Eastbourne, England  - Former finalist Amelie Mauresmo saved three match points before exiting in the second round of the Eastbourne Championships Wednesday to Russian Elena Makarova 7-6 (10-8), 7-6 (15-13).

The slow-moving struggle took more than two hours to complete on the lawns at Devonshire Park, with 2006 runner-up Mauresmo failing to take it into a deciding third set despite having four set points.

Makarova, ranked 46th, had never faced France's former world number one, with both women fighting to prepare for Wimbledon starting Monday.

Mauresmo struck a nervous seven double-faults and lost serve three times to stand 20-9 on the season heading into the Grand Slam.

"I'm seeing in training that my game is still very effective on grass against all types of players but anything can happen," said two-time Grand Slam winner Mauresmo, Wimbledon champion three years ago.

"You have to pay attention on court, keep your concentration and intensity. You can't afford any mistakes since things go really quickly on grass."

In other women's matches, Russian Vera Dushevina advanced 5-7, 1-0 when seventh seed Nadia Petrova retired injured after one hour of play. France's 2007 Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli advanced into the last eight over Russian Anna Chakvetadze 7-5, 6-3.

The last two British men were eliminated on the ATP side of the draw, with second seed Dimtry Tursunov fighting past unexpected resistance before defeating eight-time Wimbledon wild card Alex Bogdanovic 6-7 (2-7), 6-4, 7-6 (7-5).

Qualifier Frank Dancevic beat Briton James Ward 7-6 (8-6), 6-4, with the 24-year-old Canadian reaching only the fourth ATP level quarter-final of his career.

Outsider Denis Istromin of Uzbekistan rallied after losing the first set to beat American San Querrey 3-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 while Argentine Leonardo Mayer defeated Frenchman Julien Benneteau 6-4, 6-4.(dpa)