Heather Watson loses in three sets to Kristina Mladenovic in Abierto Mexicano

Heather Watson turned in a valiant display but bowed out of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel in Acapulco after a three-set defeat to Kristina Mladenovic.

Watson lost the epic match on her 18th double fault as the second-seeded Mladenovic secured a 7-6 (7/4) 6-7 (5/7) 7-5 victory in three hours and 32 minutes.

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The match saw 15 breaks of serve with the Frenchwoman just edging home, converting eight of the 22 break points she had, while Watson won seven of 14.

Mladenovic will face Kirsten Flipkens in the third round after Ajla Tomljanovic - who returned to the court
this week after more than a year out - was forced to retire after losing the first set 7-5.

Top seed Mirjana Lucic-Baroni make comfortable progress to the quarter-finals with a 6-4 6-4 win over Shelby Rogers.

Monica Puif saw off Daniela Hantuchova 6-4 6-4, while there were also wins for Andrea Petkovic and Lesia Tsurenko as seven of the top eight seeds advanced to the last eight.

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