Yung-Jan Chan defeats number one Brit, Heather Watson, in round two – Mercury Insurance Open 2012
Gathering worldwide praise after becoming the British number one, Heather Watson, failed to deliver her best in her Carlsbad campaign on Wednesday. The world number 71 fell victim to the Taiwanese qualifier, Yung-Jan Chan, in the
second round clash to fall out of the tournament draw early. She battled for one hour and 43 minutes before submitting to Chan in straight set, 3-6, 6-7(2), to let her through to the quarter-final rounds of the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) International
Tour event in California, USA.
It was the first encounter of Watson against the 161st ranked Chan but she couldn’t do much to restrain her from clinching victory. The British number one was completely outplayed in the opening set of the match to fall
on her back foot. She regrouped in the following set and posed a solid resistance to drag the set in to a tie-break but couldn’t continue her impetus in the decider, eventually losing the contest to the Taiwanese underdog opponent in sheer dismay.
"Today was a difficult match because both of us are really solid, especially at the end," Chan said. "It was very warm today and it was difficult physically, but I tried to beat her mentally at the end and close it out, and I did
it. It has been tough this week. I came late so I had to play two qualifying matches in a row on Sunday, and in the first qualifying match my opponent was leading 4-0 in the final set too - but I came back, and I think that's the biggest difference for me
here this week.”
Watson’s 60 per cent precise first serve could earn her merely 20 out of 40 points and her four double faults further spoiled her serve performance. She crafted a total of 12 break points in the match but converted just five of
them, whilst her Taiwanese opponent cashed in all of her seven break opportunities in match to come out as the deserving winner. Chan clinched 31 out of 54 first serve points and also claimed 40 out of 67 total return points to take the better of the hot favourite
Brit. Her four aces provided icing on the cake and she convincingly booked a berth in the quarter-final rounds of the Mercury Insurance Open.
Chan will face the winner of the second round clash between the fourth seed Jelena Jankovic and Melinda Czink later this week.
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