Heather Watson suffers first-round defeat in Prague Open
Tuesday 28 April 2015 00:03, UK
British No 1 Heather Watson was knocked out in the first round of the Prague Open after losing a marathon encounter against Polona Hercog.
In a match lasting more than three hours, Hercog won a third-set tie-break to claim a 7-5 3-6 7-6 (7-5) win, sealing her place in the second round of the competition.
Watson, who also lost in the first round at the Family Circle Cup last month, will be bitterly disappointed by the manner of her defeat against a player ranked 32 places below her at No 72 in the world rankings.
The 22-year-old was 3-0 up in the final-set tie-break before being broken three times by her Slovenian opponent.
Watson is expected to play at the clay tournaments in Madrid and Rome as she attempts to recapture some form ahead of next month's French Open.
Hercog will now face 18-year-old Czech Katerina Siniakova, who beat sixth seed Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania 6-3 6-3.
Two-time grand slam winner Svetlana Kuznetsova was also on the wrong end of an opening day upset.
The Russian, who has won both the French Open and US Open, was beaten 6-4 6-3 by China's Shuai Zhang.
Eighth seed Camila Giorgi is also out, losing 4-6 6-3 7-5 to Yanina Wickmayer, but fifth seed Alize Cornet overcame wild-card Kristina Schmiedlova 6-3 6-3.
Wild-card Denisa Allertova beat Coco Vandeweghe 6-4 6-1 and there were also wins for Elena Vesnina and Aleksandra Krunic.
