Watson reached the main draw for a WTA event for the third time

Briton Heather Watson reached the main draw for Eastbourne after defeating Serbia's Bojana Jovanovski 6-1 1-6 6-1.

The 18-year-old, who beat world number 81 Tsvetana Pironkova in the previous round, took one hour and 36 minutes to record her victory.

Fellow Briton and wildcard entrant Anne Keothavong fell to a 6-4 6-2 loss at the hands of Daniela Hantuchova in the opening round proper.

French Open finalist Samantha Stosur beat Melanie Oudin 6-4 6-4.

Australian Stosur recovered from 4-1 down in the second set to clinch victory over the American.

606: DEBATE Will Watson go far in Eastbourne?

Watson has a wildcard into the main draw of the singles at Wimbledon and confirmed on Monday that she is unlikely to play any more junior tennis, ruling out defending her title at the US Open later this year.

Asked about her goals for the rest of the year, she said: "I definitely want to get inside the top 200 and I'm working to achieve that goal - get fitter, stronger and keep learning."

And the teenager is not daunted by the prospect of a debut appearance in the first-round proper at Wimbledon next week.

"I am so excited and this is great preparation for it," she said. "I'm just so excited to play - whoever I play against I'm just going to enjoy it, enjoy the experience and go in to win."

Eighth seed and former Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli defeated Vera Dushevina 6-4 7-5, while Czech Lucie Safarova recorded a 6-4 3-6 6-4 win over Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

Spain's Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez also booked her place in the second round with a 6-3 3-6 7-5 victory over Vera Zvonareva of Russia.

In the men's event, Frenchman Gilles Simon recorded his first ATP win of the year with a 6-3 6-7 (6-8) 6-4 victory over Kazakh Evgeny Korolev.

Israel's Dudi Sela, who knocked Andy Roddick out in straight-sets in the third round at Queen's, went through after his opponent Kevin Anderson retired at the start of the deciding set, but America's James Blake tumbled out 7-6 (7-3) 7-5 to Frenchman Julien Benneteau.

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