Watson slips below Open winner

DESPITE her heroics at the Australian Junior Open, where she reached the quarter-finals, Heather Watson has dropped down one place in the ITF junior rankings.

The 16-year-old Sarnian tennis star was ranked 13th in the world going into the Grand Slam, but now finds herself 14th because the player who defeated her in the quarters, Ksenia Pervak, has taken her spot.

The 17-year-old Russian had a low junior ranking going into the tournament due to the fact that she has been concentrating on senior tournaments.

Her junior ranking had dropped off as she was not competing in enough under-18 events.

After an epic three-set victory over Miyabi Inoue of Japan in temperatures approaching 50C the day before, Watson put up a brave fight against number three seed Pervak, going down 6-3, 7-5.

Pervak went on to defeat world top three player Ana Bogdan in the semis and then Junior Wimbledon champion Laura Robson 6-3, 6-1 in the final.

Watson herself is now expected to take part in some senior competitions over the next couple of months, including the Jersey Open at the end of March.