Heather Watson, Jodie Burrage, Amarni Banks & Mimi Xu amongst wild cards for Lexus Birmingham Open 2025
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Wild cards have been announced for the WTA 125 event at the Lexus Birmingham Open 2025 – including British rising stars and fan favourites returning to the Edgbaston Priory Club.
Former British No.1 Heather Watson, Jodie Burrage, Mimi Xu and Amarni Banks have all been awarded wild cards into the main draw of the women’s singles event in Birmingham.
Wild cards for the women’s singles qualifying have also been awarded to Lily Miyazaki, Emily Appleton, Amelia Rajecki and Ella McDonald.
Watson will kick-start her grass court season in Birmingham at a tournament where she reached the semi-finals back in 2021.
The 33-year-old Brit has always brought her best tennis during the grass court season having also made the semi-finals in Eastbourne and Nottingham, as well as reaching the fourth round at Wimbledon in 2022 and lifting the mixed doubles trophy in 2016.
Burrage will be making her return to the grass in the Midlands after missing the 2024 summer season through injury. The 25-year-old is a former top 100 player who only two years ago reached her first WTA final on grass at Nottingham.
Banks has shown impressive form over the last 12 months with a title at the W35 Nottingham as well as semi-final runs at the W75 events in Glasgow, Trnava and Le Neubourg amongst the highlights. The 22-year-old came through two rounds of qualifying last year at Wimbledon and will be hoping to make her mark on the 2025 grass court season.
17-year-old Xu is one of the rising talents in the British game at the moment and is a three-time winner across the 16U (2022) and 18 (2022 and 2024) Lexus Junior National Championships.
A former world No.8 in the ITF junior rankings, Xu has previously made the semi-finals in the girls’ singles at the US Open, reached the quarter-finals at the Australian Open and is a former Wimbledon girls’ doubles runner-up. Last year she won her first professional title at the W35 Aldershot as part of the LTA Performance Competitions Calendar.
Banks and Xu are both supported by the LTA Pro Scholarship Programme presented by Lexus – the highest level of support for developing players aged 16-24.
Qualifying for the Lexus Birmingham Open starts from Saturday 31 May. This year’s event will be the first time Birmingham has had combined women’s and men’s draws as a WTA 125 and ATP Challenger 125 tournament.
You can watch the Lexus Birmingham Open live on the Tennis Channel.
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