Heather Watson has suffered a three-set defeat at the hands of Samantha Stosur in the quarter-finals of the Hong Kong Tennis Open.

The British number two had impressed on her way to leading by a set and a break, but she suffered a remarkable loss in form, conceding 11 games in a row to lose 4-6 6-3 6-0.

It had been a positive start for the 23-year-old, who had reached the last eight of a tournament for the first time since Hobart at the start of 2015, and at 6-4 3-1, it appeared that she would record one of the biggest wins of her career against the 2011 US Open champion.

However, the Australian fired back to win five games in a row and take the match into a decider, and the onslaught continued during the third.

Stosur broke Watson's serve a further three times, with the Guernsey hitter only landing with her first delivery 36% of the time, and the 31-year-old was able to ease her way into the last four.