Judy and Heather Short Term

Judy Murray has reportedly taken up a short-term role coaching Heather Watson in Australia this month.

Watson, who split with her permanent coach Diego Veronelli in December, will link up with Murray for the Hopman Cup in Perth, the Hobart International – where the British No2 will be defending champion – and the Australian Open, according to the BBC.

The pair will then travel to Israel at the beginning of February, when Murray will captain Great Britain in the Fed Cup Europe/Africa Zone Group I event.

Murray was seen working with Watson in Perth on Saturday before next week’s Hopman Cup. Watson will be teaming up with another Murray – Andy – on court in the mixed team event, which is a possible pairing for Britain at the Olympics in Rio later this year.

Watson worked with Veronelli for two years but the Argentinian left his role last month after deciding he was no longer able to commit to long stints on the WTA tour. Under Veronelli’s guidance the world No55 rose back up the rankings after recovering from glandular fever.

As well as claiming her second WTA title at the Hobart International last year, Watson came within two points of beating the eventual Wimbledon Serena Williams in a memorable third-round match, and she will be looking to build on her 2015 performances this year.

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Watson First to Win a WTA Title

Heather Watson has become the first British woman to win a WTA singles title since 1988 after beating Chang Kai-chen in the Japan Open final.

Watson, who had served for the match at 5-3 in the second set, saved four match points when 5-4 down in the third.

The world number 71 recovered to be victorious in the deciding tie-break, winning 7-5 5-7 7-6 (7-4).

Sara Gomer was the last British woman to win on the tour, four years before 20-year-old Watson was born.

Watson's win in Osaka comes less than a month after compatriot Laura Robson made it to the final of the Guangzhou Open in China, becoming the first British woman to reach a WTA singles final since Jo Durie in 1990.

Watson had not previously gone past the quarter-finals of a WTA event and will now replace Robson as the British number one.

The 2009 US Open girls' champion earned 16 break points but conceded 17 in a see-saw battle with world number 134 Chang.

Watson broke four times in the first set, only to drop her serve three times in the second to let the 21-year-old from Chinese Taipei back in to the contest.

And Chang, who beat Sam Stosur in the semi-finals, looked set for victory when she held three match points when serving in the 10th game of the decider.

But the Guernsey player, fought back, and sealed the biggest success of her career with her second match point in the tie-break.

A delighted Watson told the WTA Tour website: "I was in the changing room afterwards and I thought to myself, 'Did I really win?' So it's just starting to settle in.

"I've worked so hard for this moment my whole career - that's why I practised so hard, ran all those miles and lifted all those weights, for moments like this.

"Britain has been breaking quite a few records recently, so I'm happy I could break another one today. I'm proud to do this for my country."

She has also reached the doubles final alongside Japanese veteran Kimiko Date-Krumm.

They will play United States pair Abigail Spears and Raquel Kops-Jones, with Watson bidding to become the first Briton to win both the singles and doubles at the same WTA tournament since Anne Hobbs in 1985.

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Watson in First WTA Final

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Heather Watson and Kai-Chen Chang of Chinese Taipei both reached their first ever singles final on the WTA Tour at the HP Open in Osaka.

The 20-year-old Watson, from Guernsey,  beat Japan's Misaki Doi in two tight sets - and Chang then stunned top seed Sam Stosur in a third-set tie-break.

Watson took her first set against Doi, winning 7/2 in a tie-break after each player broke serve once.

But like Watson's quarter-final win over Pauline Parmentier yesterday, today's second set was littered with service breaks - an area Watson will surely have to improve on in the final.

Watson finally came through with a late fourth break against three for her opponent, wrapping up a 7-6 (7/2), 7-5 win in just over two hours to end the hopes of the home fans.

Stosur was the only woman among the final four who had previously reached a tour semi-final but quickly found herself a set down against world No 134 Chang.

The world No 9 from Australia levelled the match but Chang, who knocked out Watson's fellow Briton Laura Robson yesterday, was not to be denied. After a break apiece in the final set she forced four match-points in the breaker, taking the second to win 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (7/3).

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Watson Earns Azarenka Meeting

Heather Watson claimed the scalp of a player ranked 104 places above her to reach the third round of the Miami Masters - where she will next face world No.1 Victoria Azarenka.

Watson, 19, followed up her fine comeback victory over Sorana Cirstea in the first round with an even more impressive 6-2 6-1 triumph over world number 25 Lucie Safarova on Friday.

Watson dominated throughout in both defence and attack and her Czech opponent had no answers with the Guernsey player wrapping up her second-round victory in little more than 80 minutes.

