-
Heather Watson survived a three-set thriller to reach the final round of US Open qualifying.
-
The 34-year-old will face fellow Briton Harriet Dart for a place in the main draw.
-
Francesca Jones, Jacob Fearnley, Toby Samuel and Harry Wendelken also remain in contention.
August 27, (THEWILL) — Heather Watson and Harriet Dart will meet in an all-British clash for a place in the US Open main draw after both players battled through their second-round qualifying matches in New York.
Watson came through a tense contest against Spain’s Angela Fita Boluda, winning 6-4 5-7 7-6 (10-5) after almost three hours on court.
The 34-year-old had looked close to wrapping up the match in the deciding set after moving twice ahead on serve and later serving for victory. Fita Boluda fought back, though, forcing the match into a deciding 10-point tie-break.
Watson kept her composure when it mattered most, taking the tie-break 10-5 to move within one win of returning to the US Open women’s singles main draw.
She has made 10 previous appearances in the tournament’s main draw but has not qualified since her last appearance in 2021.
Her final hurdle will be Dart, who also had to recover after dropping the opening set of her second-round match.
Dart lost 7-5 to American 16-year-old Kristina Penickova in the first set but completely turned the match around, winning the next two sets 6-0, 6-3 to book her meeting with Watson.
The all-British encounter guarantees that one of the two players will progress to the US Open main draw, which begins on Sunday.
There was further British success in the women’s qualifying draw as Francesca Jones also secured her place in the final round.
Jones defeated Germany’s Mona Barthel 7-6 (7-3), 1-6, 6-2 and will now face Taiwan’s Joanna Garland. A victory would see her join British number one Katie Boulter in the main draw.
The men’s qualifying campaign also produced some positive results for Britain.
Jacob Fearnley recovered from a difficult second set against France’s Luka Pavlovic to win 6-4 6-7 (4-7) 6-4. The world number 100 will face Austria’s Jurij Rodionov in the final round.
Toby Samuel also advanced after beating fellow Briton Billy Harris 4-6, 6-4, 6-1. The 23-year-old, who made his Grand Slam debut at this year’s French Open, will take on former world top-20 player Cristian Garin of Chile.
Harry Wendelken produced another impressive comeback, saving a match point before overcoming Switzerland’s Remy Bertola 5-7 7-6 (7-4) 6-4.
READ ALSO:
Wendelken had been a set down and trailing 5-2 but managed to turn the match around and will now meet Lithuania’s Vilius Gaubas.
However, Katie Swan and Jack Pinnington Jones both saw their qualifying campaigns come to an end.
Swan was beaten by American Mary Stoiana 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 6-3, while Pinnington Jones lost to Finland’s Otto Virtanen 2-6 7-6 (8-6) 6-3.
Elsewhere, former US Open semi-finalist Grigor Dimitrov stayed on course for another appearance in New York after defeating Kazakhstan’s Timofey Skatov 7-6 (7-5) 6-4. He will face Virtanen next.
China’s Olympic champion, Zheng Qinwen, also progressed with a 6-1, 7-5 win over France’s Clara Burel, while 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu beat Ukraine’s Veronika Podre 6-0, 6-3.
Arthur Fery, meanwhile, continued his preparations for the tournament by reaching the quarter-finals of the Winston-Salem Open. The British fourth seed defeated Dutch qualifier Mees Rottgering 6-3, 6-3 and will face American Aleksandar Kovacevic next.
For Watson and Dart, however, the focus is now firmly on their all-British battle, with a place in the US Open main draw on the line.
Olumide Atiba is a sports journalist with THEWILL, known for his keen news sense and compelling storytelling. He has built a reputation for turning leads into clear, well-structured reports that resonate with readers, with a strong focus on football coverage
