Heather Watson

Watson began competing on the ITF Women's Circuit in March when she entered the qualifying tournament for the $10k event in Bath, Somerset, but failed to win a match. She entered her next tournament, a $25k event in Jersey, on a wildcard and beat compatriot Jade Curtis in the first round. She was defeated by another Britain, Katie O'Brien, in round two. In July, she reached her first ITF semifinal as a qualifier in the $10k grass-court tournament in Felixstowe, before losing to Anna Smith. She went on to qualify for the next tournament she entered and again faced Smith in the semifinals; however, this time Watson was victorious and went on to beat Anna Fitzpatrick in the final to win her first title. Continuing to compete on the ITF Circuit for the rest of the season, Watson beat Melanie South in round one of a $50k in Barnstaple in October, before being defeated by Kristina Mladenovic in round two. She ended the 2009 season with a singles ranking of 588.

Watson began 2010 with a wildcard into the $25k event in Sutton, London, where she made the quarterfinals. She immediately flew to the $100k Midland Classic, losing to qualifier and fellow 17-year-old Beatrice Capra in the first round. Two weeks later, she entered the $25k event in Hammond, Louisiana. Watson qualified and went on to reach her second quarterfinal of the year, defeating former world No. 7 and two-time Grand Slam semifinalist, Nicole Vaidišová, and fifth seed Monique Adamczak, en route. The following week, Watson entered another $25k event in Clearwater, Florida. In the final qualifying round, she lost to fellow Brit Georgie Stoop, before being handed a lucky loser spot in the main draw and defeating Anna Tatishvili in the first round. She lost to Zhou Yimiao in round two. Watson was then given a wildcard into the main draw of the Miami Open, but lost to Tsvetana Pironkova in the first round. This was the first time in her career that Watson competed on the WTA Tour. In April, she reached the quarterfinals of a $25k event in Jackson, Mississippi. Following this, she qualified for the WTA Tour event in Charleston, South Carolina, before losing to Elena Vesnina in the first round.

At the Eastbourne International, Watson qualified for the main draw by defeating Anna Smith, Tsvetana Pironkova and Bojana Jovanovski. Watson defeated world No. 48, Aleksandra Wozniak, in the first round. In the second round, she was defeated by former top-10 player Victoria Azarenka. She then entered the first Grand Slam tournament of her career, after receiving a wildcard into the main draw of Wimbledon. Watson met Romina Oprandi in the first round and lost in three sets. Moving back onto hardcourts, her next tournament was a $25k tournament in Wrexham. She defeated four fellow British players (including Anna Fitzpatrick and Naomi Broady) on her way to the final, where she defeated former top-30 player Sania Mirza to win her second ITF title. In October 2010, she was seeded fifth for the women's singles at the Commonwealth Games, taking the rare opportunity to represent Guernsey. She eventually lost to top seed, Anastasia Rodionova of Australia, in the quarterfinals. Partnering Patrick Ogier, Watson also reached the quarterfinals of the mixed doubles, where they were defeated by the third seeds Sarah Borwell and Ken Skupski, representing England.

Watson began the season by qualifying for the Auckland Open. She continued her winning streak in the main tournament and beat ninth seed Carla Suárez Navarro to get into the quarterfinals, where she lost to Peng Shuai.

Watson qualified for the Cellular South Cup., going on to reach her second quarterfinal of the year where she lost to Evgeniya Rodina.

On 3 April 2011, Watson won two matches to qualify for the Charleston Open, where she lost a close three-set match to Christina McHale in the first round.

Watson next attempted to qualify for the Estoril Open. In the first round of qualifying, she beat former world No. 17, Karolina Šprem. She went on to beat Katarzyna Piter in the second round of qualifying, but eventually lost to Tamira Paszek in the final qualifying round.

