Heather Watson Wins Japan Open title

Heather Watson Wins Japan Open title

Heather Watson defeated Chang Kai-Chen 75 57 76 to win the 2012 Japan Open title in Osaka.

Watson became the first Brit player to win a WTA title in 24 years.

Chang served for the first set at 5-4 but was broken and Heather took the moment to run away with the set.
Then in the second set, Watson had match point at 5-3 in the second set her opponent regain the momentum and turn the things around to send the encounter into the decider.

In the third set, Chang led 5-3 and had four match points at 5-4, but was not able to close the win.

They reached the tiebreaker where Watson got a 3-1 lead and never looked back to to seal the victory after three hours and 11 minutes of play.

"I was in the changing room afterwards, changing my clothes, and I thought to myself, 'Did I really win?' So it's just starting to settle in," Watson said. "I've worked so hard for this moment my whole career - that's why I practiced so hard, ran all those miles and lifted all those weights, for moments like this.

"Britain has been breaking quite a few records recently, so I'm happy I could break another one today. I'm proud to do this for my country."

"She's an amazing returner, so I wanted to go for it," Watson said. "What I've learned from my coaches is to go for it and not hope they miss - as you get better and play the top girls, you've got to go for it because they won't give it to you. So I went for it and I don't regret it - though if I lost the match I probably would have regretted it. But I ended up winning the match, so I'll get over it!"

"I was already thinking about how I was going to cry in the locker room!" she joked about the 4 match points her opponent had in the decider. "But after I saved the first one, I just took it point by point. I'm really proud of myself for getting through that."


Source WTA
AP Photo/Kyodo News