By Niall Clarke
- Heather Watson loses 6-4, 6-3 to Ana Ivanovic in Luxembourg
- Aljaz Bedene loses 6-3, 6-3 to Denis Istomin in Moscow
British interest in Luxembourg and Moscow lasted one round as Aljaz Bedene and Heather Watson both suffered first round defeats.
Watson drew former world number one Ana Ivanovic in the Luxembourg open first round, but managed only seven games as the Serb came through 6-4, 6-3 in 70 minutes.
The Brit lost serve in the opening game of the match, but managed to break back to love. They weren’t level for long though as Ivanovic quickly re-established her lead.
The world number 12 started to run away with the second set, going a double break up and serving for the match at 5-1. Watson managed to earn one break back, but the mountain was too hard to climb and she lost serve again to lose the match in straight sets.
That was Watson’s last match of the season as the WTA Year End Championships start this weekend. You can keep up with the season ending finale on Britwatch Sports.
After that result on Tuesday, it was down to world number 50 Bedene to keep British interest this week.
The British number two faced Denis Istomin in the opening round of the Kremlin cup this week, but was unable to topple the Uzbekistani, who came through 6-3 6-3 in 70 minutes.
Bedene was put under pressure in the fourth game of the match, managing to save break points before being broken in his next service game.
The second set started out disastrously for the Brit, going down a break in the opening game. The lead was doubled, allowing Istomin to serve for the match at 5-2. Bedene broke back, but like Watson before him he gave up his serve for the match 6-3, 6-3.
Istomin will now go on to face Marin Cilic in the next round.
Bedene will play qualifying for ATP Valencia next week
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