After Britain's Liam Broady had beaten Marinko Matosevic in a five-set thriller, it was Heather Watson's chance to show what she could do. And the girl from Guernsey did not disappoint in her duel with the No.32 seed Caroline Garcia, recovering from a set behind to force the match into a deciding set before bad light suspended play.
The British No.1 has made no secret of her love for the Wimbledon lawns: “It doesn’t seem like a job at a tournament like this. It seems really fun and exciting, a privilege to play. I love every aspect of it,” she said recently. Yet the opening set looked far from fun or exciting for the world No.59.
Thanks for the amazing support today... After being suspended due to bad light I'll be back tomorrow on court 12! 2nd match on after 11.30am
— Heather Watson (@HeatherWatson92) June 29, 2015Whether it was due to the late start (the match did not begin until 7.55pm) or because the contest was moved from No.2 Court to the more humble Court 12 surroundings, Watson looked out of sorts as she struggled to cope with Garcia’s accurate serving and pace of shot.
The French No.2 produced a spectacular crosscourt backhand winner to break the 23-year-old in the second game and shortly afterwards Watson found herself 3-0 down.
The spirits of the British fans lifted momentarily at the arrival of Judy Murray, whose presence appeared to have a positive effect on the Briton, with Watson holding serve for the first time, and she even threw in an ace.
However, that was her only game of the first set and by the end Watson had collected a code violation for racket abuse. Of course, Garcia was never going to be an easy opponent. Only last week she lifted her second career doubles title on the Eastbourne turf with partner Katarina Srebotnik and although Watson had convincingly beaten Garcia in their only previous meeting, that was on the clay of Estoril three years ago.
But the tables turned midway through the second set when a determined Watson found her consistency and Garcia netted to hand her opponent a break point. A double fault one point later gifted Watson the break and ultimately the second set 6-3.
