British world No.55 Heather Watson will need a long time to recover from today’s defeat suffered at the hands of Annika Beck in the first round of Wimbledon
After winning the opening set, Watson’s free fall started, as she was bageled in the second set and went 4-1 down in the third. Had the defeat happened soon afterwards, it would not have been so painful though. However, Watson miraculously recovered from that desperate situation and went 5-4 up in the decider, finding herself just one game from victory. However, the match finish was nowhere near.
At 6-6, the 43rd-ranked Beck broke Watson’s serve, but Watson returned the break and the match was again in equilibrium. The complications have just begun…
After several holds of serve, Watson seriously approached the victory when she led 10-9 40-0 on Beck’s serve. However, this amazing opportunity is what makes the loss horrifying, as Watson wasted all those three match points, allowed Beck to level to 10-all, and the inspired German proceeded to break Watson’s serve in the following game, only to victoriously finish the thrilling encounter 3-6 6-0 12-10.
Watson is not only facing a tough defeat, but a surge of abusive comments, especially on Twitter. The 24-year-old Brit had quite a funny answer to those who bet on women’s game and then feel frustrated when the match doesn’t go their way:
I don’t know why they bet on us because our results are all over the place. First of all, that’s not very smart from them.
(photos: Jimmie48)
