This is because of the withdrawal of South African Lloyd Harris from the event, one of several U.K. grass-court tournaments which precedes the Wimbledon Championships starting later this month.

Lajal, ranked 157th in the world, was beaten by two sets to one by Briton Paul Jubb in qualifying. Lajal had won his first-round qualifier across three sets against Anton Matusevich (U.K.). While Lajal won the opening set against Jubb, 26, ranked 260th, on Monday, in the second set, the Briton won every point behind his first serve. By contrast, the Estonian won only half of the points on his own first serve and did not earn a single break point. Whereas the first set lasted 61 minutes, the second took not much more than a third of that time, at 24 minutes, to wrap up.

The decider was evenly contested once again. Neither player managed a break up to 5–5 in games, although Lajal had rescued two break points in the fifth game. Both players then won their opponent's service game to love, meaning a tiebreak was needed to determine the winner. Lajal lost four consecutive points after being 5–3 up, however, to lose the tiebreak and the match.

The entire encounter at a tennis center set against the scenic backdrop of Ilkley Moor, with or without a hat, lasted two-and-a-half hours.

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