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British number one Heather Watson has moved to a career-high 39th place in the world rankings.

The 20-year-old from Guernsey is up one spot after making the top 40 for the first time last month, while fellow Briton Laura Robson, 19, is still 43rd.

Watson recently made the last eight of the US Indoor Championship and got through to the last 16 in Pattaya City.

Serena Williams holds the number one ranking after regaining it last week.

The top 10 is unchanged, with the exception of Czech player Petra Kvitova, who moves up from eighth to seventh, swapping places with Italy's Sara Errani.

Britain's Johanna Konta, 21, has dropped two places to 153 in the world, while 29-year-old Anne Keothavong moves up two places to 183.

Elena Baltacha, 29, also moves up the rankings to 188 from 191.

El Loro

Laura Robson says she has almost fully recovered from a chest infection that has affected her since London 2012.

The British number two revealed she was struggling with the problem, following her defeat in Dubai last week.

"The infection is in the process of clearing up - I'll be fine for Indian Wells in March," the 19-year-old said.

"I've had another course of antibiotics and I'm as good as new. It's always tough playing when you're ill - it was my decision to play in Doha and Dubai."

Robson is looking to compete in Miami and Charleston, before joining her Great Britain team-mates for the World Group II play-off Fed Cup tie against Argentina in mid-April.

El Loro

Laura Robson and Heather Watson both suffered first-round defeats on a bad day for Britain's women at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.

Romania's Irina-Camelia Begu beat British number one Watson - who failed to convert six break points - 6-2 6-4.

Robson then let a commanding 6-2 4-1 lead slip as Sweden's Sofia Arvidsson hit back to win 2-6 7-6 (7-2) 6-1.

Analysis

A check to the progress of Watson and Robson who for all their promise, and the achievement in getting this far, are both struggling right now.

Robson, who has lost three first-round matches in succession, was dejected as she tried to analyse her defeat to Arvidsson from a commanding position.

Not much analysis required: she just couldn't keep enough in the court. A real shame because she had played so freely in the early stages.

Watson's demise was strangely straightforward and it was unusual to see her struggling to reach balls struck by Begu, her Romanian opponent.

At 39 and 43 respectively, Watson and Robson have rankings to be proud of. But as current results are proving, things are only going to get tougher at this level.

Andy Murray will return to action when the leading men begin their campaigns at the weekend.

Watson, 20, is currently at a career-high ranking of 39 in the world but it did not show against Begu, ranked 53rd and with only two wins in 2013 coming into Indian Wells.

The Romanian, 22, broke twice in each set, saving five break points in the second as Watson put the pressure on, to prevail in one hour and 43 minutes on Court Three.

Watson said afterwards she was "physically 100%", telling BBC Radio 5 live: "Today wasn't my best day at the office.

"I didn't really play well but my opponent is a great player and I feel like these courts really suit her game, and she played very smart. I wasn't really able to keep many balls in play. I wasn't really there today."

She added: "I feel the courts are just very different, like a clay court - they're very, very slow and it bounces very high here."

As that match finished, Robson was already well set over on Court Two as she eased into a healthy lead, and the 19-year-old looked on course to put recent back-to-back defeats in Doha and Dubai behind her.

However, Arvidsson, 29, is ranked just six places lower than Robson at 49 in the world and had won their only previous match in the Fed Cup last April.

As Robson's serve began to let her down, the experienced Swede took advantage, reeling in the Briton and then dominating the tie-break, before racing away with the decider.

Both Robson and Watson will now head to the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, which begins on 19 March.

El Loro

Serious news today from the BBC:

 

Heather Watson plans break from tennis after Miami loss

British number one Heather Watson intends to take a break from tennis after losing in the first round for the second tournament in succession.

She was beaten 1-6 7-5 6-4 by Ayumi Morita of Japan in the Miami Masters, and is yet to win a match since reaching 39 in the world rankings.

"This year I've been going a bit too long so I'm a bit burnt out," she told BBC Radio 5 live.

"I've been thinking about it now for a while and I'm going to take a break."

The 20-year-old, who also lost to Irina-Camelia Begu in Indian Wells earlier this month easily won the first set against Morita and raced into a 4-1 lead in the next.

Analysis

"Watson has done brilliantly to reach number 39 in the world, and will come good again, but her talk of feeling burnt out and needing a break underlines how difficult it is to stay at this level.

