Watson believes competing in growing depth fuelled Nottingham win

Watson, who is supported by LTA’s Pro Access Programme, came through two rounds of qualifying to reach the main draw in Nottingham, and was pitted against hard-hitting German Jule Niemeier.

Niemeier prevailed when the two met on Centre Court at Wimbledon last year but it was a different story today, with Watson rallying from 4-1 down in the opening set to claim an 6-4 6-3 victory.

Watson’s grass court season started with a round one loss at the LTA’s Lexus Surbiton Trophy a week ago, but has progressed through two qualifying matches and her opening main draw match with relative ease this week.

And she believes that simplifying her game plan against similar opponents has proved crucial in her success so far, with a second round match against Tatjana Maria coming on Wednesday.

“I’ve gone in with quite similar tactics each time so far,” said Watson. 

“They’ve all been very big servers and I feel like I’m returning really well at the moment which really helps, it took away Jule’s biggest strength today so I’m really happy with that. 

A great 1st round win for @HeatherWatson92 at the #RothesayOpen Nottingham 💪

Heather beats Jule Niemeier to advance#BackTheBrits 🇬🇧 pic.twitter.com/4yADopnqCf

— LTA (@the_LTA) June 12, 2023

“I still feel that I can get to better levels in my game but I feel like as each match goes by I’m getting better and better.

“I think the last time I played her was Wimbledon last year. She played really well but I didn’t rise to the occasion. At Wimbledon I thought I over went for it, and today I don’t think she played as well as she did at Wimbledon last year, but I’m happy to come through it.”

The 31-year-old has seen her ranking slip in recent months but believes spending time on the ITF circuit – still regularly playing against WTA-level opposition – stood her in good stead on Monday.

She added: “The depth in women’s tennis has grown so much. There’s a much wider depth and at those ITF events you’re playing the same players you’re playing on the WTA. 

“That’s why coming here, playing my first round, I feel like I’m really prepared because I’ve had a lot of matches against girls at this level.

“I think ranking wise it’s been a pretty rubbish year, but tennis wise I think I’ve played more matches and won more matches than I have when I started my career.”

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