Watson boost for Games as she becomes British No 1

 

Tuesday 17 July 2012 10:31 BST
Comments
Bubba Watson putts during a rainy practice session yesterday
Bubba Watson putts during a rainy practice session yesterday (Reuters)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Heather Watson is set to go into the Olympics as the British No 1 and with her first WTA title under her belt. The 20-year-old who will be playing doubles but not singles at the Olympics, climbed to No 71 in the world singles rankings yesterday, just 24 hours after partnering New Zealand's Marina Erakovic to victory in the doubles at the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford University in the US.

Watson and Erakovic, playing together for the first time, had already knocked out the No 2 and No 3 seeds before beating Vania King and Jarmila Gajdosova, the top seeds, 7-5, 7-6 in the final. "It's such a nice feeling getting to the end of the week and being the last ones here," Watson said.

The updated WTA rankings list sees four Britons in the top 100 for the first time for 21 years. Watson heads Anne Keothavong (No 76), Laura Robson (No 91) and Elena Baltacha (No 100). The last time Britain had four women inside the top 100 was in 1991, when Jo Durie (No 62) was joined by Sara Gomer (No 89), Sarah Loosemore (No 93) and Monique Javer (No 100).

The rankings could change again next Monday as three of the four are in action over the course of this week.

The four British women will all take part in the Olympic tournament at Wimbledon. Keothavong and Baltacha will compete in the singles and as partners in the doubles, while Watson and Robson will join forces in the doubles.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in