China's Zhang Zhizhen clinched his maiden grass-court win in the first round of the Eastbourne International over seventh seed Lorenzo Sonego of Italy 7-6, 6-3 on Tuesday.

After trailing in Stuttgart and Halle openers earlier this year, Zhang, who is ranked number 54 in the world, had to save three set points in the first set against 40th-ranked Sonego before taking the tiebreak 7-4 and winning the match in almost two hours. 

In the women's contention, third-seeded Jessica Pegula and fifth-seeded Coco Gauff from the U.S. reached the second round with straight-set wins, respectively. The two could meet in the quarterfinals given that they win the second round against Colombian qualifier Camila Osorio and Jodie Burrage of Great Britain.

Pegula beat 24th-ranked Zheng Qinwen of China 6-3, 6-4, while Gauff fired six aces in an easy 6-3, 6-2 win over fellow American Bernarda Pera in just an hour.

French Caroline Garcia took a 6-1, 7-5 win over American Madison Brengle and fourth-seeded Ons Jabeur of Tunisia captured a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Italian Jasmine Paolini. Eighth-seeded Beatriz Haddad Maia defeated Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3).

(With input from Reuters)