Heather Watson and Johanna Konta have been awarded wild cards into the 2014 Aegon International.
British No.1 Watson made a huge splash in her first appearance at the Aegon International in 2010 when, ranked No.344 in the world, she won through three rounds of qualifying before falling to Victoria Azarenka in the second round.
The world No.69 said she was looking forward to playing her fifth-straight Aegon International. “I always love playing in Eastbourne, the courts are second-to-none so it's the perfect event to hone my grass court game,” said 22-year-old Watson, who fell in a tough three-set second round match against eventual champion Elena Vesnina at last year's tournament.
“The fans are fantastic and really supportive of all the British players. I'm hoping to give them something to get behind and really make the most of my wildcard.”
Watson will also take part in Rally For Bally at Devonshire Park on Sunday 15th of June in memory of former British No.1 Elena Baltacha who lost her battle against liver cancer in May.
Eastbourne resident and British No.3 Konta has enjoyed a excellent start to her 2014 grass court campaign, reaching the semifinals at the Pro Tour event in Nottingham and the second round at the Aegon Classic in Birmingham this week.
Currently ranked No.110 in the world, this is Konta's second main draw appearance at Devonshire Park, the 23-year-old falling in a tough first round match against world No.44 Su-Wei Hsieh last year.
Konta said she was looking forward to returning to the grass courts of Devonshire Park. “I'm really excited about playing in front of my home town crowd again,” she said. “This wild card is a tremendous opportunity for me to get some more grass court wins under my belt and hopefully I'll have some great results.”.
Watson and Konta join a host of top players competing at the Aegon International including top seed Victoria Azarenka, Agnieszka Radwanska, Petra Kvitova and Jelena Jankovic.