Heather Watson won in straight sets against Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova, and is now through to the third round. The British number one won 6-4, 6-2 in one hour and 21 minutes and will now meet Serena Williams, who is five-time Wimbledon champion and twenty-time Grand Slam winner; the 33 year old American put in an impressive performance against Hungary's Timea Babos 6-4, 6-1 to reach the third round.
The players had to cope with temperatures creeping to 35°C yesterday, in what was the hottest day at Wimbledon on record.
Watson, cheered by the British fans and watched by Greg Rusedski, who is now part of her coaching team, found herself 3-1 down early in the match, but managed to turn things around quickly to lead 4-3 in the first set.
She won the first set 6-4.
The 23 year old from Guernsey started the second set more aggressively, when she had three break points straight in the first game for 1-0 lead. The 32 year old Slovakian Tennis player, who was a Wimbledon quarter-finalist of 2002 and previously reached a career-high ranking of five, has been in a poor form going into the tournament; the Brit, outplayed her opponent, had a few more breaks and finished the second set 6-1.
Watson last reached this stage at Wimbledon three years ago, but she then lost 6-4, 6-2 to third seed Agnieszka Radwanska. The meeting on Friday will be the first time Watson meets the world number one, and she is looking forward to it, as she believes the match could bring out the best in her game.
Also, three years on, she is wiser and more experienced in playing the top players.
Watson is the last British woman left in the draw; earlier yesterday, Liam Broady's defeat to Belgian 16th seed David Goffin meant that only three Britons were now left in the men's singles: Andy Murray, James Ward and Aljaz Bedene.
The trio played their second round matches today; Murray comfortably defeated Dutchman Robin Haase 6-1, 6-1, 6-4, while Ward won 6-2, 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 6-3 against Czech Jiri Vesely; the pair are now into the third round. Bedene lost 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 against the Serbian player Victor Troicki.
