Jodie Burrage through to round two at Eastbourne after leaving dog Otto at her mum's
- Planet Sport writer
- 27 June 2023
The British number two nearly refused a lucky loser invite while on the way to pick up her dog, Otto, but decided to play at the last minute and was rewarded with a first-round victory.
Jodie Burrage's decision to ditch her dog walking plans were rewarded with a place in round two of the Rothesay International at Eastbourne.
The British number two was due to collect her black Labrador, Otto, from her parents' house in Surrey on Sunday after suffering a qualifying defeat to Italy's Jasmine Paolini.
But, despite some injury concerns, the 24-year-old accepted the offer to return to Devonshire Park as a lucky loser and, having driven back from Hindhead on Monday morning, capitalised with a 4-6 6-4 6-3 comeback win over American qualifier Lauren Davis.
Speaking of the U-turn, Nottingham runner-up Burrage, who will face either French Open finalist Coco Gauff or Bernarda Pera in the last 16, said: "Me and my boyfriend were going to get my dog.
"We were halfway when I got the email and actually I was umming and ahing about playing because I have had a shoulder injury, I rolled my ankle last week, my body is not in the best shape.
"I actually decided to carry on driving because I couldn't be like, 'yeah, I want to play'. Obviously I want to play, but I was trying to figure out what the smart thing to do was.
"It's a nightmare trying to sort it out but the dog is back at mum's. He's happy to be there anyway.
"It wasn't the best prep, but it worked."
Harriet Dart also progressed on the opening day of the competition in East Sussex but there were early exits for fellow Britons George Loffhagen and Ryan Peniston.
Dart set up a clash with either reigning champion Petra Kvitova - a two-time Wimbledon champion - or 2017 French Open winner Jelena Ostapenko by beating China's Shuai Zhang.
The British number four whacked her racket into the court in frustration after dropping the second set but recovered to progress 7-5 6-7 (5) 6-1.
"Both (Kvitova and Ostapenko) are in top form and it's going to be a very, very tough match whoever I play," said Dart, who suffered quarter-final elimination at the hands of Kvitova last year.
"I'll just focus on what I can control and use the crowd as much as I can.
"I always feel really comfortable on grass. I have had some really close matches against some great players.
"I definitely think grass is a leveller, maybe because people haven't played as much on it or even set foot on it until they come to the UK."
World number 367 Loffhagen initially looked set to enjoy a dream ATP tour debut.
But the 22-year-old was unable to seize a match point against Frenchman Luca Van Assche, who sits 288 places higher in the rankings, before slipping to an agonising 2-6 7-6 (5) 7-6 (4) loss.
Peniston was beaten 6-3 6-2 by Swiss qualifier Marc-Andrea Huesler.
