Denied a wild card into the singles at Wimbledon, she lost in the final round of qualifying for Wimbledon having played three matches in three days in extreme temperatures, leading to severe dehydration and an on-court panic attack. She lost in the first round of the women’s doubles and the second round of the mixed pairs. The hits have just kept on coming.
Watson makes no secret of the fact she lives for Wimbledon.
Now, with her world ranking having plummeted to 527 due to an injury-enforced seven month lay-off spanning 2025 and 2026, the 34-year-old faces what promises to be an intensely challenging couple of months on the road trying to climb back up the ladder in places lacking grandeur of the The All England Club.
‘The plan is to head for the States to start preparing for the US hard court swing,’ Watson said.
‘But plans always change, don’t they? It all depends on entries and things like that.
‘I’ll be using my protected ranking for those tournaments, so I’ll be hoping to get some points in them.
‘At that lower level, if you can just win a round or two, it’s the equivalent of winning entire tournaments. You can climb [the rankings] massively.
‘So, it’ll either be Washington or Memphis to start with, then Cincinnati, then Toronto. I’ve entered them all. I’ll be on the edge [of making the cut for the main draws] in all of them, so I might just have to be flexible.’
Then, of course, there is the big question of whether her body will stand up to the rigours of it all.
The Sarnian first felt a niggle in her left leg while competing in Mexico in March 2025.
Over the ensuing four months that niggle developed into a full-blown injury affecting her glute hamstring tendon, resulting in a total break from the sport.
‘Physically, I’m actually great – fit and strong,’ she added.
‘The injury I was out with, I still have an awareness of it, but it’s chronic now. I’ll feel it, but I manage it well.
‘At least it’s not hindering me and I can train through it. It’s a bit like this now, instead of being awful.’
All things considered, you cannot blame Watson for taking the next couple of weeks off prior to heading Stateside in order to recharge her batteries.
On Wednesday she was back at Wimbledon, albeit not playing, one of the select few invited to take part in a royal line-up on the visit of Her Majesty The Queen to The All England Club.
Then, once the 2026 Championships have finished, she is travelling to Italy to attend the tennis wedding of the year as Katie Boulter, her good friend and women’s doubles partner, ties the knot with Australian player Alex de Minaur.
‘That’ll be really fun,’ Watson said.
‘A few of the tennis girls are going, some of her closest friends on the tour, and I’m just grateful that I’m one of them.
‘They are an absolutely gorgeous couple, beautiful human beings inside and out, both of them, and I can’t wait to celebrate with them.’
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