Heather Watson and Naomi Broady out of Luxembourg Open
Friday 20 October 2017 11:10, UK
On a disappointing evening for Britain's women, Heather Watson and Naomi Broady crashed to quarter-final defeats at the Luxembourg Open.
Watson fell 6-4 6-4 to Elise Mertens and never looked like troubling the Belgian, while Broady was beaten 6-0 5-7 6-1 by Puerto Rico's Monica Puig.
Watson was well beaten in the first set but made a better fist of it in the second only for two poor games in a row to put her behind for the first time, conceding a 5-4 deficit with a horribly hit forehand as her serve collapsed.
The decisive game saw the British No 2 continue to produce errors at a rate of knots - a shortcoming throughout the match - and having temporarily stemmed the flow of points, she directed a forehand well wide to concede the match.
Broady, who saved match point against former Wimbledon finalist Sabine Lisicki in the previous round, was overwhelmed in the opening set and the second looked destined for a similar outcome as she trailed 3-0, cutting a frustrated figure as her serve also continued to unravel.
The British No 3 showed tenacity to re-calibrate her sights and, combined with a mini-collapse from Puig, she fought back to win 7-5 only to come unstuck in the decider.
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