Twelve months ago she appeared on the verge of a major breakthrough, coming within two points of beating the eventual champion Serena Williams on Centre Court to universal acclaim.
But after losing a delayed three-set epic to the German Annika Beck to go out in the first round, a down and despondent Heather Watson said she planned to re-evaluate her entire game before the Olympic Games in Rio.
Following a rollercoaster, error-strewn match Watson lost 6-3, 0-6, 10-12 to the player ranked 12 places above her.
The British No2 resumed on Court 12 a break down in the deciding set after the pair had been stopped by the rain on Wednesday evening. Watson had won the first set easily but Beck, a tenacious retriever, had come roaring back to take the second to love, before picking up where she left off, moving into a 3-0 lead and making it nine games in a row. In a nervy, tiring back and forth Watson regained a toe hold by clawing back one break level at 4-4.
Yet having put herself in a position to win with three match points at 10-9 up, Watson squandered each of them, and soon Beck took the game and served out. Now it was Beck’s turn to show some guts, saving the third on her second serve with a tremendous forehand that just caught the line.
Having made it to the verge of victory, a hugely frustrated Watson put a tame forehand into the net to gift her opponent the chance to serve for the match. This time, she did not it pass up and finally sealed victory when Watson sent a backhand long. The 24-year-old, ranked No55 in the world, was quick to hurry from the court and admitted she had beaten herself.
“I have to give her credit. She’s a wall. She doesn’t miss anything. On important points, she raises her level,” she said. “But I didn’t get beat today; I made the errors. I didn’t have winners flying past me. I wasn’t outplayed. I let her back into the match.”
Watson played the more aggressive tennis but the unforced error count – 64 to 27 – told its own story.
Judy Murray recently observed that Watson could become an established top 30 player if she could find some consistency. This three-hour, see-saw contest was not the best case for the defence.
Having suffered this season with an abdominal tear but continued playing in order to make the cut for Rio, Watson said she needed to go back to basics. “I get motivated quickly with losses like this. I just really want to improve in every area and see what I need to fix, see what needs to stay and what needs to go.”
Watson also said she could not help going on Twitter after the match – only to find, as female athletes in particular seem to with depressing regularity, she was on the receiving end of some vile, abusive trolling.
“After a loss like this, I’m so angry with myself, I feel like I need to punish myself. I don’t know. It wasn’t a good day. I just went on Twitter. There was plenty [of abuse].”
Later, she sent out her own message via the social networking site: “Devastation doesn’t cut it for how I feel today.” Last year must have felt a long time ago.
