The following is a press interview with Heather Watson following her victory over Bojana Jovanovski, 6-1; 1-6; 6-1, at AEGON International.
Q: Do you think you will continue to base yourself there (Bollettieri)?
Watson: I think so. I think it’s a great training camp, but also I’ll be working at the NTC as well.
Q: Which players do you look up to past or present?
Watson: Serena’s been my favourite since I was a little girl. She’s an amazing ball striker, but I also love Sharapova – her aura around the court and her determination to win.
Q: Serena’s done pretty well at Wimbledon over the years.
Watson: Yes she has – she’s done very well.
Q: Have you spoken to either of them?
Watson: (Laughter) – um… no.
Q: Would you go up and ask for their autograph?
Watson: I don’t think I should do that anymore – I’m too old!
Q: A lot of juniors have problems going from juniors to main tour – what’s the biggest challenge you’re finding?
Watson: When I played juniors the first few rounds would be easy-ish and you’d get through comfortably and then it would get a bit harder and harder. But here it’s straight off the bat first round, it’s a tough match and you don’t win as many tournaments – you just try and get as far as you can.
Q: Which of the sisters would you like to play – Serena or Venus?
Watson: Either – I don’t mind.
Q: Tell us about Wimbledon and how much you’re looking forward to that?
Watson: I am so excited and this is great preparation for it. I’m just so excited to play – whoever I play against I’m just going to enjoy it, enjoy the experience and go in to win.
Q: Do you suffer from nerves at all?
Watson: I think I used to, but I haven’t been lately – today I didn’t at all.
Q: When the second set was getting away from you, did you just mentally think: ‘right, I’ll write this off’?
Watson: Yes I thought: just start again first set, just get my energy up and play like you can.
Q: Slight problem in the second set with (the) toss?
Watson: I couldn’t really get up to ball – pain in my side, but it disappeared in third set. I have a strain in my side – it felt tight yesterday and it pulled a bit more today. I will have physio after this.
Q: What is your favourite surface?
Watson: My favourite surface is hard, but I am starting to like all surfaces as they bring out different aspects of my game.
Q: Did your opponent have any problem – she called for her trainer?
Watson: She called her coach on, because you can call your coach on court to talk tactics and stuff.
Q: It didn’t work though?
Watson: (Laughter) No, no I didn’t want it to work!
Q: How much more in junior comp are you playing this year?
Watson: I don’t think I’m going to play any more juniors from now – I am just going to focus on women’s now.
Q: Even Wimbledon and US Open?
Watson: Yep, definitely not playing Wimbledon – I have pulled out.
Q: Do you have a specific target, ranking wise?
Watson: I definitely want to get inside the top 200 and working to achieve that goal – get fitter, stronger and keep learning.
Q: Do you know who you’re playing yet in the first round?
Watson: No not until all the qualifiers are done – two qualifiers play each other and then one plays Petrova and the other plays Pennetta. If I play qualifier it’s a great opportunity, but if I play one of the two top ranked players it’s another opportunity!
Topics: Aegon, Autograph, Bojana, Few Rounds, Heather Watson, Ish, Jovanovski, Juniors, Laughter, Little Girl, Match, Nerves, Ntc, Pl, Serena, Striker, Training Camp, Venus, Victory, Wimbledon