Watson qualified for the French Open on her debut. She beat Raluca Olaru and Sally Peers in the first and second rounds, respectively, to reach the final round, where she defeated Stefanie Vögele to gain a place in the main draw for the first time. This was the first time a British woman had qualified for the French Open since Kate Brasher, the daughter of Shirley Bloomer and Chris Brasher, in 1983. She played French wildcard Stéphanie Foretz Gacon in the first round and won. The victory saw her break into the top 100 for the first time. In the second round she lost to 16th seed Kaia Kanepi in the second round.

Watson continued her good form entering the grass-court season when she beat 15th seed Chanelle Scheepers in the first round of the Birmingham Classic. She followed this up by beating Misaki Doi in the second round. However, she lost to third seed and eventual semifinalist Peng Shuai in the third round.

On 22 June 2011, Watson played Mathilde Johansson in her first round match in the Wimbledon Championships, winning the opening set before suffering an arm injury in the second set. Johansson then went on to win in three sets.

On 29 August 2011, in the first round of the US Open, Watson lost in three sets to former champion Maria Sharapova. After the match, Sharapova stated "There's no doubt that she's a great up-and-coming player".

Watson lost in the first round of the Australian Open to the eventual champion Victoria Azarenka.

Watson was selected for the British Fed Cup Team to play in the Europe/Africa Group-1 match at Eilat, Israel on 1–4 February 2012. In the group stages she played doubles with Laura Robson, defeating pairs from Portugal and the Netherlands and Israel in the group stages. Robson and Watson were not required to play their doubles in the play-off match against Austria as Anne Keothavong and Elena Baltacha won their singles rubbers, and the 2–0 lead qualified the team for a place in the World Group II promotion play-off in April 2012.

Watson won three rounds in qualifying for the French Open at Roland Garros in May 2012. She then defeated Elena Vesnina in the first round, matching her 2011 result in the tournament. In the second round, she was defeated by the 25th seed Julia Görges of Germany.

In June, ranked No. 103, Watson defeated world No. 52, Iveta Benešová, in her first singles win at 2012 Wimbledon Championships. She then beat Jamie Hampton, becoming the first British woman since 2002 to reach the third round of Wimbledon. In the third round, Watson lost to the third seed and eventual runner-up, Agnieszka Radwańska.

At the Stanford Classic, Watson lost in the second round to world No. 37, Yanina Wickmayer, after a victory over the world No. 49, Sloane Stephens. She won the doubles competition of the Stanford Classic, where she played with Marina Erakovic to beat Vania King and Jarmila Gajdošová in a second set tiebreak. This was her first title on the full WTA Tour. At the Carlsbad Open, she beat Eleni Daniilidou to set up a second round meeting with qualifier Chan Yung-jan. However, she lost the match.

She received an ITF wildcard into the singles tournament at the London Olympics, where she defeated Sílvia Soler Espinosa, before losing her second-round match to Maria Kirilenko. She also played in the women's doubles in the Olympic tournament with Laura Robson, losing in the first round to Angelique Kerber and Sabine Lisicki. Her next tournament was the Texas Open where in the singles she lost to Yanina Wickmayer in the first round. However, she went on to win the doubles competition alongside Marina Erakovic.

Watson gained automatic entry into the main draw of the US Open but was beaten in the first round by Li Na. She then qualified for the Pan Pacific Open and beat Sabine Lisicki in the first round, but then lost to Maria Sharapova.

Watson made a WTA Tour singles final for the first time in her career at the HP Open where she beat Polona Hercog, sixth seed Anabel Medina Garrigues, Pauline Parmentier and Misaki Doi. In the final, she saved four match points to beat Chang Kai-chen in a match lasting 3 hours and 12 minutes. With this win, Watson attained a top-50 ranking for the first time in her career, at the same time overtaking compatriot Laura Robson as the British No. 1. Watson also became the first Briton to win a WTA singles title since Sara Gomer in 1988. She also made the doubles final in the same event with Kimiko Date-Krumm, but lost to Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears.

