For those of you who are interested in tennis, it may be interesting to look out for Heather Watson from Guernsey. She's 18 and seems to be slowly climbing the ratings. She is currently playing in Memphis and earlier today won her second round match so has reached the quarter finals. Even if she loses her next match, she could climb 10 places or so to around 135. Anne Keothavong in the same tournament lost her second round match.
Heather Watson is third in the British women's rankings but is 9 years younger than both Elena Baltacha (first) and Anne Keothavong (second). Laura Robson is a year younger than Heather Watson, but is out injured at present. It is too soon to say how she will improve during this next year, but at present these two seem to be the future of British tennis.
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Heather Watson has celebrated her 19th birthday today by winning her second match in the qualifiers for the French Open. If she wins her next match she will be in the main draw.
Her progress in the rankings has continued and she is now ranked 119 (Elena Baltacha is ranked 83 and Anne Keothavong 108).
Heather Watson did win her next match so has qualified for a place in the main draw for the French Open. This is the first time she has secured a place in one of the Grand Slam tournaments. She has been drawn against French wildcard Stephanie Foretz Gacon. The French wildcard is currently ranked 140 so is 21 places below Heather, but of course has an advantage of playing at home.
As a result of Heather Watson's recent success she has moved up in the rankings and is now the number 2 British player.
Rankings published today are:
Elena Baltacha is ranked 74
Heather Watson is ranked 93
Anne Keothavong is ranked 110
Heather is in the Aegon Classic tournament which started in Birmingham today. She has won her first match 6:3, 7:5 against Chanelle Scheepers who is seeded 15th in this tournament (but ranked 89 in the world).
The WTA rankings also show the WTA race rankings. This is based on results in the current year rather than for the last 12 months. These rankings show that
Elena Baltacha is ranked 63, Heather Watson is ranked 64, and Anne Keothavong is ranked 91. Chanelle Scheepers is ranked 43 so Heather Watson's win becomes more significant. It is premature to say this, but I would not be surprised if she doesn't become British number 1 in the not too distant future.
Heather Watson and Elena Baltacha have been given wildcards for next week's Aegon International at Eastbourne. The other British players have to go through the qualifying stages.
Heather Watson will face Vera Zvonareva, who is the world number 3, in the first round so this will be Heather's toughest match to date.
Today's new rankings show:
Elena Baltacha improves from 74 to 61 as a result of her win yesterday at Nottingham
Heather Watson stays at 93
Anne Keothavong slips from 110 to 113
Naomi Broady improves from 231 to 216 as a result of progressing to the second round at Birmingham.
Today's new rankings reflect the Wimbledon results and shows that:
Elena Baltacha has improved to 58 (as a result of getting through to the second round)
Anne Kethavong has improved to 94 (as a result of getting through to the second round)
Heather Watson had dropped to 106 (as a result of being given a wild card so not having to participate in the qualifying stages then losing in the first round)
Laura Robson has shown the biggest improvement rising from 254 to 185 (as a result of getting through to the second round)
Overnight from the BBC website:
British teenager Heather Watson gave former champion Maria Sharapova an almighty scare before the Russian prevailed on day one of the US Open.
Watson, 19, led 6-3 5-5 at one stage but eventually went down 3-6 7-5 6-3 in a dramatic match at Flushing Meadows.
The Briton had been given little chance against Sharapova, ranked 100 places higher at fourth, but almost produced one of the great US Open shocks.
Watson's fellow Briton Laura Robson earlier made it through to round two.
Robson progressed when her Japanese opponent Ayumi Morita retired with a shoulder injury, but it was Watson's performance that took centre stage on Monday.
The best thing about Watson's magnificent challenge to Sharapova was the self belief. She told me afterwards that she believed she could win from the moment the draw came out and didn't stop believing. And she played like it. From the first game, when she made every first serve, she seemed free of the pressures so many young, lowly ranked players seem shackled by. Even much later in the match, after Sharapova had a 4-1 lead and break points for 5-1, Watson still believed. She broke back and fought to the end. "What did you learn?" I asked her afterwards. "I learned what I'm capable of," she replied. Great answer.
