Heather Watson in second round action Australian Open Tennis 2022 Melbourne Park, Australia Day 4 Thursday 20 January 2022 PHOTO BY KARL WINTER
British No.2 Dan Evans had a walkover into round three of the Australian Open on Thursday when opponent Arthur Rinderknech withdrew with a wrist injury.
But Heather Watson didn’t fare so well, losing 7-6(4) 6-4 No. 29 seed Tamara Zidansek.
Watson hit 35 unforced errors in the match as the opening set swung both ways. At 6-5 Watson missed a break opportunity and Zidansek went on to win the tiebreak by three points.
Both players broke each other early in the second set before Zidansek got there better of Watson’s first serve to take the advantage.
The Slovenian got a break when Watson double faulted, and although the Brit broke back in the following game, Zidansek eventually prevailed after Watson’s wide backhand handed the match to her opponent.
Evans will now face either ninth seed Felix Auger Aliassime or Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina next.
Elsewhere, World No.2 Aryana Sabalenka survived a scare to beat China’s Xinyu Wang 1-6 6-4 6-2.
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