Parmar rallies in style

Arvind Parmar defeated Canada's Sebastien Lareau in three sets in the first round of the Powder Byrne Trophy in Surbiton yesterday.

The British No 5 recovered from the loss of a second set tie-break to seal a 6-4, 6-7, 6-4 victory and now faces Belgian's Dick Norman in the second round, Norman defeating national champion Lee Childs in straight sets earlier in the day.

Parmar was joined in the second round by fellow Briton Jamie Delgado who defeated countryman Mark Hilton in three sets but Luke Milligan went down to second seed Byron Black of Zimbabwe, having led 3-1 in the final set. Lancashire's Barry Cowan also went out, losing 7-6, 6-4 to third seed Peter Wessels of Holland.

In the women's singles British No 1 Louise Latimer made an impressive start to her title defence, beating American Alexandra Stevenson in straight sets. Latimer trailed 5-4 in the first set but won the next three games to take the set and raced through the second 6-3 in just 27 minutes.

She was joined in the second round by Lorna Woodroffe, who came through a titanic struggle with Julie Pullin in three sets.