Watson joins Dart in second round of Aussie Open

Heather Watson defeated Karolina Pliskova to reach the second round in Melbourne

Heather Watson joined fellow Briton Harriet Dart in the second round of the Australian Open with a battling win over Kristyna Pliskova.

Windy conditions in Melbourne made life tricky for both players but it was tall Czech Pliskova, the identical twin sister of world No 2 Karolina, who ended up struggling the most.

That had a lot to do with Watson, who was unlucky to lose the first set but fought back brilliantly, sealing the second set with an ace before taking the match 4-6 6-3 6-1.

Watson will next face 16th seed Elise Mertens, who she beat on her way to the semi-finals of the Hobart International last week.

I managed to loosen up and relax and start enjoying it and I thought my game improved more and more as the match went on

Heather Watson

Watson was happy with how she handled the conditions, saying: “It was super windy today. I feel sort of prepared because it was like that in Hobart a lot of the days.

“Being the first-round match and it being postponed, I felt a bit nervous on court in the first set and was a bit tense. But after that I managed to loosen up and relax and start enjoying it and I thought my game improved more and more as the match went on.”

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