Heather Watson was forced to scrap. Nothing came to her easily, it was rarely a beautiful fight and, when a match point came and went, a tentative backhand dribbling into the net, it seemed briefly that victory might slip from her grasp. It was that kind of lurching contest: bitty, unpredictable, disconcertingly ramshackle.
Moments later, however, Watson was beaming after one last forehand return from Varvara Lepchenko sailed wide to seal a 7-6, 6-2 win for the British No1 in the first round of the Aegon International at Eastbourne. Watson did not care how she won, even if the contest did not end with a flourish, and her reward is a daunting challenge against Elina Svitolina, the world No17, on Tuesday.
After crashing out in the first round of the Aegon Classic in Birmingham, Watson cherished her first triumph on the grass this summer. She needed it badly, to prove both to herself and the critics that she can compete at Wimbledon. When she lost to the unheralded qualifier Aleksandra Krunic last week, she had to dismiss fears that an injury to her right elbow would threaten her participation in SW19 next week. Her elbow was heavily strapped and the problem had forced her to miss the Aegon Open in Nottingham two weeks ago.
Her elbow was free of strapping against Lepchenko and the world No38 beaten in straight sets was a notable scalp for Watson. “The elbow is fine,” she said. “I served a lot better here than I did in Birmingham, I thought. I had a lot more pace on the ball and I was absolutely fine throughout the match.”
It should do wonders for Watson’s confidence. Lepchenko, born in Uzbekistan but a naturalised American citizen, was a tricky opponent, even though the match failed to capture the imagination. Watson and Lepchenko shared eight breaks of serve in a tense first set, both of them skittish on serve in blustery conditions.
Watson has areas in which she can improve. She was too tentative at times, unwilling to come to the net, too trusting in her defensive abilities, and she was unhappy with how many errors she made, yet she was impressive when she shook off her inhibitions and began to dictate the rallies. The first set went to a tie-break and Watson swept into a commanding 4-0 lead, only to lose the next five points. Yet she refused to wilt, earning a set point with a stunning backhand winner and Lepchenko succumbed.
The second set was more of a stroll and when Lepchenko double-faulted to hand Watson a 3-2 lead, she crumbled. Watson broke again for 5-2 and she kept any lingering nerves at bay thanks to some solid serving in the final game. After an hour and 40 minutes of scratchy tennis, victory was hers.
Although the majority of Monday’s schedule was washed away by a downpour that lasted until mid-afternoon, there was drama early in the day when the defending Wimbledon champion, Petra Kvitova, pulled out of her second-round match because of illness.
Kvitova, the world No2 and top seed here, is confident that she will recover in time to defend her title. “I started to feel not well when I came here,” she said. “Maybe from the plane, I’m not really sure. I did not feel my best and two days ago I really feel a sore throat. It’s not really much better.
“I don’t need antibiotics so that’s a good sign. I just need to be in the bed and drink lots of hot tea and I’m just lying and resting. I’m going to stay here and then move slowly to London.”
Kvitova said that the problem is not linked to her recent six-week lay-off because of fatigue. “It’s something different,” she said. “During that time it was just exhaustion but now it’s more illness.”
