Heather Watson defeats 24-year-old Italian Camila Giorgi in a testing and dangerous first round opener. Watson recognised the challenge that lied ahead of her, as Giorgi continuously controlled the outcome of the majority of the points in this match. The early break in the first set from the Brit was enough to see her through the set unscathed, but the second set was considerably trickier.
Giorgi continued to ask the questions of Watson, she held break points at 1-0* in the second set but could not capitalise. Further opportunities came at 3-2* but Giorgi produced many wayward unforced errors that eventually cost her the set and the match. Watson took advantage of more Giorgi mistakes at 5-5 and eventually won the match 6-4 7-5. The manner in which Heather Watson served out the match was magnificent in itself and further reflected her massive improvement on not only the consistency of her service games, but also the ability to rely on that very serve in the most important moments of competitive matches.
The British No.2 struck two aces in a very comfortable decisive service game to win her first round match in straight sets. In her post-match press conference, Heather Watson was extremely reflective and observant of exactly how the match unfolded. Watson explained: “I’m pleased with my performance today, especially from last week. I didn’t play well at all last week.”
Heather Watson also reflected upon the mindset she adopted when playing an opponent like Camila Giorgi. The realisation that Giorgi will strike a large amount of winners, was something that Watson was aware of coming into the match. But the opportunistic approach from the World No. 55 was to make the most of the errors that were guaranteed to appear in Giorgi’s game.
Watson’s analysis on Giorgi’s style of game was very intriguing: “Today, the opponent I played was a very tricky one. She doesn’t give you any rhythm. She will hit a lot winners but then she will make some mistakes as well.”
The characteristics of both players’ tennis games and what they deliver on a tennis court was apparent in the context of this match. Watson’s base-level of play was good enough to see her through this match, whereas Giorgi struggled to supply positive results when not feeling her best in competitive match-play.
Lastly, Watson reiterated how from a mental standpoint she was in a much better frame of mind than how she competed in Nottingham. This positive result for Watson can drastically improve her confidence going into a tough second round match on Wednesday.
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