Britain's No 2 female tennis player Heather Watson has beaten France's Fiona Ferro in straight sets to advance to the quarter-finals at the Hobart International.

The 27-year-old, who is ranked 101 in the world, won 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 in one hour 52 minutes to set up a last eight meeting with former champion, Belgium's Elise Mertens, on Thursday.

After claiming the first break, the Brit dropped her serve late in the first set meaning it was decided on a tie-break which Watson edged 7-5.

She broke the French woman's serve in the eighth game of set two and kept her cool to hold serve and take the second set.

Watson, who has been ranked as high as 38 in the world rankings, previously won the tournament in 2015 but this year has already had to play two qualifying events.