Wimbledon 2017: Heather Watson into third round after win over 18th seed Anastasija Sevastova

The 25-year-old from Guernsey enjoyed one of her best wins at SW19 to beat the world No 19 6-0, 6-4 in just 61 minutes

Heather Watson is into the third round at Wimbledon (AFP)

This has been one of the most challenging years of Heather Watson’s career but the 25-year-old from Guernsey enjoyed one of her best Wimbledon wins when she beat the world No 19, Anastasija Sevastova, 6-0, 6-4 in just 61 minutes to reach the last 32 at the All England Club for the third time.

Watson, who has fallen to No 102 in the world rankings, bridged a gap of 83 places to earn a third-round meeting with Victoria Azarenka, the former world No 1, who returned to competition recently after giving birth to her first child.

The grass-court season has brought some sunshine into Watson’s year. She had fallen so far down the rankings that she needed a wild card to play here, but there were clear signs of a revival at last week’s Aegon International in Eastbourne, where she reached the semi-finals.

Watson followed that by beating Maryna Zanevska in the first round here and then recording an excellent victory over Sevastova, who is the highest ranked opponent she has ever beaten on these courts. After playing a superb first set, Watson held firm when the 27-year-old Latvian came back in the second.

“I'm really happy with the second set because she raised her level,” Watson said afterwards. “The first set I just felt great, pretty flawless. It's always going to change. I've got to expect her to raise her level and to try something new - and she did. I was pleased with how I remained calm and just kept doing what I was doing.”

She added: “I'm very happy with my game, very happy with how I'm playing. I just feel like I'm in a good place and I'm confident, just really enjoying being out there on the court.”

Watson said that one of her coaches, Morgan Phillips, had said he would shave his head if she reached the fourth round. “But I said: ‘No, your girlfriend will kill you. You can shave your legs’.”

Sevastova retired in 2013 after a series of injury problems but returned to competition at the start of 2015. She had won her only previous meeting with Watson, in Thailand four years ago, but if the Briton had wanted a more recent check on the Latvian’s form she could have asked her Fed Cup colleague, Johanna Konta.

Sevastova beat Konta during her best run at a Grand Slam tournament when she reached the quarter-finals of last year’s US Open. Sevastova also beat the British No 1 on clay in Stuttgart three months ago.

Until this week the Latvian had never gone beyond the first round in four previous appearances in the main draw at Wimbledon, but proved her credentials on grass when she won the Mallorca Open 10 days ago. That was only the second title of her career, the first having come seven years earlier.


 Watson in action during the second set 
 (AFP)

Watson and Sevastova played the first match of the day on Court Two. The temperature was already moving above the 25C mark by the time they walked out for the 11.30 start. With little breeze and the court bathed in glorious sunshine, the conditions could hardly have been better.

A remarkable first set was over in just 19 minutes. Sevastova won only two points on Watson’s serve and six on her own as the Briton played almost faultless tennis. Watson hit seven winners to Sevastova’s one and did not make a single unforced error.

Although Watson held serve in the opening game of the second set, Sevastova quickly played her way back into the match. Having finally got on the board by holding serve, the Latvian broke to lead 2-1 as Watson double-faulted on break point.

Watson broke back to level at 3-3, but this was a stage of the match where both players were wobbling on serve. There were breaks to love in both the following games before Watson steadied the ship by holding to go 5-4 up.


 Sevastova congratulates Watson after the Briton's victory 
 (AFP)

When Sevastova served to stay in the match Watson put her under immediate pressure with the quality of her returns. She converted her second match point when Sevastova netted a backhand.

Having played so early in the day, Watson said afterwards that she was looking forward to having time to unwind. “When I do have time to relax, I try and make the most of it,” she said. “It's easy watching ‘Love Island’ at the moment. It's so good.”

Friday’s match against Azarenka will be Watson’s third appearance in the third round following her defeats to Agnieszka Radwanska in 2012 and Serena Williams in 2015, when the Briton went within two points of beating the eventual champion.

Watson said her best memory of the match against Williams had been the support of the Centre Court crowd. “That's the best atmosphere I've ever played in in my life,” she said. “I was getting goosebumps after every point.”

Watson will now face Azarenka in the third round (Getty)

The Briton’s next third-round match promises to be another tough one. Azarenka knocked out Catherine Bellis in the first round and beat the world No 16, Elena Vesnina, 6-3, 6-3 in the second.

The 27-year-old from Belarus described Watson as “a great player” and added: “She is definitely going to be the crowd favourite. I think she played really well last week in Eastbourne. It looks like she feels really comfortable coming into this match.”

Watson described Azarenka as “an incredible player and person”. She added: “I really respect how hard she works and how focused she is. I look forward to playing her. I know she has only just come back, but I expect her to be playing really well because I know she will have put in the hours and the work. You don’t get to where she’s got to in her career without being a really good player."

Asked about her preparations, Watson said: “Whoever I play, I come in with a different game plan because everybody's a different player. But as for myself, I'll keep everything the same, my routine, what I'm going to eat. And I'm going to watch ‘Love Island’.”