Watson won 73 per cent of points on her first serve, in contrast to Safarova's 46 per cent, while serving two aces and staved off six of the seven break points she faced.

Watson opened the match and successfully held before breaking 27th seed Safarova in her first service game and then holding to move into a 3-0 lead.

Safarova held for 3-1 and then moved to break point, which she failed to convert with the Briton taking full advantage.

Azarenka next

Watson then forced three break points in the sixth game but failed to convert them and Safarova eventually held for 4-2.

Watson held and then broke her opponent to take the first set 6-2.

The first game of the second set saw the pair trade break point chances with the Czech player eventually prevailing.

Florida-based Watson though immediately broke back and from then there was no stopping the Guernsey-born player.

She will next face top-seed Azarenka in what will be a repeat of the Australian Open first round meeting earlier this year.

The Belarusian ace was handed one of her toughest tests so far this season before overcoming Holland's Michaella Krajicek 6-3 7-5.

Venus Williams claimed a stunning three-set win over Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova as her comeback gathered momentum.

The 31-year-old has been absent from the WTA Tour since pulling out of the US Open at the end of August, remaining sidelined with Sjogren's syndrome, a disorder of the immune system, until this week. She has fallen to 134th in the world rankings as a result.

Positive

But the seven-time former grand slam winner made a positive return by knocking out Kimiko Date-Krumm in round one - and she rolled back the years in knocking out world No.3 Kvitova.

Williams, a three-time former winner of this tournament, won 6-4 4-6 6-0 in two hours and 18 minutes to march through to the last 32, where Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak awaits her after a 4-6 6-3 6-4 success over Romanian 28th seed Monica Niculescu.

It was a day otherwise full of surprises as Spanish wild card Garbine Muguruza Blanco ousted ninth-seeded Vera Zvonareva 6-4 6-3.

The Russian's fellow seeds Angelique Kerber, Monica Niculescu and Kaia Kanepi also bowed out at the hands of Zheng Jie, Aleksandra Wozniak and Silvia Soler-Espinosa respectively.

There were no such troubles for the 15th-seeded Ana Ivanovic of Serbia, who won 6-4 7-5 against Vania King of the United States, while Slovakian 16th seed Dominika Cibulkova was a 7-5 6-1 victor against Anna Tatishvili of Georgia.

Not a G'Day for Watson and Ward

Britain's Heather Watson suffered a bitterly disappointing exit at the Australian Open, losing 6-1 6-0 to Victoria Azarenka in the first round.

The 17-year-old from Guernsey won the opening game of the match but was completely outclassed thereafter as third seed Azarenka won in 67 minutes.

Watson's compatriot James Ward lost 6-4 6-3 6-4 to Blaz Kavcic of Slovenia.

Elena Baltacha, Anne Keothavong and Laura Robson play on Monday, while Andy Murray faces Ryan Harrison on Tuesday.

A disappointing day for Watson, who can play much better. The start was decent, winning the first game and having a break point in the second, but after that it was total one-way traffic. She wasn't moving at her best and, for whatever reason, didn't seem to have as much confidence as she did during the Sharapova match in New York. Azarenka is going to be tough to beat here

Britain had six singles players in the main draw of a foreign Grand Slam for the first time since 1992.

But that quickly became five when Watson, sporting a heavily-strapped left ankle, was dispatched by Azarenka in the first match on a sweltering Rod Laver Arena.

Watson lost their only previous match 6-1 6-1 and it was a similar story as Azarenka set up a second-round meeting with Australian wildcard Casey Dellacqua.

The world number three looked nervous in the early stages - saving a break point in her opening service game - but soon asserted her authority.

Watson's serve deserted her in game three as two double-faults, a poor drop shot and a long forehand handed Azarenka the first break.

Azarenka, 22, then produced a superb crosscourt backhand pass and placed a forehand winner on the line to move 4-1 ahead.

Watson appeared to be struggling with the heat and could not hide her frustration after floating a backhand long to concede the 36-minute first set.

The 105th-ranked right-hander began the second brightly but her day took another turn for the worse with a missed backhand to fall 2-0 behind.

As Watson struggled badly to land her first serve and Azarenka found the corners at will, it was no surprise to see the Wimbledon semi-finalist secure the double-break.

And she sealed the match when Watson netted a backhand for her 27th unforced error.

Ward, meanwhile, was seen off in two hours and 17 minutes as Kavcic secured a meeting with Juan Martin del Potro or Adrian Mannarino in round two.

The 24-year-old Londoner, ranked 161st, came through qualifying to reach the main draw of a Grand Slam by right for the first time.

But he provided little resistance for world number 103 Kavcic, finishing with a first-serve percentage of 47%