Heather Watson of Britain matched her best Wimbledon run with a stunning 2nd-round win over Latvia’s 18th seed Anastasija Sevastova.
In just over an hour, the 25-year-old, Watson won 6-0 6-4 to reach the 3rd round for the 3rd time in her career. In 19 minutes, the Guernsey player raced to the first set and then fought back from 2 breaks down in the 2nd.
She will play former world number 1, Victoria Azarenka, who is competing in her first Slam since giving birth to her first child Leo in December, won 6-3 6-3 against Russian 15th seed Elena Vesnina. In January 2015, Watson reached a high of 38 but afterwards dropped outside the world’s top 100.
The former British number 1 had only won 5 tour matches going into the grass-court season, but enjoyed a run to the Eastbourne semi-finals last week on her favourite surface. In the last 4 she got defeated by Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki and said it was the best preparation she could have had going into her home Grand Slam.
Before recovering to win 5 of the final 6 games Watson wobbled slightly in the 2nd set, losing her serve in the 3rd game with a double fault. She said, “I felt very good at the beginning of match, very on it and relaxed, more than I was in my first match.
“I obviously know how she plays, she is a great player and I was expecting the best. She started to step up in the second set but I was able to keep my cool and just stick with her. I feel like I’m seeing the ball very big and am moving well.’’