Watson began the year in the top 50 and therefore qualified for the Australian Open. She reached the second round for the first time in her career thanks to a three-set victory against the Romanian Alexandra Cadanțu. In the second round, she came back from trailing Ksenia Pervak by a set and 6–3 in the tie break, to win in three sets. She faced world No. 4, Agnieszka Radwańska, in the third round, where she was beaten in two sets. This run saw Watson rise to a career-high world ranking of 40.

Watson's next tournament was the Pattaya Open where she was eighth seed and reached the second round but lost to Anastasija Sevastova. She then competed in the Fed Cup, helping Great Britain reach a World Group II Play-off tie with victories over Tímea Babos of Hungary and Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria in the Euro/Africa Group I Play-off.

Her next tournament was the U.S. National Indoor Championships in Memphis where she was seeded fourth. In the first round, she overcame a tense battle with world No. 109, Galina Voskoboeva. She then defeated Andrea Hlaváčková in another three-setter before losing to Stefanie Vögele in the quarterfinals.

Watson was forced to miss Great Britain's Fed Cup Play-off against Argentina after contracting glandular fever. Her first game back after recovering was at the French Open, where she lost to Stefanie Vögele in three sets, saying after the match she knew it would be tough but that she was very disappointed.

Beginning the grass-court season, she entered the Birmingham Classic seeded 14th and defeated Melinda Czink in the first round, her first victory since returning from her illness before she lost to qualifier Alla Kudryavtseva. At the Eastbourne International, Watson upset world No. 27, Varvara Lepchenko, in the first round in two sets. At Wimbledon, she lost in the first round to Madison Keys.

Before the US Open Series, she decided to change coaches by hiring Jeremy Bates and won her first post-Wimbledon match against wildcard Alexandra Mueller at the Washington Open. Watson then lost in the next round to fourth-seed Alizé Cornet, in straight sets.

Watson qualified for the Australian Open. She faced 31st seed Daniela Hantuchová and lost in three sets.

In Fed Cup Watson continued her impressive run winning all four of her singles rubbers in the Europe/Africa Zone. Despite her victories, which included two top 40 scalps defeating Yvonne Meusburger of Austria and Romanian world No. 26, Sorana Cîrstea,

Watson then proceeded to compete at the second-tier Midland Classic where she defeated Ksenia Pervak in the final to win her fourth ITF title and, partnering Anna Tatishvili, she also reached the doubles final and won after a deciding champions tiebreak.

Watson re-entered the WTA top 100 after winning the Sparta Prague Open in May. She defeated three top-100 players – Klára Koukalová, Karolína Plíšková and Tímea Babos – en route to the final of the $100k event. Due to poor weather, Watson was forced to play her semifinal with Babos on the final's day. She claimed a two-set victory, before defeating sixth seed Anna Karolína Schmiedlová (who had played most of her semifinal the day before) in the final.

Her impressive form carried over to the French Open where she came through three rounds of qualifying to reach the main draw. In the first round, Watson defeated Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová in straight sets before falling to world No. 4, Simona Halep, in the second round.

At Eastbourne, she defeated sixth seed Flavia Pennetta, in three sets, in the second round on the way to the semifinals where she lost to Madison Keys.

At Wimbledon where she played Ajla Tomljanović and defeated her in straight sets. She then played Angelique Kerber, the ninth seed, in the second round losing in three sets.

Watson won her third career doubles title at the Baku Cup, partnering with Alexandra Panova. In the final, they crushed Raluca Olaru and Shahar Pe'er.

Watson qualified for the Rogers Cup, making it to the third round where she was defeated by eighth seed Victoria Azarenka. She then qualifyed for the Cincinnati Open, before losing to Zhang Shuai in the first round in three sets.

Watson won her second tour title at the Hobart International. On her way to it she did not drop a set, beating Madison Brengle in the final.

During the Indian Wells Open, she recorded her first top-ten win with a two-set victory over world No. 8 Agnieszka Radwańska to move into the fourth round for the first time, where she lost to Carla Suárez Navarro in three sets.

