Heather Watson regards Laura Robson as one of her best friends in tennis but the 21-year-old from Guernsey would love nothing more than to replace her 19‑year-old compatriot at the top of the British rankings.
After Robson’s defeat to Caroline Wozniacki in the first round of the French Open here yesterday, Watson can make a big stride towards recapturing the No 1 spot in Britain by winning her opening match this afternoon against Switzerland’s Stefanie Voegele.
Watson reached a career-high No 39 in the world rankings in February and was the highest-ranked Briton until she was forced to take a break after being diagnosed with glandular fever more than two months ago. She has since slipped to No 48, while Robson stands at No 37 after some good displays during the clay-court season.
“I don’t want to settle for No 2, so I’m always going to try to be British No 1,” Watson said here as she looked forward to facing Voegele. While Robson was beaten here by a player ranked 27 places higher than her, Watson will be facing an opponent eight spots beneath her in the world.
Voegele, 23, has made 10 appearances at Grand Slam tournaments but has won only two matches, at the US Open in 2009 and at the Australian Open the following year.
They have met twice before, Watson winning in straight sets in the qualifying competition here two summers ago and Voegele dropping just three games in Memphis earlier this year. Watson was quick to point out that the latter defeat came when she was in the throes of glandular fever, though she did not know it at the time.
The Briton has been back training for three weeks and says she now feels “about 90 or 95 per cent”. She added: “I’m playing properly twice a day and I feel good.”
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