Sakkari, Vekic lose in second round at Nottingham Open as seeds tumble

NOTTINGHAM, England (AP) — Top-seeded Maria Sakkari and former champion Donna Vekic were eliminated from the grass-court Nottingham Open at the last-16 stage on Wednesday.

Sakkari was beaten 6-1, 6-4 by Alize Cornet and Vekic, the winner in 2017 and the runner-up in '19, lost Viktorija Golubic 6-4, 6-1.

On Tuesday, defending champion and second-seeded Beatriz Haddad Maia was defeated by lucky loser Daria Snigur 6-4, 6-3 in the first round.

Another seed to fall in the second round was Lin Zhu, who lost 6-2, 6-4 to Magdalena Frech. Lin was the eighth seed at the Wimbledon warmup event.

Britain's Heather Watson gave home fans something to cheer by beating Tatjana Maria 6-4, 6-4 to set up a meeting in the quarterfinals with Golubic.

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