Heather Watson led a trio of Brits featuring in the main draw at the Aegon Classic in Birmingham. She started off her grass court season with positive signs of form at the ITF event in Surbiton, where she made the final, losing to Magdalena Rybarikova.
After losing early in the WTA Nottingham event, Watson was looking to put things right in her opener against No. 2 seed and Top 5 player Elina Svitolina, but she came up short in a dramatic but competitive match that traveled deep into a 3rd set, in which the Ukrainian clinched the victory.
The first set was a tight affair. The first few games saw both players try to find their rhythm as Svitolina was playing her first match since Roland Garros, while Watson was striving to conquer her highest-ranked opponent since her memorable win over No. 8 ranked Agnieszka Radwanska in Indian Wells in 2015. The debating point would be whether Watson had the consistency and the confidence to mount a serious challenge to one of the most in-form players on the WTA Tour right now, but she definitely put up a good fight in the two hours that was spent on the Ann Jones Court.
Watson struggled to find the range off her forehand side for large periods of the first set, but with that being said the first set could really have gone either way. I think Svitolina is still getting to grips with a grass court and what it takes to be a regular contender on this surface, while Watson has produced good results on this surface in the past, including a third round showing at Wimbledon. So the Brit really does have game on these courts and on this surface, but it’s the combination of no consistent match-wins at the highest level of the sport that has played a part psychologically in the next phase of Watson’s career.
Svitolina hustled tremendously well from the back of the court and took the opening set, 6-2. Watson had a lot of looks on the Svitolina serve, but ultimately the Ukrainian converted much more consistently over the course of the first set.
The second set was very different in comparison. Both looked much more confident in holding their own serve, before Watson capitalised and made the most of the opportunity that presented itself by taking the second set and forcing a decider. It was well-deserved as Watson would feel hard done by given how close she pushed the Ukrainian at that point in the match.
Svitolina’s knowhow inside the last twelve months shone through in the 3rd set. The World No. 5, who is fresh off a quarterfinal finish at Roland-Garros, held her nerve and blasted several fierce forehands past Watson to take the match, 6-3 in the third.
Watson had plenty of positives to take from this match and she touched upon that in her post-match press conference following the defeat:
“Absolutely. It would be worrying if I didn’t have any opportunities at all, but the fact that i keep creating them for myself is positive. And I just have to — I think it will just come with time, and as I build up my confidence again, I’ll be able to take those chances.”
Watson also talked about the issues of late, and the lowest moments she experienced in the sport which included a tight loss to Jennifer Brady in the second round of this year’s Australian Open.
“Yeah I’ve gone down and played some lower level tournaments. The positive is I’m getting match wins in and beating some really good players at lower levels. But you don’t get much reward for it down there. But I just made the final of Surbiton. I can’t forget that. A lot of match wins in a row. I haven’t had that in a while. And, you know, I do feel really good with my game. I’m happy with where I’m at now. I’ve got a good team around me, and I feel like that’s a real improvement that I’ve made this year.”
Can Watson find a way back into the Top 40 in the world, playing and winning matches in the biggest events? She feels content with her game as it stands, sounds satisfied with her coaching set up, but now needs to convert some of these big matches at the top tier tournaments to truly find her feet in the higher echelons of women’s tennis once again.
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