"She wasn't going into specifics about the break, but she will want to be fully recharged for the French Open and the grass court season, which are only couple of months away."

But Morita, ranked 11 places below her young opponent, hit back to lead 5-4 and broke Watson again to force a decider.

The 23-year-old Japanese player secured two more breaks and completed victory in two hours 45 minutes when she converted a third match point.

"I was looking at the stats and I actually won more points, but that can happen in tennis," Watson observed.

"It really hurts, I think I just need to find myself, find my game again."

Asked about losing the pattern of the match after such a dominant start she said: "I was playing really well, probably the best I've played this year, and I think I lost my concentration a bit, but that was enough for her to gain some confidence and step forward, and it kind of pushed me back and I started to play a lot worse.

"I still tried to fight but it just wasn't good enough, I wasn't aggressive enough."

Despite reaching her current career-high ranking in February, Watson is yet to beat a player ranked higher than her this season.

The Guernsey-born Briton benefitted from the retirement of world number 27 Sorana Cirstea in her season-opening event in Auckland.

She was denied the chance to change that statistic as Ayumi advanced to play Belgian world number 30 Yanina Wickmayer in the next round.

El Loro

British number one Heather Watson has decided to continue with her tennis schedule less than 24 hours after stating she would take a break.

Watson made the initial announcement on Tuesday after a first-round defeat for the second tournament in a row, saying she felt "burnt out".

But she told BBC Radio 5 live on Wednesday that she meant she wanted to return home to Guernsey for a few days.

 

 

Laura Robson is through to the second round of the Miami Masters beating Camila Giorgi, of Italy, 6-2 4-6 6-3.

 

El Loro

On the BBC website today:

Heather Watson will miss next week's WTA tournament in Charleston, South Carolina, with a leg injury.

Her agent says she is being treated at the National Tennis Centre and should be fit in time for the Fed Cup Group II play-off in Argentina on 20 April.

The 20-year-old British number one announced earlier this month she had planned to take a break before changing her mind within 24 hours.

Fed Cup team-mate Laura Robson will take part in the Charleston tournament.

El Loro
Originally Posted by Cold Sweat:

Laura Robson has reached the Miami doubles final which takes place sometime after the Murray vs Ferrer mens final.

Unfortunately she and Lisa Raymond lost 1-6, 6-7. They may decide to pair up again for future doubles. Getting to the finals has shot Laura up the double rankings from 278 to 90 (the mixed doubles at the Olympics did not qualify for any ranking points).

El Loro

Laura Robson eased into round two of the Family Circle Cup with a routine victory over Estrella Cabeza Candela.

World number 42 Robson, seeded 16th for the green-clay event, eased past her Spanish opponent 6-2 6-2 in 74 minutes.

The British number two, buoyed by reaching the women's doubles at the Sony Open in Miami last week, converted five of 11 break points in Charleston against the world number 108.

Next up for Robson, 19, is Canadian qualifier Eugenie Bouchard.

El Loro

It's become clear why Heather Watson has been having a tough time of it in recent weeks.

 

Just posted on the BBC website:

British number one Heather Watson has been diagnosed with glandular fever.

The 20-year-old has had a string of early-round exits of late and in March announced that she would take a break from the sport, before reversing the decision 24 hours later.

Blood tests have revealed traces of the virus, although doctors say she is at the tail-end of the fever.

Watson said: "I am relieved to know what is wrong so that I can get myself on the mend."

 

I hope she recovers quickly as I know glandular fever can hang around for weeks and sometimes months.

El Loro

Heather Watson's announcement on her Facebook page:

 

I had to do some blood tests after Miami and the results have shown that I have traces of Glandular Fever (mono) in my system. There is no prescription for this other than complete rest but the good news is that the doctors have told me I am on the tail end of the fever. This means I have been trying to compete through the symtoms for some time. I have been struggling with both training and playing matches and felt so tired and exhausted for months but now that the doctors have found the cause of this, it explains everything that has been happening to me physically and mentally. I am actually relieved to know what is wrong so that I can get myself on the mend.

I hope to recover as soon as possible by resting my body and getting lots of sleep. I already feel better from being at home for a week, and am looking forward to getting back on Tour soon!

