WTA Korea Open: Eighth-seeded Brit Heather Watson suffers disappointing defeat

Heather Watson was dumped out of the Korea Open in the first round in Seoul on Tuesday, beaten by American qualifier Nicole Gibbs.

Watson, seeded eighth for the tournament, managed to convert just one of seven break points in the first set before Gibbs, ranked 55 places lower in the world at 101, dominated the second in a 7-5 6-2 win.

The swift exit here comes on the back of Watson's first-round exit from the US Open in New York last month.

There was better news for top seed Agnieszka Radwanska, who eased to a 6-3 6-3 victory over Polona Hercog in her opening match of the tournament.

The Pole needed just an hour and 15 minutes to see off her Slovenian opponent, who sent down five aces but only won eight out of 25 points on her second serve.

Fellow seeds Klara Koukalova and Kaia Kanepi as they came through their first-round ties unscathed. Koukalova, the third seed, was forced to work harder than expected after a dominant first set, finally edging out Kiki Bertens 6-0 4-6 6-4.

It was more straight forward for No 6 ranked Kanepi as she beat Elizaveta Kulichkova 6-2 6-4.

Maria Kirilenko is also through to the second round after she recovered from a set down to overcome Donna Vekic 3-6 6-2 6-4, while No 2 seed Karolina Pliskova defeated Julia Gluschko 6-1 6-2.