The Aegon Classic 2013 officially begins today as the main draw gets underway at the Edgbaston Priory Club, Birmingham.

The first match of the day sees the return of 2012 Aegon Classic Champion Melanie Oudin on the Ann Jones Centre Court at 11am. The American world No.78 will have to battle past Croatian qualifier Ajla Tomljanovic to set up a second round meeting with top seed Kirsten Flipkens.

Oudin announced herself as a star of the future in 2009 when she followed a fourth-round run at Wimbledon, with a quarter-final appearance at the U.S. Open and will be looking to make similar waves here in Edgbaston by retaining the Aegon Classic crown.

“To me tennis is competitiveness, mental and physical toughness and such a fun and enjoyable game,” said Oudin. “This is a really great tournament and I’m definitely looking forward to coming back.”

Junior Wimbledon Champion Eugenie Bouchard also features on Centre Court today as she takes on Bojana Jovanovski, the 13th seed. The 19-year-old from Westmount, Canada currently sits at 77 in the WTA rankings and will be looking to replicate the form she found at The Championships, Wimbledon last year.

America In Action

American fans will want to keep an eye across all courts today as Lauren Davis kicks play off on Court 1 against Tsvetana Pironkova, with Coco Vandeweghe following later against Kristyna Pliskova. Jamie Hampton opens on Court 2 playing 10th seed Su-Wei Hsieh, while Madison Keys, Alison Riske, as well as Melanie Oudin, are all also in action.

The Brits

Wild card Brits, Anne Keothavong and Melanie South begin their Aegon Classic campaigns on Centre Court today. Keothavong is second up on Centre against American qualifier Alison Riske, while South must wait until the last match of the day to play Slovakian 16th seed Magdalena Rybarikova.