Aegon Classic Birmingham served up without Angelique Kerber

With qualifying completed over the weekend the main draw of one of the premier pre-Wimbledon tennis tournaments kicked off.

But after the previous withdrawals of Maria Sharapova, Simona Halep and Karolina Pliskova, Kerber is the latest big name to be forced to pull out while it was unclear if recent shock French Open winner Jelena Ostapenko would be fit enough to compete at the Edgbaston Priory Club.

But it was not all doom and gloom for organisers, whose field still boasts British number one and two Johanna Konta and Heather Watson as well as former Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova, Wimbledon finalist and former French Open winner Garbine Muguruza and the defending Birmingham champion Madison Keys.

A tough year has seen Kerber, 29, cling onto top spot in the world rankings despite not winning a tour level title or registering a win over a Top 20 player.

She has cited complications with a hamstring problem as the reason for her pulling out, but hopes to be okay to play at Eastbourne next week before heading to SW19. “It was OK, but when I started practising again after [the French Open in] Paris I felt it in the last few days,” Kerber said of her injury. “You never know how it’s going to be.

“I’m still hopeful of playing next week at Eastbourne, and I really want to be right for Wimbledon. This is an important time for me.”

Kerber reached the final in London last year, losing to Serena Williams who collected her seventh singles title at the All England Club as a result.

She would have been hoping to have gone one further this year, especially with Williams missing through pregnancy and Sharapova also pulling out with injury as she controversially returns from her drugs ban. “When I started playing again on grass I was feeling much better,” the German added. “I’m really looking forward to playing matches on it again. But in a lot of matches you never know what is happening to your body.”

With Kerber joining the long list of withdrawals, world number eight Konta will now see herself among a group of frontrunners for this week’s title. Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina, top seed after Kerber’s withdrawal, and Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova are the other Top 10 entrants.