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Watson & Konta kick off Monterrey main draw action

Ros Satar
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By Ros Satar

  • Heather Watson v Misaki Doi – H2H: 3-0
  • Johanna Konta v Mariana Duque-Mariño – H2H:
  • Doubles: Jocelyn Rae & Anna Smith also in action

MONTERREY, MEXICO – Plenty of British action as the main draw in Monterrey gets underway, starting with Heather Watson, and fourth seed Johanna Konta.

Britwatch Tennis:

Heather Watson v Misaki Doi – H2H: 3-0

Watson will be looking to snap a three match losing streak when she kicks off the main draw action but it is another tough start for the girl from Guernsey as Doi looks to be in some good form already.

The Japanese player had a strong run in Taiwan, losing to Venus Williams in the final, since her first round loss at the Australian Open, making up for a disappointing start to the year, where she started with four straight losses.

Watson perhaps started a little brighter making the quarter-final of Hobart as she attempted to defend her title, but since then has been on the wrong end of some very tough matches. There is no doubt about the amount of fight in Watson, and she was working at the start of the year with Fed Cup captain Judy Murray since parting ways with her coach Diego Veronelli at the end of last year.

As always with Watson this is winnable with tenacity, but Doi looks to have the edge as she looks to snap her own three match losing streak against the Brit, last losing to her in 2012 in the Osaka semi-final.

Watson returns to Monterrey for the first time in the main draw, having failed to get out of qualifying in 2011 while Doi makes her debut in Monterrey.

Watson and Doi are scheduled on Cancha Central not before 1pm (7pm GMT), followed by Jocelyn Rae & Anna Smith in the doubles.

Johanna Konta v Mariana Duque-Mariño – H2H: First Meeting

What more can be said about the start to Konta’s year, except it was something that had been building since the summer. The important thing now though is can she capitalise on it. Ever grounded, she greeted the news that she had reached a career high of 26 last week as pragmatically as ever.

On paper she is favourite to win and with Duque-Mariño perhaps better known for her prowess on clay, it would be very easy to dismiss the Colombian’s chances, but Konta is now the hunted instead of the hunter.

Picking up the fourth seeding for the second week in a row, Konta seems to have performed better when there has been no expectations on her, so this has all the feel of another three set battle coming up, but with each battle, Konta has become more confident with closing matches out.

For the Colombian, this is already her best performance at the WTA level, having never made it to the main draw, while Konta started in the main draw in 2014, bowing out in the first round.

Konta and Duque-Mariño are scheduled on Cancha Central, not before 7pm (1am GMT, Tuesday).

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