Jodie Burrage through to round two at Eastbourne after leaving dog Otto at her mum's

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Jodie Burrage's decision to ditch her dog walking plans were rewarded with a place in round two of the Rothesay International at Eastbourne. </p>

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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. </p>

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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. </p>

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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. </p>

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"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. </p>

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"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. </p>

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"It's a nightmare trying to sort it out but the dog is back at mum's. He's happy to be there anyway. </p>

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"It wasn't the best prep, but it worked." </p>

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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. </p>

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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. </p>

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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. </p>

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"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. </p>

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"I'll just focus on what I can control and use the crowd as much as I can. </p>

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"I always feel really comfortable on grass. I have had some really close matches against some great players. </p>

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"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." </p>

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World number 367 Loffhagen initially looked set to enjoy a dream ATP tour debut. </p>

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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. </p>

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Peniston was beaten 6-3 6-2 by Swiss qualifier Marc-Andrea Huesler. </p>

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