Ten years ago at Wimbledon, a 20-year-old Heather Watson reached the third round of a major for the first time. As a decade passed by, the Guernsey native continued to be a mainstay in Grand Slam fields but couldn’t improve upon that initial breakthrough.
On Friday, that all changed. In her 43rd main draw on the major stage, Watson has made her first trip to the fourth round after holding off Kaja Juvan, 7-6 (6), 6-2.
"Really happy to be into the second week of a Grand Slam for singles finally," she told press afterwards. "I wouldn't still be playing if I thought that ship had sailed."
The closest Watson previously came to reaching the round of 16 occurred at this juncture seven years ago when she was two points away from ousting Serena Williams on Centre Court. While today's outcome resulted in a straight-set victory, there were a fair share of testing moments for Watson to overcome in achieving the long-awaited milestone.
Down a break midway through the first set, she denied Juvan’s attempt to consolidate with an overhead winner. In the eventual tiebreak, Watson’s three set points at 6-3 disappeared as the Slovenian worked her forehand. But that shot let Juvan down after the two traded sides, and a double fault ended the topsy-turvy set.
