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Paris Olympics: Introducing… Heather Watson

Paris Olympics: Introducing… Heather Watson

Friday 26 July 2024

Paris Olympics: Introducing… Heather Watson

Friday 26 July 2024


Heather Watson’s dedication to the Great British team is clear.

In Paris she will partner Katie Boulter in the women’s doubles and Joe Salisbury in the mixed in what will be her fourth Olympic Games, the most of any female British player.

She made her debut in London 2012, competing in the singles and doubles, and played in all three tennis events at Rio 2016 and the singles at Tokyo last time out.

Watson has described those Games as creating "some of the best memories of my life" and is now looking for a medal, with the solidity of having played with Salisbury for the last 12 months.

"I'll just lap it all up, take in the experience, so far nothing has beat London 2012, hopefully this is a good one," she said recently.

Her best Olympic result came in Rio, where she partnered Andy Murray as they reached the quarter finals. 

Watson has been a stalwart of the British team effort outside the Games too as a member of the Billie Jean King Cup squad having played in 33 ties.

The 32-year-old turned pro in 2010 and has gone on to pick up eight WTA singles titles and 11 ITF titles.

Her latest victory came last week at the Lexus GB Pro Series in Nottingham.

One of her career highlights came in winning the Wimbledon mixed doubles titles with Henri Kontinen in 2016.

It was at Wimbledon a year earlier where she had the nation gripped in a trilling third round match against top seed Serena Williams. Having lost the first and won the second set, Watson served for the match at 5-4 but the multiple Wimbledon champion fought back to take the victory.

She began playing tennis as a seven year old in Guernsey, moving to the famous Nick Bolletieri Tennis Academy in Florida five years later.

Watson won her first WTA singles title at Osaka in 2012, beating Kai-Chen Chang.

Watson and Boulter will play Germany's Angelique Kerber and Laura Siegemund in the opening round of the women's doubles.

Watson and Salisbury face Canada's Gabriela Dabrowski and Félix Auger Aliassime in the first round of the mixed doubles.

Play in the women's doubles begins on Saturday 27 July and the mixed doubles gets underway on Monday 29 July.

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