Watson finally downed

HEATHER WATSON'S best run at a WTA event ended in the early hours of this morning in Auckland.

After five straight wins at the ASB Classic the 18-year-old went down 6-4, 7-5 in a tight quarter-final to the Chinese star Shuai Peng, ranked more than 100 places above Watson at 71 in the world.

Watson's 24-year-old opponent has been as high as 31 in the world and in the previous round had caused a shock by defeating the Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova.