Elementary for Watson

Roland Garros clay clearly suits Brit

Last Updated: May 29, 2012 12:41pm

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Heather Watson: dropped just six games on her way into the second round

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Britain's Heather Watson reached the second round of the French Open for the second successive year with a superb 6-2 6-4 victory over Russian Elena Vesnina.

Last year the 20-year-old Watson became the first British woman for 28 years to qualify in the French capital before going on to reach the second round - ending another long wait since Clare Wood's first-round win in 1994.

Watson did not drop a set in qualifying this time around and won her last match against Anna Floris on Friday for the loss of only one game.

Her game, based on consistent hitting and great movement around the court, is made for clay and she looked at home straight away, opening with a love game.

The concern about Watson, ranked 110th, has always been a lack of weapons but she has tweaked her service action recently and it was working brilliantly, with her tally of aces after four matches now standing at 18.

Her only previous meeting with Vesnina also came on clay two years ago, which the Russian won in two close sets, but Watson was well on top this time and broke serve twice to take the opener, helped by a double fault from the world number 83 on set point.

Break

Vesnina, who reached the final of the WTA Tour event in Budapest a month ago, renewed her efforts at the start of the second and got her reward with a break of serve in the third game.

But Watson hit back straight away, levelling at 2-2 with a lovely dinked backhand winner and then breaking again to move within two games of victory.

The Guernsey player was making a few more errors than she had in the opening set and she allowed Vesnina to level at 4-4 but she piled the pressure on when the world number 83 served to stay in the match and took her first match point for a notable win.

Watson will next play the 25th seed Julia Goerges as she bids to make the third round of a grand slam for the first time. Goerges beat Lucie Hradecka 7-6 (7/1) 6-4.