Heather Watson clinches first WTA main draw win since September at Queen's
Heather Watson produced a fine performance to secure her first WTA Tour main draw win in nine months and reach the second round at Queen's.
The 33-year-old cruised past Kazakhstan's Yulia Putintseva 6-4 6-3 to set up an exciting upcoming battle against world No.12 and former Wimbledon winner Elena Rybakina at the LTA's HSBC Championships.
Advertisement
Watson had secured her spot in the main draw after coming through qualifying over the weekend, beating Japan's Ena Shibahara and Zeynep Sonmez in the run up to her round one match.
It meant that the former British No.1 already had a good feel for the grass in West Kensington and made it count in an impressive first round performance.
"I'm very happy to be through here at Queen's, it's such a great event so far and I'm really enjoying playing on these courts," she said.
"I've played three matches now and I feel like I'm getting better and better with each match.
Advertisement
"I'm just really happy to get a win today because it really helps my ranking and into future events."
After some initial back and forth play, Watson made her mark in the first set by breaking Putintseva and winning three games in a row to go ahead.
Putintseva soon broke back but Watson held strong to take the first set and refused to let up from there.
In a dominant second set, the Brit thrived in the emerging sunshine and surged into a 4-1 lead, holding steady against a late surge from her opponent to clinch the overall win.
It sets up a tough second round draw for the Brit who must now face 2022 Wimbledon winner Rybakina for a spot in the quarterfinals.
Advertisement
But with recent victory under her belt and a rallying British crowd behind her, Watson admitted that nothing will deter her trying to rise up the WTA rankings once more.
"I'm just taking each win as it comes and wanting to keep climbing and do well at Wimbledon," she said.
"It's the best women's tennis has been in Britain my whole career and to have such a prestigious event here in London is special for everybody."
For the latest action on the British summer grass court season, check out the LTA website
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
Tom Cleverley in advanced talks to be Plymouth Argyle head coach
Plymouth Argyle are in advanced talks to appoint Tom Cleverley as their new head coach. Plymouth — who will play in League One next season following relegation from the Championship — have been seeking a replacement for Miron Muslic, who joined German second division side Schalke last month. Muslic, who led Plymouth to the FA Cup fifth round including a fourth-round victory over Liverpool, had himself only been appointed in January to replace Wayne Rooney. Advertisement In May, Cleverley parted company with Watford, his first managerial position, at the end of the 2024-25 campaign after 14 months in charge. The former midfielder won 20 of his 59 matches in charge at Vicarage Road, with the club finishing 14th in the Championship last season — 11 points off the play-offs for promotion to the Premier League and eight points clear of relegation. The 35-year-old — who was capped 13 times for England — retired from playing at the end of the 2022-23 season and had coached Watford's Under-18 team prior to coaching the first-team following the dismissal of Valerien Ismael. Cleverley made 146 appearances across seven seasons at Watford, having previously played for Manchester United, Wigan Athletic, Aston Villa and Everton in the Premier League. ()
New York Times
3 hours ago
- New York Times
Wimbledon line judges being replaced was ‘inevitable,' says All England Lawn Tennis Club
The phasing out of line judges at Wimbledon was an 'inevitable' development, All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) chief executive Sally Bolton said Thursday. This year's Wimbledon will be the first in the tournament's 148-year history not to use line judges, a recognizable part of the event with their smart uniforms and crouched poses. It will instead rely on electronic line calling (ELC), as is used at the Australian and U.S. Opens. The French Open, where shots leave marks on the clay that can be inspected by the umpires, is the only Grand Slam that still uses line judges. Advertisement The tournament's pool of 300 judges has been condensed to 80 'match assistants,' two of whom will be assigned to each court. They will support the umpires in managing what happens on the court and are there as a backstop should ELC go down. Bolton said that the line judges understood the inevitability of their being replaced. 'I think they — and I wouldn't speak for them individually — probably recognise that with the evolution of the technology and the consistent change across many of the other tournaments that this is probably inevitable,' she said at a media briefing ahead of Wimbledon 2025. 'So I think for many of them they had expected this change to come along and for those that will be joining us for the Championships in the match assistant role obviously they're delighted still to be part of delivering the Championships.' ELC is compulsory at all ATP and mixed tour-level events. Discreet testing was carried out during last year's Wimbledon, where the ball tracking and line technology has been in place for more than 15 years. In 2007, Wimbledon used Hawk-Eye technology for the first time, allowing players to challenge line calls. ELC removes the need for challenges by making the calls in real time; players can request a replay of the call. 