British number one Heather Watson exits the J&T; Banka Prague Open following a first round defeat at the hands of Polona Hercog
Heather Watson is out of the J&T Banka Prague Open after falling at the first hurdle to Polona Hercog.
The British number one, a titlist in the Czech capital in 2014, battled back from a set down, but was unable to prevent the Slovenian getting over the line with an epic 7-5 3-6 7-6 (7-5) win after three hours and nine minutes of play.
The honours had been evenly shared between both women heading into Monday’s encounter. Hercog having enjoyed a 2-6 6-3 6-2 win over the Brit at the 2011 Rogers Cup, while Watson prevailed 6-4, 6-4 in the pair’s last encounter in Osaka.
Watson defeated Anna Schmiedlova 7-6 (7-5) 6-0 in last year’s ITF version of the event, but it was a much closer affair on her return to Prague, with world number 72 Hercog just edging the first set.
Watson responded in magnificent fashion, and after finding herself 3-2 down in the second, the reigning Hobart International champion won the next four games on the bounce to force the decider.
After an edgy final set, the world number 40 looked on course for a stunning comeback after twice taking the lead in the tie-breaker. But ultimately Hercog proved too strong winning the last four points to seal a hard-fought victory.
The result marks back-to-back first-round exits for the Guernsey-born player, after going down 6-3 4-6 7-5 defeat to Croatian teenager Donna Vekic at Charleston’s Family Circle Cup earlier this month.
Earlier in the day fifth seed Alizé Cornet advanced with a comprehensive 6-3, 6-3 victory over wildcard Kristina Schmiedlova.
Playing her opening clay encounter of the season, the Frenchwoman made a blistering start, reeling off the first four games en route to the first set after overcoming a break from the Slovak.
The pair traded breaks early in the second, but the world number 28 proved too strong, winning five of the last six games to seal the win.
Next up for Cornet is wildcard Denisa Allertova after the home favourite pulled off a shock 6-4, 6-1 win over 37th ranked American, CoCo Vandeweghe.
Top seed Karolina Pliskova will be in action on Tuesday when she takes on Germany’s Annika Beck.
