Home favourite Heather Watson came close to pulling off an upset win over world number 20 Roberta Vinci in the third round of the AEGON Classic in Birmingham before falling in three sets.
The 20-year-old Briton fought back from dropping the first set to take the second with two breaks of the Italian's serve, but Vinci's class ultimately told as she completed a 6-3 4-6 6-1 win.
"It was a tough one today," said Watson.
"Conditions were quite windy, but Roberta played really well. She's obviously top 20 for a reason."
Vinci won the French Open doubles title with fellow Italian Sara Errani last week and is now relishing playing on grass, despite the fact she says there are "zero" grasscourts in her home country.
"I like to play on grass. I play, all the time, slice, so on this surface it's nice to play like this."
Eighth seed Ekaterina Makarova advanced with a 2-6 6-1 6-3 win over New Zealand's Marina Erakovic, while 13th seed Su-Wei Hsieh brushed aside Hungary's Melinda Czink 6-1 6-2.
American qualifier Melanie Oudin beat Russia's Elena Vesnina 6-0 6-2, while there were also wins for another American, Irina Falconi, over Urszula Radwanska and China's Jie Zheng, who beat Andrea Hlavackova of the Czech Republic.
