Watson and Robson sent packing in Birmingham

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Laura Robson and Heather Watson crashed out of the Aegon Classic in Birmingham.

British number two Watson got back to winning ways with a first round win over Melinda Czink on Tuesday but fell 6-4 6-3 to Alla Kudryavtseva, a player ranked 172nd in the world.

It was only Watson’s third competitive outing since recovering from a bout of glandular fever. The Guernsey player only returned from a four-month absence from the WTA Tour at Roland Garros two weeks ago.

But her Russian opponent clinched a solitary break in the opening set on the Ann Jones Centre Court before four further breaks in the second saw her complete victory in 71 minutes.

Robson faced an awkward second round match against former Aegon Classic finalist Daniela Hantuchova and lost 6-4 6-3.

The British number one, seeded seventh, had a bye in the first round but had no answer to the Slovak, struggling with a first serve percentage under 50 per cent and being broken twice in the first set and suffering the only break of the second,

Their Fed Cup team-mate Johanna Konta also lost, going down 6-4 6-1 to Frenchwoman Kristina Mladenovic.

Top seeded Belgian Kirsten Flipkens takes on Croatian qualifier Ajla Tomljanovic later.

WTA Birmingham – Round 2 results

3-Sorana Cirstea (Romania) beat Tsvetana Pironkova (Bulgaria) 6-4 6-4

Daniela Hantuchova (Slovakia) beat 7-Laura Robson (Britain) 6-3 6-4

12-Kristina Mladenovic (France) beat Johanna Konta (Britain) 6-4 6-1

13-Bojana Jovanovski (Serbia) beat Andrea Hlavackova (CzechRepublic) 4-6 6-1 6-4

Alla Kudryavtseva (Russia) beat 14-Heather Watson (Britain) 6-4 6-3

Maria Sanchez (U.S.) beat Alison Van Uytvanck (Belgium) 7-6(3) 6-3

WTA Nuremberg – Round 2 results

5-Lucie Safarova (Czech Republic) beat Maria Teresa Torro (Spain) 6-4 6-2

Lourdes Dominguez Lino (Spain) beat Mandy Minella (Luxembourg) 6-1 6-4

Round 1 results

1-Jelena Jankovic (Serbia) beat Arantxa Rus (Netherlands) 6-4 6-2

Polona Hercog (Slovenia) beat 2-Klara Zakopalova (CzechRepublic) 6-3 4-6 6-1

7-Simona Halep (Romania) beat Grace Min (U.S.) 6-0 7-5

Estrella Cabeza Candela (Spain) beat Tereza Martincova (Czech Republic) 6-2 6-3