Australian Open: Heather Watson knocked out in qualifying for 2023 tournament | Tennis News

Heather Watson was the highest-profile British casualty in Australian Open qualifying after losing to Aliona Bolsova in her first-round match.

British No 5 Watson was defeated 7-6 (4) 6-3 by her Spanish opponent and her compatriots Sonay Kartal and Paul Jubb also fell to disappointing results in Melbourne.

Kartal took America’s Elizabeth Mandlik to a decider after fighting back in the second set before falling 6-4 3-6 6-1.

Jubb’s match against Dalibor Svrcina of the Czech Republic followed a similar pattern after he forced a decider only to ultimately succumb 6-3 1-6 6-4.

Watson was broken in her first service game to fall behind but hit back in the eighth game of the opening set to force a tiebreak.

However, Bolsova won four points in a row to go 6-2 up and closed out the set at the third opportunity after a backhand error from the Brit.

Watson responded well with a break in the opening game of the second set, but failed to take two game points as she was broken back immediately.

Bolsova broke again for a 4-2 lead, and despite the Brit showing plenty of grit in attempting to break back and then forcing her opponent to serve out, she succumbed to defeat in an hour and 47 minutes.

Draper through, Evans & Edmund out in Adelaide

Dan Evans was knocked out of the Adelaide International 2 but his fellow Briton Jack Draper was more successful in his opening match of the tournament.

Evans, the No 5 seed, was beaten 7-5 7-5.by American opponent Mackenzie McDonald.

British No 2 Evans was eclipsed by 21-year-old Draper, who dispatched Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego 6-4 6-2.

Kyle Edmund was also knocked out, losing 6-4 7-5 to Serbian sixth-seed Miomir Kecmanovic.

The Adelaide International 2 is the second of consecutive ATP 250 tournaments staged in the city with Novak Djokovic winning the first instalment on Sunday.

In the women’s draw, Danielle Collins, runner-up at last year’s Australian Open, indicated she might be set for another run deep into the year’s first Grand Slam with a 6-2 6-4 win over Karolina Pliskova.

The American, also a semi-finalist at Melbourne Park in 2019, set off at a canter and led 5-0 before the Czech former world No 1 finally found some of her once formidable game and rallied to break back.

However, Collins, seeded 10th, would not be knocked off course, and converted her fifth set point to take the opening stanza before breaking Pliskova twice in the second to seal the victory.

Earlier, former Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova gave a reminder of her quality when she beat the current holder of the All England Club title Elena Rybakina 6-3 7-5 to continue her winning start in the new season.

The 2019 Australian Open finalist rode a rock-solid serve and earned all three of the break points in the contest, converting two to set up a second-round clash with American Shelby Rogers or China’s Qinwen Zheng.