At Wimbledon, Watson made it into the third round for the second time in her career. She was then pitted against the world No. 1, Serena Williams, and was two points away from winning, but lost in three sets in a match described by pundits as a "thriller". Following the match, Williams applauded Watson's efforts and went on to say that "she should have won the match". Watson's efforts at Wimbledon pushed her back up to world No. 55.

Over the course of the rest of the season, her best result was a quarterfinal showing at the Hong Kong Open where she lost to former major champion Samantha Stosur.

Watson represented her nation at the Hopman Cup with Andy Murray. She was beaten by Caroline Garcia in the tie against France, but went on to win against Daria Gavrilova and Sabine Lisicki. Great Britain almost reached the final against Ukraine, but the Australia team of Daria Gavrilova and Nick Kyrgios won their tie against France, placing them ahead of Great Britain in the round-robin results.

As the world No. 53, Watson then started her season at the Hobart International, attempting to defend her title. The tournament was interrupted by multiple rain delays, with Watson losing in the quarterfinals, playing twice in one day. At the Australian Open, she was narrowly beaten in the first round by Tímea Babos.

In Mexico at the Monterrey Open, Watson defeated No. 2 seed Caroline Wozniacki and No. 4 seed Caroline Garcia on her way to the title, beating Kirsten Flipkens in the championship match for her third WTA title.

At the Miami Open, her strong form continued with two wins over higher-ranked players including world No. 22, Sloane Stephens, before a fourth round defeat by world No. 5, Simona Halep.

On grass courts, Watson's second-round appearance at the Birmingham Classic with a win over Camila Giorgi resulted in her re-entry into the world's top 50.

At Wimbledon, she won the mixed doubles title with Henri Kontinen, defeating Robert Farah and Anna-Lena Grönefeld in the final.

Watson represented Great Britain at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Starting the year at the Hopman Cup partnered with Daniel Evans, the duo were knocked out in the group stages, between them winning only one of nine matches. In Melbourne at the Australian Open, Watson beat seeded Samantha Stosur to get through to the second round. She was the Europe/Africa Zone Group I 2017 winner of the Fed Cup Heart Award, which is awarded for commitment to their players team and the Fed Cup competition.

Watson was runner-up at the ITF event of Surbiton and reached Eastbourne semifinals, defeating top-10 player Dominika Cibulková in the second round, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the third and Barbora Strýcová in the quarterfinals, before falling to Caroline Wozniacki. At Wimbledon, she defeated 18th seed Anastasija Sevastova in the second round before bowing out against Victoria Azarenka in three sets.

A first round defeat at the Prague Open in April to Anna Karolína Schmiedlová was Watson's eighth consecutive loss on the WTA Tour. She finally snapped her losing streak when she defeated Kateryna Bondarenko in the first round of the Nuremberg Cup at the end of May to record her first win in four months.

As the top seed, Watson lost in the first round of the Surbiton Trophy to world No. 184, Gabriella Taylor. and went on to fail to win a match during the grass-court season. Watson was docked a point for swearing as she and Tatjana Maria lost to Katerina Siniaková and Barbora Krejčíková in the doubles quarterfinals in Wimbledon.

At San Jose she beat Claire Liu before succumbing to Venus Williams. Watson showed signs of form when she reached the final of an ITF event in Canada, before losing to Misaki Doi. She carried this form into the US Open qualifying where she won three successive matches to reach the main draw. However, Watson was unable to get her first main-draw win in New York as she lost in three sets to Ekaterina Makarova. Watson reached the semifinals in Quebec, but lost in a deciding set tiebreak against Pauline Parmentier.

In October 2019, she reached the final of the Tianjin Open, which she lost to Rebecca Peterson.

Her 2020 season started well, reaching the semifinals as a qualifier in Hobart. On her way to the semifinals, Watson defeated top seed Elise Mertens, before losing to eventual champion Elena Rybakina. She took this form to the Australian Open, where she defeated Kristýna Plíšková in the opening round, before losing to Mertens.

