Watson and Dart crash out of Open to end British single hopes
THERE are no British singles representatives in the third round of the Australian Open for the second straight year after defeats for Heather Watson and Harriet Dart.
Watson was disappointed with her performance in a 6-3 6-0 defeat by 16th seed Elise Mertens that lasted only 56 minutes, while Dart could feel much more positive about her display in a 6-2 6-4 loss to Wimbledon champion Simona Halep on Rod Laver Arena.
But the bare facts show that seven British players produced only three main draw wins between them and, of the trio who reached the second round, none won a set.
Dart had the toughest task and performed the best, laying to rest the ghosts of 12 months ago, when she took to the same court and failed to win a game against Maria Sharapova.
At 6-2 5-1 another heavy defeat was on the cards but
Dart dug in extremely well and produced some fine tennis, troubling Halep with her backhand in particular.
Giving her verdict on the British collective display, Dart said: “All of us expect a lot from ourselves. We are competing in a grand slam. There are no easy matches, we are playing against the highest-level players in the world, and it’s incredibly tough.”
Watson lost the last eight games in her contest, winning just eight points in the second set.
She said: “I felt my level wasn’t there today. My movement. I was a millimetre or a second too slow to everything. I was letting her dictate.
“As the match went on, she played better.”