- Heather Watson was knocked out of Wimbledon on the competition’s first day
- The British star suffered a 7-5 6-4 defeat to Greet Minnen on Monday afternoon
- Men’s player Charles Broom also suffered defeat on Wimbledon’s opening day
Heather Watson’s 14th Wimbledon campaign lasted just one hour and 40 minutes after she was beaten in straight sets by her doubles partner Greet Minnen.
Watson, a wild card after slipping to 199 in the rankings, was the first British player in action on day one.
But the 32-year-old was also the first to depart after a 7-5 6-4 defeat to the Belgian world number 80. Having trailed 4-1 in the first set, Watson won four straight games to serve for it at 5-4.
The serve let her down badly, though, as Minnen forged ahead while Watson was admonished by her mother, Michelle, for being ‘too lazy to move her feet’.
The second set went with serve until a double fault brought up match point for Minnen which she dispatched to send the former British number one packing.
Heather Watson was eliminated from Wimbledon after a straight set defeat on the first day
Watson suffered a 7-5 6-4 loss to Belgian world number 80 Greet Minnen on Monday afternoon
CHARLES BROOM
Charles Broom’s Wimbledon debut ended in a straight-sets loss to three-time grand slam champion Stan Wawrinka.
Broom, from St Albans, earned himself a wild card by reaching the final of the Challenger Tour event in Nottingham last month and the outcome might have been different had he managed to win the second set.
But he tightened up at the wrong moment and Wawrinka completed a 6-3 7-5 6-4 victory in an hour and 49 minutes, becoming just the 10th man in the open era to win a singles match here aged 39 or over.
This was by far the biggest moment of 26-year-old Broom’s career, and he settled well after a nervous start on Court Two.
He likens his scampering style to former US Open finalist Kei Nishikori, and he began to exert some real pressure on Wawrinka at the beginning of the second set.
He led 3-0 after breaking serve and had four set points, but he could not take any of them, with the occasion proving a bit too much, and a flurry of backhand winners from Wawrinka saw him win five games in a row.
He extended that to eight games at the start of the third set before Broom began a fightback, but Wawrinka served it out convincingly.
