135 Facts About Heather Watson

Heather Miriam Watson was born on 19 May 1992 and is a professional tennis player.

In October 2012, Heather Watson won her first WTA Tour singles title at the Japan Women's Open, becoming the first British woman to win a WTA tournament singles title since Sara Gomer in 1988.

Heather Watson reached No 3 in the world on the ITF Junior Circuit.

Heather Watson was born in Guernsey to Michelle and Ian Watson.

Heather Watson's mother is from Papua New Guinea and her father is British, and was the managing director of Guernsey Electricity from 1995 until retirement in 2010.

Heather Watson started playing tennis at the age of seven, and at age twelve she went to the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Florida.

Heather Watson lost in the under-18 semifinals again in 2008 to eventual winner Tara Moore.

In October, Heather Watson travelled to Pune in India to compete at the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games where she won the gold medal, winning the final against Kyra Shroff.

Heather Watson achieved her first senior women's world ranking on 27 July 2009, entering at No 756.

Heather Watson won her first senior title at the Frinton $10k tournament.

At the 2009 US Open, Heather Watson was seeded 11th for the girls' singles.

Heather Watson played her semifinal on the same day and was victorious against Daria Gavrilova to reach the final, where she faced doubles partner Yana Buchina.

Heather Watson entered her next tournament, a $25k event in Jersey, on a wildcard and beat compatriot Jade Curtis in the first round.

Heather Watson was defeated by another Britain, Katie O'Brien, in round two.

Heather Watson went on to qualify for the next tournament she entered and again faced Smith in the semifinals; however this time Watson was victorious and went on to beat Anna Fitzpatrick in the final to win her first ITF title.

Heather Watson ended the 2009 season with a singles ranking of 588.

Heather Watson began 2010 with a wildcard into the $25k event in Sutton, London, where she made the quarterfinals.

Heather Watson immediately flew to the $100k Midland Classic, losing to qualifier and fellow 17-year-old Beatrice Capra in the first round.

Heather Watson was then given a wildcard into the main draw of the Miami Open, but lost to Tsvetana Pironkova in the first round.

Heather Watson defeated world No 48, Aleksandra Wozniak, in the first round.

Heather Watson then entered the first Grand Slam tournament of her career, after receiving a wildcard into the main draw of Wimbledon.

Heather Watson met Romina Oprandi in the first round and lost in three sets.

Heather Watson defeated four fellow British players on her way to the final, where she defeated former top-30 player Sania Mirza to win her second ITF title.

Heather Watson eventually lost to top seed, Anastasia Rodionova of Australia, in the quarterfinals.

Heather Watson began the season by qualifying for the Auckland Open.

Heather Watson continued her winning streak in the main tournament and beat ninth seed Carla Suarez Navarro to get into the quarterfinals, where she lost to Peng Shuai.

Heather Watson made the quarterfinals of the doubles tournament, partnering Kurumi Nara.

Heather Watson then moved on to the Australian Open, where she beat Kristina Mladenovic in the first round of qualifying.

Heather Watson reached the quarterfinals of the doubles tournament partnering Anna-Lena Gronefeld.

On 3 April 2011, Heather Watson won two matches to qualify for the Charleston Open, where she lost a close three-set match to Christina McHale in the first round.

Heather Watson went on to beat Katarzyna Piter in the second round of qualifying, but eventually lost to Tamira Paszek in the final qualifying round.

Heather Watson beat Raluca Olaru and Sally Peers in the first and second rounds, respectively, to reach the final round, where she defeated Stefanie Vogele to gain a place in the main draw for the first time.

Heather Watson played French wildcard Stephanie Foretz Gacon in the first round and won.

Heather Watson lost to 16th seed Kaia Kanepi in the second round.

Heather Watson continued her good form entering the grass-court season when she beat 15th seed Chanelle Scheepers in the first round of the Birmingham Classic.

Heather Watson followed this up by beating Misaki Doi in the second round.

On 22 June 2011, Heather Watson played Mathilde Johansson in her first round match in the Wimbledon Championships, winning the opening set before suffering an arm injury in the second set.

On 29 August 2011, in the first round of the US Open, Heather Watson lost in three sets to former champion Maria Sharapova.

At the start of 2012, Heather Watson suffered an ankle sprain.

Heather Watson then lost in the first round of the Australian Open to the eventual champion Victoria Azarenka.

Heather Watson won three rounds in qualifying for the French Open at Roland Garros in May 2012.

Heather Watson then defeated Elena Vesnina in the first round, matching her 2011 result in the tournament.

In June, ranked No 103, Heather Watson defeated world No 52, Iveta Benesova, in her first singles win at 2012 Wimbledon Championships.

Heather Watson then beat Jamie Hampton, becoming the first British woman since 2002 to reach the third round of Wimbledon.

Heather Watson won the doubles competition of the Stanford Classic, where she played with Marina Erakovic to beat Vania King and Jarmila Gajdosova in a second set tiebreak.

Heather Watson received an ITF wildcard into the singles tournament at the London Olympics, where she defeated Silvia Soler Espinosa, before losing her second-round match to Maria Kirilenko.

