Watson shows her mettle on Court 1

The schedule for day one at the All England Club had Heather Watson down to play Tamara Korpatsch of Germany in the third match on Court 3, behind a men’s singles match and a women’s singles tie.

When both those clashes went to five sets and three sets respectively, and with play having been held up twice due to rain earlier in the day, there appeared to be no other option than to send both players home for the evening and try again today.

Wrong.

At just after 8.20pm, with the light fading fast, so Wimbledon bosses took the decision to switch the match to Court 1 which, along with Centre Court, now has a roof, enabling play to continue after dark.

Ten minutes later a smiling Watson took to the court, Korpatsch following closely behind. It was just a shame so few people were there to witness it, with many Court 1 ticket holders having already made for the exits in the mistaken belief that play had finished for the day.

As anyone who has followed Watson’s long career will know only too well, watching her play can be an emotional rollercoaster, especially when it comes to Wimbledon. The 30-year-old Sarnian broke her opponent’s serve in the sixth game of the first set to lead 4-2 and then promptly held for 5-2.

At 5-3 Watson served for the first set and, to the dismay of the diehards left in the stands, was herself broken. Two set points also came and went in the tie-break that eventually followed, the only consolation for British and Sarnian hearts being the high standard of play on show from both players.

She may currently be ranked 105 in the world, but Korpatsch certainly did not perform like it.

The second set proved to be closer, yet no less dramatic. Having broken serve in the 11th game to lead 6-5, Watson found herself serving to square the match at one set all.

This time she held her nerve and made it count.

With the clock showing 10.38pm, the decision was made at that point to suspend play.

The third and deciding set will be played out later today.