Watson makes final in Montreal

IN HER first tournament since winning the British National Under-16 Champion-ship, Heather Watson has reached yet another final of a top-graded event. The 15-year-old Sarnian, who is a student of the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Florida, was in devastating form as she made the final of the under-18 ITF world ranking event in Montreal, Canada.

The final itself turned out to be a step too far as Watson lost a tense match to the number three seed from Canada, Gabriela Dabrowski.

Watson was naturally disappointed not to have won.

'I played so well to reach the final and especially in the semi-final where my opponent was a very hard hitter - I just couldn't play that well again in the final,' she said.

'I was standing too far back.'

Watson, who was crowned the British under-16 champion in Bournemouth in August, did not drop a set at the Uniprix Stadium as she made her way to the final.

She first took care of Daria Burobina of Canada 6-3, 6-1 in the opening round before getting past 17-year-old Colombian Andrea Yacaman 6-2, 6-0.

The former Ladies' College student then met Sasha Khabibulina in the quarter-finals and she had few problems in defeating the 15-year-old from Belarus 6-3, 6-4.

In the semi-finals, Watson had more of a challenge, but she

managed to beat Ukraine-born Canadian Khristina Blajkevitch 7-5, 6-3 to book her place in the final.

Her opponent, Dabrowski, had also reached the final by not dropping a set and the 15-year-old Canadian proved to be too strong for Watson on the day as she took the match 6-3, 7-5 and the title.

Heather's mother Michelle was in Montreal to watch her daughter.

'Heather was in devastating form in the early rounds and especially in the semi-final but she just couldn't carry it forward to the final,' she said.

'It was a closely contested final and Heather just made far too many mistakes - she has all the shots and had chances but just couldn't convert them. She even went a break up in each set.'

In reaching the final, Watson was awarded 45 world junior ranking points.

She also recently represented Great Britain against the United States in the Maureen Connolly Trophy in Texas. Watson won two rubbers out of her three but it was not enough to prevent a home win.

Her next event will be one of the most prestigious in the calendar, the Eddie Herr International Junior Championships held in Florida at the end of next month.