'The time is right for us to move on,' Bolton said. 'We absolutely value the commitment that those line umpires have provided to the Championships over many years. And we do have a significant number of them coming back in a new role as match assistants, so we're really pleased to have many of them still involved with delivering the championships.' ELC has generally been popular with the players, though there were some issues at the clay events this year where the marks left on the court were sometimes in conflict with the images being displayed by the technology. This will not be an issue on grass courts. Wimbledon has also announced the prize money pool for this year's event, with an increase of seven percent on 2024 to £53.5 million ($72.7 million), which is double the pot of 10 years ago. The two singles champions will each receive £3 million ($4.1 million) — the most of any Grand Slam, though the U.S. Open is yet to confirm its prize pots for this year's event. It's an 11.1 percent increase from last year. At the lower end of the tournament, there have been similar increases, with first-round losers receiving £66,000 (89,691), a 10 percent increase from last year. Doubles and wheelchair events have seen smaller increases. The increase in prize money for the singles events follows meetings between executives from the Grand Slams and leading players from both tours. Some of those players met with the Grand Slam representatives, including Bolton and AELTC chair Deborah Jevans, in Paris during the French Open. They both said it was important to continue that dialogue, but Jevans stressed the importance of looking at the 'bigger picture' around scheduling and burnout, and not just prize money. Jevans added that — having been one herself, once reaching the Wimbledon fourth round — she knew that 'tennis players, they're always going to, I think, ask for more money.' Jevans added that Wimbledon has no plans to become a 15-day event like the other Grand Slams. The tournament's priority is resolving the legal battle over their plans to build 39 new grass courts on the old Wimbledon Park golf course, which would almost triple the size of the grounds at the Wimbledon Championships and allow the AELTC to host qualifying on site, as the other majors do. Advertisement The Greater London Authority (GLA) granted the AELTC planning permission at a hearing in September 2024, but after appeals led by the Save Wimbledon Park (SWP) group, a judicial review will take place July 8 and July 9 of 2025, in which the AELTC and SWP will outline their arguments. The AELTC expects the judge to make their decision a few weeks later. A separate issue is the question of whether a statutory trust exists on the golf course land. After appealing to the courts for the case to be expedited, a separate hearing will be held on this matter in January 2026. The AELTC is desperate to press on with its expansion plans as it continues to lose ground on the other three majors. Jevans said that the need for the transformation 'becomes ever more apparent as we see our fellow Grand Slams staging fully integrated three-week events by welcoming many more spectators and staging charity and community events during the qualifying week and, crucially, providing the players with a stage benefiting their sporting excellence.' The Wimbledon main draw starts Monday June 30.
Associated Press
3 hours ago
- Associated Press
Man United completes signing of Brazil forward Matheus Cunha
MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Manchester United completed the signing of Brazil international Matheus Cunha from Wolverhampton Wanderers on Thursday. The 26-year-old forward signed a five-year contract to 2030, with the option of a further 12 months. 'Ever since I was a child in Brazil watching Premier League games on TV at my grandmother's house, United was my favourite English team and I dreamed of wearing the red shirt,' Cunha said. United paid a reported 62.5 million pounds ($84 million) for Cunha, who is expected to be one of several signings for the fallen Premier League giant as coach Ruben Amorim looks to overhaul his squad following a woeful season. Cunha scored 17 goals for Wolves last season. The United attack had the fifth worst scoring record in the English top flight last term. 'All my focus is now on working hard to become a valuable part of the team, and helping get this club back to the top,' he said. United was 15th in the standings, its worst position since the Premier League era began in 1992. It also had its most losses in a Premier League season and recorded its lowest points total. The joint record 20-time English champion has gone 12 years without the title since last winning it in former manager Alex Ferguson's final season in 2013. 'Bringing in Matheus was one of our main priorities for this summer, so we are delighted to have completed his signing so early in the window,' said Jason Wilcox, United director of football. 'He has proved his ability to succeed in the Premier League as one of the most exciting and productive forwards in England during his time at Wolves, and before that in Spain and Germany. 'He has all the qualities we are looking for as we seek to build a strong, dynamic and entertaining team capable of challenging for the biggest honors.' As well as Cunha, United is also interested in Brentford forward Bryan Mbeumo, ___ AP soccer:
