HINDHEAD’S Jodie Burrage claimed the biggest win of her tennis career when she beat Bojana Jovanovski Petrovic of Serbia in straight sets in the Nature Valley Classic at Birmingham last weekend.
Burrage, 19, is coached by former Great Britain No 1 Lucy Ahl and is rated one of the most promising junior British players.
The former Amesbury School pupil and Elstead Tennis Club member looked to have a tough first qualifying round draw at the Edgbaston Priory Club.
Although ranked over 400 places below Burrage, Jovanovski Petrovic is a former top-40 player with two WTA Tour titles to her name, looking to climb back up the rankings after two years out with injury.
After taking a tight first set on a tie-break, the British teenager showed real composure at 3-2 in the second set and sealed an impressive 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 victory. It was the first WTA win of her career.
Her reward was a headline match against compatriot Katy Dunne on the Ann Jones Centre Court in the second qualifying round on Sunday. Dunne, 23, ranked 308 places higher than Burrage (523rd in the world) made her greater experience count, but had to work hard for her 7-5, 6-3 victory.
The prize on offer in the tournament is a place in the 32-player main singles draw in the Nature Valley Classic.
• Jodie Burrage has been a frequent beneficiary of Sport Haslemere’s Create a Star scheme which gives financial support to promising young sportsmen and women.