Heather Watson fails to defend Hobart title

Guernsey's Heather Watson has been unable to defend her Hobart International title in Australia.

The 23-year-old, who won the trophy last year to secure her second WTA title, was knocked out in the quarter-finals in the early hours of this morning Down Under.

The Sarnian faced an uphill task from the outset as her schedule was significantly disrupted by rain delays.

It led to her completing her second round clash with Monica Niculescu today - it was due to finish yesterday.

Watson came through that test.

Resuming the match 3-1 up in the deciding set, she eventually won it on a tie break to set up a quarter-final test against Johanna Larsson.

But that proved to be a step too far for the British number two.

Despite taking the opening set 6-3 she went onto lose the next two, 6-4 6-4, in a match that finished just after 2am local time.