Elena Baltacha left flying flag in Nottingham after Anne Keothavong exit

Elena Baltacha was left to carry the British challenge at the Aegon Nottingham Challenge as Anne Keothavong was eliminated.

British No 1 Baltacha, seeded fifth, defeated Luxembourg's Anne Kremer 6-3, 6-1 to reach round three.

The Scot, 27, came through a first set featuring six breaks of serve in just nine games, and made short work of the second as she broke twice more. She took her third match point and will next face second-seeded Czech Lucie Hradecka, a 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 6-3 winner over Russia's Valeria Savinykh.

Baltacha, who has been given a wild card into the main draw of the Aegon International at Eastbourne, said after her success: "I felt much more comfortable out there today. I felt like I played more aggressively and more solidly. I served very well all around, especially on the big points.

"In terms of how I played and how I delivered and how I felt out there, I'm very, very happy. I felt like 'okay, I've been playing on it (grass] for so many years and I know what I'm doing on this stuff'. It's the first year on the grass that I've really felt like that. I want to use all the experience I've got."

Seventh seed Keothavong, though, was eliminated after a disappointing 6-3, 6-4 defeat to Canada's Stephanie Dubois. The players twice traded breaks before Dubois made the decisive breakthrough to clinch the first set, and she broke twice more in the second as Keothavong's first-serve ratio remained below 50 per cent for the match.

In Birmingham, Heather Watson's run in the Aegon Classic came to an abrupt end in the third round as the British No 2 suffered a straight-sets defeat to China's world No 20 Shuai Peng. The 19-year-old's resistance fell away after losing a tight first set 7-1 in a tie-break, as the third-seeded Peng turned up the heat to score a 7-6 (7/1), 6-1 success. For Watson, a Wimbledon wild card is consolation.

Second seed and former world No 1 Ana Ivanovic stepped up her quest for the title as she brushed aside Canada's Rebecca Marino 6-3, 6-2 in 59 minutes.

Next up for Ivanovic is Mirjana Lucic, who clinched a 6-2, 7-6 (7/4) victory over Andrea Hlavackova.