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There was double disappointment for seeded players on day two of the Baku Cup in Azerbaijan. 7th seed Heather Watson experienced a mixed match as she was beaten 2-6 6-3 0-6 by Kristina Mladenovic. Mladenovic comes in to tournament in good form after reaching the semi finals at Istanbul last week before losing to eventual champion Caroline Wozniacki. At the start of the match Mladenovic took early control of the match by moving up to a 3-0 lead on her way to taking the first set in only 32 minutes.
Eastbourne semi finalist Watson was in more control in the second set as Mladenovic was unable to hold 4 out of her 5 service games to square the match at a set a piece. Unfortunately going in to the last set Watson was blown away by Mladenovic as the Frenchwoman bageled Watson to set up a second round meet with Donna Vekić.
Following Watson on her way out was 4th seed Kurumi Nara. Nara was brushed aside by 2010 French Open champion Francesca Schiavone in just over a hour. Throughout the match Nara was broken six times compares to Schiavone's two.
Schiavone's win is her best result (in relation to victory over ranked player's) since her second round win over Garbine Muguruza in Rome back in May.