Heather Watson: I’m excited to see how I’ll do at the Australian Open

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/jan/16/heather-watson-excited-australian-open-tennis

Version 0 of 1.

Tennis players are creatures of habit; draw them out of their comfort zone and they tend to struggle, usually falling quickly back into their old patterns. Baseliners will always prefer the baseline, attacking players will always move forward. The lucky few do not need to change; what they have is good enough. They may tinker with things, but the fundamentals remain. Others, such as Britain’s Heather Watson, take a leap of faith, knowing that if they stand still they will die.

The 22-year-old enters 2015 as the world No49, by far Britain’s highest-ranked female player, having spent the past 12 months embracing change in her game style. The results have been hugely encouraging, none more so than this week at the Hobart International, where she has looked assured and confident in beating Sloane Stephens and Roberta Vinci on the way to Saturday’s final, where she faces the American qualifier Madison Brengle. If she wins, it will be her second WTA Tour title and her ranking will be pushing top 40. Having struggled for the best part of two years, Watson goes to Melbourne healthy, fit and anxiety-free.

“I’m excited and curious to see how I’m going to do,” Watson told the Guardian. “I feel confident in myself, confident in my game and I’ve worked really hard in the off-season. I really hope that it pays off. It’s just converting it on the big moments, on the big stages, against the big players.”

Watson was handed a tough draw for the Australian Open, which begins on Monday, taking on the in-form Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova in the first round. But on recent evidence Watson will fancy her chances and is setting her sights high. “As far as preparation goes, it’s brilliant for me,” Watson said. “I’ve got a lot of confidence from these wins, not just from that but how I’m playing. I really believe in my game at the moment and it’s showing in my tennis.

“Winning titles is a big thing for me. I know lots of people who climb very high in the rankings without winning a single title. That winning feeling, it’s great.”

At the end of 2013 Watson hired a new coach, the Argentinian former player Diego Veronelli, a man who works as hard as she does and who, Watson says, studies every aspect of the sport. Together they set out to change Watson from a natural counterpuncher into more of an attacking player, with more variety.

When she first broke on to the Tour, it was thought that her fellow Briton Laura Robson had greater potential because she had more powerful weapons. Watson has changed that perception.

It is a change that has taken time to bed in. In February last year, Watson was ranked 161, struggling to shake off the glandular fever that had kept her off the Tour for three months the previous year. A superb natural athlete and an outstanding mover, Watson had been listless. Finally fully fit again, she began to work her way back up the rankings and finished 2014 as she had begun 2013, just inside the world’s top 50.

When Nick Faldo remodelled his golf swing under the guidance of David Leadbetter midway through his career, it took a long time before he was comfortable. But Watson has worked enormously hard to acquire an aggressive mindset and that, combined with a fresh outlook on her career, has helped transform her into someone who looks capable of reaching the top 20 – and perhaps higher.

“I think I’m realising that careers for tennis players are very short,” Watson said. “On the women’s side, now players are starting to peak later on, but the average age is about 31, 32 when you finish playing, so I want to make the most of it while I’m young, fit and healthy. I don’t want to waste any time.

“When you’ve been injured or been through sickness, or something that has kept you out of tennis for a while, it really makes you appreciate the time you’re healthy. It’s made me very grateful and I just want to make the most of it.”

Adding variety to her game has been an enjoyable experience, even if she admits she is not quite the finished product.

“There’s always room to improve, especially because you don’t play your best every single week,” she said. “You rarely play your absolute best. So I’m just trying to be consistent with it, consistent with the mindset of playing like that. It’s becoming a lot more natural to me to play like that than to play defensive tennis.”

Do not expect Watson to serve and volley or chip and charge. She will always be a strong returner with outstanding movement. The difference now is that she can take the ball earlier, has more variety and when her opponent drops the ball short, she never falls back to her former habits.

“I force myself to stay aggressive in my mind because I know that’s the right way to play and I won’t regret it afterwards,” she said.

“I like how someone like Agnieszka Radwanska [the 2012 Wimbledon runner-up] plays,” she said. “I think she’s brilliant, so smart, so many different shots, so much variety. I see other players who hit the ball 100mph and I think they’re both great. If I could, I’d like a bit of both, not just one way.

“I find it so much fun learning new things and trying new things on the court, so for me the slice especially is good fun and I’ve started using it naturally in my matches. When you just think about competing and winning the point [not the shots themselves], that is positive.”

Watson said she learned a lot from partnering Andy Murray for Britain in the Hopman Cup in Perth this month, and she has built on that brilliantly in Hobart. A win over the former Wimbledon semi-finalist Pironkova in Melbourne would be the icing on the cake.