Watson’s highs and lows
From junior glory to pushing Serena all the way
Sept 2009
Aged 17, wins the US Open girls’ singles title, beating Yana Buchina in straight sets.
May 2011
Becomes first British woman to win a match at French Open for 17 years.
July 2012 Becomes British No1. Jan 2015
Career-high 38th in the world rankings with victory at the Hobart International.
July 2015
Pushes Serena Williams to the wire in thrilling third-round Wimbledon clash, but loses deciding set.
July 2016
Wins Wimbledon mixed doubles title.
May/june 2017
Fails to qualify for French Open and loses in first rounds at Birmingham and Nottingham.
June 2017
Reaches the semi-finals at Eastbourne but bows out to Caroline Wozniacki.
to be the training base for her boyfriend, British No11 Lloyd Glasspool. Several leading coaches work at Chiswick in association with the JTC programme, and two of them – Morgan Phillips and Colin Beecher – have been helping her ever since.
“I have not had a coach for ages,” said Watson. “I was feeling a bit lost and I tried a few and it just hadn’t worked out. I felt a bit aimless on the practice court.
“But at the start of the clay-court season I started working with Morgan and Colin, I already feel back on track. I feel like I have my goals at every practice, and I have been waiting for the results to happen.”
The WTA event in Eastbourne last week felt like a turning point. Watson had not scored back-toback wins over two top-50 opponents for more than a year, but here she blew past four in succession, starting with the former Australian Open finalist Dominika Cibulkova. Even in the semi-final against Caroline Wozniacki, she took a tight contest to 7-5 in the third. So while Watson might not be the British No 1 any more, she arguably comes into Wimbledon as our most in-form player.
Over the next fortnight, she says she will be defending her mixeddoubles title with Kontinen. In the singles – where she needed a wild card to participate – her draw threw up an eminently beatable first-round opponent. Maryna Zanevska is a 23-year-old Belgian, ranked No 119, who has never played at Wimbledon and lost all five of her previous matches at grand-slam level.
After the year she has had, tonight’s date with a 4,000-strong crowd on No 2 Court will be one to cherish. As her last two visits demonstrate, there is always something happening when Watson plays at Wimbledon.