Murray in the next round if Murray manages to beat Giron this afternoon.

Jack Draper got his grass-court season off to a winning start and set up a possible meeting with Andy Murray at the Stuttgart Open.

The British number two, ranked 40 in the world, began preparations for his home grand slam at Wimbledon with a straight-sets win over Austrian Sebastian Ofner on Monday.

It was a tight contest against the big-serving Ofner, with Draper coming out on top in two tiebreaks to take a 7-6 (4) 7-6 (5) victory in Germany.

“I would say Nottingham is a special place in my career,” she said. “I am fond of it because it’s where everything started, my first WTA match, then I played the 100k the week after and that is where I got my Wimbledon wildcard because I didn’t get it in the first announcement.

“I had to win two matches in the 100k and then I got the wildcard and made fourth round at Wimbledon. So it is a very special place, if I hadn’t got that wildcard who knows what would have happened, or if the US would have happened.

“So it is a compilation of small moments where you don’t know what is going to happen. It is obviously different coming back here having won the US Open than before.”

“It was pretty surreal because obviously I couldn’t be on crutches because I’d had two wrist surgeries,” said the Brit about her injuries last season ahead of her Nottingham Open campaign.

“So I had a cast on one hand – I’d timed it so I didn’t have two casts at the same time, obviously – a splint on the other and my ankle was also pretty much immobilised, in a splint and stitches. I would just scooter around with one knee. As someone who is so active it’s difficult to just shut your body down.

“I think it’s very easy for me to lose sight of where I was exactly a year ago because it is pretty much a year ago to this day, this month.

“You get so caught up in your own world that you want more and more and more. But a year ago I was on a scooter scooting around and I didn’t know – there was an element of doubt. To be healthy and to be here, I need to cherish it. So thanks for reminding me to do that.

“Body-wise, physical-wise, I feel really healthy. I feel really strong. I’ve done amazing work with my trainer over the last few months, since surgery.

“I’m in a really fit place. I think my wrists are actually in a better position than they ever were.

“So there’s zero doubt or apprehension whether I’m hitting the ball or designing my schedule. It’s more about being proactive and not wanting to put yourself in any unnecessary situations.”

Emma Raducanu has to remind herself she needed a mobility scooter this time last year as she prepares for her latest career reboot.

The 21-year-old will play her first match since April on Tuesday after choosing to skip the French Open in order to prepare for the grass-court season, which begins with the Nottingham Open this week.

Raducanu, whose 2024 playing schedule has been sporadic, is taking small steps on her road to recovery from three surgeries this time last year, where she went under the knife on both wrists and an ankle, leaving her needing assistance to get around.

Dart told the official Kelly Rask that she was “embarrassing yourself” after the British No 2 was convinced a ball landed out during a rally in the second set of a tight tussle and later accused Rask of “threatening” her.

Defending champion Boulter kept out of the drama and sealed a 6-7 (5), 6-4, 7-5 victory.