The implications and hysteria of Heather Watson’s battle against Serena Williams, we look back on it and present the British side of things – from tennis across the country, to the very British expectation that Watson will now have heaped upon her.
3-0 to Heather Watson of Great Britain in the third set; Twitter was ravaged by cries of “UPSET ALERT”. The hashtag ‘Heather’s Hill’ (as opposed to ‘Henman’s Hill’ – or the somehow lesser used title, ‘Murray Mound’) was also bandied about amongst the titanic whirlwind of British optimism. The hill in fact had to be closed off due to the sheer amount of fans congregated there around the big screen.
Watson vs. Williams: The British Tennis Perspective
And Centre Court was equally raucous. Williams was met with a barrage of catcalls throughout the match – the heckling climaxing at 5-4 to Watson in the final set; to the disgruntlement of Serena. Boos echoed round Centre Court and Williams’ position as Wimbledon pantomime villain was secured. Even when the World #1 wagged her finger and said “Don’t try me”, the crowd’s noise did not abate. Usually such a reserved and deferential British crowd had morphed into a riotous mob: eyes bloodshot, fists smashing the seat in front of them in feverish anticipation, their teeth gnashing together and screaming the name of Hea… perhaps I’m exaggerating. But the atmosphere, compared to the usual reverence they would regard a player like Serena Williams with, was merciless and Centre Court was a colosseum. And this was all for Heather Watson, a player that was largely anonymous to the British public. Just shows what a bit of patriotism and Pimms can do.
But let us take a step back from the British hysteria within the match. I am British, and currently live in Britain. Unfortunately, it is distressingly easy to recognise the lack of participation in tennis that is present in the country – a country that hosts a grand slam as well as the ATP World Tour Finals, oh and has a double grand slam champion. It is painful to see that despite all these things, many children pay little attention to tennis and instead are enticed by the allure of football. Essentially, Britain needs more than just Andy Murray in the spotlight to push tennis forwards here. That’s not to say that, if Watson had defeated Williams, children would have flooded onto tennis courts across the country, downing their footballs and cricket bats in exchange for a tennis racket. However, Watson beating Serena Williams would have been huge for British tennis, and as one tweeter stated when the American finally prevailed, “Serena defeats Great Britain”. And perhaps Watson realised the implications her victory would have too when she had the chance to serve it out.
Nevertheless, Heather Watson has done something momentous in an otherwise disappointing Wimbledon for Britain’s women; she will certainly be the focal point of their future hopes. Indeed, Watson has been such for some years and with her success there has been a vast array of positives for British tennis. Yet these successes have also brought with them a serious reminder on the state of British tennis. Watson became the player we were all screaming for today by going to Florida and the Nick Bollettieri Academy at the early age of 12. Andy Murray also went abroad to seek development in his game. I think it’s fair to say that this speaks volumes about what Britain has to offer in the way of top tennis training. The country lacks a tennis club of worldwide repute, and so players naturally think that moving to Spain or America is the better option for their game. True, the weather in Florida will be somewhat better for tennis than the windy North of Scotland where Murray grew up, and I think it’s safe to say that there are no red clay courts knocking about up there, but it can’t just be that. There is a deep-rooted problem with the training system in British tennis.
Following what I think we can all agree though, was a fantastic spectacle of tennis, Britain of course, will now indiscreetly pour pressure onto the shoulders of young Watson, hoping – no, no expecting that she now takes the tennis world by storm, amassing several hundred WTA titles and defeating all who stand in her way; anything less than 20 grand slams will be a nationwide disgrace. But wait! What if all this expectation – somehow – proves too much for her? Just ask Tim Henman. As Andy Murray said though, here in Britain, we’re all ‘effing proud of Heather Watson’.
