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Watson's defeat ends British challenge in Birmingham

Heather Watson was overpowered by Shuai Peng © PA Photos

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Heather Watson failed to reach the quarter-finals of the AEGON Classic in Birmingham after her brave run came to an end at the hands of third seed Shuai Peng.

The British No. 2, who broke into the world's top 100 for the first time following her second-round appearance at the French Open, had knocked out 15th seed Chanelle Scheepers in the first round, and looked comfortable as she eased past Misaki Doi on Wednesday.

Watson fired five aces as she proved a match for the world No. 20 in the first set, but was left to rue a series of errors as Peng stormed through the tiebreak before easing to a 7-6(1) 6-1 victory.

Peng, who had to dig deep against Britain's Naomi Broady in the second round, now moves into the quarter-finals, where she will meet world No. 151 Marina Erakovic, who battled back from a set down to upset seventh seed Sara Errani 5-7 6-4 6-3.

Second seed Ana Ivanovic appears to be adapting well to the grass after the former world No. 1 sailed into the quarter-finals. The former French Open champion needed less than an hour to wrap up a 6-3 6-2 win over Rebecca Marino.

Fourth seed Daniela Hantuchova, who upset world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki at the French Open, continued her impressive run of form with a 6-4 6-2 win over Alla Kudryavtseva. Hantuchova will now meet American Alison Riske, after the world No. 105 stunned eighth seed Aravane Rezai 7-5 6-7(6) 6-2.

Sabine Lisicki and Mirjana Lucic complete the quarter-final line-up.

At the Sony Ericsson Open in Copenhagen, Caroline Wozniacki continued to progress towards an expected final berth later this week, triumphing 7-6(4) 6-3 against Angelique Kerber. Wozniacki was far from impressive though, conceding her serve on four occasions en route to victory.

Elsewhere, No. 4 seed Lucie Safarova broke Michaella Krajicek four times to one, but still needed three sets to progress 6-7(4) 6-4 6-2. And third seed Bethanie Mattek-Sands saw off Johanna Larsson in a topsy-turvy encounter 6-7(1) 6-0 7-6(5).

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