Lexus Birmingham Open 2026: Mika Stojsavljevic fights back for first grass court victory
• 2 minute read
British star Mika Stojsavljevic marked the start of her grass court season with a win over fellow teenager and former junior world No.1 Emerson Jones at the Lexus Birmingham Open.
Stojsavljevic and Jones returned on day two to complete their match after rain brought play to an end on Monday, with the Australian leading by a set.
The young Brit responded in style on Tuesday, beating Jones 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 in a combined two hours and 12 minutes.
It marked a first main-draw victory for the 17-year-old at a grass court event and builds on the impressive results she has claimed in her transition to the professional tour.
“I’m really excited to be in the second round. It’s my first tour-level win,” Stojsavljevic said. “A big thank you to everyone who came out to support me today.”
“I don’t think I was doing anything particularly wrong yesterday, she’s a very good player and was playing really well.
“There were a few key moments, and I think that was the difference today. I held my own on the important points.”
It was a tough start for Stojsavljevic on the opening day at the Edgbaston Priory Club, as she battled for momentum on her serve.
She faced break points on all but one service game and the Australian eventually took the first set in 41 minutes.
However, once the heavens opened and there was no sign of the rain stopping, the decision was made to resume the match the following day.
Once they eventually got back under way on Centre Court, Stojsavljevic flew out of the blocks. The former junior US Open champion had Jones on the ropes from the first point, pushing her opponent into all corners of the court and winning the first five games of the day to seal the second set.
Jones showed her fighting spirit in the decider, coming back from a break down twice to level at 5-5, but it proved to be third time lucky for the Briton.
After breaking again at 5-5, Stojsavljevic produced two aces and two unreturnable serves to close out a big win over one of her junior rivals.
Stojsavljevic moves on to face American Elvina Kalieva in the next round after she stunned fourth seed Talia Gibson in the opening round.
It is another big test for the Briton, but she has shown she is more than ready for the challenge.
Earlier this season, she made her Billie Jean King Cup debut in a must-win qualifier against a strong Australian side in Melbourne. Stojsavljevic produced an incredible performance to upset Gibson and help send her country through to the Finals in Shenzhen.
There is no doubt she has taken encouragement and confidence from those experiences in big matches, and we are already seeing early signs of that during the grass-court season.
However, her GB team-mate Harriet Dart narrowly lost to fifth seed Nikola Bartunkova in the first round, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5.
Dart had two match points in the final set but failed to convert them before the Czech player won the final three games in a row.
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