Heather Watson shocks Yulia Putintseva to win at Thailand Open | Tennis News

Heather Watson held her nerve to score a notable win over world No 44 Yulia Putintseva in the first round of the Thailand Open in Hua Hin.

The British No six fought back from a set down to sink her awkward Kazakh opponent 5-7 6-4 7-6 (5) in a match lasting exactly three hours.

In a topsy-turvy encounter featuring 14 breaks of serve, Watson almost saw a 5-1 lead evaporate in the second set before rallying to force the decider.

She twice went a break up in the third set but finally managed to edge over the line after Putintseva hit back to force the decisive tie-break.

Watson will meet Na-Lae Han of South Korea in the next round for a chance to play either Xinyu Wang or Mirjam Bjorklund in the quarter-finals.

The 30-year-old entered on the back of Australian Open disappointment after she was beaten in the first round of qualifying by Aliona Bolsova.

Victory over Putintseva marks her first against a top-50 opponent since the Miami Open last March, where she beat 15th seed Elina Svitolina before falling to Belinda Bencic in the third round.