In the Fed Cup Play-offs, Watson represented Great Britain in their crunch tie away in Slovakia. She lost to Anna Karolína Schmiedlová in the opening tie, before beating Rebecca Sramkova on the following day. Great Britain eventually lost the tie 1–3.

In February 2020, Watson played at the Mexican Open in Acapulco, winning her fourth career singles title. She defeated CoCo Vandeweghe, Kateryna Bondarenko, Christina McHale and Wang Xiyu to reach the final, where she overcame qualifier Leylah Fernandez in three sets, clinching the match on her tenth championship point. The win propelled Watson back into the world's top 50 (No. 49) for the first time since 2016.

She participated in the Battle of the Brits Team Tennis event, held in London in late July, notching up a number of wins in singles and teaming up with Jamie Murray in mixed doubles.

When the WTA Tour resumed following the COVID-19 pause, Watson lost in the first round at Flushing Meadows to British No. 1 and world No. 13, Johanna Konta.

Watson won the Battle of the Brits Premier League women's event, held in December 2020.

The highlight of Watson's 2021 season was a semifinal appearance at the Birmingham Classic, defeating third seed Donna Vekić, 6–4, 6–2, to become just the third Brit player to reach the last four in the Birmingham tournament's 31-year history, following Anne Hobbs in 1984 and Jo Durie in 1992. She also took part in her third Olympics at the delayed Tokyo Games.

At the Australian Open beating Mayar Sherif in a close three-set encounter, before losing to Zidanšek.

She qualified for the main draw at Indian Wells where lost in the first round to Tereza Martincová.

At the Miami Open, Watson broke a six-year losing streak at the event when she defeated Arantxa Rus in the first round where after a 3-hour 25 minute battle. She then overcame 15th seed Elina Svitolina before losing her next match to 22nd seed Belinda Bencic.

At the Nottingham Open, she defeated Katie Volynets in the first round despite needing a medical timeout towards the end of the first set. In the second round, however, she lost in straight sets to Viktoria Golubic.

In her 12th attempt, Watson finally reached the fourth round at Wimbledon defeating Kaja Juvan, before she lost to Jule Niemeier.

At the close of the season she helped the Great Britain team reach the semifinals of the 2022 Billie Jean King Cup

At the 2023 Australian Open, she went out in the first round of qualifying. It was the first year since 2012 that she did not play the main draw in Melbourne.

She reached her first WTA Tour quarterfinal in almost two years at Hua Hin with wins over second seed Yulia Putintseva and Han Na-lae. She lost in the last eight to seventh seed Wang Xinyu.

Watson made it through qualifying at the Austin Open where she defeated Danka Kovinić in the first round, before losing to fifth seed Sloane Stephens.

At the 2023 Nottingham Open, she made her first tour semifinal since 2021 with wins over Jule Niemeier, Tatjana Maria and Viktorija Golubic. Her run was ended by eventual champion Katie Boulter.

After being given a wildcard entry, Watson lost to Greet Minnen in the first round at Wimbledon.

She was selected to play doubles alongside Katie Boulter at the 2024 Summer Olympics which was her fourth appearance at the Games. The pair reached the quarterfinals, defeating sixth seeded Brazilian duo Beatriz Haddad Maia and Luisa Stefani in the second round, before losing to third seeds and eventual gold medalists, Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini from Italy. Watson went out in the second qualifying round for the US Open, losing in straight sets to Aliaksandra Sasnovich.

Watson qualified for the newly upgraded WTA 500 Korea Open, defeating Ku Yeon-woo in the final round of the qualifying competition. She overcame Lu Jiajing in the first round to record only her third main draw singles win of the season. This was her twelfth win in fourteen singles matches 180. Watson lost in the second round to Marta Kostyuk.

At the Billie Jean King Cup finals in November, Watson and Olivia Nicholls lost to Viktória Hrunčáková and Tereza Mihalikova in the decivisve doubles match as Great Britain were eliminated in the semifinals by Slovakia.