Watson wobbles out of Barnstaple

 

Originally published on: 26/02/10 12:51

The Junior US Open champion was impressive in her straight-sets victory against second seed South on Wednesday but, despite a good start, found Kristina Mladenovic too strong.

At 16, Mladenovic – winner of the Junior French Open in June – is a year younger than Watson but she has more experience on the senior tour and it showed as the Frenchwoman triumphed 2-6 6-4 6-2.

“She came up with some big points and I just wasn’t able to keep that extra ball in play,” said Guernsey’s Watson on www.lta.org.uk.

“I don’t think I was as consistent as Wednesday. In the first set I wasn’t missing much but then I let her in and you can’t do that.”

It was a largely disappointing day for the home players at the US dollars 50,000 tournament, with Naomi Cavaday and Jade Curtis also going out, although Lisa Whybourn, who does not even have a singles ranking, is through to the quarter-finals after a 6-2 2-6 7-6 (7/5) win over top-200 player Lenka Wienerova.

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