Great Britain's Katie Boulter, Harriet Dart and Jodie Burrage all made it through to the second round of the Nottingham Open on Tuesday, but Katie Swan fell at the first hurdle.
Boulter, who recently overtook Emma Raducanu as GB's new number one, bested compatriot Emily Appleton 6-1 6-3, while Dart sailed past Canada's Rebecca Marino 6-4 6-2.
Burrage came through a thriller with Tereza Martincova 7-6[5] 3-6 7-6[4], but Swan was not so lucky in three sets, falling to Alize Cornet 6-2 1-6 4-6.
Having seen three of her compatriots progress earlier in the day, Swan was on course to join the trio in the second round, breaking Cornet straight away and winning five of the first six games.
The world number 134 won 100% of her points behind her second serve as Cornet struggled for rhythm, but after ceding the first set with a whimper, the French player came storming back with a five-game winning streak in the second set.
At this point, Dart began to struggle physically, and Cornet levelled the match with consummate ease before the duo exchanged six successive holds to open a winner-takes-all third set.
However, Cornet's pressure told as Swan - who posted three double faults in the third set - lost her serve in the seventh game, and the Briton missed one final backhand at the net on match point to bow out.
© Reuters
Before Swan's defeat, Boulter celebrated becoming GB's number one with a straightforward win over Appleton in one hour and 11 minutes, despite fleeting signs of a fightback from the latter in both sets.
Boulter was broken at 5-0 up while serving for the first set and nearly let a 4-1 lead slip in the second, but Appleton - who is ranked 420th in the world - was plagued by serving errors, amassing nine double faults on the day.
Boulter took six of the eight break points she brought up to progress, and the British number one could potentially meet Dart in the last eight following the 26-year-old's two-set win over Marino.
Dart was not fazed by tackling a player ranked 54 places higher than her in the WTA standings, breaking five times in total and racking up five aces to set up a second-round tie with Italian Open finalist Anhelina Kalinina.
Finally, Burrage and Martincova exchanged blows for nearly three hours before the former prevailed, having held her own in two tie-breakers either side of a second set in which she was broken three times.
Neither player lost serve at all in the first and third sets, but Burrage - who had 12 double faults to her name - remarkably saved the six break points she faced in the decider and took her first match point to seal a place in round two, where she will meet Polish third seed Magda Linette.
Ben Knapton
