Watson ends Miami drought in marathon match

Heather Watson fought back from a set and 4-1 down to beat Arantxa Rus 6-7(5),7-5,6-4 in a three and a half hour marathon in the Miami Open

The British No. 3 was broken in the opening game of the match against Rus but came back to lead 5-3 in the first set.

Rus the world No. 75 won three games in a row to take the set to a tie-break, which she took 7-5.

Watson, looked to be heading out at 4-1 down in the second set, but turned it round to take the match into a deciding set.

As the clock went past three hours both players broke twice but it was Watson who made the crucial break at 4-4, and managed to serve it out to set up a second round match against Ukranian Elina Svitolina the World No. 20

World No. 115 Watson reached the fourth round here in 2016 but has not won a main-draw match at the  Miami tournament since.

Roger Parker

Recent Posts

Cramping Medvedev squeezes to tight clay win

Daniil Medvedev began the fight-back into his accustomed elite ATP status with a struggling 7-5,…

5 hours ago

Stan stunned by Chilean outsider

Former champion Stan Wawrinka let a third-set lead slip as the three-time Grand Slam winner…

9 hours ago

Tennis for Djoko is now a balancing act

Novak Djokovic admitted on Sunday that he is carrying muted expectations as the Monte Carlo…

14 hours ago

Sinner stewing as return to tennis draws near

Jannik Sinner has broken his silence as the end of his three-month ban from tennis…

14 hours ago

Eventual career end a touchy topic for Novak

With his 38th birthday in little over a month, Novak Djokovic is understandably thinking of…

1 day ago

Alcaraz puts No. 1 dream to the side for now

Carlos Alcaraz is much more concerned with winning his first career match at the Monte Carlo…

1 day ago