Watson vows to keep going in ‘rollercoaster’ sport
It was close to 10pm on the first Thursday of the Wimbledon Championships. In the main interview room at the All England Club, the soon to be retired Andy Murray was giving his farewell press conference at a Grand Slam tennis event having just lost in the first round of the men’s doubles with his brother Jamie.
At exactly the same time, not 50ft away in interview room four, Heather Watson was sitting talking to the Guernsey Press picking over what had, up to that point, been a pretty miserable Wimbledon.
She had lost in the first round of the singles. She had lost in the first round of the ladies’ doubles. As it was, she would make the second round of the mixed pairs the following week. Not exactly a Wimbledon to remember for a player who, barely two years ago, reached the fourth round of the singles at SW19, and won the mixed doubles with Henri Kontinen in 2016.
Watson, now 32 years old, has a current world ranking in singles of 199. There are more tournaments behind her than ahead of her.
But unlike Andy Murray, she has no immediate plans to retire.
And yet there is a nagging sense that perhaps the end might not be too far away.
She has been written off before, of course. Take 2022, for instance, when with a world ranking of 120 she went into Wimbledon dogged by poor form and lacking match practice due to a hamstring problem. In the end only Jule Niemeier of Germany stood between Watson and a place in the quarter-finals.
But this year feels different.
The conveyor belt of younger talent flooding the women’s tour never stops, ushering those in the Indian summer of their careers towards the exit door.
In singles, the flashes of brilliance are still there. But that is all they are. The consistency a player requires to win sets, to win matches and maintain a world ranking in the top 100 has,
over the past few months, deserted her.
Two years ago, the Guernsey Press asked Watson if she’d had any thoughts about life after tennis. She had. Coaching was a definite no. Media work was a possible yes. No matter what, she saw her future in tennis.
So what about now? And how close is she to following in Andy Murray’s footsteps and calling it a day?
‘Not that close, not yet,’ she said. ‘My form is a bit heart-breaking. Me and my team will go back to the drawing board and we’ll keep going.
‘This game is a rollercoaster. It’s brutal. I’m still here because I’ve just kept going over the years. I’ve felt like this a million times over. It’s nothing new. So I’m going to keep on keeping on.’
And as for that second career, post-competing on the tour?
‘I am a planner – most tennis players are – so I do look ahead. I do think about my options.
‘Coaching, no. I wouldn’t want to coach. I think Andy [Murray] will, but not me. I don’t want to travel, and coaching would mean a lot of travelling. I travel at the moment. After, when I decide it’s my time [to quit], I want to settle. I don’t want to be constantly on the move.
‘Tennis has been my life. It’s something I know really well, so it makes sense staying in the game in some capacity. Media work? Could be. I’ve done more of that.
‘To be honest though, I’m really not sure. With the media, I feel like I’d get in trouble for what I say. I feel like I’d get in trouble for swearing, or I don’t know what. I’d get in trouble all the time – that’s my concern.
‘But, for now, yeah, it’s still about the tennis, and keeping going.’