Heather Watson played ladies' doubles in the Olympic tournament with Laura Robson, losing in the first round to Angelique Kerber and Sabine Lisicki.

Heather Watson received automatic entry into the main draw of the US Open but was beaten in the first round by Li Na.

Heather Watson made a WTA Tour singles final for the first time in her career at the HP Open where she beat Polona Hercog, sixth seed Anabel Medina Garrigues, Pauline Parmentier and Misaki Doi.

Heather Watson became the first Briton to win a WTA singles title since Sara Gomer in 1988.

Heather Watson made the doubles final in the same event with Kimiko Date-Krumm, but lost to Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears.

Heather Watson began the year in the top 50 and therefore qualified for the Australian Open.

Heather Watson reached the second round for the first time in her career thanks to a three-set victory against the Romanian Alexandra Cadantu.

Heather Watson faced world No 4, Agnieszka Radwanska, in the third round, where she was beaten in two sets.

Heather Watson then defeated Andrea Hlavackova in another three-setter, before meeting Stefanie Vogele in the quarterfinals.

Heather Watson was forced to miss Great Britain's Fed Cup Play-off against Argentina after contracting glandular fever.

Heather Watson then lost in the next round to fourth-seed Alize Cornet, in straight sets.

Heather Watson had to qualify for WTA Tour events, starting with the Brisbane International.

Heather Watson was one of five British players aiming to qualify.

Heather Watson was the sole qualifier, joining Andy Murray and Laura Robson in the main draw.

Heather Watson then proceeded to compete at the second-tier ITF Midland Classic.

Heather Watson won in straight sets Anna Tatishvili, Sofia Arvidsson and Olga Govortsova to advance to the final, where she defeated Ksenia Pervak to win her fourth ITF title.

Heather Watson claimed a two-set victory before defeating sixth seed Anna Karolina Schmiedlova in the final.

Heather Watson continued a strong grass-court season at Eastbourne, where she defeated Tsvetana Pironkova in her first round match, after dropping the first set.

Heather Watson then claimed her biggest win of her career, defeating sixth seed Flavia Pennetta, in three sets, dropping the first set on a tiebreak.

Heather Watson then went on to play Angelique Kerber, the ninth seed, in the second round.

Heather Watson won her third WTA Tour doubles title at the Baku Cup, partnering with Alexandra Panova.

Heather Watson was eventually defeated by eighth seed Victoria Azarenka.

Heather Watson then went to qualify for the Cincinnati Open, easing past Kristyna Pliskova and Shahar Pe'er to reach the first round.

Heather Watson faced Zhang Shuai in the first round but she lost in a very tight three sets.

Heather Watson won her second career WTA title at the 2015 Hobart International.

Heather Watson did not drop a set on her way to the title, beating Magdalena Rybarikova, fifth seed Sloane Stephens, ninth seed Roberta Vinci, and eighth seed Alison Riske.

Heather Watson went on to beat Madison Brengle in straight sets in the final to win the event.

Heather Watson then lost in the first round of the Australian Open to Tsvetana Pironkova.

Heather Watson recorded her first top-ten win with a two-set victory over Radwanska to move into the fourth round for the first time, where she lost to Carla Suarez Navarro in three sets.

Heather Watson was then pitted against the world No 1, Serena Williams, and was two points away from winning, but lost in three sets in a match described by pundits as a "thriller".

Heather Watson represented her nation at the Hopman Cup with Andy Murray.

Heather Watson was beaten by Caroline Garcia in the tie against France, but went on to win against Daria Gavrilova and Sabine Lisicki.

The tournament was interrupted by multiple rain delays, with Heather Watson losing in the quarterfinals, playing twice in one day.

In Mexico at the Monterrey Open, Heather Watson defeated No 2 seed Caroline Wozniacki and No 4 seed Caroline Garcia on her way to the title, beating Kirsten Flipkens in the championship match for her third WTA title.

Heather Watson represented Great Britain at the 2016 Summer Olympics reaching round two in both singles and doubles and the quarterfinals in mixed doubles.

At the US Open, Heather Watson lost to qualifier and world No 165, Richel Hogenkamp.

In Melbourne at the Australian Open, Heather Watson beat seeded Samantha Stosur to get through to the second round.

At the French Open, Heather Watson failed to qualify, losing to Richel Hogenkamp in the third round of qualifying.

Heather Watson then was runner-up at an ITF tournament at Surbiton.

Heather Watson failed to make it past the first round at Nottingham and at Birmingham.

Heather Watson reached Eastbourne semifinals, defeating top-10 player Dominika Cibulkova in the second round, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the third and Barbora Strycova in the quarterfinals, before falling to Caroline Wozniacki.

Heather Watson lost in the first round of the Australian Open to Yulia Putintseva.

Heather Watson then lost in the first round of qualifying for the St Petersburg Trophy to No 142, Roberta Vinci.

At Charleston, Heather Watson lost in the first round to No 118, Taylor Townsend.

In late April, Heather Watson lost her tenth consecutive singles match of 2018, losing in the first round of the Prague Open to world No 86, Anna Karolina Schmiedlova.

Heather Watson lost in straight sets to the world No 203, Fanny Stollar, the following day.

