The top two seeds at the key Wimbledon warm-up event at Edgbaston experienced contrasting fortunes at the WTA grasscourt tournament on Wednesday.
Top seed Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium had to battle all the way to go through to the third round in three sets 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 over Croatia’s 20-year-old former top junior Ajla Tomljanovic, who had put out defending champion Melanie Oudin of the United States in the first round.
However, there was to be no such happy ending for the second seed Ekaterina Makarova, who bowed out also in a three set epic, losing 7-6 (8/6) 3-6 6-0 to New Zealand’s Marina Erakovic.
Hopes of a British victory were ended when their top two women Laura Robson, seeded seven, and Heather Watson, the 14th seed, both went down in straight sets to Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia and Russia’s Alla Kudryavtseva respectively.
Robson crumbled on her second serve on her way to a 6-3 6-4 defeat to Hantuchova while Watson lost to Kudryavtseva in little over an hour.
Nineteen-year-old Robson won just seven of 26 points on her second serve, despite winning 92 per cent of points on her first, but her early exit will allow her extra time to train for Wimbledon with new coach Miles Maclagan.
“I felt like I was in control of the match from the start and played a really solid game,” said 30-year-old Hantuchova, who was once ranked fifth in the world.
“She’s (Robson) a great player and has a great future, but I can only concentrate on my game, which seemed to be working very well today.
“I spent quite a few hours practicing on the grass before coming here and I think it has helped a lot,” added Hantuchova, winner of five WTA titles during her career.
Watson, 21, was playing only her third match since recovering from glandular fever but she produced a lacklustre performance in a 6-4 6-3 defeat to a player ranked 118 places lower than her.
Elsewhere, the experienced Francesca Schiavone of Italy progressed in slightly easier fashion than she had in the first round – a three set win over unheralded Georgian Anna Tatishvili – beating Ukrainian Nadiya Kichenok 7-6 (7/4) 6-2.
