By Ros Satar
- Heather Watson loses to Andrea Petkovic in the second round in Toronto 6-4 6-3
- Next stop – Cincinnati Qualifying
TORONTO, CANADA – Heather Watson ended her run at the Rogers Cup in Toronto at the hands of 16th seed Andrea Petkovic, in straight sets 6-4 6-3.
The British No. 1 may well rue the chances she had before her, after leaping out to a 3-0 lead over the German at the start of the match, before Petkovic started to get back into the match, with neither player hanging on to their serve in the middle of the first set. Petkovic held her nerve with a break at the end to snap up the first set.
The pattern of trading breaks continued at the start of the second set, but Petkovic got the bit between her teeth to quickly build up a 5-2 lead. She met with plenty of resistance as she went to serve it out for the first time, squandering three match points before Watson was rewarded for her tenacity with a break.
Alas to no avail, as Petkovic finally converted on her fifth match point to set up a clash with Serena Williams in the third round.
Whilst Watson will no doubt feel disappointed with the inconsistencies in holding on to her serve, and the two leads she built up in the first set, she heads to the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati with three wins after a surprise first round bouncing in Washington last week, and if she can get herself in the main draw again, she has some valuable time to sharpen up her game ahead of the US Open at the end of the month.
The Western and Southern Open starts on Monday 17 August.