Heather Watson through after a big scare

British number 1 Heather Watson survived three match points in the second set tiebreak before finding her game and sealing a passage through to the third round of the Australian Open.

In a match which will never be considered a classic due to the amount of unforced errors from both Watson and opponent Ksenia Pervak, Watson can take heart from a spirited defence but will have to improve if she’s to progress any further in the tournament.

Heather had seemed to be on her way out as she conceded the first set and found herself down in the second before rallying and forcing a tiebreak. He heat appeared to be taking it’s toil on the young British hopeful, but found enough energy to defend three match points and clinch the tiebreak to send the match the full distance. An improvement was needed and Watson delivered, winning the deciding set with a far more proficient display.

Two things are certain: Watson is through; but she will be very lucky to win another match playing as she did so poorly of much of it. At times it looked as though Pervak was the higher ranked player, and she has some history of punching above her weight. At the end of the second set Watson scraped through simply by being less dreadful for a short while. Watson may have drawn some strength from the crowd, a few Brits out there enjoying the sunshine made quite a din!

Heather Watson beats Ksenia Pervak 4-6,7-6, 6-2 in the Aussie heat, and faces 4th seed Agnes Radwanska of Poland in her next match. Radwanska secured a regulation 6-3, 6-3 victory over Irina-Camelia of Romania in her 2nd round match.

Radwanska was (apparently) spotted watching the match sipping on a cocktail, whilst that’s pretty hard to believe, halfway through this match she may as well have been smoking a proverbial cigar, for all the threat her prospective opponents appeared to offer. However, after a tremendously gutsy fight back from Watson, she at least knows that Watson never gives up and will scrap until the very end.