Watson’s knock-out Dart
HEATHER WATSON has fallen at the first hurdle of the Monterrey Open – the scene of one of her previous WTA triumphs.
A previous champion at the Mexico hard court event, Watson was unable to match that 2016 success as she lost out in a ‘Battle of the Brits’ to her Fed Cup teammate Harriet Dart 6-4, 7-6 (1).
With Watson’s original opponent Danka Kovinic having withdrawn, Dart was in the main draw as a ‘lucky loser’ having lost her second qualifying match, but she went into this clash of Britain’s number two and three on the back of having played five matches already this month whereas this was fifth-seed Watson’s first outing since the Australian Open.
The 24-year-old Dart, who is ranked 153rd in the world, won the first set but Watson looked ready to level things off after racing into a 5-2 lead in the second.
But Dart responded and won the tie break 7-1 to set up a second-round encounter with Viktoria Kuzmova of Slovakia.
Watson is still in doubles contention in Monterrey, where she has progressed to the quarter-finals with Zheng Saisai.
Other major upsets in the singles in Monterrey saw top seed Sloane Stephens and second seed Nadia Podoroska both knocked out in the first round.
