Heather Watson beaten by Elise Mertens in French Open second round
| French Open 2018 |
|---|
| Venue: Roland Garros, Paris Dates: 27 May-10 June |
| Coverage: Daily live radio and text commentaries on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra, the BBC Sport website and app. |
British number two Heather Watson was unable to reach the French Open third round for the first time after losing to 16th seed Elise Mertens.
Watson, 26, paid the price for a slow start in a 6-3 6-4 defeat.
The world number 80 could not hold any of her opening seven service games and trailed 4-1 in the second set.
She briefly rallied to level at 4-4 but dropped serve again and has now lost all six of her second-round matches at Roland Garros.
- Edmund v Fucsovics – live radio and text
- Live scores, schedule and results
Watson has endured a tough start to the year in terms of results, winning just once before her opening win at Roland Garros against France’s Oceane Dodin.
Mertens, in contrast, reached the her first Grand Slam semi-final at the Australian Open in January, as well as winning three WTA titles.
Inspired to play tennis?
Find out how to get into tennis in our special guide.
The 22-year-old Belgian’s confidence, boosted by a large number of boisterous fans from her home country, helped her ease into a 3-0 lead before clinching a strange opening set which saw eight breaks of serve.
Groans from the smaller British contingent could be heard when Watson lost her opening service game of the second set on the way to Mertens moving into a 4-1 lead.
Watson somehow rediscovered her game, winning three games in a row to level, only to lose her serve again in what proved to be the final game.
Martens, who wrapped up victory in one hour 27 minutes, has reached the last 32 for the second successive year and will meet either Australian 24th seed Daria Gavrilova or Bernarda Pera of the United States.
- Alerts: Get tennis news sent to your phone