Watson gets much-needed Aus Open win as Dart bows out to Slam champion – British round-up

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Emma Raducanu is set to play her first Grand Slam match since winning the US Open, in a tough first-round encounter with Sloane Stephens at the Australian Open.

But more Britis have been in action on Tuesday, with her Billie Jean King Cup teammates Heather Watson and Harrier Dart suffering mixed fortunes in their opening matches Down Under.

Express Sport takes a look at some of the British results from day two of the Australian Open.

Heather Watson revealed she had refound her love for tennis after winning her first Grand Slam match for a year.

The British No.3 lost in the opening round of her last three Majors – and her last six matches of 2021.

The Guernsey star has admitted she struggled during the pandemic and has slipped down to world No.94.

But she claimed the first British victory in Melbourne when she beat Egyptian Mayar Sherif 6-3 5-7 6-2.

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And Watson, who is here without a travelling coach, said: “I’m really happy to get through this one because the last couple years have not been good for me.

“I had a great pre-season in Florida and I found my love and joy for tennis and competing again. I really just focused on just being surrounded by good people.

“I feel like the last couple years I felt really anxious before matches, just really not even wanting to go out there, but trying to get over it because I know in sport there’s always ups and downs.

“I had a great pre-season. I played two tournaments in Adelaide.

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“Today I was excited to play. I couldn’t wait to get out on the court. I’m happy I got through it. It wasn’t my best how I have been playing, but I fought well.

“Right now I’m loving it and I know that maybe in a month or in a few weeks or maybe I won’t enjoy it so much because I’ll have a hard loss, but I just, I have that experience to know that it comes and goes, so you’ve just got to ride the wave and I’m riding my positive wave right now. I think it really reflects with my results.”

Harriet Dart suffered another thrashing on the Rod Laver Arena to a Grand Slam champion as she went down 6-3 6-0 to former French Open winner Iga Swiatek 6-3 6-0.

The Londoner was double bageled by Maria Sharapova on the centre court on her Melbourne debut in 2019.

And the Polish No.7 seed showed the same ruthlessness after a solid start by the world No.123.

The British No.3 broke to lead 3-1 before losing the final 11 games in a row.

Dart, who won three matches to qualify, said: “To play such a champion on a big court, these are the matches you play tennis for. At the same time, it would be nice to have a few matches before you get that opportunity.

“I think I started well today, and then it was tough, and she really found her rhythm. I kind of let her dictate me, and once you do that against such a high-quality player, it’s really tough to come back from that.”

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