Ostapenko ousts Kvitova in Birmingham

Jelena Ostapenko added weight to the theory she could be a dark horse for Wimbledon by beating Petra Kvitova at the Aegon Classic on Thursday.

Ostapenko lifted the girls' singles title at Wimbledon in 2014, the year of Kvitova's second triumph at SW19, and showed her prowess on grass with a 6-4 4-6 6-3 victory over the Czech.

After securing her place in the quarter-finals on a rain-interrupted day in Birmingham, Ostapenko was quoted by the WTA's official website as saying: "Since juniors, I think I did well on grass. It's my first time here, but I really like it here.

"I think grass is my favourite surface, so I'm looking forward to two more tournaments. I think I can do well on grass because I have a good serve and a good backhand and forehand, so for grass, I think it's good.

"She [Kvitova] is one of the most dangerous opponents because she won Wimbledon twice. I'm happy to win today."

Madison Keys and Tsvetana Pironkova were the other second-round winners on Thursday, courtesy of respective straight-sets triumphs over Tamira Paszek and Irina-Camelia Begu.

There were also first-round wins for home favourite Johanna Konta and Yanina Wickmayer - who beat former world number one Caroline Wozniacki - but sixth seed Carla Suarez Navarro was facing a battle to avoid elimination when her match with Andrea Petkovic was suspended.

Petkovic took the opening set 6-4 before the second went to a tie-break, which Suarez Navarro led 2-0 prior to play being stopped.

Angelique Kerber's match with Daria Gavrilova was also halted with the former 6-5 to the good in the first set, while the day's remaining matches will need to be rescheduled.