Australian Open: Heather Watson into second round

Britain’s Heather Watson showed tremendous fight in blustery conditions to win her Australian Open first-round match against Czech Kristyna Pliskova.

Watson, ranked 75th, won 4-6 6-3 6-1 at Melbourne Park.

The conditions made for a scrappy match which the 27-year-old battled back to win in one hour and 58 minutes.

Watson, who is one of three Britons to reach the second round in the singles, could face Belgian 16th seed Elise Mertens next.

Mertens faces Montenegro’s Danka Kovinic later on Wednesday as, like Watson, she had to come back a day later as a consequence of the backlog of matches caused by Monday’s rain washout.

Watson joins compatriots Harriet Dart and Dan Evans in winning their openers.

Evans, seeded 30th, plays his second-round match against Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka later on Wednesday.

The British number one knows there is a strong possibility that Serbia’s defending champion Novak Djokovic awaits him in the third round if he beats world number 71 Nishioka.

Watson has not enjoyed many victories in the Grand Slams recently, showing her pleasure at digging in and beating 65th-ranked Pliskova with a wide smile and tight clenched fist towards her box.

The Guernsey player had won only one match in her last six appearances in the main draw in Melbourne but had come here in good form after reaching the semi-finals of the Hobart International earlier this month.

In difficult conditions in which both players struggled at times with their ball toss, Watson eventually dealt with them better as Pliskova – twin sister of second seed Karolina – began to show her frustration.

Watson’s service game improved as the match wore on and she continued to hit a steady stream of winners to clinch only her third win at a Grand Slam in the past two years.