El Loro

The Federation Cup tie between GB and Argentina started today in Buenos Aires. Whichever country wins will play in World Group II next year. It had been hoped that Heather Watson would be in the GB team but with her down with glandular fever she had to withdraw. The team therefore consists of Laura Robson, Johanna Konte, Anne Keothavong and Elena Baltacha who has been out for 8 months and has only just started playing again. With Heather Watson out, a lot falls on Laura Robson to get GB through.

 

The Federation Cup is like the Davis cup. On the first day there are two singles matches. Then on the following day, there's one doubles match followed by teo further singles matches. Whichever team wins 3 of the matches is the winner.

 

The first singles match was between Johanna Konte and Paula Ormaechea. Paula Ormaechea is ranked 143, 21 places higher than Johanna Konte who lost 3-6, 2-6.

 

The second singles match was between Laura Robson (ranked 38) and Florencia Molinero (ranked 224). Laura Robson had quite an emphatic win winning 6-1, 6-1.

 

So it's 1 match each at the end of the first day and all to play for tomorrow.

 

The singles matches are Robson/Ormaechea and Konte/Molinero. The doubles are Laura Robson (doubles ranked 93) and Anne Keothavong (135) against Mailen Auroux (138) and Maria Irigoyen (134). It could be quite a day.

 

 

El Loro

Laura Robson has been having quite a tough time in recent weeks losing many first round matches in WTA competitions. However things are looking up. She won her first round match in the Madrid Open against Magdalena Rybarikova 6-7, 6-2, 6-2. Her second round match was against the 4th seed Agnieszka Radwanska. In the last few minutes Laura has beaten her in straight sets 6-3 6-1. That will do her confidence which had been badly shaken a lot of good.

El Loro
Originally Posted by El Loro:

Laura Robson has been having quite a tough time in recent weeks losing many first round matches in WTA competitions. However things are looking up. She won her first round match in the Madrid Open against Magdalena Rybarikova 6-7, 6-2, 6-2. Her second round match was against the 4th seed Agnieszka Radwanska. In the last few minutes Laura has beaten her in straight sets 6-3 6-1. That will do her confidence which had been badly shaken a lot of good.

I see Robson pushed Ana Ivanovic to a final set tie-break in the last 16.

 

Great to see she can mix it with the elite seeded players.

Cold Sweat
Originally Posted by Cold Sweat:
Originally Posted by El Loro:

Laura Robson has been having quite a tough time in recent weeks losing many first round matches in WTA competitions. However things are looking up. She won her first round match in the Madrid Open against Magdalena Rybarikova 6-7, 6-2, 6-2. Her second round match was against the 4th seed Agnieszka Radwanska. In the last few minutes Laura has beaten her in straight sets 6-3 6-1. That will do her confidence which had been badly shaken a lot of good.

I see Robson pushed Ana Ivanovic to a final set tie-break in the last 16.

 

Great to see she can mix it with the elite seeded players.

Although Ana Ivanovic beat Laura Robson, Laura will have regained her confidence. Whether it will be this year or next she clearly has the potential to get into the top 20.

El Loro

This year's French Open will have no British men playing as Andy Murray withdrew because of his back injury and no-one got through the qualifying stages.

The three British women playing are Laura Robson, Heather Watson and Elena Baltacha. British hopes are likely to rest on Laura Robson as the others are just coming back from periods of non-playing due to illness/injury. The draw for the Open will be made today.

El Loro

Laura Robson has drawn former world number one Caroline Wozniacki in the first round of the French Open.

The British number one has beaten Venus Williams and Agnieszka Radwanska in recent weeks and will open against the Danish world number 10 in Paris.

 

British number two Heather Watson will face the Swiss Stephanie Voegele who is ranked eight places below her at 58.

 

Elena Baltacha (ranked 234) will face Marina Erakovic (ranked 91).

 

So given that this will be Heather Watson's first match since recovering from her illness, all three British players have tough first round matches.

El Loro

Heather Watson says she will be raring to go at the French Open after finally recovering from a bout of glandular fever.

Watson struggled at the Australian Open but it was not until two months later that blood tests revealed she had been trying to play while suffering with glandular fever for around three months.

The 21-year-old said: "I had no idea why I was so tired and all these things were happening to me, I had all these fevers and a terrible sore throat. I was at the point where I was like, 'What is wrong with me?'

"Usually I don't like complaining about things, I won't say it because I think it's nothing. I thought I was being soft."

