Watson is to play exhibition

ISLANDERS will have a chance to see Heather Watson in action for the first time next month in an exhibition match at Kings Life.

The match has been arranged by local company Sportingbet and will take place at the sport and leisure club on Saturday 4 April.

Watson will take on former top male British player Nick Crawley.

Around 500 tickets will be available, all free of charge.

Watson's father, Ian, said the 16-year-old was looking forward to the match.

'Obviously Heather has spent a lot of time away from the island, being based in Florida for the past few years and competing around the world, but if you speak to her you're left in no doubt about where her home is,' he said.

'Heather is really proud of Guernsey and she really appreciates all the support that she has here so it's exciting for her to get a chance to play in front of her home crowd.'

Watson, who is a student at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Florida, made her senior debut last week at the $10,000 Bath tournament.

Unfortunately though for her, she was knocked out in the opening round of the qualifiers by Lucia Vrskova of Slovakia.