"I had a lot of fun today," said the teenager from Guernsey. "It's what I want to do. I want to be out there on the big courts playing the top players. It was a really great match, very competitive. We played some really great tennis.
"I had my chances in the second set. You have to create the opportunity but also execute, and I was probably a bit too defensive on those important points.
"But I always believed I could win. There's no point in my going out there if I don't believe that I can win."
Watson, the 2009 junior champion, was playing in the US Open main draw for the first time, but despite it being the highest-profile match of her life she took to the imposing surroundings of Arthur Ashe Stadium like a natural.
Sharapova, seeded third, was widely seen as the second favourite for the tournament behind Serena Williams, but the erratic serving that has blighted her this year was still in evidence.
Watson needed no encouragement, standing close to the baseline and going toe-to-toe with the Russian's heavy groundstrokes, and she broke to love at the first opportunity.
When Sharapova broke back immediately it seemed the former world number one was about to take control, but another double-fault handed the advantage back to the Briton and she did not relinquish it.
After converting her third set point in game nine, Watson immediately broke at the start of the second set and it was panic stations for Sharapova.
The decibel level increased with the pace of the Russian's groundstrokes and she bludgeoned her way back to parity before the power began to tell and she moved 4-1 clear, but it was not totally convincing and her sixth double fault of the day brought Watson back on serve.
Three superb points got Watson of trouble when she served at 5-4 down and 0-30, but Sharapova made the breakthrough at the next opportunity to level at one set all.
Watson's resistance was far from over and it took a marked improvement in Sharapova's form for the 2006 champion to finally dominate, battling into a 4-1 lead and having break points for 5-1.
The 24-year-old could not quite shake off the Briton, however, and was pegged back to 4-3 before a fine return game gave Sharapova the chance to finally serve for the match.
Few can have expected Watson to keep such an illustrious opponent on court for two hours and 34 minutes but that was how long the Russian required to close out the victory.
"It was one of the toughest (opening matches) that I've had," said Sharapova. "Obviously not really knowing too much about my opponent and not facing her before, she just came out and played really smart.
"There's no doubt that I wasn't playing my best tennis. She was smart in making me hit another ball. I was making so many errors out there. She stuck to her game plan. She kept grinding."
Heather Watson is having a really good week at the tournament at Shrewsbury. She has just won her match and has reached the final. She is currently ranked 99th. Her aim at the beginning of the season was to reach the top 100. Her success at Shrewsbury is likely to improve her rankings by around 10 places and will increase her confidence for the rest of the season.
Following Anne Keothavong's excellent recent successes she has shot up the rankings. Today's rankings just released and I think are the final rankings this year show for the top British players:
Elena Baltacha 50
Anne Keothavong 73
Heather Watson 92
Laura Robson 131
Confirmation that Heather Watson succeeded in her ambition at the start of the season to get into the top 100.
From the BBC:
Elena Baltacha, Anne Keothavong, Heather Watson and Laura Robson have been named in the Great Britain team for next month's Fed Cup tie in Israel.
The Europe/Africa Zone Group One event, which features 15 teams, takes place in Eilat from 1-4 February.
A top-two finish in the event would see GB progress to April's World Group II play-offs.
Judy Murray will captain the team for the first time since her appointment last month.
"Our team is an exciting mix of youth and experience," Murray said.
In addition to the selected quartet, world number 317 Tara Moore will travel as the reserve for an event that also features Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania and Sweden.
And Murray added: "In Elena and Anne we're lucky to have two established Tour players who are great competitors and so passionate about representing their country.
"With Heather, Laura and Tara, we have three young and very promising players who will bring a lot of energy to the team and will be looking to make their marks.
"Our goal is to progress through the group and, while we know this will be tough, if we play to our potential it is achievable."
Although Great Britain has a fair chance in this event, based on the 2011 final rankings, Romania are likely to be the favourites, but the second place is not unrealistic.
Although Heather Watson had an ankle injury which meant that she withdrew from the first tournament of the season in New Zealand, she is hoping to be in the next tournament which starts in Australia on the 6th as part of her preparation for the Australian Open which begins on the 16th. And the signs are that she is intending to take part as she landed in Australia yesterday.