Heather Watson Loses In Miami First Round And Will Take A Break

Written by: Staff on 20th March 2013

Heather Watson Loses In Miami First Round And Will Take A Break

epa03541782 Heather Watson of Great Britain in action during her match against Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, in round three of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 18 January 2013. EPA/JOE CASTRO AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT |

Heather Watson, who alongside with Laura Robson was just a few weeks ago being lauded as the bright and promising future of British female tennis, has used that worrying term ‘burn-out’ to describe her current lack of motivation.

The 20 year-old from the Channel Islands has now declared she intends to take a break from the game after suffering a distressing dip in form which has seen her lose in the first round of both the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells and Miami’s Sony Open.

Watson is ranked world no.39 and is 6-6 for 2013. She has also played doubles in each event she’s contested this year but finished her 2012 calendar in mid-October after registering her first ever WTA singles title win in Osaka.

“This year I’ve been going a bit too long so I’m a bit burnt out,” Watson told BBC Radio 5 live after losing 1-6, 7-5, 6-4 in Miami to Japan’s by Ayumi Morita. “I’ve been thinking about it now for a while and I’m going to take a break.”

Watson was unspecific about exactly how long she will take away from the game but she will be required for Judy Murray’s Fed Cup when Britain travels to Argentina in exactly a month’s time with promotion to the World Group II on the line.

With the exception of world no.4 Agnieszka Radwanska, all the players who have beaten Watson this year have been ranked lower than the former US Open junior champion who is still based at the IMG Bollettieri Academy in Bradenton, Florida.

She appeared to be in a winning position at a set and 4-1 up against Morita before slipping to another defeat. “It really hurts,” she lamented “I think I just need to find myself, find my game again.”

Watson was harshly self-analytical of her performance in the opening match on Crandon Park’s Stadium Court and said:

“I was playing really well, probably the best I’ve played this year, and I think I lost my concentration a bit.

“However that was enough for her to gain some confidence and step forward, and it kind of pushed me back and I started to play a lot worse. I still tried to fight but it just wasn’t good enough, I wasn’t aggressive enough.”

©Daily Tennis News Wire

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