Wimbledon 2023: Britain's Heather Watson 'proud' despite first-round exit
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Heather Watson has progressed beyond the opening round at Wimbledon in three of the past six tournaments
Wimbledon 2023 on the BBC |
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Venue: All England Club Dates: 3-16 July |
Coverage: Live across BBC TV, radio and online with extensive coverage on BBC iPlayer, Red Button, Connected TVs and mobile app. More coverage details here. |
Heather Watson says she is proud of her performance despite being knocked out of Wimbledon in the first round.
The 31-year-old from Guernsey lost 6-2 7-5 in her rain-delayed match against 10th seed Barbora Krejcikova as she failed to emulate her career-best run to the fourth round last year.
Watson still has the women's and mixed doubles to come in the tournament.
"I think I had a really tough draw and Barbora played extremely well, served particularly well," she said.
"I really felt like I didn't even get a look-in on her service games, but I fought hard and it was really close at the end.
"It was a shame I couldn't just hold on to that last game because who knows where it could have gone then, but I gave my best.
"I'm proud of my fight and I was actually pleased with how I played. I just think she was the better player," Watson told BBC Sport.
Watson, who won the mixed doubles at Wimbledon in 2016 with Finland's Henri Kontinen, will hope to repeat the feat seven years on when she partners Joe Salisbury, while she and Harriet Dart earned a wildcard entry to the women's doubles.
But Watson said she is disappointed that her run in the singles has ended so soon.
"These are the moments we work so hard the rest of the year for. We're flying to different countries week in, week out," she said.
"You slug away and all of that behind the scenes for these moments, so losing is quite deflating. It's upsetting. I wanted to be here in the second round.
"But it happens, it's life, it goes on and hopefully I'll have many more opportunities."
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