Heather Watson loses to Shuai Peng at Aegon Classic
- Published
Watson was found wanting in the second set against third seed Peng
British number two Heather Watson produced a battling display but was ultimately undone by Shuai Peng in a hard-fought third-round encounter at the Aegon Classic in Birmingham.
Having impressed in wins against 15th seed Chanelle Schneepers, and Misaki Doi, Watson was in good form.
But the 19-year-old fell away to lose to China's third seed 7-6 (7-1) 6-1.
In the Aegon Challenge in Nottingham, meanwhile, Elena Baltacha beat Anne Kremer 6-3 6-1 to reach round three.
It completed a good day's work for the Scot after she was given a wildcard entry into the main draw of the Aegon International at Eastbourne as part of her Wimbledon preparations.
Baltacha, who beat new French Open champion Li Na and Zheng Jie in last season's event, said: "It's always nice to come back to a place where you've played well and there's nothing I love more than playing in front of a British crowd.
"This year's player field in Eastbourne is unbelievable and it's fantastic to be part of it. I can't wait to get started."
Baltacha, ranked 74th in the world, has been in good form recently, defeating American Sloane Stephens in the first round at the French Open and reaching the semi-finals of an ITF 100k event at Cagnes-Sur-Mer as she defied her traditionally poor record on clay.
Compatriot Anne Keothavong fell at the second-round hurdle, however, slumping to a 6-3 6-4 defeat to Canadian Stephane Dubois.
Back at the Aegon Classic in Birmingham, Daniela Hantuchova beat Alla Kudryavtseva 6-4 6-2.
The Slovak fourth seed was always too strong for her Russian opponent, and will now face American Alison Riske, after her 7-5 6-7 (6-8) 6-2 defeat of French eighth seed Aravane Rezai.
Serbian second seed Ana Ivanovic eased through to the quarter-finals with a 6-3 6-2 win over 13th seed Rebecca Marino of Canada, where she will play Croat Mirjana Lucic, who beat Czech Andres Hlavackova 6-2 7-6 (7-4).
German Sabine Lisicki, meanwhile, beat Tamira Paszek of Austria 7-6 (7-1) 6-4 and will now face Slovakian 14th seed Magdalena Rybarikova - a 6-7 (1-7) 6-0 6-1 winner over Russian Arina Rodionova - while Watson's conqueror Shuai will go on to face Marina Erakovic in the last eight after the Kiwi's 5-7 6-4 6-3 win over Italian 7th seed Sara Errani.