HEARTBREAKER
Heather’s still cut up about loss to Serena
Heather WATSON still finds it hard to reflect on the sensational Wimbledon upset that never quite happened. the British No 1 begins her US Open campaign today knowing she has come closer than anyone to stopping history being made by the player who is the centre of everyone’s attention, Serena Williams. Watson was two points from beating the american in the third round, and her eventual 7-5 loss in the deciding set saw Williams survive. Serena is now within seven matches of doing the fabled calendar-year Grand Slam, with the last player to carry that off being Steffi Graf in 1988.
While Watson opens this afternoon against the USA’s Lauren Davis, Williams starts tonight against russian Vitalia Diatchenko. andy Murray and the four other Brits in the singles draw do not play until tomorrow.
after Wimbledon, the Channel Islander did a training week in Buenos aires with her argentinian coach Diego Veronelli and they watched a video of the Wimbledon match that had the nation glued to its television screens.
even now she does not like being asked about coming so close. ‘that breaks my heart, questions like that,’ Watson admitted.
‘But I do think about it and I’ve watched the match over and that’s like the worst thing ever, because I just want to go back and hit that shot a little different.
‘But I can only learn from it and make sure I don’t make the same mistake next time. When you watch the match back, at 30-all I was serving to give myself match point. I hit a forehand that kind of wrong-footed her and she just got it back, and I’m thinking if I’d hit it just a little bit harder I could have had match point. the next point after that, she played too good.
‘She’s so experienced and knows how to control her nerves so well, and that’s why she won.’
Watson has played sparingly since Wimbledon and is slightly baffled by all the interest caused by what was one of the matches of the Championships. ‘everybody is asking me was it the best time of my life, and I don’t really understand that. I was close but at the end of the day I didn’t do it, did I?’ she reasoned.
‘I wasn’t that excited, seeing as I didn’t win, but it’s nice to know the impact it had and the support I must have had when I played it.’
While Williams stated that Watson ought to reassess her goals upwards, the Guernsey player is at a relatively modest 61 in the world and feels disappointed with her season overall. She said: ‘I did look at my goals but I haven’t achieved what I want to in the first half of the year. It was a big match and I played well but I haven’t really capitalised on it. Now I need to start winning.’
She believes a week on Saturday that Williams will indeed make history: ‘that would be amazing for her, and it’s looking very likely. She’s in great shape.’
Novak Djokovic begins today as favourite for the men’s event while Murray’s eagerly awaited clash with Nick Kyrgios will not take place until tomorrow night. Jo Konta, Laura robson, aljaz Bedene and James Ward complete the GB singles contingent.
the Slovenia-born Bedene will travel to Prague in November to appeal the International tennis Federation’s decision preventing him from playing in the Davis Cup for Great Britain.
Bedene is ineligible because he has already played a dead rubber for the country of his birth.