Wobbly Watson throws it away
THIS was Heather Watson’s eighth Wimbledon and the third time she has been one win away from making the second week. They are not chances that come around too often.
And while she challenged former world No 1 Victoria Azarenka right until the end yesterday, extracting gasps and roars from Centre Court, this will go down as the kind of missed opportunity she cannot afford to spurn.
Facing a player of the highest pedigree who was nonetheless only in her fifth match back since a year-long hiatus to have a baby, there were enough openings for the 25-year-old Channel Islander to have won.
Azarenka admitted as much, saying: ‘I’m very happy that I stayed tough in the big moments. Overall I need to come in a bit more and still clean up my game. These are the matches you need, when you have to find a way.’
Winning 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 means that Azarenka is through to the last 16 in her first Grand Slam back since the French Open last year, which is an admirable effort.
But come Monday, Watson will still regret not being in the singles draw, having played 26 Grand Slams without having made the fourth round.
Her performances on grass over this brief stretch have been an improvement on earlier this season at events such as the Miami Open, where she was clearly out of shape and not applying herself properly.
Had she put in the effort for the rest of the year that appears to have been the case for the past month then it could have made all the difference against someone still shaking off ring rust — and who was there to be beaten.
As she enters the second half of her 20s Watson’s hopes of achieving her potential will depend on whether she can get her head around the need to improve her work ethic year-round, rather than the current sporadic efforts. She has the athleticism and ballstriking talent to happily cruise along, but those second weeks at Grand Slams will prove elusive.
Watson came into this match with 14 grass-court matches behind her, including her impressive semifinal appearance at Eastbourne, and it looked that way as she played an excellent first set.
She took the battle to one of the most mentally resilient players of her generation and the only blemish was a poor game at 4-2 up when she was broken.
Inevitably, however, Azarenka’s level steadily went up, even if the second set was closer than the scoreline suggested.
There may have been some scar tissue from the four heavy beatings she has previously taken from Azarenka — and this was a huge improvement on that — but when it came to the decider it was the Belarussian who had fractionally the more resolve.
At 3-3 she claimed a pivotal break after a 10-minute game but remained tense, allowing the British No 2 to break back and then force 15-40 when Azarenka served for it.
Watson’s weaker forehand side erred too often on the big points, and the tour’s most high-profile mother (at least for another few months) edged through.