But just a little over two months later, following rest at home, Watson will begin her Roland Garros campaign next week against Stefanie Voegele, who she beat in 2011.

"I probably feel about 90, 95% at the moment," said Watson.

"I still have a few things with sleeping. I'm finding it tough at the moment. That's how it happens and it will slowly get better and better.

"I'm happy to be back. I'm not looking at my ranking and am focusing on myself, I still want to go out and win matches and do well. I'm not going to use that as an excuse. I wouldn't have come here if I wasn't ready."

El Loro

Heather Watson battled for nearly two hours before losing to Stefanie Voegele at the French Open in her first match since recovering from glandular fever.

The British number two went down 6-4 2-6 6-4 to Switzerland's world number 56, in a match postponed from Tuesday because of rain.

It leaves Britain without a player in the second round of either singles draw at Roland Garros for the first time since 2007.

However, Watson's defeat was of a very different nature to those of compatriots Laura Robson and Elena Baltacha, who both lost swiftly in straight sets.

"I'm really disappointed," she said. "I thought I had a good draw and a good chance to get through to the next round.

"I knew it was going to be tough, my first match back, but still I'm super disappointed I lost."

Watson, 21, arrived in Paris without a match since April, when she was diagnosed with glandular fever.

She had spent six weeks at home in Guernsey resting, before returning to the practice court in the last few weeks to prepare for Roland Garros.

The poor weather gave Watson an extra 24 hours of recuperation and she finally strode back onto a match court on day four of the tournament.

A fist pump followed the Briton's opening service hold but Voegele, 23, began to take a grip of the match with a break in game five that proved decisive in the first set as the Watson first serve deserted her.

When the Swiss earned two break points at the start of the second set, Watson looked to be heading for a quick exit, but her fighting qualities came to the fore.

Two rasping forehands and an ace helped see off the immediate threat, and sparked a superb set of tennis from the world number 50.

Taking some pace off her first serve to improve the consistency, and finally able to unload on some returns, Watson powered through four straight games from 2-2 and took the set when the clearly rattled Voegele double-faulted.

The momentum was now very much with the Briton but a toilet break from Voegele before the deciding set interrupted proceedings, and on the resumption Watson was broken when a forehand was called wide, to her disbelief.

It was to be the break that gave Voegele victory, but it was nevertheless Watson who dominated the latter stages.

She tore into the Voegele serve at 4-3 down and it was to the Swiss player's credit that she clung on to her advantage, saving three break points as Watson threw everything at her.

The Swiss closed out the match with an impressive service game and Watson looked understandably disconsolate as she left Court Six, but the level of her performance was far higher than could have been expected following her illness.

Asked about the bathroom break taken by Voegele before the final set, Watson said: "Girls do it all the time. It's just the norm.

"Maybe she did need to go, but I should have been focused and ready for whatever."

Watson still plans to play doubles and mixed doubles in Paris, while gradually increasing the intensity of her training before heading back to the UK for the grass-court season.

"I think being in a match situation and playing matches definitely helps," she added.

"Naturally you want it, so you're trying a lot harder, using your muscles a lot more, rather than in practice when you're more relaxed and playing freely.

"So I think after today this has helped me, and it's a shame. I wanted more matches under my belt but I just have to work from here, get in the gym and do stuff to get fit for the grass."

 

"Despite the result, I think there was a lot to be positive about in Heather's performance - she played some very good, decent tennis.

"She struck the ball really well from the back of the court and served very well with a high first-serve percentage and a lot of aces and some free points. Maybe at times there were some long Voegele service games, bouncing back between deuce and advantage, that she was not able to capitalise on.

"Watson needs some games under her belt, and she needs a favourable draw so that she can just build some momentum in her next event."

El Loro

From the tennis feed on the BBC site:

 

Talking of Laura Robson... (I know, it's as if I've planned this)... We have seen the last of the Briton at Roland Garros as she has pulled out of the women's doubles because of back pain. The 19-year-old was set to compete alongside American Lisa Raymond, but she will now return to London to recuperate and make preparations for the grass-court season.

Cold Sweat

Although Heather Watson lost in the first round of the women's doubles she is still in the Open in the Mixed Doubles where she will be playing with Jonathan Marray against a French couple. Jonathan Marray has a world ranking of 18 in the men's doubles so this could be a match where they have a decent chance of winning.

El Loro

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