Heather Watson beaten by Ekaterina Makarova in US Open first round
Monday 27 August 2018 22:45, UK
Heather Watson suffered a three-set defeat to Ekaterina Makarova in the US Open first round as her wait for a senior main-draw victory at Flushing Meadows goes on.
The British No 2, who had won seven of her past eight matches having reached the final of an ITF event in Vancouver before coming through qualifying in New York, was beaten 6-1 3-6 6-3 by Russia's Makarova.
Watson said: "I felt like I had a lot of chances today. I definitely felt like I was my most inconsistent.
"Sometimes it happens like that, you wake up and you're not feeling your best, but I felt like I started to play better as the match went on and I fought hard. But in the third set those errors on the break points were costly."
Watson was seeking to progress past the first-round stage at Flushing Meadows for the first time, but lost her opener for the eighth successive year against the world No 49.
Makarova, a two-time Grand Slam semi-finalist, started in emphatic fashion, easing through the first set against former junior singles champion Watson.
Despite trailing 3-1 in the second set, Watson mounted an impressive comeback to win five games on the bounce and force a deciding set in the pair's second meeting.
Makarova showed her greater experience to regain the initiative by breaking Watson in the sixth game of the third set with her greater power from the baseline.
Watson failed to hit back immediately as she failed to convert on three break-point chances, before Makarova closed out the match at the first opportunity.
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Tennis is back on Sky Sports screens with the Laver Cup in September while we will also have coverage of the ATP Finals in November with every match live on Sky Sports. But first, we will be across the final major of the year in New York as the US Open gets underway on August 27, right through to the final with live blogs, reports, features and reaction.
