French Open 2014: Heather Watson Suffers Second Round Defeat to World No. 4 Simona Halep

Heather Watson's French Open campaign has come to an end after a straight sets defeat to world number four Simona Halep.

The 22-year-old provided a resilient performance in the French capital after easing past Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova in the first round but succumbed to a 6-2 6-4 defeat against her Romanian opponent on Thursday.

Watson got off to an aggressive start against the world no. 4 to win the first game and forced break point in the second but squandered the chance to extend her lead after over hitting a forehand. Watson would break once more but struggled to match her opponent's consistency as Halep picked off the Brit's serve with ease at times.

The Romanian no. 1 would seal the first set inside 35 minutes and broke again in the second before Watson seized the serve, swinging out of the reach of her opponent to break in the second game of the second set.

Watson's stubborn resilience had been a hallmark of this contest so far but Halep's unwavering consistency saw her snatch the initiative once again, manoeuvring Watson around the court from the baseline before taking another break.

Just two service holds away, victory for Halep was in sight but a late Rally from Watson saw her haul herself back into the contest, recovering from break point down with a tremendous back hand drop before claiming a deserved game from deuce to pull it back to 4-3.

Halep raced through her next service game but again Watson threatened to derail her opponent, clawing back from match point before moving on the verge of a break point of her own. However the Romanian's class shone through as she capitalised on a weak return to whip a backhand into the corner to seal her place in the third round.