Ana Ivanovoic has justified her top seeding in the Edgbaston WTA event in Birmingham with a convincing second-round win in straight sets.
The Serbian saw off Mona Barthel 6-1 6-4, while Slovak seventh seed Daniela Hantuchova beat Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic 6-1 6-4 in the long-established grasscourt warm-up event for Wimbledon.
Meanwhile, Australian Casey Dellacqua proved too strong for Poland’s Urszula Radwanska, winning their first-round tie 6-1 6-3.
There was disappointment for the home crowd when new British number one Heather Watson spurned three match-points on the way to a 2-6 7-5 6-4 defeat by Canadian qualifier Aleksandra Wozniak after a first-round match lasting two hours and 12 minutes.
Watson, whose rose above British rival Laura Robson to 69th in the world rankings after reaching the second round of the French Open, led 5-3 in the second set and served for the match only for her lower-ranked opponent to force her way back into the match.
However, there was a home victory at Edgbaston on Tuesday with 23-year-old Johanna Konta defeating Japanese 14th seed Kurumi Nara, who is ranked 71 places higher than the Briton in the world rankings, 6-3 6-1.
Meanwhile 12th-seed Monica Puig was made to work hard for a 6-7 (3/7) 6-2 6-2 win over Stefanie Voegele, while American Christina McHale beat Anna Schmiedlova 7-6 (7/5) 6-4.
Hungary’s Timea Babos was a 6-3 6-4 winner over Marina Erakovic of New Zealand while Petra Cetkovska beat Alexandra Cadantu by the same score.
Lauren Davis also progressed with the 20-year-old beating fellow American Victoria Duval 6-2 2-6 6-2.