Heather Watson lost in three consecutive first-round matches during the grass-court season, at Birmingham, Eastbourne and Wimbledon.

Heather Watson was docked a point for swearing as she and Tatjana Maria lost to Katerina Siniakova and Barbora Krejcikova in the women's doubles quarterfinals in Wimbledon.

Heather Watson showed signs of form when she reached the final of an ITF event in Canada, before losing to Misaki Doi.

Heather Watson carried this form into the US Open qualifying where she won three successive matches to reach the main draw.

However, Heather Watson was unable to get her first ever senior main-draw win in New York as she lost in three sets to Ekaterina Makarova.

On her way to the semifinals, Heather Watson defeated top seed Elise Mertens, before losing to eventual champion Elena Rybakina.

Heather Watson comfortably lost to Anna Karolina Schmiedlova in the opening tie, before beating Rebecca Sramkova on the following day.

In February 2020, Heather Watson played at the Mexican Open in Acapulco, winning her fourth career WTA Tour singles title.

Heather Watson defeated CoCo Vandeweghe, Kateryna Bondarenko, Christina McHale and Wang Xiyu to reach the final, where she faced Canadian qualifier Leylah Fernandez.

Heather Watson won in three sets, clinching the match on her tenth championship point.

Heather Watson won the Battle of the Brits Premier League women's event, held in December 2020.

Heather Watson had a relatively poor showing at the Grand Slam events, losing in the second round of the Australian Open to 21st seed Anett Kontaveit, the first round of the French open to world No 93, Zarina Diyas, the first round of Wimbledon to world No 117, Kristie Ahn, and the first round of the US Open to world No 109, Kaja Juvan.

Heather Watson then played at Adelaide International 2 where she defeated Plipeuch and Kovinic and qualied for the main draw.

Heather Watson played qualifying at the Qatar Open with a less promising result, losing to world No 203, Marina Melnikova, in two sets.

Heather Watson then travelled to America for a week of training before playing the main draw at the Monterrey Open, where she has previously had good results.

Heather Watson won a tough first-round three-setter against Jule Niemeier before losing to Nuria Parrizas Diaz in the second, still seeking to make it past the second round of a main draw.

Heather Watson moved onto Indian Wells where she entered qualifying as the 20th seed and world No 113.

Heather Watson took on Arantxa Rus in the first round where after a 3-hour 25 minute battle, came through three tough sets.

Heather Watson faced 15th seed Elina Svitolina in the second round.

Heather Watson was looking to get her first back-to-back March wins since Birmingham in June 2021 and a first top 20 win in two years.

Heather Watson started her clay-court season and played at Charleston next, where, after losing in the final qualifying round, she received a lucky loser spot in the main draw only to be knocked out by Claire Liu.

Heather Watson then went onto the Madrid Open where she lost in the final round of qualifying.

Heather Watson was beaten by the eighth seed, Magda Linette, in the second round.

Heather Watson moved to Paris for the 2022 French Open, having only one won main-draw match on clay this season.

Heather Watson faced Elsa Jacquemot in the first round where the French-women played an inspired match to knock Watson out in straight sets.

Heather Watson looked to the grass-court season where she has previously had mixed results.

Heather Watson went on to her third major of the year at Wimbledon, not having won a main-draw match there since 2019.

Heather Watson lost a tight first-set tiebreaker and was one game away from defeat in the second set.

However, Heather Watson fought back to take the second set before the match was suspended for the night due to Wimbledon timing agreements.

Onto the Washington Open where Heather Watson lost in the final qualifying round, and then the Canadian Open where Heather Watson had to retire in the first qualifying round one set down.

Heather Watson continued her North American hardcourt season at the WTA 125 Vancouver Open where she made the second round.

Unfortunately, Heather Watson lost in the third round to Sara Bejlek, having controlled the match and being two points away from victory in the second set.

Heather Watson ended the year at world number 133, her lowest rank for a number of years.

Heather Watson then made her way to the 2023 Australian Open where she went out in the first round of qualifying.

Heather Watson unfortunately lost in a tight two setter to the seventh seed Wang Xinyu.

Heather Watson then played in the $25k Glasgow tournament, where she pulled together a run of winning four matches, before losing in a three-setter final.

Heather Watson then made the qualifying draw at the Austin Open where she defeated Jamie Loeb in the first round and Maria Carle in the final qualifying round to make the main draw.

Heather Watson went out to 5th seed Stephens in the second round, with the American playing close to perfect baseline tennis.

Heather Watson's game is often likened to that of Martina Hingis and she has been praised by Nick Bollettieri for her "amazing footwork".

Heather Watson's game has been described as similar to ATP player Jo-Wilfried Tsonga due to her "big serve" and athleticism.

In 2011, Heather Watson used the Dunlop Biomimetic 300 Tour tennis racquet, and has played with, and endorsed, the Dunlop Srixon CX 200 LS.

Since the end of 2020, Heather Watson has started to use the Babolat Pure Strike racquet, that she used in 2016 and 2017 as well.

From 2016 to 2018, Heather Watson was in a relationship with fellow tennis player Lloyd Glasspool.