Watson peaks at perfect time
HEATHER Watson earned a welltimed confidence boost ahead of Wimbledon by beating world No9 and defending Eastbourne champion Dominika Cibulkova yesterday.
The British No3 won 7-5, 6-4 in one hour, 42 minutes, to secure a spot in the third round of the Aegon International.
It is the second biggest win of Watson’s career in terms of ranking — she beat world No8 Agnieszka Radwanska at Indian Wells in 2015 — and comes at just the right time.
‘It doesn’t really matter who I am playing against just now,’ said world No126 Watson. ‘I just want to get through rounds to the later stages of tournaments.
‘I was really pleased to get to the final of Surbiton, I was proud of myself. I’m just glad to be winning consecutive matches in a tournament here. She is a great player, great competitor. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy. She really pushed me at the end and I got shaken a little.
‘I kept fighting and I was able to close it out. That gave me a lot of confidence.’
After four successive breaks of serve, Watson worked her way to three set points at 6-5 and seized the opportunity.
In the second set, Watson was serving for the win at 5-3 with three match points. Cibulkova showed why she won this tournament last year, however, clawing her way back to break.
Yet with both struggling to hold their serve, Watson broke a final time to seal the win.
It wasn’t good news at Eastbourne for Watson’s compatriot Naomi Broady, beaten 6-2, 6-7, 6-1 by Czech Kristyna Pliskova.
In the men’s event, 21-year-old Brit Cameron Norrie showed what he will bring to Wimbledon after securing a wildcard. World No236 Norrie won 6-4, 7-6 against Argentina’s Horacio Zeballos, ranked 49 in the world. Norrie faces Frenchman Gael Monfils next.
British No2 Kyle Edmund lost 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 to American Donald Young after splitting with coach Ryan Jones last week. Asked whether going it alone could be considered inopportune just ahead of Wimbledon, Edmund said: ‘It’s just something I felt I wanted. Do you make decisions based on timing or what people think? I will play Wimbledon on my own.’
Johanna Konta faces Romanian Sorana Cirstea today for the first time since their controversial clash in April — when the British No1 burst into tears on court after verbal abuse from the watching Ilie Nastase.
The Fed Cup tie erupted when Konta and Great Britain captain Anne Keothavong were subjected to a foul-mouthed rant by Nastase and jeers from the partisan Romanian crowd.