Watsonlosesout ingruellingabu Dhabiencounter
Britain’s Heather Watson bowed out of the Abu Dhabi Open yesterday following a gruelling second-round defeat to 17th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova.
The 26-year-old Russian eventually prevailed 7-5 6-7 (7/9) 6-3 after a tense showdown which lasted more than two-and-a-half hours with the pair converting only eight of the 19 break points they set up between them.
Alexandrova took the first set 7-5, but was pegged back in the second as Watson came out on top in a lengthy tie-break.
The decider was equally tight until Watson was broken in the eighth game, and her opponent served out the match to book a third-round clash with number two seed Elina Svitolina.
Meanwhile, Kyle Edmund will miss next month’s Australian Open because of a persistent knee injury.
World No. 48 Edmund was a semi-finalist in Melbourne in 2018.
However, the British No. 2 had to end his 2018 season early after a scan revealed fluid behind his knee and then retired from his second-round match at the 2019 French Open with a knee issue.
“Unfortunately, my knee is not quite ready to compete in the upcoming Australia swing,” said the 26-year-old.
“But I hope to be back competing soon.”
Since the sport returned after lockdown, Edmund has won only one of his seven matches, when he beat Alexander Bublik of Kazahkstan in the opening round of the US Open before then losing out to top seed Novak Djokovic.
The Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the year, is due to start on February 8, after being delayed for three weeks because of the Covid-19 pandemic.