Heather Watson: 'Awesome' Judy Murray gears Briton up for big year

Briton enjoying preparation for this month’s Australian Open under interim coach

(Getty Images)

Every athlete has to forego certain pleasures, but Heather Watson made the ultimate sacrifice during the boot camp she put herself through in Florida last month. As if enduring the toughest training regime she has ever experienced was not hard enough, the world No 55 also refused to indulge her sweet tooth.

“I’ve been eating super, super-healthy,” Watson said here last week, her voice full of pride. “I made a big, big effort. I had one dessert in three weeks, which is huge for me. It was ice cream. It was like frozen custard.”

Thankfully Christmas pudding is one dessert that is not a weakness for Watson, who spent the holiday at her Florida base with her parents. “I don’t actually like Christmas food,” she said. “It doesn’t do it for me. I’d rather just have a Chinese take-out, though that’s not what everybody else wanted. I actually had loads of veggies on Christmas Day.”

Christmas is already a fading memory for Watson, who spent last week here at the Hopman Cup mixed team event representing Britain alongside Andy Murray.

A highly successful week it was, too, even if the Britons just failed to reach the final. Watson played three higher-ranked singles opponents, and after losing narrowly to Caroline Garcia she beat both Daria Gavrilova and Sabine Lisicki.

If Watson was not playing alongside one Murray in mixed doubles, she was usually working with another. Judy, the world No 2’s mother and Britain’s Fed Cup captain, is coaching Watson on an interim basis this month after the 23-year-old from Guernsey parted company with Diego Veronelli, who wanted to spend less time on the road.

“I’m really enjoying training with her,” Watson said. “We’re doing a lot of drills pushing forward, coming to the net. That’s working out really well. I’ve come to the net a few times in my matches, which I’ve wanted to do. I’ve not always won the point, but most of the time I have. And when I’m pushing forward I also hit the ball better than when I’m defending.”

A fine athlete who covers the court superbly, Watson knows she needs to avoid falling back into her default mode of defence. “I think it’s because I know I can rely on [my defence],” she said. “That’s why I tend to move further back in the court. But I know what the right way to play is, and as this tournament went on I started to do it more and more.”

Is there any chance that Judy Murray might coach her permanently? “Personally I think it would be awesome, but I don’t think that will work out,” Watson said. “She’s very busy.”

Watson, who is also working this month with a Perth-based hitting partner from Jersey whom she has known since their childhood days in the Channel Islands, will be in more British company this week at the Hobart International, where she will be joined by the other three members of Britain’s Fed Cup squad, Johanna Konta, Jocelyn Rae and Anna Smith. Watson will be playing doubles with Konta both this week and in Melbourne, where the Australian Open begins in eight days’ time.

This is a particularly big week for Watson, who is defending 280 ranking points (more than a quarter of her total) at the only tournament she won last year. While she insisted she does not worry too much about her world ranking, she admitted her one concern would be to be ranked high enough to make the Olympics.

“I’m just desperate to be involved in the Olympics again,” she said. “For me the London Olympics was one of the best moments of my life.”

Qualifying for the Olympics might also provide the chance to play again with Murray, who won the mixed doubles silver medal in 2012 alongside Laura Robson. “He’s great to play with,” Watson said. “Obviously his tennis is brilliant but he’s super-nice as well, always positive.”

Last year Watson set herself a pre-season target of reaching the world’s top 25. “I definitely didn’t make that,” she acknowledged with a sigh. “This year I don’t want to get too specific. I know it’s such a boring answer, but I’m just going to give my best every single day.”

If Watson could find her top form every day she would soar up the rankings. In 2015 she overcame Agnieszka Radwanska at Indian Wells and crowned a fine grass-court season by going within two points of beating Serena Williams at Wimbledon. However, she also suffered 11 first-round losses.

Watson blamed her poor form in the second half of the year on fatigue after playing too much. “I’ll manage that better this year,” she said. “A Grand Slam takes a lot out of you, so it’s important to rest afterwards.”

The best news for the British No 2, who was overtaken by Konta last year, is that she has finally put behind her the health issues that followed her glandular fever diagnosis three years ago. She did not suffer any ill-effects after her gruelling training block last month.

“It only lasted for three-and-a-half weeks, but I’ve never worked harder,” Watson said. “After every day I was absolutely exhausted. I would start at eight in the morning and finish at six at night. I also spent a lot of hours on court. But it paid off, because this week I’ve walked off the court after very long matches and not felt tired at all.

“I know I need to be more consistent about how I go about my business every day. Starting with this off-season I feel like I’ve been doing everything right that I could possibly do. I just have to carry on doing that.”