Watson's title defence ends in Hobart
AFTER one of the busiest nights of her career, Heather Watson has exited the Hobart International at the quarter-final stage.
Rain delays meant that defending champion Watson was not able to complete her second round tie with Monica Niculescu until more than 27 hours after it began.
She eventually came through 6-7 (3), 6-2, 7-6 (3) but was back on court for her quarter-final with Johanna Larsson shortly before midnight, Hobart time (GMT+11).
Despite the hectic schedule, Watson made a good start to win the first set 6-4 and at 4-4 in the second, she had a break point that if converted, would have seen her serve for the match.
That was not converted, though, and Watson would go on to lose the match 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 – with the final point played at 2.01am.
'It was a tough match, not only to fight my opponent but I felt really tired in my head, you know mentally, so I had to keep fighting to stay motivated out there,' Larsson said.
'It was really hard but in the end it was about one or two points and I was lucky.'
