Boulter and Burrage impress on Day 1 of Progress Tour Championships

Katie Boulter and Jodie Burrage were the big winners on the opening day of the Progress Tour Championships in London. 

World No.85 Boulter was too strong for Alice Gillen in her first round-robin match in Group Anne Keothavong, winning in straight sets 6-1, 6-4. 

Still feeling her way back from the injury issues which have hampered her over the past year, Boulter was relieved to return to competitive action. "It was really nice to be back out there," she said.

"It's been a mix of emotions, obviously I want to be back where I was but the reality is that I'm going to be a bit rusty and I think I have to keep focused and keep battling away to find my rhythm."

Burrage, the British No.7, was already confident going into the tournament and quickly found form in beating Emily Arbuthnott 6-2, 6-3. 

"It was very different conditions for me, I came from indoors last week so it took me a while to get used to the conditions," she said. "But I thought throughout I played the tight points quite well and there were some difficult situations in there but I managed to come through and I'm happy to get through the first round."

Katie Swan was forced to withdraw from the event when she retired hurt with a hip injury whilst a set up against Alicia Barnett in Group Elena Baltacha. In the other match in the group, Nottingham's Freya Christie outlasted Scotland's Maia Lumsden in a 2 hour 11 minute three-set battle 6-3, 2-6, 6-3.

Boulter faces Arbuthnott while Burrage takes on Gillen on Wednesday. In Group Elena Baltacha, Barnett will play Lumsden while Christie has a bye due to Swan's injury.