It was here, three years ago, that Johanna Konta first served notice of her potential to establish herself toward the top of the women’s game. Ranked 146 going into the 2015 event, her first win over a top-10 player (Ekaterina Makarova) was the catalyst for a stunning rise up the rankings: she broke into the top 10 and reached two grand slam semi-finals, including Wimbledon last year.

Things have been more difficult in the past 12 months, due largely to injuries and inconsistency. Having slipped outside the top 20, and with a stack of points to defend at the All England Club next week, there is pressure to maintain her place in the upper tier of the Tour but she looked strong and confident as she breezed into the third round of the Nature Valley International.

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Her 6-1, 6-3 win against Aleksandra Krunic of Serbia, who won a first WTA title in the Netherlands on grass this month, was a good, solid start. It was also a good bounceback from her first-round defeat by Petra Kvitova in Birmingham last week. “I tried to play the right way,” Konta said. “I played her last year at the US Open, so I know how well she can play. And obviously just having won a tournament in ’s-Hertogenbosch, I knew she was going to be difficult to play. I’m just really happy I could keep my focus and just try to do what I came out here to do.”

Konta has lived in Eastbourne since her early teens and playing at home clearly suits her. “It’s very nice,” she said. “I feel spoilt, like a young girl again. My mum and dad are cooking for me, doing my laundry, it’s quite nice. I’m really enjoying being home.”

In 2015, her win against Makarova helped her to reach the quarter-finals and she has reached the semi-finals in each of the past two years. However, the top seed, Caroline Wozniacki, the Dane who won her first grand slam title at the Australian Open in January, is likely to offer a much sterner test on Wednesday.

“I’m looking forward to that,” Konta said. “I haven’t played her in quite some time. She’s a grand slam champion this year, so she’s playing some great tennis. I’ll look forward to that battle.”

Kvitova, meanwhile, continues to look mightily impressive as Wimbledon draws closer. The Czech, who won Wimbledon in 2011 and 2014, might have been tempted to give Eastbourne a miss after winning the title in Birmingham on Sunday. Instead, she made her way down to the south coast and though she struggled for rhythm on serve, she was still too good for the world No 89 Kateryna Bondarenko, coming from 3-1 down in the second set to record a 7-5, 6-3 win.

Victory in Birmingham has given Kvitova a fifth title of 2018. This was her 38th win this year – the most of anyone on tour – and she is the bookmakers’ favourite for Wimbledon, all the more remarkable given that she returned to the Tour only in June last year, following the horrific attack in her home in December 2016 that left her requiring four hours of surgery on her left racket-holding hand.

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With Wimbledon starting on Monday, Kvitova will be keen not to over-exert herself this week. She plays the former world No 2 Agnieszka Radwanska, now ranked 31 after missing two months with a back injury, in the third round on Wednesday. “It was a tough final [in Birmingham], was a fight, which took me some energy, for sure,” Kvitova said. “Of course, winning the title, it’s amazing. I was happy, for sure. But the whole tournament was more relaxed for me from my side. It was great [and] hopefully will save some energy for the next weeks.”

The former world No 1 Angelique Kerber and Jelena Ostapenko, the French Open champion last year, both advanced to the third round with straight-set victories but the surprise run of Britain’s Harriet Dart came to an end.

The 21-year-old, who upset the world No 62 Kristyna Pliskova in round one, competed well but found the 11th seed Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia too consistent as she lost 6-3, 6-4. But Dart, who made the most of her wildcard, will be rewarded with a career-high ranking of 171 on Monday.