Heather Watson ends British 24-year title drought – Tennis Special
The Guernsey native, Heather Watson, stole the hearts of her nation after becoming the first British women to capture a WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) title since Sara Gomer at Aptos in 1988. She also cracked the Top 50 after conquering the HP Open, a
WTA International tournament held in Osaka, Japan.
Watson entered the HP Open standing at number 71 in the WTA Premier Rankings. She was coming from bowing out to Italy’s Camila Giorgi in the qualifying competition at the China Open, a WTA Premier event held in Beijing. However, the Brit made a convincing
entry and overpowered Slovenia’s Polona Hercog in straight sets in her opening round match.
The 20-year-old carried her rhythm in the pre-quarters match against sixth seeded Anabel Medina Garrigues. She lost ht opening set but remained focused, eventually carving out the victory in two hours and 37 minutes.
The British youngster maintained consistency in her game in the final eight where the French challenger, Pauline Parmentier, awaited. She was broken five times but cashed seven out of 18 break chances to progress at this indoor hard court event.
She held her composure against the local contender, Misaki Doi, in the semi-finals. Watson lost her serve four times but availed five out of six break opportunities to record a 7-6(2), 7-5 success.
In the final showdown against the Taiwanese star Kai-Chen Chang, who stunned top seeded Samantha Stosur to book this spot, Watson saved a set point to pull out the opener with a 7-5 score line. She squandered a match point in the second set to equalise the
set scores. However, the Brit saved four championship points in the final set before sealing the deal with a 7-5, 5-7, 7-6(4) score line in three hours and 11 minutes. The British youngster took full advantage of seven double faults her rival spilled and clobbered
a better first serve share of 71 per cent as compared to the Taiwanese’s 60 per cent.
The beaming Brit was quoted in a courtside interview after grabbing her maiden career title:
"I was in the changing room afterwards, changing my clothes, and I thought to myself, 'Did I really win?' So it's just starting to settle in. I've worked so hard for this moment my whole career - that's why I practiced so hard, ran all those miles and lifted
all those weights, for moments like this.”
She is following on her compatriot’s footsteps of breaking British records. Laura Robson became the first British woman to make a title-round berth few weeks ago since Jo Durie at Newport in 1990. Her fellow citizen, Andy Murray, became the first Brit to
grab a Grand Slam title at Flushing Meadows since Fred Perry in 1936.
Watson reflected about making this record:
“Britain has been breaking quite a few records recently, so I'm happy I could break another one today. I'm proud to do this for my country."
After ruling this tournament, Watson jumped 21 places in the WTA Premier Rankings and bagged the prize money.
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