BIRMINGHAM, England – Top seeded Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium came from a set down to beat Croatia's Ajla Tomljanovic and advance to the third round of the Aegon Classic in Birmingham on Wednesday.
On a rainy third day of the Wimbledon warmup, Flipkens won 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 and will play Magdalena Rybarikova for a place in the quarterfinals.
Third seeded Sorana Cirstea of Romania beat Tsvetana Pironkova 6-4, 6-4 and Francesca Schiavone, the 2010 French Open champion, was given a tough workout by Nadiya Kichenok before coming through 7-6 (4), 6-2.
Kristina Mladenovic and Bojana Jovanovski were among the other seeded players to progress but it was a disappointing day for the home contingent. Britons Laura Robson and Heather Watson were eliminated.