Heather Watson suffered a heartbreaking exit on day four of the Australian Open shortly after Kyle Edmund, against most predictions, had departed as well, on the same outside court.
Watson double-faulted when serving for the match in the second set and blew five match points in the long third before the tough American qualifier Jenny Brady beat her 2-6, 7-6 (7-3), 10-8 after two hours and 40 minutes, more than an hour longer than either player or anyone on Court 13 had anticipated.
Watson failed to convert three match points on Brady’s serve in the 12th game of the third set, which precipitated a struggle that stretched the set and everyone’s nerves to unbearable levels. Watson had another two looks to close in the 16th game but Brady, who had been behind for most of the contest, served big to stay in the match, then held off another fightback by Watson.
“That was the worst way to lose,” a despondent Watson said later, referring to wasting so many match points. The point is, she was the architect of her own downfall as, instead of going for the kill, she played too many safety first, mid-court replies, allowing her younger, more adventurous opponent to get out of some tight corners.
Edmund, meanwhile, is left with the choice of embarking on his Davis Cup preparation in the Australian sunshine or flying home to the cold of a British midwinter.
He could not build on his excellent first-round win over the Colombian Santiago Giraldo on day two as his footwork and concentration went to pieces against Pablo Carreno Busta in the warm Melbourne sunshine on Thursday afternoon. The Spanish 30th seed was untroubled posting a 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 win.
Edmund was clearly disappointed and conceded later, “He played pretty good tennis, to be honest. I just felt like I didn’t put out a good enough level to win.”
At 2-5 down in the first set, Edmund needed running repairs to the broken nail of his left foot; he probably would have also liked magic cream for his tennis, which had dipped alarmingly from the high standards of the first round. When they resumed, the Spaniard repelled some belated resistance from Edmund to serve out the first set after 33 minutes, then strolled through the decider.
It was a disappointing exit for the steadily improving Edmund and the tight-knit British contingent. Andy Murray and Dan Evans went through on Wednesday and, had Edmund won, it would have been the only time three British men had reached the third round since the inception of the 128-player draw.
However, he was strangely off his game and seemed unable to get in the right positions to unleash his powerful ground strokes. Busta, a clever player, made the most of his opponent’s problems and won going away.
“I will be playing Davis Cup [against Canada in Ottowa the weekend after the Australian final],” Edmund revealed, “and there are basically two options: if I train here or go home and train. They are both long travels, so it depends if I want to do it a little bit early or a bit later, closer to the tie. It’s warm here but it’s freezing in Ottawa.”
Amid all the fourth day hubbub, it was almost lost on British supporters and Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares were bundled out of the doubles at the first time of asking. The world No 1 pairing fell to the Americans Sam Querrey and Donald Young, 6-3, 7-6(5).
