World Tennis News: Watson Enjoys Biggest Win of her Career

British number one Heather Watson enjoyed the biggest win of her career to date after beating World number eight Agnieszka Radwanska for the first time to reach the fourth round at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Watson, won the match 6-4, 6-4 and will now face Carla Suarez Navarro from Spain in the next round.

Watson said “I knew I had the tennis in me but I needed the belief. I’ve had close matches with top 10 players,” she added “I’ve also been wiped off the court by Radwanska – she’s the main one who’s beaten me very comfortably every time we’ve played.”(LTA website)

Also competing in the Indian Wells event is other British number one Andy Murray who defeated Vasek Pospisil 6-1, 6-3 in the second round after a bye in round one. Fourth seed Murray then beat Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-1, 3-6, 6-1 to reach the last sixteen where he will play world number thirty-eight seed Adrian Mannarino from France. This latest victory against Kohlschreiber gives Murray his 495th career win, just one short of Tim Henman’s Open-era record for a British man.

In the doubles, Murray and partner Thanasi Kokkinakis beat Horia Tecau/Jean-Julien Rojer 6-3, 7-5 while fellow Brit Dominic Inglot/Florin Mergea had a 6-3, 6-2 win over Tommy Robredo/Viktor Troicki.World Tennis.

Photos used courtesy of www.lta.org.uk and http://www.bbc.sport/tennis

QMC Knocked Out in the Knock Out Rounds

In the knock out rounds of this year’s Senior Students competition against local rivals Peter Symonds college from Winchester, the Queen Marys College (QMC) Boys A team lost 8-4 overall. The team of Loic Armstrong, Nick Dingwall, Adam Hood and Luke Watts were at a disadvantage from the offset playing on Symonds unfamiliar Astro turf courts in the rain and the opposition just proved too strong for them.

In the singles, Armstrong was the only winner with a 6-2 victory, an injured Dingwall lost 6-4, Hood 6-1 and Watts 6-3. Things stayed pretty much the same in the doubles with Armstrong/Watts winning 6-2 and Dingwall/Hood losing 6-4.

QMC PE teacher and Tennis Team manager Sarah Goldson said “It was disappointing to be 6-2 down after the singles matches. We have a strong team and were confident we stood a good chance against Symonds despite their strength in depth but with Nick in doubt before the match started due to injury we knew we would be up against it. ”

She added “We were still confident of pulling it back in the doubles but were narrowly beaten in the second singles rubber. This was really disappointing for the team particularly in view of the fact that we knew had we won this match that we stood a good chance against the remaining opposition to gain a place at the Bolton National Finals.”

Peter Symonds went on to win both their next matches, beating both Lancing and Eastbourne colleges 10-2 and 12-0 respectively and competed in the Nationals Finals last weekend at Bolton Arena. The overall champions of 2014/15 were Strathallan School from Perth, Scotland who won all three National titles in the Boys, Girls and Mixed events.

The aim of the Senior Students Competition is to encourage lower rated players to play competitive tennis and provide the team with an opportunity to compete in a National Final. The entry period runs from June – September with local league matches being played October through to December with the winners of the local leagues progressing through to the knockout rounds from January, with the National Final taking place in March.