Heather Watson surged into the Wimbledon third round with an impressive 6-0, 6-4 win over No.18 seed Anastasija Sevastova taking just 61 minutes to claim victory.
Watson, who made the semi-finals in Eastbourne, opened with what is becoming her trademark fast start in the first set of her matches and in a flash she was sitting back down on her chair having won it 6-0 in just 19 minutes. Sevastova was looking anything but her seeding, failing to stay in the rallies with the British No.2 and missing too many first serves to get herself free points against an opponent who was delighting the sun-baked crowd on No.2 Court.
Watson looks very capable of returning to the top 50 and is playing far better than her No.102 ranking, which meant she had to rely on a wild card to get into a tournament that has seen her reach the third round in 2012 and 2015.
She was dominating from the baseline and also threw in drop shots to add to Sevastova’s frustrations on a surface that has proved tricky in the past. This was the first time she had reached the Wimbledon second round and after a nightmare first set finally started to find her game.
The Latvian broke Watson in the third game of the second set that lasted 8 minutes and drew inspiration and confidence from this much needed success and it was turning into a real contest until the 27-year-old dropped her serve to bring the set back to 4-4. Watson then regained the initiative and broke for the victory in the 10th game.
Aljaz Bedene, the British No.4, reached the third round for the first time after battling past Bosnia’s Damir Dzumhur 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 on No.3 Court.
Bedene, who served 12 aces, will now face No.16 seed Gilles Muller, of Luxembourg hoping to continue his excellent run at the Championships.
Having the same sponsor meant Bedene and Dzumhur wore identical kit although the Bosnian’s beard ruled out any identity issues. The match was played out amid thousands of flying ants whose presence on the court surface made it appear to glitter and move.
World No.58 Bedene took early control of the match and after securing the first set suddenly found himself in trouble against a player who was able to match him for baseline power. Bedene was broken in the fourth game and Dzumhur closed it out 6-3 while using his “lucky” ball during his service games, asking the ball boys and girls to return it straight to him each time he won a point.
With Bedene looking frustrated, the Bosnian appeared to have become the dominant player breaking to lead 2-1 in the third only to give up his serve in the very next game and the British player was visibly lifted by this success and held his game together well to win the set.
Sensing the momentum was now with him, Bedene raced into a 4-2 lead and world No.83 Dzumhur became increasingly frustrated as even net cords starting going his opponent’s way as he fought to get back into the match.
In the eighth game he was left flat out on the grass at the back of the court after slipping and shortly after that fall he was shaking Bedene’s hand at the net.
Meanwhile, Marcus Willis has opened another chapter in his remarkable Wimbledon story. After his heroics in the singles last year, he teamed up with fellow British player Jay Clarke to record a doubles victory against India’s Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and Jared Donaldson, of the United States. To add to the drama, they fought back from two sets down to win 6-7, 5-7, 7-6, 6-0, 6-3.
Fellow wild cards Scott Clayton and Jonny O’Mara also won when their opponents, Paolo Lorenzi of Italy, and Frances's Adrian Mannarino, retired with the score at 7-6, 3-4. Kyle Edmund teamed up with Portugal’s Joao Sousa and had a great battle with the Indian pair of Purav Raja and Divij Sharan before losing 7-6, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 and there was also defeat for Britain’s Anna Smith and partner Nicole Melichar, of America, as they went down 6-4, 6-3 to Svetlana Kuznetsova, of Russia, and Kristina Mladenovic, of France.
